Companies selling products and services to the sign industry were not happy exhibitors back in the 1970s. As small-business owners,they were away from home more weekends than not, exhibiting in up to 35 state association shows annually, plus the national show put on by the National Electric Sign Association (NESA), forerunner of today’s International Sign Association (ISA).
To make life easier for the exhibitors and expand learning opportunities for attendees, NESA created a regionalization plan with nine regions in Canada and the United States. “The plan kicked off in 1981, with each region holding a convention and trade show every other year,” explains John Johnson, ISA’s Executive Vice President. “We were responsible for the exhibits. Sometimes we ran the entire event, while in other cases the local group chose to run the convention side.”
The regional shows grew to about 200 booths, with up to 3,000 attendees. But in the early 1990s, new pressures developed. Companies took a serious look at the cost of exhibiting, and the bottom line became more important than loyalty to associations. Some manufacturers and distributors began doing their own show-and-tell programs. And some regional groups wanted more control over their programs. The national organization went back to the drawing board and announced a new plan that became effective in 2000. “It’s now totally up to the regions to decide what kind of event they want, when and where they’ll hold it, and what role ISA will play,” says Johnson.
In general, regions can choose from four types of events: a trade show with 75 or more booths; a trade show with up to 75 booths; tabletop exhibits; or conferences only with no exhibits.
ISA has four Board of Directors’ meetings a year. One is held at its international show, and the other three coincide with regional meetings, which rotate from year to year. “For example, when it’s the Central Region’s turn, we’ll ask them where they’re planning to hold their meeting, what kind of an event it will be, and what role they want ISA to play,” says Johnson.
ISA had full responsibility for the 2000 shows in the Western and Northwest regions, but has no responsibilities at regional meetings scheduled for 2001. ISA has contracts with the regions spelling out their responsibilities and charges a management fee that covers costs and overhead.
Exhibitors at regional events handled by the association benefit from ISA’s 56 years of experience in promoting and running trade shows, its database of attendee prospects, the demographics it has collected, and so on. And ISA’s international show benefits from the regional events, which, for instance, serve as incubators for companies new to exhibiting. Since the regionalization plan began in 1981, ISA’s show has increased exhibitor sales every year.
