July/August 2007

Best Practices: Teamwork in transition

Coverings delivers unified message to move international exhibitors to Chicago

By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

Every show manager thinks their event poses unique challenges. Jennifer Hoff is no exception. But, the General Manager and Vice President of Operations for National Trade Productions (NTP, www.ntpshow.com) may have legitimate bragging rights for overcoming what she says was the single greatest logistical challenge of her career: Moving 1,300 exhibiting companies — 60 percent international — from their long-time home in Orlando, FL, to Chicago for Coverings 2007 (www.coverings.com), April 17–20, at McCormick Place.

“That this show went smoothly was probably the best outcome I’ve ever achieved in my career,” she says.

Hoff attributes the feat to teamwork. NTP has managed the 1 million-square-foot, tile-and-stone show since 2004. Two years ago, the Alexandria, VA-based company proposed moving the show to Chicago to tap new markets and broaden their audience. It was a risky proposition. The move would require exhibitors who were accustomed to building their own displays to entrust installation and dismantle to exhibitor-appointed contractors (EACs) with union labor.

“We realized that the new venue required a new model for exhib-itors to plan and design their booths and orchestrate setup,” Hoff says. “It was going to be different. Not good or bad, just different.”

Hoff put together a team to identify the challenges in the new venue and develop solutions. Core members included the official service contractor (The Freeman Cos.), the venue (McCormick Place), the freight forwarder (Phoenix) and the utility provider (FOCUS One). Once all agreed upon an approach, they developed a plan for communicating the approach to exhibitors in a coordinated and coherent way.

The challenges were many. Exhibitors come from more than 56 countries, speak multiple languages, and have cultural differences that dictate how they set up their stands. They build the displays from the ground up, with raw materials that weigh as much as 17 million pounds. Most bring in their own craftsmen. Many are part of country pavilions with multiple companies.
Hoff’s team began meeting with exhibitors more than a year out. They held meetings at a competitive show in Italy and presented seminars at Coverings 2006 and TS2 2006, the industry event for exhibit and event professionals, also managed by NTP. A total of eight seminars educated exhibitors about the work rules and regulations, how to use EACs and how to order utilities from the exclusive provider. E-mail and direct mail campaigns reinforced the team’s message in the months leading up to the 10-day move-in.

The team set milestones and benchmarks for exhibitor action. “We saw which exhibitors sent in paperwork and placed orders for EACs, and which hadn’t,” Hoff says. “We reached out to the exhibitors who showed no activity.” At six months out, exhibitors still asked why they couldn’t set up their own stands. At three months out, the tide turned. Hoff says, “They asked, ‘This is what I want to do. How do I do it?’ ”

On site, NTP added two additional floor managers for a total of 10 in five zones with two mangers each, all on alert for exhibitors who had not yet placed orders. The result of the advance communications and planning was relative calm. “Everyone had questions, but no big issues bubbled up,” Hoff says.

In the end, Coverings 2007 drew 14 percent more exhibiting companies and 8 percent more attendees. Net square footage was flat, but  Hoff says that means her message got through. “They changed their approach, took less space and made room for more companies to participate.”