September 1997

Demon Dates

Local and regional show organizers battle a modern-day Medusa

EXPO magazine, April 1997). Many other cases are dealt with quietly, though not without considerable expense. And then there are all the situations in which people end up frustrated and angry but fearful of repercussions for being vocal.

"You strain your relationships with the city administration," says Chip Hart, President of the Cincinnati-based public show organizer, Hart Productions. "Politically, you are perceived to be looking out only for your own interests, when in actuality you are looking out for the interests of the hundreds of local vendors who rely on consumer shows as marketing tools for their businesses."

Does it have to be this way? Or is it possible for people to work together in a reasonable fashion? The answer to both questions seems to be "it depends." It depends on who you are and how big you are and how well you did your homework. It depends on community desirability and needs. It depends on dates and politics and money and a dozen other things. No wonder one show organizer called the issue a hydra-headed Medusa!

Getting future dates

One of the most contentious aspects is the inability of consumer shows as well as small local and regional trade shows to confirm dates as far in advance as they might like. And even after their dates have been confirmed, they may be subject to being "bumped" by larger events.

Policies vary from city to city, building to building, show type to show type. "Some cities have a very formal policy that is pretty much inviolate," notes Steve Schuldenfrei, Executive Director of the Society of Independent Show Organizers, Framingham, MA. "Some cities have rules that seem to be bent when a salesperson has a hot prospect. And some cities don't seem to have a formal policy at all, and then anything goes. This can drive you nuts! How can you plan or have any faith in the contract?"

In their defense, public facility managers note that, because they are funded by taxpayer dollars, they have a mandate to generate revenue for the city. If the facilities are also supported by hotel/motel taxes, putting heads on beds is critical, too. Indeed, facilities often must do things that are best for the community as a whole, not necessarily what is best for them alone. "If the CVB brings in a large convention for two weeks, we may lose money. But, in the overall picture, the convention is very good for the city. You want that group here because of what it does for the city," says Kent Meredith, Assistant to the Director for the Alamodome, San Antonio, TX.

"We base our decisions on the demand and the economic impact that organizations bring to our city," says Doug Bennett, Director of Sales at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Authority. "We look at the impact in sleeping rooms, restaurants, attractions and transportation companies. That has to enter into the mix as we make a decision on where a piece of business is placed. But we certainly recognize the value of local shows and smaller shows. They are very important in filling in gaps and keeping the building occupied. We work very closely with our convention center to make sure there is date protection for smaller state and regional organizations as well as for public shows, but we give ourselves every opportunity to place larger conventions further out on the calendar."

Bennett stresses that there always are dates available for public shows, though the specific dates may not be firmed up until 18 months prior to showtime.

One reason why large national events must be booked far in advance is availability of hotel rooms, notes Scott Johnson, Booking and Events Services Manager at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in North Carolina. A show producer who needs thousands of room nights has to plan five years or more in advance. And once blocks of rooms are found for specific dates, the convention center must take the events for the exact same dates.

In the same vein, a public facility doesn't fulfill its mandate if it commits space five years in advance to an event that won't fill large blocks of rooms. Its position is that such an event doesn't need a commitment to specific dates so far in advance. If it's a popular facility, it may also be reluctant to commit space to new shows without a track record, or young shows that didn't meet their room-night expectations in previous years.

Eighteen months seems to be standard industry policy at this point, but some cities are tightening their time frame. For example, the Cincinnati City Council recently approved a booking policy, effective in 2002, to attract more out-of-town convention business in the first quarter of each year. "Our home and garden show, which for 25 years has been a 9-day show, now runs the risk of having half these days being sold to another event," says Hart. "I might not know until 14 months out whether I have a full-run show. The Cincinnati Auto Expo might be moved from the first quarter of the year and given an option for dates in the fourth quarter; again, I might not know until 14 months out. Meanwhile, exhibitors have 5-year plans, and I run the risk that people will say, 'Hey, this show may not happen!'"

Looking at private facilities

A growing option for organizers eager to get firm dates is to put their shows in private exhibition centers. "A privately owned facility does not have to worry about bed tax dollars and other tax moneys. They care about renting the facility, and about food-and-beverage and parking lot revenues," says Chris Fassnacht, President of Expositions Inc. Based in Cleveland, Fassnacht, like many other producers of consumer shows in the city, uses the privately owned I-X Center. Not only can he get confirmed show dates more than 18 months out, he can also get multiple-year leases.

"There need to be more privately owned facilities. I think this would take the pressure off the publicly funded facilities that insist their No. 1 priority is trade shows and conventions," Fassnacht says.

The Capitol Expo Center in Chantilly, VA, some four miles from Washington, DC's Dulles Airport, is now booking public events for the year 2002. "Almost 80 percent of our shows are public shows, and we can protect their dates as far as five years out," says Rick Savino, Director of Sales "We can guarantee a show the same dates year after year. The organizer doesn't have to worry about being bumped around. And the public -- and exhibitors, too -- become familiar with the dates; they know, for example, that the boat show is always the first week of March."

Competing events

How close together a facility will book competing events is another critical issue. "I would always ask for at least three months on either side, and I've always been able to get that," says Jerry Van Dijk, CEM, President of Windmill Enterprises, Marshfield, MA. The typical facility policy, however, seems to be for 30 to 45 days on either side.

The Alamodome normally allows 45 days and has never had a problem with that, says Meredith. "We have two home and garden shows, in the spring and fall. Potential competitors have wanted to come in, but in the spring it's tough to get dates because of other things that are going on; and in the fall both shows want October. We give preference to the clients who are already here."

Meredith believes that protection clauses protect facilities as well as show organizers. If a facility has two similar events close together, they are likely to split a potential audience. Thus neither event does well in terms of attendance, and facility revenues are also hurt.

Just because a facility in the city agrees not to book a competing event doesn't mean that another facility in the same city -- or even a facility in a distant city -- may not have a competing event. "At one point, not that many years ago, there were eight boat shows within 150 miles of Boston. It was an absolute nut house!" recalls Van Dijk. A show organizer needs to ask a facility about competitive events, and also needs to do some research to learn when and where other industry events are being held.

A competitive situation can also arise if a facility suddenly decides to move your event to different dates. That's what happened to a gift and jewelry show produced by Helen Brett Enterprises, Lisle, IL. Although the company and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans had agreed to dates in writing, the center moved the November 1996 show almost a month from its original dates, so that it ran concurrently with a competing show in Chicago.

Competitive shows are not your only worry. Other events in a city can compete for attention. For instance, shows booked into facilities in Atlanta during April may run at the same time as Freaknik, a spring break event that draws tens of thousands of often rowdy young people to the city. Local people, as well as those living in the surrounding region, stay far away from downtown during Freaknik -- and they're likely to stay away from your event if it's happening at the same time.

Where's the evidence?

In many cities, the economic impact of an event is based largely on the number of hotel room nights used by attendees. "The economic impact of a consumer show is going to be much less because the room-night usage is not as strong. And a lot of your attendees are from the local area, so they are not going to drop the same kind of additional dollars into the local economy as a large national convention does," says John Oros, Senior Vice President, Convention Development, at the Memphis CVB.

Consumer show producers believe the economic impact of their events is undervalued. Their shows may not use as many hotel rooms, but they provide other revenues. "Not nearly enough independent show producers have been willing to spend money to have economic impact studies done on their events," says John DeSantis, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show. "There are probably hundreds of consumer events in North America that have dramatic and, in their own market, dominant economic impact every single year. Spending $8,000 to $10,000 to have a professional, independent study done is money well spent." DeSantis has commissioned an economic impact study for his show twice since 1991, when a local market research firm asserted that a number of public shows have a significantly higher impact than the majority of conventions (see sidebar).

"We have publicized the original Pittsburgh study heavily within the industry. And each year that we do the update, we publicize it heavily within the local market. As a result, the issue of date protection is dealt with much more sensibly in Pittsburgh than it is in many other cities. Instead of arguing about economic benefits, we work together, on the Pittsburgh Liaison Committee, considering how we can have everything. How can we slide this show around or move that one to accommodate a convention we'd like to accommodate? This process makes sense. We are managing to have both consumer shows and conventions here. That is good for business, and that is what we are all supposed to be talking about. Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on litigation, our Liaison Committee spends $6.50 for coffee and bagels. I think that's money well spent!"

Flexibility is a key word for Frank Farbenbloom, President of SHA-DOR Productions, Rockville, MD. "We understand the mandate of convention centers, and we have tried to be very flexible in our relationships with them," he says. "In Baltimore, for instance, we have a loose agreement that has worked very well. They guarantee us a date within a window of six to eight weeks if we take Labor Day weekend whenever they want us to. This has allowed me to develop the Baltimore Summer Antiques Fair. On the other hand, in a city where I don't have a lot of exhibitors and we are not making much of an impact, I understand if they want to fit us in wherever they can."

Facilities such as the Alamodome have what might be termed a "grandfathering" arrangement with some of their consumer shows. "These are shows that booked with us when the facility opened and have been good for us and will work with us," says Meredith. "We know that if a large convention or concert comes in, we can call them and ask, 'Can you move?' We will guarantee dates to these shows two years out. But, with the home and garden show, we have contacted them within two years and asked if they could move. If they hadn't been able to move, that would have been fine, but they did move. I think we've even called within a year, but they weren't able to move because they had already sent out all their information, and we understood. We want to be able to say we are loyal, and that we have loyal clients. That's what makes a good relationship."

An unpredictable future

There's no doubt that many CVBs, facilities and show organizers will continue to work well together. But there's also no doubt that in many venues date protection issues are likely to get stickier and tricker. And the fallout of actions taken today may not be apparent for several years or more. What happens, for example, to a facility that, through its unwillingness to accommodate the needs of public shows, pushes all those shows into the welcoming arms of a private facility, or a facility in another community?

New factors are also entering the equation, with as-yet-unpredictable results. The current "seller's market" in the hotel industry means that hotels in some cities are reluctant to set aside large room blocks far enough in advance to suit the needs of producers of large events; they're increasing rates dramatically and putting expensive attrition and cancellation clauses into their contracts. Are organizers of large national events going to bypass these cities, thus opening up more dates for smaller trade shows and public shows?

What will be the long-term effects of the boom in convention center construction? Will there be room for everyone, with better protection against competitors and easier access to room blocks by trade shows that can quickly take their business elsewhere? Will negotiations be easier for public shows? Or will they see a shortening of that 18-month window as facilities push harder and longer to bring in out-of-town events?

What will be community reaction -- and political fallout -- if producers of public shows make a stronger case for the economic impact of their events? If they organize local businesses who exhibit in their events and use this clout with the city fathers? If taxpayers learn how much revenue is going to a private facility while the convention center sits empty?

This may well be the perfect time for people on all sides of the issue to put their egos in cold storage and re-evaluate their thinking, for it is likely that those cities, facilities and show producers who have nurtured reputations for fairness, reasonableness and willingness to negotiate will enjoy the most success -- and fewest headaches -- in the years ahead.

Going to the highest bidder

Back in 1993, San Diego-based Brubaker & Associates started to hold a car sale four times a year in San Diego, at what is now called Qualcomm Stadium. "This worked fine until other people said, 'We want to do this, too,'" says President Wayne Brubaker.

Faced with competing events, most facilities stick with the event that already has a track record within the facility -- a policy traditionally known as "right of first refusal." But in San Diego, the City Council decided to put Brubaker's dates out to bid. "We had been paying $36,000 a year -- $9,000 per 3-day event," says Brubaker. "I upped this to $60,000, but another promoter bid $160,000 a year and the City Council accepted his bid. So I am doing my event at the fairgrounds in Del Mar, and all the major dealers are going with me. They were telling me not to fight the issue, to let my competitor have Qualcomm. Nonetheless, I spent easily $20,000 in legal fees and lobbying to try and combat this."

The Del Mar Fairgrounds, about 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego, is not as centrally located as Qualcomm, but it's in a much more affluent area. "The car dealers like it because there are fewer financial turndowns; they are less likely to think they have a sale only to later discover that the person cannot afford the car," says Brubaker.

The true value of an event such as Brubaker's is not just the rental fee (which, by the way, is split among the participating car dealers, so that the higher the rental fee, the higher the initial outlay per dealer). "In California, each time we sell a car, the city gets 1 percent of the 7 percent sales tax. Couple this with revenue from rental of space, and San Diego stands to lose $90,000 each time I do an event in Del Mar."

Proving value to Pittsburgh

"NAACP convention to boost local economy by $13 million," bragged a July 10th newspaper headline. Indeed, it was a significant piece of business for Pittsburgh. But the impact on the local economy would not equal that of a home-grown consumer show -- and the consumer show had figures to prove it.

As in many cities, there was much debate in Pittsburgh concerning the relative merits of consumer shows vs. trade shows and conventions. Unlike other cities, Pittsburgh decided to gather some facts.

In 1991, the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Public Auditorium Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County selected Tripp-Umbach & Associates, a local market research firm that had previously done studies for the CVB, to measure the economic benefits afforded the Pittsburgh area by both types of events. During the 1991-92 season, Tripp-Umbach looked at three consumer shows and five conventions and trade shows that took place in Pittsburgh.

They found that the economic impact of conventions averaged $5.9 million, while consumer shows averaged $4.3 million. But the study noted: "It must not, however, be concluded that a convention is always more beneficial than a public show to the local economy. A number of public shows ... have a substantial impact ... significantly higher than the majority of conventions. The Spring Home & Garden Show, for example, has a $14.6 million annual impact. ... For a convention to have the same impact ... the convention would need to have more than 11,600 attendees, and ... only one of the 21 conventions utilizing the [David L. Lawrence Convention Center] in the study period had attendance in excess of this number."

Tripp-Umbach's economic impact calculations took into account only those dollars coming into the county from outside, so that the impact was a true estimate of the amount of money that flowed into Allegheny County as a result of the events. John DeSantis, Executive Director of the Home & Garden Show, wasn't about to let people say that the study's conclusions were a fluke. "We commissioned Tripp-Umbach to repeat the study for our show in 1994 and 1996, and they will be doing it again in 1998."

Tripp-Umbach's most recent study concluded: "The 1996 Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show increased the city of Pittsburgh's business volume by $8,908,872. This comprised $5.2 million in direct expenditure impact, and a further $3.7 million in local impacts via the re-spending of these expenditures in the local economy (i.e., the multiplier effect). The net effect of the show on Allegheny County's business volume was $17,817,744. In reference to Allegheny County, this comprised $10.5 million in direct expenditure impact, and a further $7.3 million in indirect re-spending."

"Since the summer of 1991," notes DeSantis, "no convention, conference, or trade show in Allegheny County has had an economic impact equal to one Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show. During that time, our show has returned six times, with a combined new-outside-dollars economic impact in excess of $93 million dollars, and total sales by exhibiting firms of more than $350 million dollars."

DeSantis believes that the conclusions of Tripp-Umbach's original study hold true for all but first-tier cities. But no one else has done a similar comparative evaluation, and he wonders: Is it because Pittsburgh got the answer? Or because certain interests in other cities don't want unbiased proof of the value of their consumer shows?