November/December 2005
4 Outsourcing Strategies That Work
Once viewed as a cost-cutting measure, outsourcing part or all of your show management has proven to be smart strategy for some associations that have taken advantage of expert knowledge while allowing staff to stay focused on organizational objectives. Find out why outsourcing vs. staffing up works for these associations.
By Nancy Mann Jackson



The economy has picked up, but many show producers are still hooked on outsourcing rather than hiring new staff. According to a recent EXPO survey (see Marketwatch: Staffing, EXPO, September 2005), show organizers plan to spend an average of $80,000 on third-party vendors this year, and 27 percent expect their third-party budgets to increase in 2006. Once viewed as a cost-cutting measure, outsourcing part or all of your show management has proven to be smart strategy for some associations that have taken advantage of expert knowledge while allowing staff to stay focused on organizational objectives. 

“Outsourcing allows the organization to concentrate on the goals of the association mission,” says Meg Ellacott, President of Ellacott Productions, which provides space sales, marketing and management services for trade shows. “Certain components of the show can be easily and successfully outsourced to someone with extensive experience more cost-effectively and efficiently than performing these myriad tasks in-house.”

Most organizations don’t take an “all-or-nothing” approach to outsourcing. Instead, the shows that really succeed with outsourcing are those that know which tasks they can master in-house and which ones are better provided by a partner. The following case studies offer a look at five associations that are finding success by focusing on their strengths and relinquishing other components of the show to trusted partners. Find out why outsourcing vs. staffing up works for these associations.

Outsourcing Conference Program
Organization: Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA, www.dema.org)
Staff Size: 6
Show Stats: More than 10,000 attendees; 600 exhibiting companies; 250,000 net square feet.

Outsourcing Relationship: DEMA works with National Trade Productions (NTP, www.ntpshow.com) to manage its conference program, including locating qualified speakers and programs that fit the association’s objectives; scheduling programs according to DEMA’s specifications for the show; scheduling exhibitor-sponsored seminars; and managing speaker contracts and hotel and travel arrangements.

Why They Outsource: Producing a major trade show can be a challenge for an association with a small staff, especially when that staff is relatively new or inexperienced with trade shows. “We chose to outsource our conference program because of the relative size of our organization; we’re a small association producing a trade-only show to help grow our industry,” says Tom Ingram, Executive Director of DEMA. “Most of the staff was new to the association and the trade show at the time we signed on with NTP for our 2003 show. We had limited experience in bringing conferences to our members.”

Results: According to Ingram, working with NTP has brought about a number of positive changes for DEMA’s show. “The appearance of our conference programs has taken a turn for the professional, and NTP provides us with promotional expertise that they’ve gained in working with other shows,” he says. “The level of speakers has been elevated because of the connections that NTP has with qualified speakers from other industries that mesh well within ours, and because of NTP’s connections in other industries, we’ve been able to develop great relationships with our speakers and refine their conferences to meet our association’s needs. This saves us time and money while bringing the best possible speakers and topics to our attendees.”

In addition, outsourcing has freed DEMA to “concentrate on the strategic growth and direction of our conference program, rather than on the day-to-day management of speakers,” Ingram says.

Greatest Challenge: For Ingram, communication is of utmost importance — while it’s crucial to communicate the association’s needs and the nuances of the industry with the management company, another communication challenge is to make sure other stakeholders understand the outsourcing relationship. It’s a real challenge to “make certain our exhibitors and attendees realize how closely we work with our management company, and that conference offerings and opportunities promoted by NTP really come from the association,” he says.

Outsourcing Trade Show Management
Organization: American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE, www.ashe.org) of the American Hospital Association
Staff Size: 15
Show Stats: ASHE’s Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition: 1,400 attendees; 375 exhibitor booths; 60,000 net square feet. The organization’s International Conference and Exhibition on Healthcare Facility Planning, Design and Construction: 1,400 attendees; 275 exhibitors; 50,000 net square feet.

Outsourcing Relationship: ASHE works with SmithBucklin (www.smithbucklin.com) to handle trade show management services. SmithBucklin focuses on exhibit booth sales, trade show operations, security and exhibitor customer service for ASHE and also works with the organization on marketing and communications.

Why They Outsource: ASHE’s primary focus is on achieving significant growth and expansion in the healthcare facilities management and engineering field, and the association stays busy with new initiatives in education, member benefits and member outreach. As a result, ASHE “needed experts in trade show management so that we could remain focused on expanding our current staff responsibilities and still maximize the value of our exhibit shows,” says Kate Wickham, Director of Operations for ASHE.

Why It Works: For ASHE, the outsourcing partnership works because it offers a perfect mix of the right expertise. “SmithBucklin helps us blend their knowledge of trade show management with our industry knowledge to develop innovative ideas,” Wickham says. “These ideas help us provide greater benefits to our exhibitors and more valuable experiences for our conference attendees, and growth for our organization.”

Results: “SmithBucklin is very much a part of our team,” Wickham says. “They’re essentially an extension of our staff. Through our close collaboration, we’ve achieved significant growth in the last few years.” As a result, the shows have realized approximately 35 percent to 40 percent growth over the past three years.

Advice for Others: “Selecting a company that you can trust and depend on is the most important factor,” Wickham says. “It’s important to work with a company that has a good understanding of your industry and member needs and understands how to work with you to develop new market segments. Select a company that can truly become part of your team. Doing so will make them an invaluable asset in both the growth and the quality of your show.”

Outsourcing Marketing
Organization: National Mining Association (NMA, www.nma.org)
Staff Size: 35
Staff Dedicated to Show: 2
Show Stats: 30,000 attendees; 1,226 exhibitors; 463,000 net square feet.

Outsourcing Relationship: Frost Miller Group (www.frostmiller.com) handles all marketing and promotions for MINExpo, including exhibit sales, promotional pieces including print and online ads, Web site design, and template design for an electronic exhibitor newsletter.

Why They Outsource: Because MINExpo only occurs every four years, its planning cycle is long, and NMA doesn’t have a large staff dedicated to the show. In an effort to make best use of available staff resources, NMA “took a look at our services and programs and decided that marketing and promotion was something we could outsource,” says Moya Phelleps, Vice President of Manufacturers and Services at NMA. “It’s an area where we can’t justify a full-time person, and it’s a great way to get the expertise we need, fresh ideas and different perspectives.”

Why It Works: NMA’s relationship with Frost Miller is effective for the same reasons a good marriage lasts — compatibility and commitment. “Frost Miller’s proposal was within our comfort level,” Phelleps says. “We felt comfortable in terms of their ideas and our ability to communicate with them.”

Also, both parties view the partnership as long term. For example, after Frost Miller developed promotional materials for the 2004 show, it sent staff members to attend the show, not only to learn more about the industry but also to work with the association’s photographer to capture the shots they would need to create effective marketing products for the next show.

“When we outsource, we really look at firms that will be long-term partners with us,” Phelleps says. “If we meet our goals, we’re not going to reinvent the wheel and send out an RFP again. If we can look at the firms as partners, we can then spend time improving and growing our show and not educating new partners about it all the time.”

Results: NMA’s work with Frost Miller “exceeded our expectations,” Phelleps says. “They brought a refreshing, cohesive look to all our materials and helped us reduce printing and mailing costs. They also brought a different perspective to the show. We can be very conservative, but they’ve given us some ideas to think about so we might be more adventuresome in 2008.”

Greatest Challenge: “Whatever you’re outsourcing, the key is to find a firm that understands you as a client and is willing to partner with you to help reach your goals,” Phelleps says. “It’s a challenge to find a partner that will understand your overarching goal, as well as your individual goals for each project.”

Outsourcing Floor Management
Organization: Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, www.ce.org)
Staff Size: 130
Show Stats: 2,500 exhibiting companies; 130,000 attendees; 1.5 million square feet.

Outsourcing Relationship: CEA works with several floor managers, such as Sam Lippman with integrated show management & marketing (ism2). Each is hired individually as an independent contractor. “Most have been floor managing for several years and work on many other trade shows,” says Laurie Lutz, Director of Operations for CEA. “In total, we hire 56 people — four facility managers, 20 floor managers, 15 floor assistants, eight security, and nine people to manage our various show management and security offices.”

Why They Outsource: With a full-time operations staff of only four people, CES needs outside floor managers “to be our eyes and ears on the show floor and help exhibitors during move-in and move-out,” Lutz says. “Most are experts in managing the show floor and know who the right people are to talk to when an exhibitor needs help. They also monitor exhibitor set-up to make sure everyone is following show rules.”

Why It Works: The arrangement works nicely for CES, because the show is so large and requires many more workers than the association needs to keep on staff all year. “CES has hired floor managers and other on-site staff for as long as anyone here can remember,” Lutz says. “This past year, we had one of our old timers retire after working with CES for over 30 years. As the show has grown over the past 39 years, so has our on-site staff.”

Results: CES has outsourced for so long with such success that it seems less like a unique strategy and simply like good business. “It really is a key to helping us run the on-site operations,” Lutz says. “With a staff of four, we could never manage the show floor without contractors. We have very little turnover, and most of the floor managers have been doing CES for years and years. They’re like family to us.”

Greatest Challenge: For CES, the largest hurdle is “getting everyone on the same page in a very short amount of time,” Lutz says. “Communication is key when we get on site. You’ve got 56 people coming together for the first time since the past show, and we immediately have to get them up to speed with floor plans, exhibitor lists, schedule of events, everything. The thing that has really worked best for us is kicking things off at the start of move-in with a floor management orientation seminar. We prepare binders with all the important information in advance and bring everyone together on site to say hello and run through everything top to bottom. We also review their responsibilities and our expectations of them.”

Outsourcing BOOTH SALES
Organization: Autism Society of America (ASA, www.autism-society.org)
Staff Size: 13
Show Stats: 1,850 attendees; 135 exhibiting companies in 150 booths; 15,000 net square feet

Outsourcing Relationship: ASA works with Meg Ellacott of Ellacott Productions to handle exhibit sales for its annual conference.

Why They Outsource: “ASA feels that outsourcing is a very cost-effective way to achieve a professional sales force without the additional overhead,” says Edward Shipley, ASA’s Director of Conferences. “ASA has always worked to keep the full-time, in-office staff small in order to best utilize limited funds for education and outreach to the autism community. Moreover, ASA has limited office space and is not looking to take on additional rent and equipment, so it’s a win-win situation. We get professionals with years of experience at a lower cost to the association.”

Why It Works: After rethinking its outsourcing strategy, ASA made some changes and found that using experts in various areas was the right approach. Prior to 2004, ASA used a management company to assist with 80 percent to 90 percent of the conference, Shipley says. “It was the ‘all the eggs in one basket’ problem,” he says. “That company was fine but the focus was not on any particular aspect. ASA now uses an exhibit sales company, a separate design and printing company, a separate registration company, and a separate abstract submission management company. ASA gets better service for attendees, exhibitors and speakers because those companies just focus on one aspect and know how to do that one thing well.”

Results: The ASA show started in 1987 with five booths. In 2003, the show had grown to 45 companies. But with the help of Ellacott Productions, the show grew to 135 exhibitors in 150 booths this year. While it’s not exactly a mega-show, the growth has been fast and steady, and ASA is more than pleased. “I think the results speak for themselves,” Shipley says. “Meg Ellacott and Ellacott Productions have more or less tripled the ASA trade show floor. They know when to push for that second booth, ask for that sponsorship, ask for the advertising, and more importantly, when not to ask. Most of the time, I want to say ‘no’ right away, and Meg Ellacott suggests other ways that the situation could be handled so that everyone gets something in the end.”

Advice for Others: “Start with whichever area is your or your organization’s biggest nightmare,” Shipley says. “If your exhibitors are happy with your in-house sales but your registration lines have been miles long with uncountable mistakes, put registration outside the organization. If your magazine or newsletter sales department doesn’t have the skills to sell a trade show and they complain about it every year, outsource it to the professionals who know trade shows. Selling a magazine ad is not the same as selling a space on a trade show floor or a sponsorship.”