Think you have a hard time keeping your show top-of-mind? Try producing it just once every four years. A case study of how MINExpo makes it work.
By Tom Zind
It's big, makes rare appearances, generates a lot of excitement as it comes closer and typically lives up to its billing. That describes not only Halley’s Comet, but one of the trade show universe’s equivalents: MINExpo (www.minexpo.com), the National Mining Association’s (NMA, www.nma.org) quadrennial event.
A breed apart in many respects — it’s held once every four years and hosts exhibits of impossibly large mining equipment — MINExpo is a super-sized testament to the inherent power and value of trade shows. It’s also a nod to the role of planning, logistics and marketing when it comes to staging a mammoth, but also less frequent expo.
Like most show-sponsoring trade associations, Washington, DC-based NMA places a high value on its expo. But for NMA, which represents producers of coal, precious metals and industrial minerals, MINExpo is outsized in its importance partly because the stakes are so high.
Its infrequency and the resulting need to stage a show worth the wait means NMA must work to ensure exhibitors and attendees get an event that packs the byproducts of four years of industry change into three days. Stage a sub-par show, and it’s nearly half a decade before you have a chance to redeem yourself.
“The show is integral to who we are,” says Moya Phelleps, NMA’s Senior Vice President of member services. “For our exhibitors, it amounts to a very large commitment of time, money and effort to bring products and customers to the show, and they want it to pay dividends. So it’s important for us to be more hands-on than many sponsoring associations in ensuring that everyone we work with to bring it off understands our philosophy and how we want to go about things.”
Since the early 1990s, NMA’s focus has produced increasingly successful and influential shows. First held in 1996 after the NMA was born from the merger of the National Coal Association and the American Mining Congress, MINExpo has grown to become one of just a handful of comprehensive mining industry trade shows staged worldwide. Promoted as “The World’s Richest Deposit of Mining Technology, Services & Products,” NMA claims it’s the largest of the bunch.
The 2008 edition, which will be held Sept. 22-24 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, is on track to significantly outpace the 2004 show, which drew 30,000 attendees and housed 463,000 square feet of exhibit space. As of June, NMA said 22 percent more exhibit space was already sold compared with 2004, a pace that would put total 2008 exhibit space at close to 600,000 square feet occupied by some 1,200 exhibitors.
Planning lead time If this year’s MINExpo eclipses the 2004 show in size and scope, it will be partly due to a robust mining industry driven by spiraling worldwide demand for commodities. But it will also be a byproduct of yet another multi-year cycle of detailed planning and extensive preparation that’s been honed over time. That’s part of the prescription for coordinating the assembly of thousands of far-flung mining industry professionals and hundreds of thousands of tons of equipment in one space, and seizing an every-four-year chance to shine.
Even though MINExpo is high-profile and has become a “can’t miss” show for many, the fact that it’s every four years and poses some special exhibitor needs produces unique planning and marketing hurdles, says MINExpo Managing Director Carol Fojtik, Senior Vice President for Westmont, IL.-based Hall- Erickson, which coordinates exhibitor booth sales and registration for NMA.
“Because it’s every four years, it’s a challenge keeping the next show on the minds of potential exhibitors and attendees,” says Fojtik. “And we really have to keep our finger on the industry’s pulse because so much can change with industry companies and professionals in four year’s time. So we start planning the next show almost immediately after the show ends. The prospectus goes out two years ahead, and we start talking with large exhibitors early to give them the lead time needed for things like pre-selling the equipment they want to exhibit so they can hand it off to a buyer when the show’s over.”
Exhibitors of the large mining equipment that help make the show unique demand a lot of attention, but they’re not the only ones exhibiting. Smaller companies with more traditional products and services that need a standard-sized exhibit space actually take up 60 percent of the show floor, and they can’t be overlooked.
But unlike established machinery companies almost certain to return, those are also the companies that can slip between the cracks of the quadrennial show. As a result, organizers must work to stay current with companies providing all products and services that are in demand. The effects of industry consolidation and an industry revolving door of new and exiting companies on show marketing becomes more magnified with shows that are more infrequent.
“Our goal is always to get a good cross-section of the industry suppliers to the show, and we do try to stay on top of what’s going to be of interest to attendees,” Fojtik says. “This year, for example, safety is a top-of-mind issue for mine operators so we’ve made an extra effort to get more companies addressing that need to exhibit at the show.”
Many that have been successfully targeted, however, have landed on a long waiting list for the September show. As of June, heavy demand for space and reduced capacity at the convention center had put about 160 companies in a queue headed by past exhibitors that are given priority until a commitment cutoff date.
The four-year interval between shows also poses a challenge in selling exhibit space. Sales typically begin two years out, a time when the industry might be in notably better or worse shape than when the show rolls around. “The selling cycle means that the strength of exhibit sales reflects how well the industry is doing when that selling period begins,” Phelleps says.
Set up challenges Getting exhibitors signed up for MINExpo is just the beginning of NMA’s challenge. Mining machinery suppliers typically deliver equipment to the site in components and assemble and prep it outside the exhibit hall. From there, it’s slowly moved into position on the show floor — a process that can take a month or more.
Well in advance of the show, NMA must have the assembly space secured. Its longtime show general contractor, GES Exhibition Services Inc., Las Vegas, (www.ges.com) must be poised and ready to provide assistance tailored to each exhibitor’s unique needs on not only the front end, but the back end as well, where tear down is measured in days, not weeks.
“We’ve steadily gotten better at handling the logistics of set up and take down partly because over the course of time GES has become very experienced and skilled in determining the best way to do it,” Phelleps says.
That expertise is critical for marketers of large equipment, for whom MINExpo provides a critical link to customers that’s hard to establish any other way. One such company, Liebherr Mining Equipment Co., (www.liebherr.com) Newport News, VA, views MINExpo as an unparalleled showcase for highlighting its extensive array of specialized mining and quarry equipment. “Large equipment generally can’t be taken to the customer’s site to be demonstrated, but thousands can view equipment at a trade show and compare features of various manufacturers,” says Liebherr spokesperson Merilee Hunt.
With four years standing between them and the next MINExpo, exhibitors are anxious to make the most of the show. Those who’ve spent a small fortune sending equipment want a payback, and the more numerous smaller exhibitors worry about being overshadowed by larger exhibitors. That’s part of the reason NMA stages a complementary two-day exhibitor’s briefing almost a year before the show aimed at giving exhibitors information they need to get the most from the experience.
At the 2008 briefing in January, more than 100 exhibitors learned strategies for succeeding at MINExpo, including how small exhibitors can stand out in a big show, how large exhibitors can manage their presence and how both can measure ROI. A speaker who routinely participates, Doug MacLean, of MacLean Marketing, a Columbia, SC, show consultant, credits NMA for its exemplary exhibitor outreach. “Among association show sponsors what they do is unusual,” MacLean says. “They really open up the doors and say, ‘here’s all the information we can give you.’ They want people to succeed.”
Attendance marketing Contrary to what many might expect, it turns out that that interval between shows doesn’t present a huge obstacle for promoting attendance for the NMA, which coordinates marketing and communications for the event. In fact, the gap might well ratchet up anticipation to a level almost guaranteed to draw a crowd.
“People remember the show and are generally impressed by it, so it’s not a major challenge in terms of keeping the show in front of people,” Phelleps says. “Word-of-mouth among exhibitors and attendees helps make it a show that’s considered a must to attend.”
But that hardly means NMA sits back and waits for attendees to dutifully register. Though institutional knowledge of the show is solid, industry consolidation, mining company employee turnover and the churn of new and exiting businesses means NMA must work to ensure MINExpo’s attendance doesn’t fall victim to “out-of-sight, out-of-mind.” The importance of aggressively marketing the show to attendees is suggested by an Exhibit Surveys Inc. (www.exhibitsurveys.com) statistic showing 38 percent of 2004 attendees decided to attend just two months before the show.
At the 2004 show, 46 percent of the nearly 27,000 attendees were first-timers. Much of that is due to industry personnel turnover and attrition, Phelleps says, but it also is a byproduct of increased outreach to new attendees in a show marketing program whose budget has slowly increased.
For most of the intervening four years between shows, NMA does little to aggressively promote attendance at the next MINExpo. But beginning about 18 months out, the association begins promoting the event via print advertising in industry trade publications and Web sites, as well as in direct mail and e-mail communications designed as teasers that encourage a show Web site visit. “The mining community is very Internetfocused, so our show marketing program is designed to drive people to the Web site for show details as well as registration and show information,” she says. “Our data indicate that more than 90 percent of the registrations for the 2004 show were done online through the MINExpo Web site.”
A post-show attendee survey in 2004 revealed that 56 percent learned about the show from an NMA mailing. Another 35 percent said they heard about it from a friend or associate, 21 percent from an exhibitor mailing, 21 percent from a trade publication ad, and 12 percent from the MINExpo Web site.
Trade publication advertising is also important. Leading up to the 2008 show, some 200 ads were scheduled for placement in some 40 publications between August 2007 and August 2008. NMA’s aggressive efforts to generate advance show coverage, as well as its advertising placements in industry publications, opens the door for exhibitors to place their own advertising that ties in the show, their exhibition plans and products and services they’re trying to promote.
In addition, publication Web sites have carried MINExpo banner ads that link to the show Web site, readily extending the show’s promotional reach to increasingly important international attendees. They comprised 21 percent of MINExpo attendees at the 2004 show, and are expected to account for even more in 2008, Phelleps says.
Exhibitors also help bolster show attendance by inviting representatives of companies that represent them and help them sell their products. “Many use the show as an opportunity to bring dealers in from all over the world and let them see their new equipment and technologies that are coming on board,” says Fojtik.
That exhibitors see the show as a gathering place for farflung associates and customers is a testimony to MINExpo’s stature. While some shows — mostly overseas events — cater to a similar audience and host large mining equipment exhibits, MINExpo is one of a kind in North America, a fact that contributes to its allure and ability to draw attendees in spite of its infrequency. Other mining industry shows, some of which are held annually, are generally regional and exhibitions are of a much smaller scale than MINExpo.
That translates to a highly loyal and committed audience. The Exhibit Surveys post-2004 show survey found 44 percent of attendees had not attended any other show in the prior year, significantly higher than other shows it tracks.
Longtime attendees like Dave Bierbauer, vice president of safety for NMA member Peabody Energy, St. Louis, characterizes MINExpo as the premier industry show that can’t be missed. And Bierbauer doesn’t think the four-year interval is a drawback. Instead, it implies that the show is special, and, unlike annual shows, can’t easily be skipped. “With shows held year after year you get so much that’s repetitious that it’s hard for people to find anything new,” he says. “But at MINExpo you’re almost guaranteed to find something new every time.”
MINExpo’s stature also is elevated by the fact that it’s the only event of its kind that NMA sponsors. As part of a shift in recent years to orient itself more to lobbying, regulatory issues and general industry representation, NMA has de-emphasized member events and meetings, including an annual convention that’s been disbanded. That has left MINExpo standing as the association’s single big event aimed at helping members connect with each other and suppliers.
“MINExpo is a very important revenue source for our organization, but our annual budget is derived mostly from member dues,” Phelleps says. “It would be very hard to run an association on revenue from a quadrennial show.”
NMA also uses MINExpo to fulfill its educational role. Some 20 educational sessions on industry topics of interest to members are held prior to the opening of the exhibit hall; none are held concurrently with the expo dates. Those sessions, which can be used to help members fulfill specific professional development goals, are another attendee draw. In addition, NMA uses the expo as a forum for a state-of-the-industry press conference that provides an overview of industry trends and future challenges.
“One of our goals is to use the show as a forum to talk about the industry, and this year the focus will be on how well we’re doing globally,” Phelleps says.
Making a better show experience Recognizing the need for exhibitors and attendees to hit the ground running when the show starts, NMA has grown more resourceful in developing programs aimed at bringing both sides closer. This year, for instance, attendees are being queried at registration about what they want to see at the show. NMA show partner, CompuSystems Inc., Broadview, IL, (www.compusystems.com) compiles the information and develops a list of exhibitors that match the attendee’s interests. A month before the show, NMA will send an e-mail to the attendee with a list of suggested vendors.
“It’s a new thing for us aimed at actively trying to help advance some of the matchmaking at the show by helping attendees with some of their pre-show homework,” Phelleps says. “We want to help both maximize their use of time at the show.”
Another key piece of the communications puzzle is keeping exhibitors aware of the value of attending the show. Organizers tap Exhibit Surveys Inc. to quantify who attends the show and why. That information is readily shared with exhibitors.
“Exhibitors are very interested in our show demographics,” says Fojtik. “We’re very up front with information about who our audience is.”
While many show elements change from edition to edition, and four years gives NMA ample time to mull options, some MINExpo features and realities are almost set in stone. For instance, though it’s been debated, the four-year interval looks safe. It reflects the industry’s product development cycle and keeps costs down for exhibitors.
“Any closer together, and there would be fewer large equipment exhibitors, and they present a heavy draw,” says Leibherr’s Hunt.
“I think the four-year schedule creates an anticipation factor that you don’t get as easily with an annual show,” says Phelleps. “It may be easier for someone to say, ‘I went last year, I can’t find the time to fit it in this year.’"
Tom Zind is a freelance business writer based in Lee’s Summit, MO. He can be reached at tomzind@att.net. Show at a glance Name: MINExpo Web site:www.minexpo.com Frequency: Every four years. Duration: Three days for the 2008 show, Sept. 22-24, down from four days in 2004. Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, the show’s home for the last three shows. Attendance: Some 30,000 from all segments of the metallic ore, coal and minerals mining industry. Executives of mining operations or those involved in production/operations/ maintenance comprise 70 percent of attendees. Almost half don’t attend any other industry shows. Exhibit space: About 465,000 square feet in 2004; between 575,000 and 600,000 projected for 2008. Exhibitors: Anticipated 1,200 for 2008, including marketers of full range of products and services for the mining industry.
Heavy equipment is a constant presence at MINExpo Massive mining equipment doesn’t just define MINExpo and loom large on the expo show floor. It also casts a large shadow over show planning.
This year, outdoor space in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center the show normally uses for equipment displays wasn’t available due to renovations. So organizers had to find 60,000 square feet of space inside the hall.
“In a year when the industry is doing well that cut out a lot of space we could have sold, and that produced a waiting list as long as we’ve ever had,” says show Managing Director Carol Fojtik of Hall-Erickson.
Ultimately, some indoor space was freed up by moving some equipment displays to outdoor space behind the center. But organizers resisted moving them all to a separate south building because it would have siphoned off traffic from the main exhibit hall.
“We wanted all exhibitors to enjoy good traffic density,” Fojtik says. “The money we could have gotten by freeing up main hall space would have been nice, but we didn’t think it was worth the risk of alienating exhibitors.”
The logistics of moving heavy machinery also puts the show at the mercy of the nation’s transportation network. Labor strikes, spiraling energy costs, natural disasters or other disruptions could affect exhibitors’ ability to transport gear to the show site.
Securing a venue capable of handling such large equipment also reduces organizers’ site selection flexibility. The Las Vegas Convention Center is currently the only exhibit hall that meets the criteria. Having that space available means committing a long time out.
“We have tentative dates scheduled with Las Vegas through 2020,” says Moya Phelleps, Senior Vice President of member services for the National Mining Association.
And large equipment, while a sight to behold, can also be a distraction. For that reason, the expo prescribes specific methods for controlling noise to keep floor sound at 80 decibels. Keeping equipment within the confines of being mostly seen, not heard, helps ensure the show’s goal of creating an atmosphere conducive to business.
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