March 2007
Growing Globally: It can be done but is it worth it

It depends. But there’s no doubt that building your international exhibitor and attendee base will take money, time and resources. To help you determine if it’s worth the cost and effort, EXPO offers this step-by-step guide for attracting international exhibitors and attendees to your U.S. show.

By Maxine Golding

Just six months before Walt Bishop needed to hire an international consultant, Cherif Moujabber sat down with Bishop’s predecessor at the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI, www.plasticsindustry.org). With seemingly no need for Moujabber’s services, the meeting came…and went. Yet less than a year later, Bishop, as SPI’s Vice President – Trade Shows, and Moujabber would be traveling the world together.

Like many shows, SPI’s NPE 2000 rode the crest: 95,000 visitors and 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space. When the triennial convened in 2003, those high-water marks had receded. Attendance dropped 30 percent and square footage slipped 8 percent. More importantly, new manufacturing bases and competitive markets were emerging around the globe. It was time for the NPE show to alter its course, and its international component was one that the volunteer committee targeted for growth.

Bishop and SPI’s newly hired international consultant went to work. Within two years, their achievements were substantial: exhibiting companies from China grew from two in 2003 to 122 in 2006, and 14 pavilions represented Austria, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain, and Taiwan. The number of international visitors quadrupled, many coming as part of 26 formal delegations. The return on investment? Easily two times.

Could an investment in building your international exhibitor and attendee base pay off for your show? It depends. There’s no doubt an international growth strategy will take money, time and resources. To help you determine if it’s worth the cost and effort, EXPO offers this step-by-step guide for attracting international exhibitors and attendees to your U.S. show.

Step 1: Do the research.
The decision to invest in a program to draw or increase international exhibitors and attendees is often obvious, although not always quantifiable. Look at:
• Export/import statistics. Gathered by U.S. government agencies, marketing companies, industry publications and research organizations, this data can help pinpoint countries with the greatest potential. “We back up everything we do with large-scale analysis, which includes in-person interviews and continuous queries to the customer base to support the direction the conference is taking or point toward a course correction,” says Jamil Moledina, Executive Director, Game Developers Conference (www.cmp.com).
• Activity abroad. As manufacturing moves overseas, where in Asia and Europe are shows expanding? Reed Exhibitions noticed, and its National Hardware Show began to tap growing manufacturing bases in Eastern Europe and Vietnam.
• Show trends. The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT, www.nasft.org) saw mainstay exhibitors from Italy, France and Greece diminish at the largest of its three shows. Participation in several international trade shows helped the organization identify emerging markets, such as China and Brazil. What would it take to get them to participate? “If we put the right resources against this, we could really capitalize on the potential,” says Chris Nemchek, Vice President of Exhibition Management.

Step 2: Take an incremental approach.
Any U.S. show just beginning this process cannot hope to cover the world. It has to build a base and overcome language, travel and cost barriers.
The research exploration phase could take a year or two, says consultant Jim Boney of Global Trade Development Inc., followed by a beginning strategy of two years per major market — five to seven years to truly internationalize the event. “You study what to do, where to do it, when to do it,” he explains. “Then you measure results from each effort, developing your ‘best practices’ model, to replicate successful approaches and avoid repeating mistakes.”

The closest and biggest U.S. trade partner — Canada — delivers almost half of international attendance at most U.S. shows, according to Moujabber. Yet many shows treat our northern neighbor as if it were part of the United States. As for countries with real buzz today, think “BRIC”: Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Global for years, the Gaming Developers Conference found it was missing a potent market — Japan. Moledina did not attempt to target a single icon as a lightning rod for others, but to formulate a multi-prong approach. He selected Japan in his first year with the show, China the second year, and Korea this past year.

He and colleagues met with game developers on their home turf to make them comfortable with the show. They developed Japanese, Chinese and Korean versions of the show’s Web site. They provided attendees and exhibitors from these countries with customized itineraries. A Japanese orientation was scheduled the first day of the conference. An invitation-only “East Meets West” reception brought together everyone coming from Japan, China and Korea, as well as select vendors and speakers from the western community. Simultaneous wireless translation was offered in Japanese (all sessions) and Korean (one day). And this year a trilingual (Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and English) east-meets-west liaison was hired.
“SPI focused on five countries where it could place the most fruitful effort: China and India because of their population boom; Brazil for its growing manufacturing base and visitor potential; Germany and Japan,” says Bishop. “I raised an eyebrow when the volunteer committee suggested Germany, as I thought we were saturated with exhibits from there,” he recalls. That was true for large OEMs, but auxiliary companies provided a “target-rich environment.” The same held true in Japan, and now countries such as Vietnam and Korea are approaching SPI.

NASFT cast a wider net. It identified existing countries that needed rejuvenation (Italy, France, Greece and Spain) and countries within regions where it was not well represented (China, Japan, Korea and Thailand; and Brazil, Argentina and Chile).

Expect surprises. “We know Japan has great potential, but so far we have not had great success in attracting Japanese exporters to its Fancy Food Show. It will take much longer and require more resources to create relationships,” says Nemchek. “We weren’t targeting the Middle East at the beginning, but we’re now finding some success in Egypt and Jordan.”

Step 3: Set measurable goals.
That’s easy to say, hard to execute. When NASFT began its initiative in 2002, its hope was to increase international participation from 33 percent of exhibit space to 40 percent. “We had no real science behind it, just our sense that emerging markets were underrepresented — or not represented at all,” says Nemchek. Still, it was enough for the association’s board to support the investment. Three years into it, NASFT surpassed its goal, boosting countries at the summer show from 37 to more than 70.

SPI, too, had no idea what to expect from its “noble experiment.” Anecdotal discussions with companies led the organization to feel confident that the dynamics of the U.S. market would be attractive to foreign manufacturers. The plan: throw a net in the water and catch as many exhibitors as possible.

Take aim at bellwether companies. “You want good quality exhibitors, not necessarily big numbers,” says Stephen Sind, President & CEO, Global Event Strategies. Some may have U.S. offices and already participate in your show through a subsidiary or distributor.

Different from exhibitors, international visitors should be looked at as value added to the show. For one of Sind’s clients, the prospective exhibitors are based in Europe, but the Latin American market was selected as a prime target for attendees. The reason? “It adds value for both U.S. exhibitors and new European exhibitors looking to grow beyond U.S. borders,” he says.

Above all, maintain year-to-year statistics wherever possible, says Boney. For example, same exhibitors at different shows, same attendees at different shows, number of national pavilions, revenues by categories and market areas, leads generated by exhibitors according to attendee groups, level of buying power, number of countries and regions, interest in the show, repeat visits and perception of success.

Step 4: Allocate a realistic budget.
Not only are international efforts expensive, you have to stay with the investment long enough for it to bear fruit.
Moledina built a lot of dependencies into his budget to account for sky-high costs of flights and accommodations, plus costs of materials in translation, translators who understand terminology and exhibits abroad. “The first year taught me exactly what I needed the following year,” he explains.
NASFT increased its expenditures year-over-year in the first three years of its efforts, exceeding budget the first two years. “The investment has to go toward acquiring experience and knowledge about how to do business differently in different parts of the world, like Asia and South America,” Nemchek says.

SPI had not budgeted for any of Bishop’s travel prior to launching its new strategy, nor had it projected expectations. On reflection, he would have set square footage goals for each trip and created a time line and benchmarks for getting agents on board. 

Variables that can’t be easily budgeted include agent commissions (if tiered) and travel and marketing costs associated with attending or exhibiting at shows in targeted countries. Will you need a booth or hold a reception? Who goes (you, the agent, others from the U.S. office) and for how long?

Step 5: Visit the targeted countries and primary influencers.
Nothing replaces the in-person visit in effectiveness. Show organizers must attend the largest related exhibitions in the countries of interest to gain familiarity with companies and how they exhibit. SPI did that and held press conferences to explain NPE to exhibiting companies.

While in country, show organizers must meet with government agencies responsible for helping companies access the U.S. market and with U.S. commercial offices. This helps them gain market knowledge first-hand and create buzz for their show. The commercial counsel can identify specific companies and contacts and feed information about the U.S. show to its other offices and to trade organizations that may be instrumental in putting together visitor groups or pavilions. 

Planning a pavilion with a foreign entity entails long lead time, since budgets and company participation must be settled far in advance (see sidebar, page 33). “Foreign governments need to be given some type of rationale for how this show will benefit their country and industry,” says Bishop.
Rather than continue to rely solely on such government

agencies for outreach, NASFT decided to bring its message directly to manufacturers and exporters. With the agencies’ help, the association puts on awareness conferences, informing its target audience about the U.S. specialty food market and educating them on compliance with U.S. food packaging and labeling regulations. From two to six conferences, as short as an hour or as long as all day, take place each year in countries from Thailand to Serbia, and Chile to South Africa. They coincide with other events, and some are organized by a government export promotion agency.
Two key points: Don’t go one time and give up. Expect everything to take more time.

Step 6: Reach out to related associations.
Try something on a small scale first. Moledina’s conference exchanged speakers with one partner, then ramped up other marketing elements. After initiating relations with the Japanese chapter of the International Game Developers Association, Moledina negotiated a co-marketing agreement aimed at locals. He has worked similar deals in China and Korea.

When SPI made connections with industry associations abroad that produced their own shows, Bishop had to convince them that his show was not a threat. “We explained that we were looking for cooperation — to improve their exposure in the United States and ours there,” he says. Early successes gave SPI a shot of optimism.

The results were impressive at NPE 2006: a 65,000-square-foot pavilion combining the China Plastics Machine Industry Association, China Engineering Plastics Industry Association and China Shenzhen Machinery Association; and a 12,000-square-foot pavilion of exhibitors from India, arranged through the All India Plastics Manufacturers Association. And in 28 international visitor delegations, 30 percent were first-timers. Now, SPI is setting up association-to-association meetings in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland to encourage members to visit NPE 2009.

Even with a long-time in-house international specialist and offices around the globe, Reed Exhibitions (www.reedexpo.com) embraces partnerships. Starting in 2004, the National Hardware Show joined with Praktical World to co-promote each other’s shows, and also forged agreements with Cologne shows Spoga+Gafa, says Rob Cappiello, Industry Vice President. Also since 2004, the show hosts open-to-buy days for the Presidents Council, a worldwide organization of retail executives, and assists with plane fare and rooms for important delegates. In 2007, international exhibitors will represent 18 percent of floor space and about one-quarter of the exhibitors.

Step 7: Hire agents in country.
“Sometimes there’s so much potential that we can’t do just one trip a year,” Nemchek says. “That’s when we need someone on
the ground.”

Building an international sales force will be difficult, costly and time-consuming. If you don’t know someone who works with agents, ask the foreign country’s embassy or U.S. commercial office there for recognized agents, as well as any complaints received. “The good thing about hiring agents,” says Sind, “is that what they produce covers their cost. It’s better to get 75 percent of something than 100 percent of nothing.”

Nemchek favors small, one- or two-person operations. “I don’t feel there’s enough focus on my events when you’re one of many in a portfolio,” he says. A recommendation from the Thai Food Export Association resulted in 35 Thai exporters exhibiting at the Summer Fancy Food Show, a “home run” within the first year of NASFT’s relationship with the agent. But that’s the exception and not the rule, he was quick to say. Look for candidates with:
• Multilingual capabilities.
• Good communication skills.
• Experience living in other cultures.
• Strong sales background.
• Specialization in exhibit sales and marketing; if they can’t speak the lingo of the U.S. show manager, they won’t work out.
• Level of expertise. If they’ve never organized a pavilion in the United States, steer clear. “Experience again and again is the difference,” Moujabber says.

Examine their portfolios. Observe how they operate. Check their references. That’s why it can take a couple of years to find the right agent. When a decision is made, contract with the agents in U.S. dollars and clearly set the terms of how they’ll be paid. NASFT tries to make the contracts uniform and exclusive to the country, and the rates tiered. The more exhibitors (and new exhibitors) they sign up, the more they make.
For the next NPE cycle, each agent will be asked to increase square footage by at least 15 percent, either in pavilions or independent booths. And while Bishop would like to see similar results for attendees, “that’s a hard number to track,” he says. So agents at least will be expected to increase their efforts to promote show attendance.

Step 8: Dedicate a champion on staff.
For international exhibits, that could be the show director or sales manager. The responsibility for international attendee promotion would likely fall to the marketing department.

Nemchek wasn’t long into the process when he realized that the efforts were taking off. He needed to put agents in countries and select someone to manage and support them (now numbering 11) with materials and advertising to help them sell. He added two staff people and restructured his sales department so no one is exclusively international or domestic; everyone has a piece of each. “That way, the expertise is spread around the organization,” he says.

Communicating with agents is “a very intense process,” Sind says. “If you get agents on the phone once a week, they’ll remember your show rather than those who call once a month.” Agents should attend the U.S. event, contribute field knowledge and take part in decision-making. Moledina uses his local agents to get “more granular data” about new developments, as well as source speakers.

Adapt the domestic exhibit sales time line to avoid what Bishop calls eleventh-hour crunches. “While we technically can’t start sales until the floor plan is laid out,” he says, “interest arousal can start tomorrow.”

Step 9: Use international media to generate visibility.
Trade-out deals can help keep advertising and promotional costs to a minimum. Publishers can provide ad space, editorial coverage and access to prospective exhibitors and attendees in exchange for registration at the U.S. show, media sponsorship and booth space.

U.S. shows need to start feeding attendee information to the market at least eight months out — and with the U.S. visa situation, even earlier. For the Game Developers Conference, Moledina initiated an extensive public relations effort in Japan, interviewing with prominent publications there about relevant local issues. Once speakers were confirmed, a large postcard previewing the conference was distributed at a Japanese videogame show as part of a trade agreement with that show producer. This brought a “sizable increase in response,” he says.

There’s also serendipity: On Bishop’s last trip to China, he readily agreed when a Chinese company asked if it could accompany him on all his stops and produce a podcast, a kind of “Where’s Walt.” It drew valuable attention to the NPE show.

Step 10: Seize new opportunities.
Not only is SPI starting international exhibit sales earlier (about 24 months out) for its 2009 triennial, it will release agents to sell a much smaller show in 2008, Plastics USA. “It’s not NPE, and we don’t want to get their hopes up,” says Bishop. “But at the conclusion of the 2006 show, many companies, particularly from China and India, asked, ‘When is the next show?’ So we expect fairly decent international representation at the interim show.”

SPI also got a wake-up call at NPE 2003 when 300 attendees — not the 50 expected — packed a panel discussion that focused on the impact of China on the U.S. plastics industry. While its sister association, the Society of Plastic Engineers, continued to develop the technical programming for NPE 2006, SPI planned its own marketing tracks, which included vital international issues.

Surprisingly, a huge influx of international visitors to NPE 2006 reawakened a home-based exhibitor category: materials suppliers. With long-established customers in the United States, they had been scaling back exhibit size or pulling out altogether. With a set of new buyers that broaden the market, the show is re-engaging these domestic exhibitors.

At the end of the day, what really happens in the course of a year of international development looks quite different from most original plans. “We had been struggling in Brazil,” says Nemchek, “and I was scheduled to go there to find a new agent. An opportunity came up in Australia and New Zealand, and I put off Brazil for another year.”

It will take a year before he knows if that was the right decision.

Sidebar: Tips on Scaling the Obstacles
1. Hire an international consultant
Shows without international expertise can spend a lot of money and time trying to build a knowledge base, or they can hire a consultant. Someone with a proven track record with international shows can navigate the process and offer contacts worldwide. “We did not know the avenues to pursue,” says Walt Bishop, Vice President – Trade Shows, The Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI). “Without an international consultant, it would have been much more difficult.”
The value has not ebbed for Chris Nemchek, Vice President of Exhibition Management, The National Associa-tion for the Specialty Food Trade Inc., even after three years of work with an international consultant. “It’s a question the board asks me a lot,” he admits. “My answer is, I’ll continue to use this resource until I find there’s a diminishing return.”

2. Channel the attention
To get everyone on the show marketing staff to think internationally, international consultant Cherif Moujabber advises clients to hold an in-depth, one-day meeting. “The agenda is only international, and you go through every discipline, including publications, direct mail and timing,” he says. This will help staff support agents so they’re not wasting valuable selling time chasing down materials, collateral and translations.

3. Allow enough lead time
Expect to spend 18 months to two years to contact, meet, negotiate and conclude an agreement with a funding authority in another country to sponsor a pavilion at your show. Even then, an official decision may have to wait until the funding authority has polled potential exhibitors for their interest. And expect payments to be late. This is where a local sales agent can help shepherd the process. “Management must make a decision not to give the floor space to someone else, but keep the area for international exhibitors, no matter how long decisions take,” says Moujabber. A good location is essential, since “you want them to have a much better chance of succeeding.”

4. Consider the logistics
It’s a “daunting challenge,” Bishop says, when the NPE minimum 10 x 10 space doesn’t translate into a 7 x 9 meter booth. And when a Chinese association doesn’t want to pay for space that its pre-fabricated pavilion does not use. SPI and its show management company plan to create for the 2009 show a simple booklet with metrics translated into the primary languages of exhibitors.


Sidebar: Dealing with Visa Issues
Since the terrorism attacks of 9/11, the U.S. visa application and approval process has grown long and complex. “It’s indisputable that the number of international attendees to many U.S. shows has decreased,” says Bill Kutson, Acting Manager for the Department of Commerce’s International Buyer Program (IBP). The IBP will work with the State Department (which issues visas) and its consular offices overseas when visa applications are denied to visitors. Sometimes an application is received too late to allow for an interview. Or a visa may be denied to a prominent scientist or businessperson, and IBP will ask for reconsideration.

Here’s what you can do for visitors or exhibitors at your show:
Post visa regulations and guidelines on your Web site. Not only does the visa process take much longer than before, additional application forms and security clearances are required (www.unitedstatesvisas.gov). Applicants’ names are checked against government databases for information that may disqualify them. The application and supporting documents and data will be examined for possible ineligibilities, inconsistencies, or clarification. Most applicants can expect to be interviewed, and two index fingerscans are collected.

Start early. Show organizers must expect to repeat their needs to foreign agencies and U.S. consular offices in targeted countries. Describe your show, its dates, the promotion you’re doing in that country, and the visa applicants they can expect to interview. “These offices have on average just two minutes per candidate,” says international consultant Cherif Moujabber, “so arm them with questions to ask about the products they’re interested in seeing and the conference sessions they want to attend.”

Agree on a letter of invitation. Show consulate officers that you’ve done your homework by preparing an invitation letter that will help keep out forgers and let in the right visitors. Many Reed shows use a hologram sticker and place code numbers on letters that relate to exhibitor numbers.
“You can never start early enough with letters of invitation,” adds Walt Bishop, Vice President – Trade Shows for the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. “That challenged us to get face-to-face with field service offices at consulates and plead the case that ours is a bonafide show. That way, when they start to get requests to attend, at least they’ve heard about it.”

Plus, go to the international section on our Web site to find links to these archived EXPO articles:
• Canada 411: An insiders’ guide to producing shows in Canada, October 2006
• Attracting international attendees, September 2003
• Raising Your Sales Overseas, June 1997