Make a list
To match a finite period of time with all the steps that go into a show, most event managers start with a list of every job, service and detail that must be accomplished to bring about the show. "We try to block out everything on an annual timetable," says Smith, a Show Director for Convention Management Services in Lansing, MI, who directs two public and five trade shows a year. "We say, 'In January we're going to do this, in February, we're going to cover that,' just so a we can put down everything that needs to be done." (See sidebar.)

Once she blocks out the shows over the next 10 to 12 months, Smith begins inserting the schedule into a daily planner that has become her bible. "It helps me track everything that has to be done each month and each day," she says. "In the back, each show is a separate tab, and I can keep all of my reminders, lists and notes from last year's show, so I can see what worked and what didn't. It's really indispensable."

Once a show's date and location have been set, experts agree there's no time to waste in starting exhibitor sales, the gear that powers all successful events. "If a show is the same time every year, we begin selling two months after the last show," Smith says. "We want to be back in front of them while they're still thinking, "'That was a good show.' If it's a new show, we want to be out there even earlier."

Sales first
Like an increasing number of show managers, Molley Finney, Director of Conventions and Expositions for the National Spa & Pool Institute in Alexandria, VA, is working to move exhibitor sales even earlier in her schedule.

"We're working to be at the point where we have next year's promotional piece available at the current show," Finney says of her annual 170,000-net-square-foot event. "You have to be early because of the competition. A lot of vertical shows are becoming interested in our market, so we have to stay on top." For Finney, that means not only having her current show in the works, but also having at least the date, facility and basic framework of the next event established several years in advance.

Timing is critical for attendance promotions as well. If you plan to advertise your show in trade or general interest magazines and newspapers, you'll need to consider reserving space six to 12 months in advance, depending on the publications' ad sales closing deadlines. Back up your calendar even further to allow time for ad design, copy writing, photography and board approval.

Promotional fliers and other mailings can be created faster, but may need to be scheduled just as early, depending on your show's location and the effort exhibitors and attendees will have to make to get there. "This year we're having our national show in Anaheim, but in 1995 we'll be going to Hawaii," says Mary DePersig, Trade Show Manager for Virginia-based Painting & Decorating Contractors of America. "We'll send Hawaii material to people before they even go to Anaheim, then we'll be distributing it at the show as well."

Tracking secrets
Tracking the details of these and other specifics that make up a successful show can be a challenge. Show managers use everything from long, yellow legal pads to flow charts to file cabinets. They may employ Gantt charts to show project schedules graphically on a bar chart or timetable. Popular PERT -- Program Evaluation and Review Technique -- charts and Critical Path methods use a network diagram to show the relationships among the various jobs and responsibilities that make up the entire show.

"I'm a list guy, definitely," says National Marine's Adams. "I also use a follow-up drawer that has a file for each day of the month and each month of the year. If I take something off my desk, it goes into the follow-up drawer. So I can control everything I need to do, and the files really help with the follow through that's essential in this business."

Mary Bishop, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Apparel Association in Seattle, has managed shows for 37 years. Still, she does not begin planning any of her five annual trade shows without an outline of all she needs to accomplish. "I've been doing this for so many years that one thing just seems to naturally lead to another," she says, "but you always forget something without your check lists."

Computer help
With computerized offices, show professionals increasingly turn to software solutions to help satisfy their time-management requirements. Name your system, and it probably has an organization program written for it.

IBM and compatible PCs, for example, can use the DacEasy Instant Rolodex and the Lotus Organizer. These programs give you an address book; daily, weekly and monthly calendars; important event alarms; to-do lists; and the ability to download your information so you can carry it on site via a laptop computer.

Macintosh users have similar organizational products, as well as a number of project management software programs from which to choose. MacProject Pro and Microsoft Project give you a multi-graphic way to plan and track expositions of nearly any size and complexity. They provide the ability to develop show outlines, budgets, resource time lines, schedule restraints and numerous other planning functions.

"We're looking into a software scheduling program right now," says Finney. "It's almost like an electronic tickler file. You enter all your schedules and plans at the beginning, then it comes back and beeps at you with your promises and commitments when it's time to get them done."

Scheduling work in the proper sequence is critical to a well-run show. Just as important, however, is how the work gets done. Do you have the luxury of a full staff at your disposal? It's unlikely in these days of tight budgets. Does your association operate on a matrix management system that allows you, as the show manager, to call on other departments for help in producing your event? (See sidebar.) Are you faced with outsourcing part -- or all -- of the jobs necessary to your show's success?

Getting assistance
Outsourcing, or contracting, work has become more critical to show management firms and associations than ever before, thanks to reduced staffing and increasingly narrowed profit margins. It's now possible to outsource show marketing, advertising, booth space sales, show floor management, show directory writing and printing, mailing services and special event planning. You also have the option to contract for registration services, educational programming, photography and show daily publishing.

"Even by using the association staff, we still have to go outside for our marketing material design, and we contract with a floor manager because of the size of the show," says Spa & Pool's Finney. "But our floor manager, for example, did our show before I was ever here, so he's a great asset to the show. Contractors, in general, can be good because they've had other clients, and they can lend that expertise and experience to your show."

Although outsourcing can provide a tremendous time savings in your show management schedule, you have to make certain you receive exactly what you need from your suppliers. First, determine that they have the capabilities to handle the kind and size job you require. Check references and learn something about their reliability record. And determine as best you can the company's ability to meet your deadlines and production schedules.

Why delegating selves time
Benefits from outsourcing can be great. The process lowers your initial investment in equipment and personnel, while it provides the ability to use the latest technology, which the supplier probably knows as well as you know the show management business. Your labor costs are reduced, and once you've established a network of providers you can expand your business and reach across the country and around the globe. Perhaps the greatest benefit comes from the time savings the suppliers offer the harried show manager.

"One of the largest things we outsource is our printing," says Convention Management's Smith. "Generally, the printer can do it for less time and money than we could ourselves. It would take you at least 10 years just to pay for the set-up costs of in-house printing."

When it comes to outsourcing, show managers rely most heavily on the general service contractors who will step in and actually provide the expertise, manpower and facility-specific knowledge to pull off a successful show. "What the service contractor saves in terms of the show manager's time comes from the company's knowledge of the facility, the labor situation and the available services," notes Ed Simmons, Associate Director of the Exposition Service Contractors Association, a 24-year-old, Dallas-based group of 148 member companies. "They know how the facility works and the personality of the facility. They or someone in the company has worked in virtually every show site across the country. That saves me lots of time."

Says DePersig at Painting & Decorating Contractors, "We use Andrews-Bartlett (now GES) as a service contractor on our trade shows. There's a rapport there with the project manager. I can go to him during the show and say, 'Steve, I have a problem with this or that,' and he'll back me up to see that it's handled. Having a good service contractor is really key to having a good show."

Ellen Beckert, Director of Corporate Development at The Freeman Companies, advises show managers to "take advantage of the expertise of your service contractor." The company's background of coordinating multiple shows in a variety of facilities means the show manager can save time in show preparation. "Contractors can provide consultation during show development, they can do a walkthrough with the show manager, and with our computerized event management system we can give them a running budget so they can track what they're spending," she says.

Full-service contractors can also provide exhibitor kits, including all order forms, fact sheets, move-in dates and other vital participant information. Instead of compiling those details, you only have to supply mailing labels and the job is done.

Buyer beware
Be mindful, however, of some delegating drawbacks that will destroy any time you managed to save. Don't, for instance, let your own industry research fall off just because you've turned a job over to a contractor. Stay up on your contractors' business and you'll be able to ensure better service. Realize that your clients, exhibitors and attendees will see the contractor's work as your own. Don't threaten relationships with your customers by ignoring your ultimate responsibilities over the outsource supplier. All these mistakes will mean you've got to go back and repeat work you should have gotten right in the first place.

Despite the myriad options available for delegating work, there are certain responsibilities for which a show manager should use caution in passing on to others. Financial control, exhibit sales, floor layout and handling the show's board of directors are among show managers' most closely guarded activities -- no matter how precious time becomes.

"I would never outsource three things: my contract with the convention center, the sales effort or the budgetary control," says Adams. "To control your course you must have those three things in hand. The danger of outsourcing everything, like some associations do, is you can lose track of your show's direction."

Smith agrees that appropriate caution should help show managers avoid time-wasting delegation. "When it comes to booking space, I'm the one who does it," she says. "I'm the one who's familiar with the exhibitors, and I'm the one who must control how the show is going together. I would never book an exhibitor or promise someone space for the other show manager I work with here. There are some things only the show manager can do."

DePersig keeps the same tight grip on similar details of her shows, and structures her time appropriately. "I get there early and walk the floor for four days straight," she says. "You have to be there noticing the details -- even if you're going to delegate someone else to take care of the problems. Somebody has to keep the one-on-one contact with the exhibitors, and as the show manager, I'm that someone."

When it comes to time management, show managers who run the country's most successful events say planning ahead and working efficiently add up to effectively run shows that are on time and on budget. Enlist support, build a team, and delegate; then put it all into action. "Everyone has ideas," says Adams. "Consult with your people and talk with your association members. Get their input. This sounds like a drag on your time, and it is. But the ideas that come out of turning over those rocks can be fantastic, and they can save you time and money down the road."