April 2004
Local interest

Across America, many show managers are looking to regional events to capture attendees no longer coming to national events, or to extend a brand. But are regional shows right for your organization?

By Heather Kirkwood

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and amid several years of tough economic times, many for-profit companies and associations have turned to regional shows to lure attendees tired of airport hassles or restricted by tightening travel budgets.

There are no statistics kept on regional shows, however, communities across America believe there’s a growing market for regional events, and they’re investing in securing their market share by renovating, expanding and building new convention centers. In a recent EXPO poll, 65 percent of readers said they believed regional events are the wave of the future.

Indeed, even events not intended to be “regional” can take on a regional flavor when a large percentage of attendees or exhibitors come from nearby. According to the 2002 Trade Show Attendee Benchmarking Study, conducted by Red Bank, NJ-based Exhibit Surveys, the average show attracts 36 percent of its attendees from with a 200-mile radius and 43 percent of attendees come from surrounding states.

But, do regional shows have potential for your organization? That depends, say the association and for-profit regional show managers who we interviewed. Companies and associations racing to increase their brand awareness, save an ailing national event, or test the waters for a new show could be disappointed if they’re expecting regional shows to save the day. Leery travelers and tight travel budgets are cyclical characteristics that will hardly sustain a regional event long term. It’s important, then, to understand why some regional shows flourish, while others flounder.

Candi Calderone, Manager of Trade Show Operations for the Hobby Industry Association (HIA), has seen her industry evolve in ways that, at times, made regional shows practical, but at other times made them unsustainable. In the 1980s, the association launched the Western States Craft & Hobby Association Show in California, and later in the 1990s, the association managed the Mid-Atlantic Craft & Hobby Association Show. Neither show is in existence today.

Yet, for the last 64 years, the association has held the Annual HIA Convention and Trade Show in rotating cities. Today, it’s the national show that’s thriving for the association.

Calderone attributes it to what she terms the “Wal-Mart effect.” Her show’s attendees would rather make one trip to visit a one-stop shopping event. “Attendance just fell off at the regional events until they were no longer sustainable,” she says, “Things just changed.” Buyers were increasingly looking for a wider variety of products across multiple product categories — everything from sewing materials to materials for painted crafts. Many operated stores that carried increasingly varied product lines. The smaller, regional events just couldn’t offer the buyers enough.

“For us, it isn’t a matter of whether regional shows are the wave of the future. It’s what works for our membership and what best meets the needs of our industry,” says Calderone.

But, how does an organization evaluate whether the industry it serves is ripe for a regional event, or whether attendees would respond favorably?

Assessing the industry
Industries that support successful regional shows have a variety of unique characteristics in common.

One characteristic, says Carol Rush, who works on trade show marketing projects for San Diego-based Marketing Design Group, is the type of growth the industry is experiencing. If it’s a relatively new industry or one that has a great number of mom-and-pop businesses, there may be a vast demographic exhibitors aren’t reaching at a national event.

When Rush worked with the San Diego Building Industry Show, she found that there were more than 60,000 businesses in the Southern California region that could potentially be served by the event. Many were small businesses that wouldn’t likely travel to attend or exhibit at a national event.
“Businesses that are just starting out may be small today, but they won’t stay small,” says Rush, “And they can be the most difficult customers for exhibitors to find.”

Industries that rely heavily on distributors or middlemen are also ripe for regional shows, says Bob James, President of the Frost Miller Group. Even the biggest companies will buy from regional distributors in some industries, James points out, so they have no need to go to a national event and see exhibits directly from the manufacturer. They can see everything they need to see, and do business with everyone they need to reach, in their own back yard.

“What everyone is worried about when they look at regional events is whether the event will cannibalize attendance at their other events,” says James, “It’s a good worry to have because often that’s the case.”

James advises strongly against launching regional shows in hopes of helping a national event. For many industries, simply rotating cities will reach the regional players just as well as a regional event would. Another model that has been successful for shows held only every two years is to launch regional events in the off year, thus they don’t compete with the national event.

Identifying the right region
If, indeed, it’s time to launch a regional event, then identifying the right region is critical to success, after all the goal of a regional event is the same as for a national or even international show — to bring people through the doors and make money.

Michele Bruno, President of The Bruno Group, which organizes a regional Machine Quilting Show and Pet and Companion Expo, advises looking for a region being underserved. Is there, for example, a region that never attracts the national event? Is there a regional demographic that never seems to attend the national event? Bruno’s events serve the Rocky Mountain region, often an overlooked area of the country because the population isn’t as dense as it is on the coasts or in the South.

After a region is identified, find out why no one else has launched such a show in that area. Is it because there isn’t enough of a market base? Has anyone tried it before, and why didn’t it work?

If it seems as though there aren’t any deterring factors, consider your ability to reach and understand the region of the country.

“A lot of times people underestimate how different various regions of the United States can be,” says Bruno. For example, at her events she offers dollar-off coupons for attendees. She says she knows people from New York or Chicago might find that silly, but in Salt Lake City, the market she serves, attendees tend to come from larger families. The local culture reveres frugal living. “I know people that will drive all the way across town to get a dollar off something,” Bruno says. She also believes she has an advantage in her market because she lives there. She’s not perceived as an outsider coming in to ask a bunch of questions about people’s businesses. “People here tend to be wary of people from far away,” she says.

If regional market access could be a problem, then look for local trade organizations or exhibit sales staff to partner with to give your show regional credibility.

Regional intelligence
There are a variety of resources show managers can use to verify a hunch and measure the potential market for a regional show. Not only will such information be valuable to justify the event, it will later prove vital to marketing a new regional event.

Start with the U.S. Department of Commerce (www.doc.gov), which gathers information on every industry that’s generally identified and contributes to the gross domestic market. The information is available by state or metropolitan area. While some information is free, it may be necessary to pay for more detailed reports, which cost from $50 to $150.

Another useful source of information is the state Department of Labor or Department of Commerce. From these agencies, it’s often possible to request detailed reports, right down to every tax-paying business within a certain category within a state.

Also consult with local economic development councils and chambers of commerce for major metro areas within the region. These sources can be excellent because they often have a local, as well as regional focus, and they often have even more detailed demographic information, as well as industry forecasts for key sectors of the local economy.

Finally, consult with local trade organizations, local chapters of national trade groups, and even try calling the editors of industry publications. Often they may have a good feel for areas of the market that are underserved or emerging hot spots.

Selling a regional show
Through this process, show organizers will develop good lists of attendee and exhibitor prospects. Show management can use these lists to show exhibitors who they’re missing at national events.

The next key to success is securing a few bellwether exhibitors that will give others confidence in the event. These could either be national companies, or local companies that are well respected in the region. This is where research will pay off. If you can prove that an entire market is being completely missed by your potential exhibitors, they’re more likely to give your event at least a try with even a small presence on your show floor. 

Rush suggests enlisting the support of the local office and not just marketing the event to the national headquarters of larger potential exhibitors.

“When we first started, we had difficulty getting the support of the larger bellwether exhibitors. They felt our industry already had too many shows, and they were already spread too thin,” she says, “But when we showed them we could reach new prospects, and prospects that weren’t on their current radar, we got their attention. It was the local contacts, however, that convinced corporate to buy a small booth at the first building show.” After that, Rush says, the exhibitor was sold.

Attracting regional attendees
While there are no studies profiling the typical regional show attendee, attendee habits in relation to how far they travel to an event, and show manager experience indicate that regional attendees have their own set of quirks that affect how show management can best serve and market to them.

Regional attendees don’t have the same investment in a show as those attending national events. They often don’t need to make plane reservations or arrange for lengthy hotel stays. Thus, they’re more prone to make a decision later about whether to attend a show, and they’re more likely to change their minds should something come up.

For show management, this means the marketing window for a regional event is often more compressed. It also means the message needs to be one that answers the question: Why should I come when I’ve got a thousand things to do in the office, my boss suddenly wants a report finished by tomorrow, and the weather is bad? In other words, what’s so compelling about your event that they can’t possibly miss?

Marketing techniques for a regional show will need to be tweaked to appeal to a regional audience. The study, Surviving the Storm: Battling the Decline of  Trade Show Attendance, conducted by the Frost Miller Group and Jacobs Jenner & Kent, examined the marketing differences between large and smaller shows, many of which are regional.

The findings: While attendees at larger shows (more than 100,000 square feet) respond to entertainment (47 percent) and space for team meetings (52 percent), attendees at smaller shows (less than 100,000 square feet) prefer coupon specials (47 percent) and shows that are co-located with other events (39 percent).

Most important of all, James warns, is to keep a finger on the pulse of the industry you serve, whether on a regional or a national basis. “Everyone’s show at least has a regional component,” he says, “Besides, things change. What today is a regional event might become the flagship event tomorrow. It isn’t whether a show is regional, it’s about whether a show is meeting a market need.”

Heather Kirkwood is Senior Editor for EXPO. She can be reached at 913-344-1376 or e-mail: hkirkwood@ascendmedia.com.