Last December, the Performance Racing Industry trade show returned to Indianapolis after a nine-year absence, and Hollywood couldn’t have scripted a better story. From the standing-room only opening breakfast starring racing icon Richard Petty, to the exhibition itself—a first-time blending of the existing PRI event with the popular International Motorsports Industry Show—the results came up roses: 1,200 exhibitors, 3,400 booths, 45,000 attendees from around the world and a $45 million economic impact on the city, ranking it second among all of Indy’s 2013 events.
“We love Indianapolis,” says John Kilroy, PRI’s trade show producer and a 23-year industry veteran. “They have a perfect downtown with lots of great places to eat and have fun within walking distance of the convention center.” Indiana’s capital is also safe, centrally located for drive-in attendees and popular year-round with the racing community in general. “It’s the center of the country and the center of the racing industry,” says Kilroy, who sums up the joint 2013 show, owned and produced by Specialty Equipment Market Association, as PRI’s busiest and best ever.
If the story ended here, then PRI’s experience would stand as a nice tale of prosperity on its own, where an association adheres to the best expo execution for a win-win all around. Rather than an exception, though, the PRI show represents one of a growing number of broader trade show successes, even as some recessionary effects still hover over the economy. It’s an indicator of the exhibition industry’s resilience and relevance as well as its willingness to embrace change as a pathway to further success.
Positive Changes
While the economic downturn buffeted trade shows along with the rest of the hospitality world, the industry entered 2014 on the heels of 11 consecutive growth quarters, according to the Dallas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research, which tracks a variety of industry-related statistics. CEIR officially puts the total number of B2B trade shows at nearly 9,000 for 2010, the most recent survey year available, but that number has likely risen since then as the country climbed out of its recession. CEIR offers hints on some 2013 figures as well. “We estimate moderate growth. Trade shows historically trail macroeconomic trends,” says president and CEO Brian Casey, predicting a rise in both exhibitors (at 2,033,000, up from 2 million in 2010) and overall attendees (68 million, up from 61 million in 2010).
That latter number is impressive when seen in detail. Trade Show News Network, which covers the exhibition industry extensively, recently reported that a slew of 2013 shows not only boosted their attendance but actually set new records, including Global Pet Expo, International Consumer Electronics Show and Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show. The International Association of Exhibitions and Events Expo! Expo! Annual Meeting & Exhibition also saw an upswing in attendance, exhibit revenues and sponsor revenues in 2013.
For some, the industry’s buoyancy reflects an ingrained belief that change can be positive. And in 2014, change is ubiquitous in the exhibition industry. “In all of the time I’ve been involved in events, I haven’t ever seen the convergence of so much that is new and experimental,” says Steven Hacker, CAE, CEM, FASAE. Hacker knows his subject—he spent two decades as president of International Association of Exhibitions and Events (1992-2012) and 17 years with Professional Insurance Agents of Texas before that. As a principal in Bravo Management and owner of Steven Hacker Event Photography, he remains a leading figure in the industry.
“Exhibitions are nothing more than a mirror of the industries and interests that they serve,” Hacker notes, adding that what’s trending in trade shows reflects the latest convergence of society, economy and technology. Leading the list is big data, which is unrelated demographic information collected, linked together and manipulated via exhibit software. “It’s data about purchasing, proclivities and preferences that we’ve never seen before,” he says. “The major shows are not only utilizing that data, but realize it has commercial value outside the industry and are opening up new revenue streams by making it available to others.”
Other industry shifts include facilities investing their own money to launch in-house events. “It’s likely to change the nature of the business significantly,” says Hacker, who points to Boston’s John B. Hynes Convention Center and Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, as two facilities where the process is already underway. “They don’t manage those events, but they invest in them with seed money to start them up,” he says. “This is a typical situation where one or two thought leaders have breached that dam, and then it’s, look out for the rest of the industry.”
[inlinead align="left"]“In all of the time I’ve been involved in events, I haven’t ever seen the convergence of so much that is new and experimental.” —Steven Hacker[/inlinead]Hacker is also big on mobile phone apps and tech advances such as distributed registration, where attendees can check in to shows via remote kiosks around town, which were widespread at this year’s CES in Las Vegas. He’s also sweet on a developing trend that finds show organizers and software facilitators teaming up to use social media to promote shows and boost attendance. For example, at the Wedding & Portrait Photography Conference & Expo in March, show operator Emerald Expositions joined with InGo to deploy its social media software as a way to invite key people to attend show events and keep tabs on fellow attendees who registered for those events as well. “When you think about engaging something as big and robust as LinkedIn to help your attendance, the step forward could be tremendous,” says Hacker.
Floor Shows
While it will take time for these trends to trickle down into the exposition mainstream, there’s plenty of ongoing energy and innovation now. When the Oklahoma Restaurant Association holds its annual convention and exposition in August, it will again host a popular Top Chef-like culinary contest with a new twist: a mixology competition. The group expects to sell out its entire booth inventory at Oklahoma City’s Cox Convention Center. “It’s definitely our cash cow—we generate 20 to 25 percent of revenue off the event annually,” says Debra Bailey, ORA’s deputy director and CFO. “Because we know space is limited, we can use that to our advantage, making it easier to sell booth space off of attrition.”
Last September’s Pack Expo Las Vegas, produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, set records in attendance, exhibitors and square footage (almost 800,000 in total). The megashow, which consists of four central components—beverages, baking and snacks, pharmaceuticals and confections—also added a luxurious amenity: four high-end lounges set on the show floor. Each represents one of the show’s core groupings and creates a space where attendees can meet with industry representatives, network, and seek opinions on solutions to specific issues and challenges they might face. “Each of these lounges can cost PMMI up to $60,000, plus lost revenue for exhibitor space we could have sold,” says Jim Pittas, vice president of trade shows. “But everything runs around attendance, and the best way to sell an event to exhibitors is to have a great show and the right people attending. We consider it a value-add that makes the experience better.”
Coverings, the international tile and stone exhibition produced by National Trade Productions, drew some 22,000 attendees and more than 950 exhibitors to last year’s event in Atlanta, earning praise for its inventive booth designs and creative, interactive showcases. “The first time I saw the show floor, I got a little teary-eyed,” says show director and National Trade Productions COO Karin Fendrich. “It’s hard to believe someone can make something so beautiful for such a short-term event.”
The annual show, a joint venture between five tile and stone associations, raises roughly $10-$12 million annually, revenues that could make any show manager cry tears of joy. Beyond the exquisite decor, though, Coverings hits a creative high note with its Installation Design Showcase. This year’s version in Las Vegas promises to be a crowd pleaser, as attendees will be able to witness step-by-step, start-to-finish construction of an indoor courtyard, a retail space, a swanky bar and a sustainable bath right on the show floor. “After they’ve finished, we set up a big happy hour where people will talk about how they faced their construction challenges successfully,” says Fendrich.
Growth Spurt
While it might not be a trend, the fact that new shows are being launched in a barely post-recession market deserves some attention. PMMI has three new events set to debut within a year: February’s Expo Pack Guadalajara (110 exhibitors, 30,000 square feet), its second Mexican project; Expo Pack East, set for Philadelphia next February; and November’s Pharma Expo, a joint venture with International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, co-located with Pack Expo International 2014 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. “After doing years of research, we buy into the fact that most shows are regional,” says PMMI’s Pittas. “We’ll take the show where the people are, rather than trying to get them to come to us.”
Come October, Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering, a California-based, global engineering technical society, will launch CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, in Orlando. The new show, a dual effort with American Composites Manufacturing Association, was formed to fend off foreign show competition while creating a new business market for materials made by both SAMPE and ACMA members. “Could SAMPE have grown this new market share on its own? Certainly,” says Gregg Balko, CAE, FASAE, SAMPE’s CEO and executive director. But given that SAMPE isn’t known for new market development, “it would have taken years, if not decades,” he says. “Creating this new event with a key strategic partner considerably shortens that timeline.”
And in February, Greg McDonald, founder and CEO of Cloudstar Consulting, also launched an Orlando event: the 2014 Land Title Compliance & Technology Conference, which had 185 attendees and a 24-exhibitor trade show setup in the main meeting room. “The idea was: Let’s make people feel like they’re participating, not just observing,” says McDonald, who invited vendors, attendees and speakers into the same room for the one-day event. “We wanted everyone to feel involved and we achieved our goal. It was a huge success.”
Photo credits: Global Pet Expo; Oscar Einzig
