Convention & Trade Show Industry: An Overview

presentation toThe Convention Partnership

Presented by Milt HerbertExecutive Director

Boston Convention Marketing CenterJanuary 27, 2010

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Agenda

Convention & Trade Show Industry Overview Types of Business – tradeshow, association, corporate Revenue Drivers, Competition

MCCA Convention Facilities – Hynes & BCEC Convention Center Facilities - Competition The Boston Convention Marketplace

Advantages Target Market Business Practices

Boston Convention Marketing Center

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Profile - Milton H. Herbert, Jr. Executive in the Trade Show and Events Industry (1988-2000)

One company, many names The Interface Group, Inc. Softbank Comdex, Inc. Softbank Comdex and Forums, Inc. Ziff Davis Events (division of Ziff Davis Publishing, Inc.)

Chief Operating Officer Managed 120 events worldwide annually

United States Canada Latin America Europe Asia

Managed all types of events (many industries) Trade shows Corporate events Association events

Responsibilities included: Show Management Sales Marketing Business development Venue selection (convention centers) Assisted in the design and launch of the Sands Expo C. C.

Revenues of $210 million annually EBITDA $110 million annually Employees 400

President and CEO, Momentix, Inc. (2000-2002) Venture-funded “dot-com” in events industry Provided computer services over the internet Customers included: trade shows, corporations, associations

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview

Tradeshows

Typically are publicly or privately-owned Business objective of making a profit for the

benefit of the owner Books 3-5 years into the future Examples:

International Boston Seafood Show (owned by Diversified Business Communications, Portland, ME)

Natural Products Expo East (New Hope Natural Media, Boulder, CO)

Pri-Med East (owned by M|C Communications, LLC)

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview Associations

Typically owned by a not-for-profit trade association Organizes events for the benefits of its membership i.e.

education & professional development Books 5-15 years into future Examples:

Bio Annual International Convention (owned by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Washington, DC)

The Liver Meeting (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Alexandria, VA)

American Transplant Congress (joint annual meeting of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation)

Lions Club International (the worlds largest service club organization)

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Corporate Typically a proprietary event owned by a profit-

seeking corporation Business objective is to advance a company’s

products or initiatives Books up to 3 years into future

Microsoft Tech-Ed (owned by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA)

SAP Sapphire (owned by SAP, Walldorf, Germany) The Orgill Fall Dealer Market (owned by Orgill, Inc.) WOLF @ Best Buy (network of employees to build

strong women leaders & capture a greater share of the female consumer electronics market)

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview Other

Conferences – Typically educational programs that do not have exhibit component

Public or Gate shows – Typically events that have no registration, no/little education component, paid gate admission (e.g. – New England Boat Show, Northeast Auto Show)

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Characteristics of Conventions & Trade Shows

Exhibit Floor Companies and vendors displaying, demonstrating or selling their

products (usually firms in same industry as associated with the event) Education Program

Learning programs (generally for a fee) that enable the attendee to learn about the industry products and technologies to improve their buying skills and implementation skills (sometimes required for license)

Exhibition Attendee Individuals who visit the exhibit floor for the purpose of evaluating the

technologies and products in the marketplace (typically qualified individuals with minimal or no attendance fee)

General Session or Keynote One or more presentations that are generally made by an industry leader

and is generally considered to be a strong statement about the caliber of the event

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Revenue Drivers for the Trade Show & Convention Industry

Trade Shows (primarily exhibitor revenue, some education revenues, typically very little registration income)

Associations (a mix of exhibitor, sponsorship and education revenues)

Corporate events (revenues from exhibitors and sponsorships used to offset costs, as such events are generally deemed to be a marketing investment)

Consumer or gate events (exhibition attendee tickets and parking revenues, exhibitor revenues)

Conferences (education revenues, very little or no exhibit revenues)

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview Competition

Event planners consider a number of factors when deciding where to book an event: Exhibition facilities Hotel availability and hotel pricing Access to the market for the attendees – domestic, international Transportation services Food, entertainment and retail quality Customer service Prior Experiences Overall Cost

The hierarchical order of importance will vary from one planner to another

Generally, the most important factor is access to the market for attendees (will they come?)

The basis of competition is focused on the above parameters rather than against cities

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview Exhibition Facilities Evaluation Exhibition facilities have physical considerations:

Size of exhibit space Size, quantity and availability of meeting rooms Technology capabilities Pedestrian transportation and navigation

Exhibition facilities have environmental considerations: Access and proximity to hotels, airports, restaurants, shopping and

entertainment Requirement to use transportation services (bus, taxi, limo, etc.)

Exhibition facilities have “personal” considerations: Big vs. small Warm vs. cold Stark vs. collegial Integrated into community vs. outside the community Safety vs. fear

Meeting planners will select different venues based on different requirements

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Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC): Key Features 516,000 contiguous square feet of exhibit space Ten different exhibit hall configurations Sky bridges provide for fast pedestrian access In-floor utility access 160,000 square feet of meeting room space 84 meeting rooms 40,020 contiguous sq. feet ball room 130,190 square feet of registration space 140,190 square feet of pre-function space 62-bay loading dock Elevated ring road Technology solutions and services

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BCEC: Numerous Advantages

Multiple entrances Multiple registration entrances High ceilings on exhibit floor Virtually column-free exhibit floor State-of-the-art meeting rooms with integrated A-V

connections Large contiguous exhibit floor Executive level boardroom Fast and easy navigation of the building Easy access to all forms of transportation

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John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center: Key Features

175,000 square feet of exhibit space 5 exhibit halls 4000-seat auditorium 25,000 square foot ballroom State-of-the-art technology 71,664 square feet of meeting space 38 meeting rooms All season facility (climate-controlled)

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Hynes: Numerous Advantages

Location in Boston’s Back Bay Environment of building in style and feel is eclectic “All-inclusive” feature of being connected to three large hotels “All-inclusive” feature of being connected to many restaurants “All-inclusive” feature of being connected to two up-scale shopping

malls “All-inclusive” feature of being connected to many entertainment

options Close proximity to all of Boston’s environment due to size of city Convenient to Public Transportation & AmTrak (Back Bay Station)

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Selection of the Hynes vs. the BCEC

In general, a meeting planner is deciding on Boston vs. other cities

Meeting planners will not pick Boston and then decide on the Hynes vs. the BCEC

Meeting planners generally know: they want the Hynes or they want the BCEC

Regional meetings (those required to be in New England), can select either the BCEC or the Hynes

National meetings will select an alternative city if the facility does not meet their needs

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Convention Centers: Size

The BCEC ranks 32nd in size on the master list (27th in 2005).

The Hynes ranks 107th in size on the master list (90th in 2005).

Source: Tradeshow Week Major Exhibit Hall Directory, August 2009

Rank Convention Center Location Exhibition Space (GSF)1 McCormick Place Chicago, IL 2,700,0002 Orange County C. C. Orlando, FL 2,053,8203 Las Vegas C. C. Las Vegas, NV 1,940,6314 Georgia World Congress Atlanta, GA 1,370,0005 Kentucky Fair & Expo Louisville, KY 1,300,0006 Sand Expo & C. C. Las Vegas, NV 1,125,6007 Ernest N. Morial C. C. New Orleans, LA 1,100,0008 International Expo & C. C. Cleveland, OH 1,085,0009 George R. Brown C. C. Houston, TX 1,038,000

10 Dallas Convention Center Dallas, TX 1,019,14211 Pennsylvania Farm Complex Harrisburg, PA 1,000,00012 Donald E. Stephens C. C. Rosemont, IL 845,00013 Anaheim C. C. Anaheim, CA 813,60714 Reliant Center Houston, TX 806,21315 AmericasMart Atlanta Atlanta, GA 800,00016 Jacob K. Javits C. C. New York, NY 760,00017 Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, IN 742,20018 Los Angeles C. C. Los Angeles, CA 720,00019 Washington C. C. Washington DC 703,00020 Cobo Conference/Exhibition Detroit, MI 700,00021 Phoenix C. C. Phoenix, AZ 695,50022 Salt Palace C. C. Salt Lake City, UT 679,00023 San Diego C. C. San Diego, CA 615,70124 National Western Complex Denver, CO 601,50025 Ohio Expo Center Columbus, OH 593,45726 Colorado C. C. Denver, CO 584,00027 Minneapolis C. C. Minneapolis, MN 559,00028 Indiana C. C. & Stadium Indianapolis, IN 535,53329 Qwest Field & Center Seattle, WA 525,00030 Reno-Sparks C. C. Reno, NV 519,70031 Expo Square Tulsa, OK 516,50032 Boston Con. & Exh. Center Boston, MA 516,000

107 Hynes Convention Center Boston, MA 175,000

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Exhibition Facilities: Size (Evaluations)

Amount of gross square feet required is most important in “show fit” There are approximately 100 events that cannot be handled in the

BCEC due to their size, but only about 70 practical events Contiguous square feet is more important than overall size, if the

show fits 516,000 contiguous sq. ft. is preferred for an event of 450,000 sq. ft.

over an exhibit facility with 3 300,000 sq. ft. halls The BCEC has the second largest contiguous sq. ft. facility on the

east coast and is 9th in the United States (Orlando has 642,000 sq. ft. of contiguous space)

Sufficient quantity of meeting rooms and meeting room space is mandatory

Ballrooms must be large and capable of serving multiple purposes

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Convention and Trade Show Industry Overview

Cities with Multiple Facilities(Rank by Gross Square Feet for Each City)

Source: Tradeshow Week Major Exhibit Hall Directory (August 2009)

City # of Facilities Total GSFLas Vegas 5 4,296,086Chicago 4 3,395,000Orlando 4 2,730,820Toronto 5 2,585,000Atlanta 5 2,382,000Houston 4 2,116,213Dallas 7 2,018,742Los Angeles 4 1,370,382New Orleans 2 1,340,030Cleveland 2 1,311,000Denver 3 1,170,500New York City 3 1,164,000San Francisco 4 1,163,092Indianapolis 2 1,144,073Boston 3 811,000

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The Boston Convention Marketplace

Why Boston Wins In the Convention Marketplace!

Access to attendees and members (demographic reach of quality and quantity)

BCEC is better designed than other convention facilities Hynes is a unique convention facility with “all-inclusive” features Boston has very desirable destination characteristics Boston’s transportation system is very good (air, ground, public) Proximity of convention centers to other convention components is

very good Boston will out-market and out-sell other convention destinations Boston has developed a positive and word-of-mouth reputation for

being a great convention city It’s Boston

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Boston Convention Marketing Center: Organization Structure

The Boston Convention Marketing Center is a joint effort of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority to market and sell the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.

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Boston Convention Marketing Center

Responsibilities

Sales and Marketing Strategies Develop Sales and Marketing Materials Develop Sales and Marketing Processes Create a “one-stop” shopping model to the prospective

customer Track market data and information to refine positioning

in the marketplace Strengthen relationships with hotel community to support

citywide room block & one point of contact to customer

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Boston Convention Marketing Center

BCMC Organization

Vice-President of Sales Eight sales territories (geographic/industry sector)

Strong sales backgrounds Strong event industry backgrounds

Special sales for 3rd Party influencers Director of Hotel Industry Relations (secure hotel

contracts) Compensation directly tied to performance of successful

selling Marketing organization develops a broad array of

programs targeting the marketplace in support of sales

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Boston Convention Marketing Center

Selling Objectives

Rental income (proceeds directly to the Commonwealth) Services income (net proceeds directly to the

Commonwealth) Food and beverage income (net proceeds directly to the

Commonwealth) Hotel room nights (tax benefit proceeds directly to the

Commonwealth and the Cities of Boston/Cambridge) Maximize proceeds to the Commonwealth for Hynes and

BCEC Some business is not good for the BCEC, but is good for the

Hynes Some business is not good for the Hynes, but is good for the

BCEC Some business is not good for Boston

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Boston Convention Marketing Center Marketing Programs Overview

All marketing programs are designed to cause sales of convention-level business to Boston

Brand is “Advantage BOSTON” and is applied to all marketing and sales initiatives to build and enhance Boston as a preferred convention destination

Tagline is “Boston. Making Convention History.” which replaced “You’ll Love What We’ve Done With The Place”

Objective of sales and marketing programs is to get prospect to Boston (and then to sign contracts)

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Boston Convention Marketing Center Marketing Programs Overview

Advertising Targeted to national meeting planner trade publications Successive right-hand page buys at front of publication Media buying power gains ancillary marketing benefits

Direct Mail Targeted direct mail communications directly at Meeting Planners Follow-up by sales organization

Events and Trade Shows Participate in national trade shows attended by meeting planners Integrated pre-show, at-show and post-show marketing programs

Public Relations Targeted media at the national publications level Re-enforce messages being sent in other marketing programs

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Marketing Programs (con’t)

Newsletters Sent electronically on quarterly basis Receive by approximately 8000 meeting planners

Collateral Brochures on the Hynes and BCEC, joint brochure Maps, floor plans, proposals, inserts, etc.

Website www.AdvantageBOSTON.com Comprehensive presentation of Boston, BCEC and the Hynes

Database Data base marketing techniques Merge / purge of six major industry data bases, updated by sales

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Convention & Trade Show Industry: An Overview

Presented by Milt Herbert

Executive Director, BCMC

January 27, 2010