Convention & Trade Show Industry: An Overview presentation to The Convention Partnership

1
Convention Trade Show Industry An
Overviewpresentation toThe Convention
Partnership

• Presented by Milt Herbert
• Executive Director
• Boston Convention Marketing Center
• January 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

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Convention and Trade Show Industry
OverviewTradeshows

• 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 MC 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 companys
  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 _at_ 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 Bostons 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 Bostons 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
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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
OverviewCities with Multiple Facilities(Rank by
Gross Square Feet for Each City)
Source Tradeshow Week Major Exhibit Hall
Directory (August 2009)
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The Boston Convention MarketplaceWhy 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
• Bostons 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
• Its 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 Youll Love What Weve 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 (cont)

• 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