Title: Convention & Trade Show Industry: An Overview presentation to The Convention Partnership
1Convention Trade Show Industry An
Overviewpresentation toThe Convention
Partnership
- Presented by Milt Herbert
- Executive Director
- Boston Convention Marketing Center
- January 27, 2010
2Agenda
- 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
3Profile - 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
4Convention 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)
5Convention 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)
6Convention 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)
7Convention 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)
8Characteristics 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
9Revenue 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)
10Convention 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
11Convention 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
12Boston 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
13BCEC 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
14John 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)
15Hynes 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)
16Selection 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
17Convention 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
18Exhibition 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
19Convention 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)
20The 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
21Boston 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.
22Boston 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
23Boston 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
24Boston 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
25Boston 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)
26Boston 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
27Marketing 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
28Convention Trade Show Industry An Overview
- Presented by Milt Herbert
- Executive Director, BCMC
- January 27, 2010