Selecting a service contractor is one of the most important decisions you'll make. The contractor creates an overall look for your show that has an enormous impact on how exhibitors and attendees respond. The contractor's prices affect your bottom line and those of your exhibitors. The relationship between your contractor and local unions affects the ease with which your show comes together. And, of course, the service that the contractor provides affects the relationship between you and your exhibitors. In sum, the contractor can make the difference between a show that runs smoothly and develops a strong reputation in its industry, and one that's just one headache after another.
Finding the contractor that will help you have a successful, headache-free show requires a clear understanding of your own needs. All show managers want a contractor that will provide top-quality service at a fair price. But those broad needs have many components, and each show manager breaks them down a little differently.
"The primary concern for me is the kind of prices and service the contractor will pass on to the exhibitors," says Gerald Lewis, Vice President and Operating Officer of the Exposition and Conference Management Division for Production Group International in Arlington, VA. "The second concern is the anticipated relationship. You want to be able to get along with, and trust the contractor." Lewis also wants to know about the contractor's track record, familiarity with a specific hall, familiarity with local union regulations, and ability to interact with local labor.
Tony Lee, Vice President of George Little Management Inc. in New York City, specifically looks for contractors with telemarketing capabilities. "We like contractors that will telemarket our exhibitors before the show to make sure they've ordered all their equipment, and that they're aware of the other services the contractor provides." That telemarketing benefits both the exhibitor and the contractor, Lee explains. For example, exhibitors often think they need to use an independent I & D house, rather than using the services of the contractor. But Lee tries to select a contractor that's strong in the I & D business. Telemarketing alerts exhibitors to the availability of the service, and enables the contractor to pick up add-on business.
Among Lee's other concerns: "We want a properly staffed service desk on-site, with properly trained people who have a good attitude. And we want good quality supervision. We all use the same labor, but good supervision means better performance from that labor."
There are also show-specific requirements. For example, when Clint Pierce, Director of Operations for Diversified Expositions in Portland, ME, solicited bids from two service contractors, he prepared a 40-page report comparing their costs for various services. His list included such typical items as the pipe-and-drape charge for a standard booth, aisle carpet, entryways and signage. But his list also included prices for "freezer management" -- because his is a food show. Any manager with nonstandard requirements needs to make the contractor aware of these needs, to be sure that the contractor's bid will be accurate, and that the contractor is capable of providing the service.
The price pitfall
Everyone talks about price, and everyone -- show management and service contractors alike -- insists that it should not be the deciding factor. Despite preparing a comprehensive price comparison when bidding out his show, Pierce still puts price in third place on his list of criteria. It's preceded by service to customers both show management and the exhibitors -- and the ability to create a powerful look for the show. "If the customer is getting good service, and the show makes an impact, people are willing to pay extra," he maintains.
In fact, price might not even be a useful criterion. "If five contractors bid on your show, the prices will vary, but not tremendously," says Butch Bartlett, President of Andrews-Bartlett Exposition Services in Cleveland.
Bill Prueser, Director of Expositions for the National Fluid Power Association in Milwaukee, finds that to be the case. Prices aren't that different from company to company, regardless of the companies' sizes, he says. "People are of the opinion that a smaller contractor has less overhead and therefore lower rates. That could be, but it wouldn't be by a very large margin. In some areas, the numbers could be as close as within four percent of each other. In others, there could be a 10 percent spread." But he stresses that the higher quote wouldn't necessarily come from the larger company.
Pushing too hard for price concessions can actually harm a show manager, cautions Weston Bacon Jr., President of Marvin Park & Associates, a show management firm in Park Ridge, IL. "The contractor has a perfect right to make a profit. If you try to take the contractor to the point where you're getting a really low price, he probably has to skimp on something."
Which means that a bid that's substantially lower than the others might be a red flag. "We selected based on price -- and that was our problem," says an association director whose show opened without all the aisle carpet in place. "The contractor is a very reputable company, but they underestimated the size of our show. We tried to make them aware of what they were bidding on, and that their price was way too low. I'd advise other show managers to look very carefully at the low-end bid."
If it's not a simple dollars-and-cents decision, how do you make your selection? Specifically, when will the requirements of your show be met best by one of the three major service contractors -- Freeman Decorating Company, Andrews-Bartlett Exposition Services, or GES Exposition Services -- and when would a smaller, more local company be preferable or at least as good?
It's worth noting here that referring to service contractors as either "national" or "local" is convenient, but not entirely precise. "There's probably no such thing as a national contractor," says Nancy Styhl, General Manager of Hubbell/Tyner, a service contractor based in Kansas City, MO. "They have to travel with the show -- they won't have facilities in every city."
For example, Freeman has 18 offices in the U.S. and Canada, but was not in the West until it opened an office in Las Vegas last October. Andrews-Bartlett has seven offices in the East and Midwest. The new GES (see sidebar) has the widest reach, combining the nine Western offices of the former Greyhound Exposition Services with the 19 Eastern and Midwestern offices of the former United Exposition Service Co.
Subcontracting
When a client of one of the majors holds a show in a city where that contractor has no office, the show is subcontracted through a local contractor. Thus, says Styhl, Andrews-Bartlett sometimes subcontracts shows in Kansas City through Hubbell/Tyner. But it can work the other way, too, she explains. Hubbell/Tyner handles shows in St. Louis, Dallas and Oklahoma, among other cities. When it produces shows in Texas, for example, it subcontracts through either United or Freeman.
Bartlett explains his firm's subcontracting procedure: "We use another company's labor sources, and we may subcontract items that are generic, like carpet, which holds down trucking costs. But we don't subcontract supervision, creativity or items that are specific to our company."
Similarly, when Dallas-based Freeman subcontracts, says Ellen Beckert, Director of Corporate Development, "The team that deals with that customer every year travels with the show. That includes the account executive, exhibit services rep, production foreman -- anywhere from three to 25 people." Freeman also continues to handle all the paperwork. Although two companies are now involved, and both have to make a profit, show management's costs should not increase, she says. One reason: "The local contractor gives us a discount because they don't have sales expenses, and they don't have to process all the paperwork and handle the invoicing."
Show managers find that subbing makes perfect sense, and that it works well as long as both companies are reputable. "A show is subbed because freight can kill you," says Norman Gibson, Show Manager for Midwest Expositions in Independence, MO, a client of Hubbell/Tyner who holds one of his shows in Dallas. "Why ship all the pipe and drape?" When Hubbell/Tyner subs his show through United, he explains, "We have a Hubbell/Tyner rep on-site to be sure things are handled right -- that the booths are set up, the signage erected. There's also a United rep on-site to be sure everything is coordinated that we have the proper number of workers." What about the bottom line? "Subbing doesn't affect my costs at all," he finds.
National vs. local definitions aside, conversations with show managers reveal that they select contractors on a case-by-case basis.
Generalities and assumptions do not apply. For example, the majors will tell you they offer more options. "Our inventories tend to be larger," says Bartlett. "A local contractor can provide aisle carpet, but the national could offer more options in color and quality. We could offer more types of furniture, or more rental properties for entrances." That's probably true but is it always important?
The locals will tell you they're able to offer more personalized service. "There's no way one of the big three can give the service that an independent can," says Mark Epstein, President of Champion Exposition Services Inc. in Avon, MA. Again, that may be true -- but is your preference for a contractor with fewer accounts, or one with more accounts and therefore more experience? The only way to know exactly what a particular contractor offers, and if it meets your requirements for a particular show, is to do a thorough evaluation of the contractor's experience, capabilities, stability and philosophy.
Check references
Facility managers and your fellow show managers can get you started. Facility managers are not likely to recommend a specific contractor, says Epstein. "But smart show managers ask the questions that facility managers are allowed to answer. For example, 'Which contractor does most of the work in this building? Why? Have you ever worked with that contractor? What kind of job did they do?"'
Try to get similar information from other show managers. The contractor or contractors mentioned by the facility manager can provide names of show managers for whom they've worked. But you can also seek out your own sources. "If I were going into a new city, or seeking competitive bids," says Bacon, "I'd call some of my friends and competitors to find out who'd been to that city, who'd had a good experience with which contractor -- and with which individual at that contractor. You want to eliminate amateur hour," he quips. "Lots of people can talk a fairly decent game, but lack equipment or expertise."
On the subject of talking a decent game, "full service" means different things to different people. That's why it's essential to get a very specific listing of the services a contractor does and does not provide. Which services will be handled in-house, and which will be subcontracted? Which services will you have to make arrangements for on your own, and for which can the contractor make recommendations. As mentioned above, the major companies will probably offer a wider range of services, options and support. But a local contractor mightoffer as much as you need.
"The local choice was easy for us," says Gibson. "Hubbell/Tyner is a total decorator. They can make signs and banners on the spot, and they even do our computerized registration." Hubbell/Tyner also meets one of Gibson's criteria for service: "With a local firm, I can talk directly to the president, or top management, and they can make things happen very quickly."
The value of site visits
A visit to the contractor's facility can reveal whether or not the company has the equipment and labor needed to deliver the promised services. "Because of the sophistication of shows today," says Beckert, "people want a lot of options, a lot of equipment inventories. One of our advantages as a national contractor is the resources we have -- a central corporate warehouse and warehouses in our other cities. We encourage people to tour the warehouses, and experienced show managers almost always do. It gives them a feeling for the depth of our service. They can see our carpenter shop, our sewing department, our computerized graphics."
About three years ago, James Dolph, President of the New England Healthcare Assembly in Durham, NH, was evaluating contractors for his major meeting. Because one candidate was regional, he says, he had to check it out more thoroughly. "I asked how much equipment they had, and how many shows they could handle at once. We looked at their basic stock and found that they had plenty of equipment." There was also a strategy for getting rental equipment, if necessary. And it wasn't just a hypothetical strategy -- it had been successfully implemented in the past. Dolph says he also wanted to see how the equipment was stored, and how the carpet was cleaned.
Creativity counts
Creativity is another major consideration for most show managers. And it's an area where the national-vs.-local debate is endless. "Everybody can roll aisle carpet," Lewis notes. "But it's important to us that the show have an appealing look, that it be unique. That's where there can sometimes be an advantage to using a large national firm."
Dolph is less willing to give national contractors the edge. "National contractors have more experience, and might have more props," he says. "But creativity is where you find it. And smaller companies might work harder at it. At a big company, it's unlikely that you'll get the attention you'll get from a small company."
As it happens, Pierce rejected the very contractor that Dolph selected and creativity was a criterion for both of them. "Their ability to provide high-quality design and decorations was an issue," says Pierce. "Some shows are all pipe and drape, but design is important to our exhibitors. Larger contractors offer much more in terms of booth design. Smaller contractors don't have major exhibit design divisions; they sub out a lot of that work." He then offers a qualification: "This isn't true countrywide. Some local companies can provide what we need."
One way to get a good look at a contractor's creativity is to see a show in action. "It's amazing to me how many times we offered to have show managers visit one of our shows -- and they didn't," says Bartlett. Yet that would enable a show manager to get a much more accurate view of the contractor's overall capability, he points out. "Pictures alone show only the best work."
Another factor in the choice of a contractor is stability, particularly if you intend to sign a multi-year contract. How long has the company been in business, and is it likely to remain in business? Financial statements offer insight into the latter part of that question. Says Dolph, "If you're going to make a commitment for three years, you should get a Dun & Bradstreet report."
Even if you then decide on a multi-year contract, Dolph suggests an escape clause. "Set it up so that you can get out of a multi-year contract with a new company if you're not satisfied. If a company doesn't want that in the contract," he cautions,"there's something wrong."
Individual style
Show managers put a lot of emphasis on what they variously call philosophy, or personality, or attitude, because those characteristics shape the business relationship. "Each company has its own personality," says Bartlett. "There are major differences in style among the major companies, and we all have different priorities. The show manager must find that out, and must be happy with a particular company's style."
After preliminary research eliminated the local contractor, Pierce focused on two national candidates. "We made our selection based on the company's philosophy," he says. "That could be the number one thing. You can find that out by talking with other show management organizations. The company philosophy is also obvious in the presentation. It's clear that some have a very strong focus toward the client."
Dolph, who selected a local contractor, adds, "You look for the intrinsic quality of the people, what they stand for, and the kind of company they created. We want to know if we can trust them. Are they credible? Does the structure of the company and the people you talk to reflect that?" Clearly, company size has no bearing on those factors.
The heart of the business alliance is the show manager's relationship with the account executive, the person who is the key contact. "We recently surveyed show managers to find out what's important to them in selecting contractors," says Beckert. "They said the most important thing is having one personal contact they could rely on, on a regular basis. Our account executive solicits the account, sells it, and is on-site to supervise all phases of production -- that's the key to customer service. We've even had show managers write the account executive's name into the contract. We have employees who have serviced certain shows for 15 to 25 years."
Such long-term relationships are so important that one show manager said his only concern in regard to Greyhound's recent acquisition of United is what will happen to the United account executive with whom he works. "I want to know where he's going, and that's where I want to go." That kind of loyalty develops from a long-term relationship, but, again, has nothing to do with company size.
There's no question that the major service contractors have survived and grown because of their quality and professionalism. But there still will be times when a local company will be a more appropriate choice for a particular show. Lee, at George Little, says his company is currently working with all the major contractors, and has, over the years, used several smaller contractors as well. "We have no hard-and-fast rules," he says. "We make our decision based on what's right for the show. Competition keeps pencils sharp, and keeps people thinking about the service they're providing."
