Rise of the Titans

By Rayna Skolnik

Late last year, their successor companies merged to form a trade show management titan with U.S. revenues of $845 million.How do companies attain such heady success? A look at four of the best-known names in exposition management reveals that although they share focus, determination and drive, each company has its own defining strategy.

Miller Freeman Inc.
In 1996, Miller Freeman Inc. (MFI) was a sizable company, producing 85 trade shows and conferences. But it became one of the world's largest show producers in late 1996 when its parent, London-based United News & Media PLC (UNM), acquired another London-based company, trade show organizer Blenheim Group PLC. The combined companies will produce between 250 and 280 shows annually. In 1995, their U.S. revenues totaled $845 million and their U.S. profits, $136 million.

The little acorn from which this great oak grew was a business-magazine publishing house opened in Seattle in 1902 by the eponymous Miller Freeman, grandfather of the firm's current Chairman and CEO, Marshall Freeman. Miller Freeman Publications' (MFP) earliest magazines served the timber and commercial fishing markets. By the time MFP organized its first show, the North American Sawmill & Plywood Clinic & Machinery Show, in 1973, there were 100 employees and revenues of $10 million.

The original event, now the Wood Technology Clinic & Show, covers more than 100,000 net square feet and celebrates its 25th anniversary in March.

"Most of our events started as conferences and grew into trade shows," says Marshall Freeman. "Our editorial experience was more translatable to a conference than a show." Today, the company's trade shows still complement their business magazines.

UNM acquired MFP in 1985. "We wanted to grow faster, in many different markets, and they shared our vision," says Freeman. MFP made its own first acquisition, Gralla Publications, in 1991. That brought into the fold 20 magazines and 27 shows, including the Imprinted Sportswear Shows, Kitchen/Bath Industries Show, and the Thalheim shows that Gralla had earlier acquired: National Merchandise Show, Variety Merchandise Show and Premium Incentive Show.

The acquisition pace picked up. In 1993, it was the show management company Precision Planning and Sales. In 1995, it was two Interbike shows and Walter Fletcher Inc., which produces eight merchandise shows.The result is a highly diversified company. "We're in about 25 markets," says Freeman. "The biggest is computer development. But we also have major positions in sports, merchandise, papermaking, building and jewelry."With UNM's acquisition of Blenheim PLC, Miller Freeman and Blenheim will fully merge, including MFI's sister companies, Miller Freeman PLC in Europe and Miller Freeman Asia. Under the reorganization, Blenheim's U.S. trade show operations will be integrated into MFI's San Francisco headquarters."Blenheim is really global," says Freeman. "We're stronger in Asia, but they're stronger on the Continent and in the UK. Our reach is quite a bit larger now, and we want to keep this pace of growth going, not just in the developing regions of the world but also in North America."

But what about the frequent cries of "market saturation" and "too many shows"? Says Freeman, "I can't think of a market that doesn't have potential."

Blenheim Group USA
The U.S. expositions arm of Blenheim Group PLC began life as an advertising agency founded by Harry A. Bruno in 1923. For many years, a big chunk of the agency's business was promoting trade shows, notably the National Boat Show, a client from 1926 to 1978; the National Shoe Fair; and the National Sporting Goods Fair. Ralph Ianuzzi Sr., editor of trade magazine Rudder, joined the company in 1958 and bought it when Bruno retired in 1968.The shows that H. A. Bruno Inc. represented grew so large that their owners eventually took the promotions in house. Ianuzzi turned the losses into gains: He seized the opportunity to use the agency's decades of expertise to organize its own events. He began the Personal Computing Expo in 1976, the year before Ralph Ianuzzi Jr. joined the company.

In the next few years, H.A. Bruno ran several computer shows -- one in partnership with Little Brothers Shows -- with mixed results. "It became apparent that because of changes in the industry and the way the show was positioned, the show could be sold to a competitor," says Ralph Ianuzzi Jr., outgoing Executive Chairman of Blenheim Group USA. "We were in competition with [The Interface Group's] Sheldon Adelson, and he won when we sold him the show."

Interface's COMDEX served computer resellers. H.A. Bruno, spotting a nascent niche, in 1983 targeted the corporate computing market with PC EXPO, which became its flagship event. In 1996, PC EXPO drew 800 exhibitors and 130,000 attendees. "Our dominance of the corporate computing market opened doors of opportunity for us, and led to the rapid, dramatic growth of the company," says Ianuzzi.

Meanwhile, Blenheim Expositions PLC was founded in England in 1979 and flourished through acquisitions. In 1990, it entered the United States via a merger with H.A. Bruno. The U.S. entity, Bruno Blenheim (Blenheim Holdings Inc.), continued to make acquisitions: the Bobbin shows; National Expositions, organizer of UNIX Expo and the CMM shows; and the JA Jewelry Shows. In 1996, Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based Blenheim Group USA, as Bruno Blenheim had been renamed, produced some 20 shows, including several launches.

Now parent company Blenheim PLC is itself being acquired, and "we haven't been invited to stay," says Ianuzzi. "But the Ianuzzi clan -- my father, myself and my brother Stephen -- have the industry in our blood. We've agreed not to compete with Miller Freeman, but we plan to continue in the industry and build another company. We're going to chase new rainbows."

Reed Exhbition Cos.
Thanks to a judicious acquisition strategy, the lineage of Norwalk, CT-based Reed Exhibition Cos. (REC) includes many of the most prestigious names in the exposition industry.

It all began in 1969, when Cahners Publishing entered the industry by purchasing Charles Snitow Organization, whose roster included the National Hardware Show, SHOT Show, Consumer Electronics Show, New York Auto Show, and the International Fancy Food & Confection Show. In 1972, Cahners acquired Sherman Exposition Co., producer of home and auto shows; and in 1974, Show Company International, producer of security industry shows. By then, the trade show segment of Cahners deserved a more appropriate name and became Cahners Exposition Group (CEG).

Meanwhile, London-based conglomerate Reed International had acquired an interest in CEG through its 1970 purchase of IPC, a UK magazine publisher and part owner of Cahners Publishing. By 1977, Reed owned 100 percent of Cahners Publishing, including CEG.

CEG began extending its reach beyond the United States in 1980. It acquired Kiver Communications/Industrial and Scientific Conference Management, which produced the Nepcon shows and had a presence in the United Kingdom and Japan. In 1982, CEG added Clapp & Poliak, which was especially strong in the United Kingdom and was also in Asia. And in 1984, CEG merged with Industrial and Trade Fairs (ITF). "ITF was a significant show company in both Europe and Asia, and that catapulted Cahners into the global market," says Patricia Dolson, President, North America, Reed Exhibition Cos., as CEG was renamed by Reed in 1986.

"The early acquisitions helped us diversify into attractive market sectors," says Dolson. "We identified large, growing markets and determined how we could get a position in them."

Acquisitions were by no means the company's only route. "Acquiring companies was our market-entry strategy, but launching shows was our growth strategy, and we have stepped up that activity," Dolson says. In 1995, REC launched 35 shows globally, more than in any other year.Association shows also play a major role, thanks to Dolson, who joined the company in 1981. "I felt there was an opportunity for the company to focus on that market," she says. Having spent most of her REC career on association shows, she found that "the skills required are very different." Consequently, she launched the Association Expositions & Services (AE&S) division in 1991 "to service our accounts better and also pursue new business." AE&S now manages 14 shows.

REC today produces more than 335 events in 25 countries on five continents. North America, the largest of its three sectors, has 69 shows, 46 of them in the United States. "The international focus has been important to our growth," says Dolson. "It gives us the ability to launch a show in a market sector and take that brand around the world."

Reed International has formed a strategic alliance with Amsterdam-based publisher Elsevier, creating a behemoth with global revenue of $5 billion. REC remains autonomous, says Dolson. "It's a bottom-up relationship. We develop our own strategic plans and marketing plans." Nevertheless, she notes: "Reed Elsevier is an aggressive market-focused company, and REC certainly benefits from that focus, drive and international span. When we identify markets in which we want to be a major player, we have the R/E resources behind us -- which gives REC a significant leg up in accomplishing our market objective."

George Little Management Inc.
There were just 12 exhibitors in the first Chicago Gift Show, organized at the Palmer House hotel in 1924 by merchandise importer George F. Little. Today, 73 years later, that show boasts nearly 1,100 exhibitors occupying 225,000 net square feet at McCormick Place. And George Little Management (GLM), headquartered in White Plains, NY, has become the country's leading organizer of trade shows for consumer goods.

Little organized that first show, then known as the Eastern Manufacturers and Importers Exhibit, to simplify life for himself and other New York City importers who were trudging from one Chicago retailer to another presenting their wares. Running the event was merely a "sideline" for him, says his grandson, GLM President George F. (Jeff) Little II. But it was so successful that he was asked to organize the show in other cities. Within 10 years, there were five or six shows, each held twice a year. The New York City event, forerunner of the company's flagship New York International Gift Fair (IGF), was launched in 1931, the same year that George's son William joined the company. Today's New York IGF is the city's largest show; the February 1997 event is expected to use 575,450 square feet in three locations.

GLM remained on a steady, sharply focused path of launching shows that last. "Because my grandfather was a wholesaler, he was hand-in-glove with the retail marketplace and was aware of the niches with potential," says Jeff. The company's only acquisition was the Gourmet Products Show, in 1986.

When Jeff came on board in 1971, 47 years after the first show, he joined his uncle, William; his father, Donald Little; and his cousin, William E. (Will) Little Jr. (now GLM's Chairman) on staff as the 12th employee. Today, the company has more than 100 employees and produces more than 20 shows -- and the shows themselves have grown tremendously. "Running a show today is far more complex," Jeff says. "When I started, one person handled everything from advertising to operations. Now the whole process has changed, and we have six support departments."

A key reason for the increased complexity is the proliferation of convention centers. He explains: "When shows were in hotels, exhibitors paid the hotel directly and we took a management fee. Also, the new convention centers provide the opportunity to hold more and bigger shows."

GLM today continues on the launch path. Its newest effort is Extracts, a home fragrance and personal care products show that in April becomes an adjunct to the New York Home Textiles Show.

The company has also diversified into association shows. It has managed the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show since 1980, the Affordable Meetings Exposition and Conference since 1991 (Affordable Meetings West debuts in April), and assumes management of the Air & Waste Management Association show in June.

Jeff sees association shows as a focus for the future. "They will definitely be a larger part of our business," he says. With so many shows being launched, "There aren't that many home runs to be hit with new shows. Taking on existing business is a nice way to grow."