The Business of Show Business

Focusing on your show is vital, but expanding your focus is essential to growth

By Michael J. Flynn and Linda Kephart Flynn

Keeping your nose to the show management grindstone is necessary for success, but it will only get you so far. If you truly want to succeed in the business of show business, you must pull back from that ever-turning, all-absorbing wheel long enough to form, design and implement the "big picture" ideas that really will make your organization grow.

All too often, however, show managers do just the opposite. Mantra-like, they walk their floors repeating, "Details, details, details." Not surprisingly, their individual shows can be quite prosperous. But a growth-inhibiting environment develops when such managers become blinded by the day-to-day activities of running their operations.

Instead of seeing problems as challenges, challenges as opportunities and opportunities as a chance for growth, they see only problems -- problems that need to be overcome as quickly as possible so their shows can proceed. Worse yet, problem-solvers have little time to look at their businesses -- not to be confused with the shows themselves -- with an innovative vision that will help their organizations improve. They fail to see new ways to enhance financial stability, take advantage of technical innovations, capture new markets and realize similar opportunities for business growth.

"All living things grow or die, and a show business like all businesses is a living thing," says Steve Schuldenfrei, Executive Director of the Society of Independent Show Organizers. "If you're so involved in looking at the day-to-day activities, one day you'll look up and find the world has passed you by."

To be a truly successful show manager, exposition executive or business owner, you must quickly develop the ability to oversee the details of your operation, while planting your eyes and mind firmly on the future -- the future where real business growth takes root and begins. The future that, by the time it becomes the present, will bear the fruit of your groundbreaking ideas and plans.

"It's absolutely imperative that you grow your business," Schuldenfrei warns. "The show is only one part of your business, maybe the only part of your business, but you have to look at your organization as a separate, larger entity. You have to see it from this different perspective."

How can you foster this kind of thinking? What are the best sources of business-growth ideas? Who out there in the show world is using their "business head" to find new ways to expand and increase revenues. And how are they doing it?

Here are several stories from some of the companies and organizations that are best exhibiting the ability to focus on the business of show business -- how they came upon their innovative ideas and how they're putting them to work.

Management services
InterBev Limited
Recognizing the consolidation taking place in its industry in the late '70s, the National Soft Drink Association wasn't surprised by the declining attendance figures at its Soft Drink Exposition. Rather than settle for a small, vertical event, however, the NSDA instead decided to expand the show. How? By changing the Soft Drink Exposition into InterBev, a large, horizontal event covering the soft drink, beer, wine and bottled water industries. Today, 10 years after the first show, InterBev holds 225,000 square feet of exhibits and is attended by more than 15,000 buyers.

But how does an association that serves the soft drink industry, produce an exposition that represents those who seemingly compete with its members? By spinning off a show management company, and incorporating it as a wholly owned subsidiary of the association. Which is exactly how InterBev Limited was created in 1985. "The association is concerned with supporting the soft drink industry," says InterBev President Bill Maloney. "But I'm just as interested in Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Mondavi. It's a way to serve the entire beverage industry, and still maintain NSDA's mission to its members."

It was also the impetus for what would later become a dynamic growth opportunity for both organizations, because in 1990 InterBev became an every-other-year event. At that point, says Maloney, they decided to market InterBev's show management services to other associations. "Every other year we were going to be producing a top-of-the-line trade show," he explains. "So we already had the infrastructure and experience to enable us to produce other shows."

What they needed, however, was a way to generate revenue to help offset the overhead of maintaining a year-round operation. As a show management firm, they could generate those revenues. And although Maloney will be the first to say that profits are at the heart of the company's motivation, supporting the InterBev show is the primary reason for the firm's existence.

"We're not trying to make the huge profits some of the other companies go after," says Maloney. "So we can be a bit more competitive in terms of price."

But InterBev's sales pitch goes beyond just price. The company's relation to an association gives it insight into the challenges other organizations face in producing their shows. Demanding boards of directors, the mission to provide added value to members, and working effectively within an association structure -- InterBev takes it all in stride.

"When we do a show, we're invisible to the attendees and exhibitors because we're an extension of the association we serve as a client," says Maloney. "We'll complement whatever they're doing, reinforcing, rather than threatening staff members with what we can offer."

This tailored approach had its first test in 1991, when InterBev managed the International Robots and Vision Automation Show in Detroit for the Robotics Industry Association. The success that year led to a repeat performance in '93, and InterBev will produce the '95 show as well. The School and Home Office Products Association also formed and held its first SHOPA Show in 1991, thanks to InterBev. That group's second show, in 1992, was also an InterBev event.

Robotics? Office products? For a team of beverage experts? "When you talk about producing a trade show, between 75 and 85 percent of the work is fundamentally generic," Maloney explains. "The remainder is focused on the industry. But you don't have to be a widget expert to put on a widget trade show."

Ultimately, the benefits of this unique arrangement come back to the group that developed the innovative idea. InterBev94, scheduled for October in Atlanta, should have more than 500 exhibiting firms. "We'll have more exhibitors than ever before," says Maloney.

Courting decision makers
National Association of College Stores
"The growth of our show is growth for our association," notes Elizabeth Goulding, Director of Meetings and Expositions for the National Association of College Stores, a group of more than 3,000 campus retail outlets ranging from 1,800-square-foot small-college shops to the multibranch Harvard Cooperative Society. "It's very important that we do well with the event."

In that light, Goulding knew that NACS, based in Oberlin, Ohio, needed to ensure that as many college store buyers as possible attend its annual shows. New members are courted throughout the year, free registration is offered to first-time attendees and a host of other programs are directed at increasing that visitor flow.

Most notable, though, have been NACS' efforts to go a step beyond its target audience, by wooing the people who can decide whether the buyers attend the show in the first place. "Our membership is often at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to the typical campus hierarchy," explains Goulding. "Those store managers are at the mercy of business officers and auxiliary services managers, who grant permission to attend. We knew that in order to grow, we would have to appeal to that level."

Simple letters of request wouldn't do in this case. NACS decided the best way to persuade those in an educational setting would be through, well, education. And so was launched Focus on the Campus Marketplace: The Newsletter for Auxiliary Directors and Business Officers.

Now in its fourth year, the quarterly, four-page newsletter includes issues and items pertinent to those who run day-to-day college retail operations across the country. In the May 1994 edition, for example, the publication's nearly 7,000 recipients could read about copyright prearrangement initiatives, a survey focused on custom publishing, one campus store's quest for customer service excellence and NACS' new shopping bag program.

"The idea is simple," says Goulding. "The more those people know about the college store industry, the more likely they are to send their store managers." The more likely they are as well, it seems, to attend NACS' events themselves. In the last two years, nearly 200 business officers and auxiliary services managers have attended the shows, and the annual attendance appears to be rising. From 1990's show in San Jose to this April's gathering in Orlando, NACS recorded more than 35-percent growth in the number of stores represented, from 884 to 1,197.

"Some people look at promotions like this as being expensive," admits Goulding, who was unable to place a dollar figure on the quarterly campaign. "We count it as vitally necessary to get the information out and have the show be a success. It makes a difference when our attendees' bosses come to the show."

International seminars
The Interface Group
If you want to grow your business, find a way to help your customers grow theirs. If you doubt the power of this simple Business 101 advice, look no further than The Interface Group, producers of the gigantic Comdex shows. The Interface Group has set a clear goal of being the dominant computer industry show in markets throughout the world, and the Needham, MA, company is doing just that by assisting its exhibitors in expanding internationally as well.

"Our shows are recognized as global marketing events," says Bob Lively, The Interface Group's Vice President of International Development. "The more we can help our exhibitors become part of that process, the better we can grow as a company."

The Interface Group remains focused in that direction by maintaining a big-picture view of its operations. The company believes its final product isn't trade shows, for example, as much as it is data distribution. "Our long-term strategy is to produce an environment where information providers have the ability to move data to those who want to receive it," explains Richard Schwab, Vice President of Project Management. "Producing trade shows is one tactic in that overall strategy."

At the shoe-leather level, that means The Interface Group can't just decide to expand its data-distribution system to Singapore -- which it will do in October 1995 -- but the company also has to pave the way for its exhibitor base to go there as well.

The Interface Group fosters that effort by presenting a series of free international seminars at nearly every show it produces. At Comdex Spring and Comdex Fall, for instance, the company stages programs about expanding your business into Canada and Mexico. The Canadian Comdex show includes a major seminar about selling products in the United States. "Now we're even finding a global interest in areas that were unexpected just a short time ago," admits Lively. "Exhibitors in Mexico want to know about going into the Canadian show; Brazilians want to come into Mexico. This is all part of the international synergy that we're trying to facilitate."

The Interface Group's global seminars began as an offshoot of work it did in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce. "It started with speaking assignments we were doing to help people learn about a new region's market data, cultural patterns and distribution centers," Lively says. "After looking at it, we decided this was something we should be doing at our own shows as a long-term growth activity.

"We realized that people coming to our shows were not only trying to understand new technology, they were trying to form relationships with new business partners. And one of the nicest places to meet is over a discussion of the market, at our seminars."

The Interface Group kicked off its information series using knowledgeable speakers from the United States. It soon became apparent, however, that the best people to sell a new market would be the business professionals who live and work there. Comdex seminars, then, would not only feature international topics, but international presenters as well.

"The cost of pulling in six or seven speakers from Europe can be expensive for 100 people in a seminar, especially when compared to, say, a networking seminar for 1,500 people that, frankly, costs me a lot less to produce," says Lively. "But you have to look at the expense as part of your entire strategy. We know it's working, and we're becoming known for this sort of comprehensive information."

The series is also becoming known within The Interface Group as a solid lead generator. "We always have salespeople in the seminars," Lively explains. "We collect business cards of what we call these 'new-to-markets' and provide them with the market research and support they need to join us in at our other shows.

"They always need lots of hand holding, but they know they can start in with us, get a feel for a new area and have the confidence that they'll meet with the distributors they'll need to make their expansion a success."

Dream teams
Southex Exhibitions
Most people would associate the phrase Dream Team with the all-pro U.S. Olympic basketball team. At Canada's Southex Exhibitions, however, a Dream Team brings an entirely different kind of victory to this organizer of 20 trade and 40 consumer events, including one of the world's largest home shows. It signifies an innovative program aimed at improving the company's products and setting the stage for future growth.

The Dream Team concept, implemented about a year and a half ago, is simple: Take a show manager with a problem, have him or her select a group of peers from within the company and pull them all together to develop a workable solution. That plan, according to Southex Business Development Vice President Bruce Hughes, works like a dream. "We're in business, in part, to make our business run better," he says. "Who can better tell you how to run your business than the people who are working in it day to day?"

Although based in Toronto, Southex operates offices across Canada and the United States. That means the company's show managers can pull in Dream Team resources from Anaheim to Edmonton and Calgary to Miami. The teams of five to six managers usually meet just prior to or during the subject manager's show, and usually over a weekend. "It can be a challenge to get everyone together," Hughes notes, "but the weekends usually work well, and we're able to save on airline and hotel costs that way as well."

Once the team is assembled, the manager saddled with the problem -- be it anything from plummeting attendance figures to a poorly positioned show -- explains in as much detail as possible the situation he or she faces. That manager leaves the group, which is then charged with finding a practical, cost-effective solution. A designated group member facilitates the proceedings, and each Dream Team has a mandate to deliver a written report with specific solution recommendations by the end of the weekend. Subject show managers are not required to follow the four- to eight-page reports, but are expected to justify their decisions if they don't.

Admittedly, Southex's autonomous, bottom line-oriented show managers first viewed the group problem-solving structure with suspicion. "The first couple of people felt like victims, and the team members also were sensitive about what they said," says Hughes. "But in a lot of cases now, the shoe is on the other foot: The people who once got advice are now on the group end, or former group members are having their situations reviewed. Now, everyone realizes just how important those suggestions can be to the success of a show -- and ultimately the company."

An unexpected byproduct of the Dream Teams has been the benefits the team members themselves have drawn from the experience. Commonly, those who have come to lend their expertise and advice end up returning to their own operations with two to three solid ideas that can be incorporated into their shows. "You can go to a lot of seminars and not get this much information," Hughes points out. "And the best part is that it's all very company specific. You're learning and discussing ideas that will help this company, not just any company, grow and operate better in the future."

7 ways to spark your company's growthInnovative business ideas are everywhere. You just have to know how to find them -- and, more important, know how to think about finding them. The following suggestions represent but a few of the ideas you can use to foster growth within your own organization.

1. Notice how other, unrelated businesses do business. You may not be in the lodging or transportation industries, for example, but something about the way hotels and airlines operate undoubtedly could carry over into the way you run expositions.

2. Provide unmatched quality. Competition in the show business now exceeds levels unthinkable less than a decade ago. Find a way to offer the absolute best quality in at least one area of your business, as a way to differentiate yourself from the pack.

3. Find a cheaper way to do it. Do you really need as much office space, staff or other overhead-generating items to operate? Become mean and lean, then pass the savings on to your clients and exhibitors.

4. Turn the world upside down. Trade journals that spin off shows are commonplace. But perhaps your exhibitor base and attendee interest level has become strong enough to expand your show directory/program into a quarterly or bimonthly magazine.

5. Admit those you've previously shut out. Consumers are better informed than ever. Now might be the time to split your shows, making them combination trade and public events. Or how about a trade-only period for all of your consumer events?

6. Ask your secretary's opinion. Often the people with the best ideas are the ones who, from day-to-day experience, know your business best. Ask your secretary; solicit business-building ideas from every staff member. Set up an internal awards program for any ideas that help the company grow.

7. Save people more time. Scrutinize the way you do everything from pre-show planning to booth sales, mailing list updating to attendee registration. Saving exhibitors and attendees time may also save you money, earn their respect and allegiance, and personally give you longer periods to plan other innovative business practices.

Special software sparks creativityStrong, business-building ideas surface as you drive to the office, talk with an exhibitor or read an unrelated industry's trade magazine. More often, however, you discover the bigger, better, faster or more efficient ways of doing business by consciously putting your mind to it.

Now, thanks to computers, show managers have additional tools with which to find and formulate those novel ideas that lead to business growth. Anyone with a desktop or notebook computer can easily develop the skills to use these idea tools and -- like a carpenter who learns how to operate a power saw -- can become more productive in trimming and fitting together the pieces of that well-designed concept.

The following examples are just three of the many software programs than can help you find, research and evaluate your ideas. These are Macintosh-based products; similar IBM-compatible programs also are available.

Inspiration 4.0
This software program models human left- and right-brain thinking by giving you two on-screen environments to develop your ideas. The diagram and outline formats allow you to see and read the pieces of your plan, and to easily reshuffle those elements when necessary.

If you're most comfortable brainstorming in writing, start with the outline format. You're more of a visual conceptualist? Launch your thinking with the diagram graphics, then refine the details later using the outline. Changes made in one format automatically appear in the other.

IdeaFisher 2.0
The result of more than 17 years of effort by more than 200 researchers and editors, this brainstorming program works on the principles of association, memory retrieval and the use of analogy and metaphor. With it you should be able to generate ideas quickly and thoroughly in a way that improves the quality, productivity and cost-effectiveness of your business practices.

The software combines two databases: the first, an idea thesaurus called IdeaBank that taps into more than 700,000 ideas, words, phrases and titles and associates them with your topic; the second, dubbed QBank, draws from more than 6,000 thought-provoking questions designed to challenge your idea, change your perspective and objectively view all possible solutions.

If your idea requires further analysis, the program allows you to add three additional "modules" to the QBank, each with questions specifically focused on strategic planning, speeches and presentations, and business and grant proposals.

Business Plan Toolkit
Finally, business management experts agree that one of the best ways to evaluate the practicality of your innovative ideas is to test them with a business plan. The aptly named Business Plan Toolkit software gives you a quick way to forecast sales, personnel requirements, market potential, break-even points and other financial ramifications before proceeding.

The program allows you to use your own descriptions while covering 24 plan topics. Then it assembles the information into a business plan text. The tool will help you answer such questions as, "Do I have enough capital to finance my business growth? Is my pricing right? And, am I reaching my real market with this idea?"

As a show manager, exhibition company executive or business owner, you obviously can't rely on computer software for all of your growth-enhancing ideas. But consider these and similar programs for what they can contribute to your company's success.