"Having the four shows is like having four circles -- each audience overlaps a little," says Alan Steel, Executive Vice President at White Plains, NY-based GLM. "The benefit of the overlap is not just that we have more people at each show, but that we have new people."

When GLM acquired The Visual Marketing & Store Design Show, Steel says, "Visual merchandising had been cut back in many stores, and we recognized that the exhibitors needed to meet other markets." Consequently, GLM rescheduled the show to run concurrently with the National Stationery Show. "That gave exhibitors immediate access to the approximately 25,000 retailers who attend the stationery show," he says.

Concurrent shows that serve related markets can benefit all the players. Topping the list of benefits are broader opportunities for both exhibitors and attendees. At a combined event, exhibitors see more buyers and buyers see more exhibitors, giving everyone a greater return on their time and money investments. People also save time and money if they can participate in fewer events and still gain the same rewards.

There are advantages for show management, too. A larger event has more clout and prestige. It uses more room nights, and so is in a stronger position to negotiate with both the convention facility and hotels. And a small or young event that partners with an established one immediately gains credibility. With more impressive attendance figures, the reputation of the established show can be enhanced as well.

That's the case in the partnership between the International In-Line Skating Association (IISA) and the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). The in-line skating industry zoomed from zero to $1 billion in no time, according to Henry Zuver, Executive Director of Atlanta-based IISA. "In the beginning we weren't big enough to do our own show," he says. "It made sense to partner with shows that embrace the concept of what we do, to establish ourselves as an industry." At present, IISA partners with several events. "Each show benefits by having a growing industry as part of it, and it's good for us to go to shows of that caliber," he says.

At NSGA, in Mt. Prospect, IL, Senior Communications Manager Larry Weindruch notes that in-line skating is the hottest product category in the industry -- and hot products bring in buyers. "We're a full-line show, with about 18 product categories. Each one wants additional buyers," Weindruch says.

Four existing events will come together next year as the new WORLDWIDE FOOD EXPOS '97. The four are the American Meat Industry's (AMI) International Meat Industry Convention and Exposition, Dairy and Food Industry Supply Association's Food & Dairy EXPO, International Dairy Foods Association's INTERNATIONAL DAIRY SHOW, and the National Food Processors Association's 90th Annual Convention.

Ron Nunnery, AMI's Senior Vice President of Administration, Convention and Member Services, explains why the Arlington, VA, association joined the partnership. "We want to position ourselves for future growth," he says. "We want to compete in the world market." Because international shows are growing and covering broader arrays of products, AMI talked with the dairy associations about a joint show that they could promote internationally.

Meeting jointly with other related shows also enables attendees to economize on time and travel costs. "With the continued consolidation of companies, there are fewer people available to attend shows," Nunnery says. "Attendees say that they can't go to any additional shows. Yet we must continue to provide a growing, quality audience for our exhibitors."

For a new show, teaming up with an existing event taps an established audience. The new Retail Services & Technology Show, produced by Atlanta-based publisher and trade show producer Shore-Varrone Inc., joins NSGA in July, bringing to six the number of events that run concurrently with the NSGA World Sports Expo. "With the multitude of megastores being built, there is a need for companies that can provide the services you wouldn't find in traditional retail stores," says Jeff Atkinson, Shore-Varrone's Vice President of New Business Development. "By combining our corporate resources with NSGA's built-in audience of sporting goods retailers, we can put on a show to benefit sporting goods and other industries."

When new shows are launched concurrently, show management creates show synergy from the start. Mary Beth Rebedeau, President of The Rebedeau Group, based in Palos Hills, IL, intended to launch an event serving the equestrian industry, a hobby of hers. Market research uncovered a significant number of horse breeders and trainers in the Lexington, KY, area who would attend. "But we also found a vast number of mom-and-pop companies that do craft and gift shows, and a $900 booth would be too much for them," she says. "So we decided to co-locate two shows to attract exhibitors ranging from professional suppliers to artisans." The Breeders and Trainers Exposition and Conference, a trade show, runs concurrently with the Lexington Equestrian Gift Show, a public show.

Personal interest also prompted the creation of a second event by publisher and show producer Shows of Integrity, Cooperstown, NY. The company launched its Gem and Mineral Show in 1978. According to Show Director Judi Tripp, her husband began the Superstar Baseball Card Show in the late 1980s because he himself was a baseball fan. The concurrent shows are effective because, Tripp says, "they bring in the whole family -- women go to the jewelry, men and boys go to the baseball cards. Each gives the other a natural audience."

Concurrent shows produced by separate associations typically have their own show management and exhibit salespeople. If only one show management company is involved, and the events are relatively small, a single management team is feasible. But each of GLM's four shows has its own manager, responsible for space sales; and its own directors of public relations, advertising and production, operations, and registration. Those teams attend periodic "four-shows meetings," chaired by Steel, to present status reports.

Promotion gets even more complicated. Are you aiming for diversity or unity? Should promotions be handled jointly or kept separate? If they're done jointly, how should costs be allocated? And, if an association mails to its own target list, to what extent will the mailing pieces promote the other partners?

When The Rebedeau Group launched three vertical shows concurrently with the National Systems Contractors Association show, they chose to maintain separate identities. "Each show was marketed separately to different lists and was promoted as an adjunct to an existing successful show," Rebedeau says. "That allowed us to be much more focused in our marketing and kept our message undiluted."

GLM takes a different approach to promoting its "Four Shows Under One Roof." The Visual Marketing show and the Furniture Fair use one ad agency. "The agency is developing an identifiable look for each show," says Steel. "But there is some commonality in the type style, because the audiences have a strong mutual link." The Stationery Show and Surtex also share an ad agency which, Steel says, "makes no attempt to link the visual images of the sales brochure." But, he adds, "Each sales brochure makes references to and has copy links for all four shows."

When there are common mailing pieces for all four shows, costs are shared. For example, there will be a single guide to all the seminars for the next event. "We'll charge the cost back to the shows based on the number of people on their mailing list," says Steel.

GLM ran into trouble when it tried to use that same formula to allocate costs for a promotional video broadcast in the New York City hotels used by its attendees. Eight-minute segments on each of the four shows focused on the interests of each audience, but also showed what else they could see in the building. "There were differences of opinion," says Steel. "Some show managers felt the video wasn't worth what it cost them." So costs were reallocated, and show managers who thought the video was worth more paid more.

With the WORLDWIDE FOOD EXPOS having just been announced, and not even scheduled until the fall of 1997 at a venue to be determined, many issues are still being resolved. "The question remains, 'Will we do a separate or a joint prospectus?'" says AMI Project Manager Gene Sanders. "There would be economies of scale if we do only one." Sanders is with Fairfax, VA-based Convention Management Group (CMG), which has managed AMI's last three shows.

As the management company for the new event, CMG will handle AMI's international marketing campaign along with a show management company in Paris that itself produces four shows under a single name. "You can get into difficulty," Sanders warns, "if one partner has a more aggressive marketing campaign. What if one partner doesn't put money into international promotion?" he asks. "That partner would get the benefit while the other partner does all the work."

Physical layout and signage should guide traffic between the events. At the NSGA World Sports Expo, held at McCormick Place, "It's easy to move from one show to another," says Atkinson. "Part of the NSGA show is on the floor above us. When you go to the escalators, you see the entrance to the Retail Technology show." Rebedeau's two equestrian-related shows were held at the Lexington Heritage Hall Convention Center, where they partially opened a wall between the two halls to create the feel of one show.

Show managers who are participating in concurrent events expect to see more of them. Atkinson, whose company produces a store fixturing show that encompasses several smaller shows, says it's a "natural progression for major shows. It's a way to solve the problem of too many shows."

"We should all be looking for crossovers," says GLM's Steel. "I've always been willing to talk to someone who has a market that overlaps with ours."

AMI's Nunnery shares that view. He says the WORLDWIDE FOOD EXPOS is an open-ended arrangement. "We're open to other associations, and to having new partners," he says. "We want to create a one-stop shopping event."