the April 2009 Issue in PDF Format - Trade Show Executive

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Power Lunch JOE LOGGIA - The Magic Man By Bob Dallmeyer, columnist Joe Loggia became CEO of Advanstar Communications, Inc. in 2004 and quickly set out to transform the company into a highly market-focused media company. To do this, he divested several assets and re-engineered the entire organization. Joe grew up in Los Angeles and has a unique career trajectory: he started out as a teamster, then became a police officer, all the while enrolled fulltime at the University of Southern California. He earned a business degree and is a Certified Public Accountant who once managed fraud investigations at Coopers & Lybrand. He joined Advanstar in 1998 as part of the purchase and integration of MAGIC (Men’s Apparel Guild In California) into the company’s portfolio. Today, Advanstar produces 150 events, 260 electronic products and 68 publications. In addition to his past contributions as a board member of American Business Media (ABM) and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO), Joe is active in the Young President’s Organization. We spoke soon after MAGIC closed in Las Vegas. Photo Credit: Sherry Tesler 32 April 2009 Trade Show Executive www.TradeShowExecutive.com
Bob: You have had a truly diverse career path. Your accounting background is helpful as CEO, but what about law enforcement? Joe: Police work was incredibly valuable to me. I had wonderful experiences dealing with diverse people and solving problems quickly. Those skills are an asset in the trade show business. It also taught me that most of the things considered emergencies, especially at trade shows, are not really emergencies. If we solve them in a methodical manner, we are far better off in the long run. Bob: What’s your assessment of the justcompleted MAGIC Show (February 17-19)? Joe: Given the national retail numbers and the state of the economy, I think everybody was expecting the show to be less robust than it was. We took a proactive approach: we developed new platforms for MAGIC, expanded services and remerchandised the entire event. Bob: What do you mean by “new platforms”? Joe: The show encompasses MAGIC Man, a complete range of men’s fashions; WWD MAGIC, a full spectrum of women’s wear; Premium at MAGIC, the premium apparel lines for men and women; S.L.A.T.E., a collection for the surf, street and skate communities; STREET, the sportswear collection; ECOLLECTION, an environmentally and socially aware collection; KIDS, for the younger set; and SOURCING at MAGIC, connecting apparel companies with the fabric/supplier industries. We created a better environment for our exhibitors and attendees by remerchandising all the areas, expanded international brands and welcomed over 100 new exhibitors to the show. Bob: Tell me about your turn-key booth packages. Joe: When I speak about the trade show business, I often remark that we are our own worst enemy: we make it so complicated for companies to exhibit in a trade show because almost everything is a surprise. Typically, an exhibitor starts spending its budget with a trade show organizer for exhibit space, and then it has to get a booth constructed. Next, it has to worry about all the services – drayage, electrical, etc. We have done something about this at Advanstar, across all of our shows: we created booth packages for our customers to simplify the process. For one turn-key price, exhibitors get an exhibitsystem structure, services included, and they just add their graphics and content. These were available at different price points throughout MAGIC and were extremely successful. Bob: I suspect they also provide a nice savings in the long run. Joe: Yes, they are far more cost-efficient and worry-free. If there’s a problem with the booth package, we have staff on-site through partnerships with general service contractors and exhibit builders. Hundreds of our exhibitors took advantage of this service this year at MAGIC. Bob: What about your attendance and exhibitor numbers this year? Joe: We are still in the auditing process and won’t have these for another two weeks or so. Bob: Are your shows audited by BPA? Joe: No. I’ve never had an exhibitor ask me for an audit. Bob: How does our industry get past the idea that trade show numbers have to grow each time to be successful? Joe: Guys like you have to stop asking that as one of your first questions. Bob: (laughing) What about your plans for the next MAGIC show in August? Joe: We are expanding on the booth package concept. We have a couple of new categories that we are looking at launching. Our preliminary exhibitor feedback is that they had a very positive show, and the attendees liked the new format, so we will continue what we were doing. Bob: Advanstar has three distinct operating sectors: fashion, life sciences and power sports/automotive. How many events, publications and eMedia offerings do you have in your portfolio? Joe: We have 150 events, 260 electronic products and 68 publications. Please don’t ask me to name them all. Bob: How is the economy impacting each sector? Joe: The economy is affecting all of them. The fashion and licensing businesses are very susceptible to what’s going on in retail. They are still strong and robust for us, since we are the market leaders. But this doesn’t mean that our customers are not going through challenging times. Same situation in our power sports business, which is also retail-based. While we are not seeing growth here, it is at least remaining flat – which may be the new “up” for this year. Bob: And the rest of the portfolio? Joe: Our life sciences and healthcare business is still going through changes, as it is primarily a publication and conference business. These fluctuate due to the changing regulations coming out of Washington, DC. Also, the pharma companies continue to play with the formula of how they are going to introduce drugs to the market, reflecting a slowdown in the Federal Drug Administration. Our conferences continue to be well attended, ranging from 200 to 2,000 persons. Bob: Any advice on the economy? Joe: I don’t think it would be wise for anyone to apply yesterday’s model to today’s economic environment. Having said that, the properties holding up the best are those that are critical to our customers’ sales and marketing mix. It’s long been an Advanstar strategy to focus on those Number One and Two positions. Bob: Recessions aren’t new. What are your thoughts about this one? Joe: If you look at the data, this recession has been going on longer than most since World War II. I’ve given up trying to figure out where the bottom is. I differ from a lot of my peers in believing that this will reset at 2005/2006 levels. I think it will reset somewhat lower. And the problem with the stock market is that no one has any confidence in it right now. People were sure 7,000 was the absolute bottom and yet the recent 300-point drop was Continued on page 34 www.TradeShowExecutive.com Trade Show Executive April 2009 33
Page 1 and 2: News, Views and Tools for Trade Sho
Page 3 and 4: THE LAS VEGAS CONVENTION AND VISITO
Page 5 and 6: PLANNING YOUR NEXT EVENT? TAKE ADVA
Page 7 and 8: ORLANDO Orange County Convention Ce
Page 9 and 10: Contact www.TradeShowExecutive.com
Page 11 and 12: meeting in HOUSTON is a walk in the
Page 13 and 14: STEP IN. STEP OUT. STEP IT UP. STEP
Page 15 and 16: Is your best choice for Internation
Page 17 and 18: of those companies with at least 5,
Page 19 and 20: LAS VEGAS NEW YORK LOS ANGELES SAN
Page 21 and 22: Trade Show Executive’s Exposition
Page 23 and 24: y travel taxes will feel the impact
Page 25 and 26: Room Taxes Range from 7% to 17%, Ac
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Page 29 and 30: Faurot options for using online tec
Page 31: Daytona Beach, Florida - Way More t
Page 35 and 36: Come ready to play in our new front
Page 37 and 38: A Special Report on Private Equity
Page 39 and 40: Experience what Can-Do can do for y
Page 41 and 42: “Our able advisers at Berkery Noy
Page 43 and 44: Research Roundup By Nicole Burnes,
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