12 Tradeshow Executive • July/August 2001

EAC INSIGHT BY JIM WURM

No Time for Friction: Warp-speed ExpansionForces a Unified Focus on Customer Service.

It Works Better WhenYou Work Together

Twenty years ago, there were two distinct andseparate solutions on the table when thetopic was how best to manage growth in thetradeshow industry. One solution was that ofthe exhibitor “camp,” which was made up ofexhibit managers, exhibit design and build

firms and the variety of exhibitor-appointed contractors(EACs) who serviced those exhibits.

The opposing camp was show management—show orga-nizers, facility managers and official service contractors.

The focus of the exhibitor camp was to consider thelogistics and servicing options necessary to respond effec-tively to an increasing number of exhibitors and to theincreasing number of events in which they were choosingto participate. Tradeshow participation was growing expo-nentially then; the demand for exhibit service companieswas exploding. Any change in approach in the exhibitorcamp was being driven by the needs of exhibitors.

At the show management level, the focus was to buildthe industry infrastructures necessary to support theincreased demand for events. It was not uncommon at thattime for show organizers to assist in funding facility expan-sion—expansion was that valuable to them. Facility man-agement and official show contractors met routinely toreview operational and logistical issues related to upcom-ing shows. Those discussions were driven not by the needsof exhibitors but by the needs of the other member of thecamp: the show organizers.

In other words, the customer in the exhibitor camp wasthe exhibitor, and the customer in the show organizer campwas the show organizer. And there was little, if any,crossover between them. There was, however, a healthydose of mutual distrust.

So even in the face of problems that could be solved bya meeting of minds from both camps, no such meetings tookplace. Instead there was an impenetrable, albeit invisible,barrier that isolated one camp from the other.

The best evidence of this barrier was the increasing con-cern of show management as the number of “non-officialexhibit services companies” on the tradeshow floor began

to grow. Neither show organizers nor management under-stood the value of EACs, the services they provided to bothevents and facilities.

In fact, from the perspective of organizers and facilitiesin the 1980s and early 1990s, EACs were an entity thatmade life more difficult: They were appearing in increasingnumbers and, in doing so, they were increasing both showand facility exposure to risk. It was not uncommon then forshow organizers and facility managers to believe—naively—that events would run more smoothly if EACs simplydisappeared. They didn’t realize that the growth in thenumber of exhibiting companies, and in the size and com-

plexity of their exhibits, wasfueled not solely by marketforces, but also by the grow-ing sophistication of exhibitservices. And the lack of arelationship between theexhibitor camp and theshow management camponly fueled this misunder-standing, and quashed thepossibility of any construc-tive discussion in whichthese concerns could beaddressed. So, throughoutthe latter part of the 1980sand well into the 1990s, thisill will festered.

The New Facility Manager Steps ForwardBut at about this same time, something else began to

happen. In increasing numbers, the managers of municipal-and state government-owned tradeshow facilities weregiven the word they no longer could operate as loss leaders,that they had to start making profits. To meet this demand,an entirely new style of management was required and,accordingly, in time a new style of facility manager emerged.

The challenges they faced were numerous and signifi-cant. Suddenly, they had to meet the demands of existingclients, seek solutions to the seeming non-stop need formore prime exhibit space and compete for new businessnot only with the top-tier, out-of-town convention cen-

“It was not uncommonthen for show organizers and facilitymanagers to believe—naively—that eventswould run moresmoothly if EACs simply disappeared.”

ters—with which they always had competed—but also withnew, privately owned facilities in their own backyards.

It also was common at that time for facility managers tobe grappling with expansion. Between 1980 and the turn ofthe millennium, many facilities grew from about 300,000square feet to about a million. And in addition to the brick-and mortar-questions they faced daily, there was anothertype of question they had to deal with, the type that has nofor-sure answer: Does this community have the necessaryresources to provide what we need?

Such was the case for three managers, one in Chicago,one in Las Vegas and one in Orlando. To ensure success,each was pushed to move beyond the limitations of “thiscamp versus that camp.” Each realized that solutionswould come with unity, with all involved working togetherto continually improve show services and the world-classvenues they served.

Chicago, Inc.: First to Embrace EACsIn Chicago, Tom Mobley, general manager of the

MPEA, recognized that the facilities he oversees—McCormick Place and Navy Pier—were in danger of losingseveral large, long-standing clients, such as the RSNA (ahuge show for radiologists) and the National Housewaresshow, if he didn’t act to keep them. Driven by exhibitordemand, they were shopping for alternate venues thatmight better meet their needs.

In a manner that was both decisive and unprecedented,Mobley and others worked to found the consortium knownas Chicago, Inc., an entity whose purpose is to do what’snecessary to keep events in Chicago. Chicago, Inc.addressed a wide-range of show management and exhibitorconcerns. For example, a part of their work was the for-mation of a unified labor pool, which simplified the processby which exhibits are erected in MPEA facilities.

Mobley was among the first facility managers to openlyembrace a relationship with EACs. He understood that theservicing of exhibitors at tradeshows required a collabora-tion between the official contractor and EACs. And that ifhe wanted to ensure that exhibitors who came toMcCormick Place and Navy Pier were well served, heneeded to work with a unified camp.

Now, after eight years of hard work, Mobley not onlyhas successfully kept his flagship shows in Chicago, he alsohas also helped to create a template for other conventioncities to follow. In fact, the success of the program in Chica-go, which includes the local Illinois Exhibitor AppointedContractor Association, was the inspiration for the found-ing of a national association of EACs, the ExhibitorAppointed Contractor Association or EACA.

Las Vegas: Relieving Risk ExposureIn Las Vegas, Tom Smith, vice president of the Las

Vegas/Convention Visitors Authority, was among the firstin facility administration to devise a plan that would torelieve risk-exposure concerns related to the presence ofEACs. Smith’s solution was an annual EAC registrationprocess requiring EACs to submit bona fide certificates ofinsurance. Once they do, they are welcome to work in theLas Vegas Convention Center. The registration processenabled Smith to effectively relieve his show organizerclients of their insurance concerns and, at the same time, todevelop a spirit of greater cooperation between facilitymanagement and the EACs that service Las Vegas shows.

Orange County: Training Internship ProgramThe challenge for Tom Ackert, general manager of the

Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) in Orlando,was to help supply the union and local contractors with anadequate number of trained show-floor workers to serviceevents. The OCCC had the space to accommodate almostany show in the country, but it could not host the largestshows without an increase in trained personnel.

With the support and cooperation of Orange County, theofficial contractors, EACs and the local union, Ackertdeveloped the Training Internship Program, or TIP, toaccelerate the process by which individuals are identified,recruited and trained to be professional show-floor workers.

Recently, the program celebrated its first graduation,and it has been widely recognized as a success by the newlyunified community of tradeshow companies in Orlando.

The Lesson: Communication WorksIn each of these examples, facility managers reached out

to the EAC community to assist in the creation of a facility-based initiative that would benefit the entire local tradeshowindustry. EACs were open to finding new ways to raise thelevel of service excellence in their communities. It’s safe tosay that each community—Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlan-do—is fully confident that there’s no management-exhibitorissue that can’t be resolved in an amicable and collaborativefashion. And that confidence is due to a new found servicealliance of facility managers, official contractors and EACs,

to a unified focus on the needs of theindustry’s customers, show organizersand exhibitors. TSE

July/August 2001 • Tradeshow Executive 13

Jim Wurm (jimwurm@eaca.com) is ExecutiveDirector of the Exhibitor Appointed ContractorAssociation, (514) 317-8768.