December 12, 2005
Show business | Diversified Business Communications continues its expansion into trade shows
By Miriam S. Powell
Diversified Business Communications is largely known around Portland, where it's based, for trade magazines such as SeaFood Business and WorkBoat. Recently, though, the company's growth has centered on trade shows. Case in point: In 1982 ˆ when current CEO Nancy Hasselback joined the company as editor of SeaFood Business ˆ Diversified had four domestic shows in three industries, with three publications; today, the company has 46 events in more than a dozen industries on four continents, and eight publications.
In October, Diversified acquired its newest shows ˆ the Administrative Professionals Conference and the Super Floral Show ˆ from Boston-based Gainshare Media. These days, its event holdings cover industries from manufacturing technology to seafood to fitness, recently focusing on such trendy topics as natural health care, niche cuisines and organics.
"The margins in the trade show business are more attractive than the margins in the publishing business," Hasselback admits, though she hastens to add that "we value our publications very highly."
According to Hasselback, the expansion in the trade show side of the business is a simple matter of taking opportunities as they come. "It's not a matter of acquiring the most shows; we've been very deliberate about the industries we're interested in and the events that we do acquire," she says. "We are attracted to [various industries] because of rapid growth in the business, or the product itself is a leader in the marketplace."
Diversified Business Communications, a division of Portland-based Diversified Communications, which operates a variety of broadcasting, exhibition and publishing businesses, isn't alone in experiencing this growth. The Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast reported a 5.8% increase in overall spending by exhibitors and attendees in 2004, with an anticipated 6.1% increase in spending by the end of 2005. (These figures apply to domestic business only.) These statistics represent a growth rate not seen since 2000, with 2001-2002 showing declines and 2003 bringing a meager 1.5% upturn in spending.
Diversified hopes to continue gaining more of that market by carefully adding new shows to its portfolio. "Our strategy is to grow the events that we acquire and take them to other parts of the world when we can," says Hasselback.
For example, she says, Diversified, which projects revenues of $54 million for 2005, has plans to expand the 13-year-old Administrative Professionals Conference. Currently it runs exclusively in the United States, but it will soon expand to Canada and, later, possibly to Europe. In addition, this conference in particular provides an opportunity for the firm to create links between its trade show side and its publishing arm. "There is a small trade show associated with it, but it's predominantly a conference providing education and networking opportunities for administrative professionals," says Hasselback. "It probably aligns more with publishing than it does with trade shows, because it's all about content."
That kind of attention to cross-promotional opportunities is important, according to Heather Kirkwood, who wrote about this trend in the November issue of EXPO,
a Kansas-based magazine where she's the senior editor. "Diversified has implemented an integrated selling approach," she wrote in an e-mail response to questions for this story. "This is a new trend whereby instead of having one sales person sell the booth space, another the show sponsorship opportunities and another the ads in the magazine, the selling is integrated so all these options can be bundled." The benefits are mutual, she continues: "Not only did [Diversified] think it was better for sales, but it allowed each client to have some consistency in their interaction with the events."
Concentric circles
Hasselback says that though "integrated selling" is a new buzzword, it's something that Diversified has been doing all along. "When you own the leading magazine and the leading trade show event, there's so much value you can add by packaging the events," she says, referring to one-two punches such as SeaFood Business and the International Boston Seafood Show. "It gives [our customers] the ability to reach the industry with a unified message."
Is this strategy about improving the bottom line? "You do have increased revenue," she says, "but it's more about better customer retention because they have better luck in the marketplace, selling across several mediums."
Brian Perkins, senior vice president and COO at Diversified, says the firm's focus on trade shows goes back 13 years to Diverified's launch of the European Seafood Exposition, which he calls the company's "grand slam." Since its inception, the Brussels show has grown exponentially, evolving into what Perkins says is a major industry event. "As we grew the franchise for seafood," Perkins says, "we realized seafood is just a niche, and so what other niches are there that we can either acquire or launch?"
From there, Diversified moved into other types of food shows, such as Expo Comida Latina and the All Asia Food Expo ˆ which it launched in 2002 and 2004, respectively ˆ and into the natural and organic markets with All Things Organic (2002), Natural Products Europe (2002) and Organic Products Europe (2003). The acquisition of the Super Floral Show fits into this strategy, according to Perkins. "We understand the retail supermarket business very well," he says. "How else can we leverage that knowledge? What other aisles, as it were, within the grocery store exist where we could do a stand-alone event? Flowers make perfect sense in that regard, in that the event that we acquired was with supermarket buyers as the primary target."
For the past nine years, Diversified has partnered with Texas-based Freeman, which handles freight and other physical logistics, in installing shows across the country. John O'Connell, executive vice president and COO for Freeman's eastern region, says Diversified wins points with exhibitors and attendees by paying attention to customer service. "It's unusual to have as many [staff] as they have and to have them as visible as they are," he says. (In addition to badges, Diversified staff wear identifying company shirts at events.) "And they're able to deal with a lot of issues; sometimes they resolve a lot of them right there at show site, which certainly makes customers happier. It's not totally unique, but it is exceptional."
In the years ahead, Diversified executives say, the company will continue to look for additional acquisitions. Perkins sums it up this way: "[We're always asking] how can we take the circle of influence that we currently are in and then, tangentially, what are the other circles that have some overlap? We grow outwardly in all directions."
In October, Diversified acquired its newest shows ˆ the Administrative Professionals Conference and the Super Floral Show ˆ from Boston-based Gainshare Media. These days, its event holdings cover industries from manufacturing technology to seafood to fitness, recently focusing on such trendy topics as natural health care, niche cuisines and organics.
"The margins in the trade show business are more attractive than the margins in the publishing business," Hasselback admits, though she hastens to add that "we value our publications very highly."
According to Hasselback, the expansion in the trade show side of the business is a simple matter of taking opportunities as they come. "It's not a matter of acquiring the most shows; we've been very deliberate about the industries we're interested in and the events that we do acquire," she says. "We are attracted to [various industries] because of rapid growth in the business, or the product itself is a leader in the marketplace."
Diversified Business Communications, a division of Portland-based Diversified Communications, which operates a variety of broadcasting, exhibition and publishing businesses, isn't alone in experiencing this growth. The Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast reported a 5.8% increase in overall spending by exhibitors and attendees in 2004, with an anticipated 6.1% increase in spending by the end of 2005. (These figures apply to domestic business only.) These statistics represent a growth rate not seen since 2000, with 2001-2002 showing declines and 2003 bringing a meager 1.5% upturn in spending.
Diversified hopes to continue gaining more of that market by carefully adding new shows to its portfolio. "Our strategy is to grow the events that we acquire and take them to other parts of the world when we can," says Hasselback.
For example, she says, Diversified, which projects revenues of $54 million for 2005, has plans to expand the 13-year-old Administrative Professionals Conference. Currently it runs exclusively in the United States, but it will soon expand to Canada and, later, possibly to Europe. In addition, this conference in particular provides an opportunity for the firm to create links between its trade show side and its publishing arm. "There is a small trade show associated with it, but it's predominantly a conference providing education and networking opportunities for administrative professionals," says Hasselback. "It probably aligns more with publishing than it does with trade shows, because it's all about content."
That kind of attention to cross-promotional opportunities is important, according to Heather Kirkwood, who wrote about this trend in the November issue of EXPO,
a Kansas-based magazine where she's the senior editor. "Diversified has implemented an integrated selling approach," she wrote in an e-mail response to questions for this story. "This is a new trend whereby instead of having one sales person sell the booth space, another the show sponsorship opportunities and another the ads in the magazine, the selling is integrated so all these options can be bundled." The benefits are mutual, she continues: "Not only did [Diversified] think it was better for sales, but it allowed each client to have some consistency in their interaction with the events."
Concentric circles
Hasselback says that though "integrated selling" is a new buzzword, it's something that Diversified has been doing all along. "When you own the leading magazine and the leading trade show event, there's so much value you can add by packaging the events," she says, referring to one-two punches such as SeaFood Business and the International Boston Seafood Show. "It gives [our customers] the ability to reach the industry with a unified message."
Is this strategy about improving the bottom line? "You do have increased revenue," she says, "but it's more about better customer retention because they have better luck in the marketplace, selling across several mediums."
Brian Perkins, senior vice president and COO at Diversified, says the firm's focus on trade shows goes back 13 years to Diverified's launch of the European Seafood Exposition, which he calls the company's "grand slam." Since its inception, the Brussels show has grown exponentially, evolving into what Perkins says is a major industry event. "As we grew the franchise for seafood," Perkins says, "we realized seafood is just a niche, and so what other niches are there that we can either acquire or launch?"
From there, Diversified moved into other types of food shows, such as Expo Comida Latina and the All Asia Food Expo ˆ which it launched in 2002 and 2004, respectively ˆ and into the natural and organic markets with All Things Organic (2002), Natural Products Europe (2002) and Organic Products Europe (2003). The acquisition of the Super Floral Show fits into this strategy, according to Perkins. "We understand the retail supermarket business very well," he says. "How else can we leverage that knowledge? What other aisles, as it were, within the grocery store exist where we could do a stand-alone event? Flowers make perfect sense in that regard, in that the event that we acquired was with supermarket buyers as the primary target."
For the past nine years, Diversified has partnered with Texas-based Freeman, which handles freight and other physical logistics, in installing shows across the country. John O'Connell, executive vice president and COO for Freeman's eastern region, says Diversified wins points with exhibitors and attendees by paying attention to customer service. "It's unusual to have as many [staff] as they have and to have them as visible as they are," he says. (In addition to badges, Diversified staff wear identifying company shirts at events.) "And they're able to deal with a lot of issues; sometimes they resolve a lot of them right there at show site, which certainly makes customers happier. It's not totally unique, but it is exceptional."
In the years ahead, Diversified executives say, the company will continue to look for additional acquisitions. Perkins sums it up this way: "[We're always asking] how can we take the circle of influence that we currently are in and then, tangentially, what are the other circles that have some overlap? We grow outwardly in all directions."
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