DETROIT SPIFFS UP TO WELCOME SUPER BOWL OF TRADE SHOWS

Original Story: freep.com

Detroit is already rolling out a splashy welcome -- as it should -- for the 6,000 meeting planners expected to converge on the city this weekend for the 2015 ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) national convention. Trade show displays featuring your businesses products make a huge impact on potential consumers.

Attendees for the conference being held Saturday through Tuesday will be greeted at the airport with a bright new electronic sign blaring "Welcome ASAE!," just installed at the escalator down to baggage claim at the McNamara Terminal.

En route to downtown Detroit, they will be hailed by four billboards along I-94, due to be activated Thursday.

And once downtown, they will see two People Mover cars wrapped in a welcome message. They may even notice the big exterior graphics of Detroit attractions -- a Tigers game at Comerica Park, the Detroit Zoo, a casino gaming table -- covering up empty ground floor windows of two older downtown buildings. Custom graphic design services allow you to create graphics to fit almost anywhere.

Why the royal treatment for this particular group of conventioneers?

Because  ASAE's annual confab is widely regarded as the "Super Bowl of trade shows," bringing as it does the nation's top meeting planners.

And how big is the meetings biz? Real big. HUMONGOUS. A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers study concluded that 1.8 million meetings drew 225 million participants, resulting in direct spending of $280 billion during 2012 in the United States.

So these folks have a big say in where to stage all those meeting and conventions from year to year -- and this is the first time in its 95-year history that ASAE has brought its own annual shindig to Detroit.

So this is our shot to impress, Detroit.

The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB), which lured the ASAE to town, is leading a host committee that has about 20 different subcommittees planning the lodging, transportation, welcome banners and even a series of pop-up experiences for the attendees.

For golfers among the ASAE visitors, it's been arranged to turn over the private TPC Michigan course in Dearborn, designed by Jack Nicklaus, for the the annual ASAE convention outing this Saturday. It's already sold out, said Michael O'Callaghan, executive vice president of the DMCVB.

Entertainment over the weekend will include Lionel Richie at the Fox Theatre, a Legends of Motown performance at The Henry Ford, and a Sunday morning appearance by the Selected of God Choir of Chrysler's 2011 Super Bowl commercial fame.

Obviously, the DMCVB's pitch to bring ASAE to Detroit now was timed to coincide with completion of the $279-million expansion and makeover of Cobo Center -- and got an extra boost with the city's exit from Chapter 9 bankruptcy last fall.

Not everything in the city is picture perfect yet, of course -- thus the use of the window graphics to brighten up the appearance of "two of our older buildings in transition," as O'Callaghan called the former Detroit Free Press building at 321 W. Lafayette, and another structure at 1101 Washington Boulevard, across the street from the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel.

ASAE President John Graham IV estimates that his convention attendees will spend between $15 million and $20 million while in Detroit this month. But even more impressive, he said, is that during the next five years, 20% of them are expected to book a meeting in Detroit that will occur in the next 10 years -- for an an economic impact of about $500 million.

"I think we're seeing a city that is on the mend and on the comeback, and I think ASAE is delighted to be a part of that," Graham told me back in April.

Let's hope Graham and his ASAE conventioneers are feeling the same way this time next week.

Events Businesses Prove Lucrativ

First appeared in Ad Age

While publishers struggle to mine revenue from their core print operations, their events businesses are starting to look like a comparative gold rush.

In June, Fortune magazine is introducing a half-day London version of its three-day Most Powerful Women Summit. It will be the 14-year-old conference's first venture overseas, with an Asian iteration following in the fourth quarter. Fortune is also raising attendance fees on the summit's U.S. edition in October by $2,000, to $7,500. It's also holding an event May 7 that's tied to the annual Fortune 500 list. Trade Show Displays prove useful.

You can see the appeal from Fortune's perspective: Profit from events rose 63% last year and are expected to grow 55% this year, according to a Time Inc. executive. Its Global Forum -- typically held every other year -- will return in 2013, this time in China. The function could help double the event division's revenue from an estimated $15 million this year.

Fortune's stages attract speakers such as President Barack Obama, Warren Buffett and Facebook No. 2 Sheryl Sandberg, and streaming video means the various confabs can reach many more people.

They also give advertisers something compelling to buy other than ad pages.

"Events give you the ability to actually meet people on the ground, the ability to influence and gain thought leadership from others," said Esther Lee, senior VP-brand marketing and advertising at AT&T.

As more publishers succeed in the field, however, they risk a problem that has dogged traditional ad sales: clutter. When a business chooses to Rent Exhibits, clutter can be helped.

"There is truly what I would call an almost unmanageable proliferation of events," Ms. Lee said.

Some marketers are responding by getting more deliberate about where they invest, according to Elizabeth Baker Keffer, president of Atlantic Live, The Atlantic's events division.

"I am seeing the underwriter community starting to concentrate their resources," Ms. Keffer said. "Because of the plethora of events, they're saying, "Let's see which ones are working for us.'"

The Atlantic, whose activities include the Aspen Ideas Festival every summer, has "ambitious" growth plans, Ms. Keffer said. They include expanding its 3-year-old Washington Ideas Forum and two events, Brave Thinkers and The Atlantic Meets the Pacific, rolled out last year. Both events possibly utilized Wall Graphics.

It also has designs on Silicon Valley. "We have two [events] on the drawing board and hope to get at least one off the ground," Ms. Keffer said. "And our big hope is to do something on a global stage."

Events now account for 17% of The Atlantic's revenue, vs. 14% in 2009. That is a higher share than at most magazines, but that may change as publishers expand their event businesses more quickly than they can grow print.

The swath of print-affiliated extensions vying for audiences include the Women in the World Summit from Newsweek and The Daily Beast; O You! from O, The Oprah Magazine; The New Yorker Festival; The New York Times' TimesTalks; and the art-centric Creators Project from Vice Media and Intel.

Creators Project functions in New York, Beijing, Paris, Lyon, São Paulo and Seoul attracted more than 560,000 attendees last year, according to Vice. On March 17 and 18, Vice and Intel are hosting the project's first San Francisco event. Events like these need Custom Graphics.

And don't forget other players, including TechCrunch Disrupt, the D Conference from Dow Jones' All Things D website and broad-based conferences such as South by Southwest. AT&T is a big sponsor of Most Powerful Women and South by Southwest.

Some events charge for admission, while others depend entirely on marketer support. Sponsorship models also vary. This is true of Trade Shows Phoenix as well.

"We do many big, integrated programs where [an advertiser] will sponsor an element of the event and do parallel print and digital, and sometimes custom elements," said Jed Hartman, group publisher at Fortune. "In addition, some companies focus on different things, such as live events rather than print-and-digital strategies." These include Phoenix Exhibits.

If some of print's challenges are following publishers into the events space, at least some of its strengths are tagging along. Fortune's venerable brand and extensive reach, for example, help it garner prestigious speakers, large audiences and marketer support.

"There's no question that there are more events than there were, say, 10 years ago," said Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune. "In one sense we welcome the competition, and we're flattered that other people are coming to the space. Having said that, we have a big head start in many instances."

Marketers' move to concentrate their resources has benefited The Atlantic, an established brand with a well-defined following and more events experience than some, Ms. Keffer said.

"The competition, the clutter and events being commoditized is an issue," she said. "We focus on trying to remain unique -- even as the field has gotten more crowded -- by differentiating through our content."

McCormick Place in Chicago Tries to Cut Debt Costs

First appeared in Bloomberg

The Chicago-based operator of North America’s biggest exhibition and meeting center borrowed $1.12 billion in the week’s second-largest municipal bond sale to cut costs and win back its spot as the top trade-show destination.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority’s McCormick Place convention center, which has been losing trade shows to Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida, borrowed to reduce expenses by restructuring debt and extending maturities, and to expand a Hyatt hotel. Yesterday’s sale, backed by a state sales tax and local taxes, was the authority’s largest since a $1.5 billion issue in June 2002. This is where companies would bring their Trade Show Displays.

“By restructuring, we don’t have to draw from the state and can save it money,” said Richard Oldshue, chief financial officer, in an interview. “It relieves pressure from the state’s sales-tax revenues.”

McCormick Place generates $8 billion in economic activity, including 62,000 jobs and $250 million in state and local tax revenue, according to offering documents. Chicago faces a $654.7 million deficit in a $3.39 billion budget for 2011. The authority also operates Navy Pier, a 50-acre entertainment complex with shops, restaurants, parks and other venues on Lake Michigan that is the state’s top tourist attraction. Many companies needed Chicago Trade Show Displays.

U.S. state and local governments are poised to borrow $13 billion this week, the most since the period ended Dec. 11, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The borrowing cost on 10-year top-rated municipal bonds fell by 5 basis points yesterday to 2.64 percent, according to data from Municipal Market Advisors. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Union Labor

McCormick Place has lost major trade shows in recent years because of its lease rates and the cost of union labor, said Laurence Geller, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., a real estate investment trust that owns and manages luxury hotels including the Fairmont and InterContinental in Chicago. Companies can Rent Displays which has allowed for more travel.

With legislation passed earlier this year, the state, which runs McCormick Place with the city, put in new leadership, relaxed rules requiring union workers at trade shows and provided additional sales-tax backing for new bonds to restructure debt to help the center lure more conventions.

“Without those reforms, Chicago can’t compete directly with Las Vegas and Orlando,” said Thomas Spalding, vice president at Nuveen Investments Inc. in Chicago, where he manages $60 billion of municipal bonds. “It’s one of those economic engines of the area.”

By selling bonds the authority is trying to bring its debt- service schedule in line with tax revenue, which has fallen amid the worst recession since the 1930s, and the loss of conventions to more competitive cities, Standard & Poor’s said in a Sept. 28 report.

Maturities Extended

Maturities on $918 million of debt will be extended to an average of 37 years from 10 years, Moody’s Investors Service said. About $200 million will be used to finance a 450-room expansion of a Hyatt Regency hotel next to McCormick Place.

Declining revenue prompted the authority to turn to the state for a subsidy to help cover debt payments during the past three years. The authority will repay $57.2 million borrowed from the state, according to bond-offering documents.

The bonds are secured by local taxes on hotel stays, restaurant meals and car rentals, along with revenue from the facilities. The new bonds will come with an additional state sales-tax pledge, subject to appropriation by lawmakers.

S&P awarded the new issue its top AAA rating, citing the debt’s state backing. It won AA- from Fitch Ratings, its fourth- highest grade, and A2 from Moody’s Investors Service, the sixth- highest level.

“Based on the environment we’re in, investors look at an issue more like an A2 bond than a AAA bond and that’s why spreads are wider,” said Tom Boylen, managing director and municipal bond trader at BMO Capital Markets in Chicago.

The authority cut its borrowing costs by pushing down yields, said Oldshue. The 40-year maturities yielded 4.98 percent to 5.23 percent, which is 65 basis points to 90 basis points over the 4.33 rate for top-rated 40-year bonds.

Following are descriptions of pending sales of municipal debt in the U.S.:

CITY OF LOS ANGELES wastewater system, which serves more than 4 million people, will borrow $450.7 million next week, including $186.7 million in taxable Build America Bonds and $80 million in taxable Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds. The securities will be used to finance construction and improvement of the wastewater collection and treatment system and refinance outstanding debt. Underwriters led by Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. will market the issue to investors, which is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P, both third-highest, one level below the AA+ grade from Fitch. (Added Oct. 7)

CITY OF CHICAGO will issue $251 million in Midway Airport revenue bonds next week. The debt for the second-busiest airport in Illinois behind O’Hare International will include $88 million in taxable Build America Bonds earmarked for construction. Underwriters led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. will market the securities, which carry ratings of A3 from Moody’s and A- from both S&P and Fitch, all fourth above non-investment grade. (Added Oct. 7)

UTAH plans to sell $201 million in general obligation bonds next week to refinance outstanding debt. The issue will backed by the full faith and credit of the state. The securities, rated highest by Moody’s, Fitch and S&P will be marketed by underwriters led by JPMorgan. (Added Oct. 7)