LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Everything old is new again at the International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment EXPO. The 10th largest tradeshow will turn 20 this year and mark its anniversary with new dates, new products and new exhibitors who are giving the show a second chance after taking several years hiatus.
The hand-held equipment crowd – Shindaiwa, Stihl and Echo – is back on the roster this year. And attendees will find 500 manufacturers in 200,000 square feet of indoor exhibits and 20 acres of outdoor demo space – at the same place, different time.
“With other companies returning, there is an opportunity for a new emphasis at EXPO this year,” says Paul Golevicz, marketing service manager, Echo, Lake Zurich, Ill. Echo took a six-year break from EXPO – Shindaiwa has been out for four years. Stihl has been absent since 1995. Most exhibitors say the date change influenced their decision to make an appearance this year.
“We are looking at this with cautious excitement,” Golevicz adds. We think there is some reinvigoration of the show, but the show isn’t what it used to be and we hope the show management is marketing to the right customer group to bring the show back up to be a quality show.”
Echo’s decision to exhibit at the show this year was driven largely by its marketing goals, which include re-entering the tradeshow circuit, Golevicz explains. But the new dates made the show more appealing and he says this adjustment will likely attract larger dealer and contractor audiences, increasing the show’s value.
Summer dates also put a damper on new product showcases for many manufacturers, who chose to show their lines to their distribution networks before unveiling them to the industry at large, adds Warren Sellers, president of Seller’s Expositions, which has managed the show at the Kentucky Exposition Center since its first year. Now, manufacturers can show and tell, and dealers can see what’s new.
“It was getting to the point where buyers wouldn’t attend the show every year because they didn’t see anything new to any large extent,” Sellers acknowledges. “In our surveys, we asked, ‘Why do you attend?’ and the answer was to see new products. To give dealers what they want, you have to move the show past August and September so manufacturers can show new products.”
In last year’s survey, which preceded the show date change, 80 percent of dealer respondents said they would prefer a fall date and 84 percent of landscape contractor participants favored the move. Of these two groups, 80 percent said they would bring more people to the show if it took place later in the season, Sellers notes.
Changing dates isn’t so easy in the tradeshow-planning world, however. Most organizations lock in commitments years in advance, Sellers adds, noting that EXPO’s quick date change was made possible only because the Future Farmers of America moved its show, which traditionally took place during these October dates. The association took over dates from the Arabian Horse show, which had secured September dates for the convention center in 2004. The earliest the show could move out of Louisville is 2006, he says, noting that OPEI signs a two-year contract and already is committed to 2004 in Louisville.
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BRING ON THE BRATS As EXPO evolves, certain show staples stay the same. Change the dates, fix up the show floor – but don’t take away the bratwurst. Kohler’s infamous bratwurst tent started 12 years ago as a basic barbecue tent with running engines. Today, hungry attendees eat about 12,000 bratwursts during the three-day show – some of them fisting more than one in each hand, says Darrel Husa, field sales manager for Kohler, Kohler, Wis. “I think some of them eat bratwurst for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he says, laughing. Husa has seen it all, but he’s never seen anyone leave empty-handed. Each year, Kohler picks up bratwurst from a local supplier and hauls a piece of Wisconsin heritage to Louisville for show-goers to enjoy. Sometimes, 12,000 brats are just enough. Other years, there are leftovers. “One year, we were flooded with rain and there was close to 12 inches of water through the brat area,” Husa remembers, noting that 6,000 brats were boxed and never made it to the barbecue. “We donated the extra brats to the homeless in Louisville.” On the other hand, when Kohler allowed attendees to help themselves to the brats rather than staffing the serving lines, people exited the tent with “hands that had to be 2 feet in length,” Husa recalls. “They were walking out with stacks of brats.” Today, besides being a place to fill an empty stomach, the tent is a training center with a ventriloquist, who has entertained guests since the second brat fry. “We have a 10-minute teardown with service tips that allows us to introduce new products,” Husa describes. “It’s also a way to show dealers how they can do an open house brat fry and it’s actually not that much work. You only need a grill and some condiments, and you’re in business.” – Kristen Hampshire |
Show chairman Dan Ariens, president of Ariens Co., Brillion, Wis., notes that the rapid response to attendees’ preference to move show dates is an exciting accomplishment. And in a recession year when many tradeshows’ numbers are dropping, EXPO is healthy and growing. “We are ahead of last year’s preregistration at this point,” he says. “A lot of exhibitors have added space. I don’t think we’ll see a bump in more real estate sold, but we’ll see quality people there who haven’t been there in the past.”
Certainly, different dates appeal to many of the exhibitors, but Dave Zerfoss also points out that some of these changes provide exhibitors with “an excuse” to return to the show. “The reality of the marketplace drew them in,” says the CEO of Husqvarna and former chairman of OPEI. “Maybe they had explored their own marketing strategies and their customers were saying they needed to be part of the show. They’re back in and that makes for a stronger market presence. And when customers can see all the major manufacturers there, they see the size and scope of the show and they get excited about their businesses.”
And indeed, there is a different type of excitement surrounding the show this year, notices Bill Harley, CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), Old Town Alexandria, Va.. “Any time you have a positive change, it adds to that,” he says, reflecting on some of the founding features of EXPO that attendees look forward to each year: the extensive outdoor demo; catching up with industry friends; even grabbing a bratwurst at the Kohler booth (see sidebar). “That’s almost an institution in itself,” he adds.
But as Harley notes, the one aspect of EXPO that always stays the same is the varied feedback and criticism of the show’s date, location and audience. “I’ve always said the only consistent thing about EXPO is the inconsistency of the opinions that are rendered,” he says. “What is one manufacturer’s cup of tea might not be another’s.”
However, the October change certainly has generated some excitement from long-time attendees, Harley notes, acknowledging that this is one step toward refreshing the show, but not a total solution to revamping the 10th largest national tradeshow. “No one is sitting back and saying we’ve solved all the problems,” he adds. “It’s part of the evolution of the show, and it’s nice to have the initial excitement, but we can’t say the dates will do it all.”
The author is Editor of Commercial Dealer magazine and a Contributing Editor to Lawn & Landscape magazine. She can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.