GIE, EXPO Make it Official: The GIE/OPEI Expo debuts in 2007

Three years ago, when the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute moved the International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment Expo (EXPO) from its resolute July dates to October, many in the industry speculated how long the OPEI and the Green Industry Conference and Expo (GIC/GIE) could co-exist within a few weeks of each other.

The GIC/GIE, a national conference and show for lawn and landscape professionals presented by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) and the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS), had been held in early November since its inception in 1990. The EXPO, an equipment show owned and operated by OPEI, had expanded its traditional dealer audience to make room for landscape contractors and had been held the last weekend in July for its entire existence.

Today, PLANET, PGMS and OPEI announce the merger of the two shows. Beginning in 2007, the combined GIE/OPEI show, titled the GIE/OPEI Expo, will debut in Louisville, Ky., at the Kentucky Exposition Center. GIC/GIE averages about 5,000 attendees and the OPEI show generally attracts about 25,000. Though there is a little overlap in attendees at the two shows, many are predicting growth due to the union of EXPO’s three-day 20-acre outside demonstrations area with GIC/GIE’s comprehensive educational and networking opportunities (In the past while EXPO featured this three-day-long exterior exhibit, GIC/GIE only featured a one-day demo).

“It’s a great opportunity – we wanted to find a way to put it all together and bring our industry more together,” says John Gibson, PLANET president. “The combined attendance is a great opportunity to continue to educate folks who are not PLANET members. Additionally, the EXPO show will have the opportunity to attract PLANET and PGMS members to their show.”

“If managed right, it will create a new excitement among our board,” adds PGMS Executive Director Tom Shaner. “It can tend to get stale if you’re doing the same thing year after year. The merged show will help us get the word out to our members that this is a great place to come to do your buying, get your education and do some networking all at once.”

Sellers Expositions currently manages the EXPO and will manage the new larger exhibition based on a partnership agreement between the GIC/GIE and OPEI boards. GIC/GIE show staff will remain involved with show planning through the transition.

The GIC/GIE board is a standalone board and has three representatives from each of the three associations that created the GIC/GIE including the two groups that now form PLANET – Associated Landscape Contractors of America and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America – and the Professional Grounds Management Society. The GIC/GIE board has always voted by a “rule of seven,” which means any decision needs seven votes out of nine “so one association couldn’t come into the room and say, ‘We want it this way,’” Shaner explains, sharing one of his only worries about the merger. “This has always kept everybody honest and working for the good of GIE. We do have an advisory panel with the new arrangement so our representatives are working to educate the partners on the value of the rule of seven.”

Financial arrangements between the two groups were not released. Nor was the penalty that the GIC/GIE will face for canceling its contracted Indianapolis show planned for 2007. GIC/GIE retains ownership of its name.

The length of the partnership also was not officially released, but the show is expected to remain in Louisville through 2011, according to Dan Ariens, president of Ariens Co., Brillion, Wis., and OPEI board member and EXPO chairman.

“We put a whole year into studying and looking at other venues," Ariens says. "Our critical need was to have a full-time outdoor exhibit so demonstrations could be done at leisure vs. taking place only at one time of the day or during one day. When you factor in this along with the growing size of the show, there aren’t a lot of options."

EXPO is currently the 10th largest trade show in the nation, Ariens adds, pointing out that this merger could move the new show up to ninth or eighth place with the larger attendance and square footage. Louisville as a location seems to be the natural partner in making this growth happen, says OPEI President and CEO Bill Harley.

While Louisville “is a great city,” Shaner says, “there certainly will be conversations about if it’s right to stay in the same place year after year. A large facility allows for the expansion of the show. At Louisville, outdoor product demos are done right outside the door instead of busing people to other locations, which has always been a critical concern at GIE. Convention center rates are also more than 50 percent better in Louisville than in other cities.” So, as other board members and exhibitors are saying, Louisville just makes sense.

“Most successful shows across the world do end up in the same location year after year,” Ariens adds. “Because the attendees are our customers we want to keep the costs low to attend to drive them in. Location comes down to how easy it is to get in and out – Louisville is a location many can drive to comfortably.”

That is certainly the case for exhibitor Dow AgroSciences, headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., only a two-hour drive Louisville. According to Mark Urbanowski, Dow’s senior marketing specialist, turf, ornamental and technical products, despite the convenience factor, “a truly national show might benefit from moving locations each year, so it’ll be interesting to see how the location works for them.”

PLANET and PGMS both bring their established conferences to the new GIE/OPEI Expo, and both organizations hope to continue to strengthen their education.

“That’s exactly what we’re going after on the PGMS side,” Shaner says. “Being able to really focus and enhance the classroom experience we hope will allow us to do a better marketing job to attract more of the professional grounds managers and facilities managers.”

Gibson says one of biggest benefits of the new show is the ability to increase and expand the number of seminars offered. GIC/GIE had some limits on the number of seminars scheduled so as not to compete with its own trade show in the past. This will be eliminated with the new show, he says, giving it room to expand.

Manufacturers also feel positive about the merger. Ariens looks at the originally planned 2007 EXPO and GIC/GIE shows, scheduled less than 10 days apart and within 200 miles from each other, as an example of the ideal situation this merger brings. “For exhibitors, the attendance will be much larger and the types of attendees will be of a higher caliber from dealers to landscape contractors to golf course superintendents,” he says. “Plus, having all attendees at one venue reduces the cost of being part of two trade shows. It also brings new excitement for new product introductions to one large show each year.”

In terms of making predictions about the new show’s growth, Urbanowski says, “it’s too early to tell how successful the show will be, but we need to be supportive of these industry organizations. If the associations feel this is best for the industry, we will ultimately be supportive of that. Each company goes to a tradeshow with a different purpose. The key thing for us is that we get face time with the decision-makers who buy and use our products. If EXPO offers that and we get more of the same type of attendees we see at GIE, then the show will work for us.”

As the industry gets used to the new GIE/OPEI Expo, there’s already talk of new niche groups entering the show.

“We’ve already said to OPEI that you’ve got to market outside your base, and they understand that,” Shaner says. “It’s our responsibility to help educate the show producers on what other products and services will be able to attract a national audience here. But you’ve got to remember there are going to be some learning curves here. Let’s not pretend that tomorrow this will be best show in world. But we’ve got our fingers crossed. We think we’ve got a winner and are hoping for the best.”

Marisa Palmieri also contributed to this story.