Issue link: https://tradeshowexecutive.epubxp.com/i/107551
SPONSORED BY Margaret Cassilly. She is not only extraordinarily knowledgeable and adept at managing these global programs, she is relentless. No one is more laser-focused and more determined than Margaret to push our international numbers up. Te program she oversees spans everything from print to digital marketing and everything in between. Most of the marketing eforts we initiate on the domestic side are replicated on the international side, albeit on a diferent scale and with diferent key partners. One key program that Margaret oversees is our work with the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Buyer Program. Margaret is in regular contact with many of the DOC overseas embassy contacts and delegation leaders. She has taken these relationships to another level and many of them consider her as not just an ambassador for the NAB Show but a friend. BOB: What defines a successful show for you? CHRIS: For me, it's happy customers, both exhibitors and attendees. If they are happy, we have a foundation for a successful NAB Show. Ten comes attendance growth, and if it grows, that drives exhibit sales growth for the next show, which translates into increased revenue — which is really how we get graded internally. My Board cares a lot about the fnancial numbers, so we can't ignore them. We ofen say we are the for-proft engine within the not-for-proft entity of NAB. In addition, we also want to create buzz at the show and aferwards. We want people to walk away inspired and eager to come back. If we nailed the numbers, but somehow the buzz was not there, I don't think we would feel as good about our results overall. Show that was pushing one million net square feet. Overnight, that bubble burst and we lost around 150,000 square feet of exhibits. And those companies literally disappeared with no prospect of bringing them back. Internally, we were scrambling to adjust our own budgets, having to make tough decisions about where we could signifcantly scale back investment without cutting into the value we were delivering. At the same time, we had to reassure a nervous Board and defend decisions to maintain certain spending levels. It was stressful — but I handled it mostly by putting the priority on our customers and on communicating honestly with them. We stepped up our outreach to exhibitors, as much as was possible while trying to keep expenses down. We developed new multi-year packages and approached a select group of bellwether exhibitors with these packages, giving us some degree of future security. We shared more data, not less, focusing on the extraordinary quality of our audience. We focused on buying activity measured at the show and later created a modifed hosted buyer program. We were Continued on page 42 Full of Surprises. A group of attendees gets the lowdown on one of the many new products for the broadcast media industry on display at The NAB Show. Plenty of other innovations awaited the crowd in the exhibit hall's packed aisles. BOB: Everyone faces struggles on the job at one time or another. What was your big challenge and how did you overcome it? CHRIS: Well, I managed to keep my job through two recessions. Te frst one back in 2000-2001 was the most difcult, as we tumbled considerably and very fast. Previously, we had ridden the economic wave and the dot-com bubble to an NAB www.TradeShowExecutive.com | February 2013 41