Orange County’s annual conventions are like a kaleidoscope,the look is always changing depending on the world around it.
This year’s visions will likely be colored by the slowing economic conditions as some conventions scale back.
Hotels and resorts throughout the county will continue to host various meetings and smaller trade shows, product launches and executive retreats (see convention calendar, page 33).
The big news in OC last year was the mortgage industry meltdown. Luckily, that industry’s downturn will have little direct effect on convention business for 2008, because those companies didn’t generate much in the way of overnight meetings business.
They did use places such as the Grove in Anaheim, Angel Stadium of Anaheim and the Anaheim Convention Center for one-day sales meetings and regional mortgage trade shows,business that mostly has evaporated for now.
The dominant sectors on this year’s convention calendar (which excludes one-day events) are education, healthcare, religious groups, professional associations, retail shows and sports.
That’s a big change from a decade ago, when technology and telecommunications dominated the landscape. Back then, the California Cable TV Association convention alone brought as many as 40,000 people to Anaheim at its peak in 2000. By 2004, the show was defunct,a victim of industry consolidation and changing technology.
Technology conventions,encouraged by the likes of the now-defunct Comdex in Las Vegas,were a dime a dozen before the dot-com bust. In 1999, there were 17 tech and telecom groups that met in Anaheim alone. It took until 2007 to get back to double-digit convention numbers in those industries.
While those industries are rallying, the overall number of meetings and conventions already booked for 2008 is down from 2007.
In all, there are 431 groups signed on for Anaheim meetings, conventions and trade shows in 2008 with projected attendance of 935,700. Last year, the city hosted 748 groups and 1.2 million attendees. But since so many meetings are scheduled on short notice during the year, that number is likely to end up higher.
While big conventions and trade shows like last week’s International Music Products Association’s NAMM show book several years out, smaller groups may book just a month or two ahead, so 2008 could easily reach or exceed last year’s attendance numbers.
Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau, said 2008 business is likely to be flat compared to 2007.
“It’s a good flat,” he said, “because 2007 was so strong.”
Exact year-to-year comparisons are difficult, in part because association meetings,which comprise 65% to 70% of Anaheim’s business,typically change meeting locations every year. Other conventions aren’t held annually.
Convention Capstones
Put this year’s calendar up against the one from last January, and you’re likely to find a lot of differences.
Some big feathers in the city’s cap of first-timers in 2008: the American Library Association; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the National Safety Council; and the International Association of Assembly Managers. Together, those four groups will bring more than 56,000 new attendees, exhibitors and sponsors to town.
Elks attendees plan to vacation as well as meet, said spokeswoman Jessica Ruiz at the national headquarters in Chicago.
“They like the weather, the family atmosphere and Disneyland and many will bring their families along,” she said.
OC gets a big chunk of its current convention business in the first quarter, with mega-groups like International Music Products Association’s NAMM show and the seven-show co-op known as Medical Design and Manufacturing and Natural Products Expo West accounting for roughly 170,000 attendees. Some of the groups’ members are scattered through colder climates where prospective attendees are eager to trade snow shovels and ice scrapers for surfboards and sunscreen,if only for a week.
NAMM alone was expecting more than 80,000 attendees, not counting celebrity musicians and yet-to-be-discovered talent that shows up for impromptu jam sessions and scheduled concerts held at surrounding hotels and on the outdoor stage at the convention center. Though not open to the public, the star-studded trade show draws a lot of star-seeking locals who try to get in on the action.
Natural Products Expo West, riding the crest of the organic and natural foods frenzy, is expecting its attendance to increase by 3% to 5% this year, which would bring its total to roughly 41,500. Show organizers think OC is the natural place for the show.
“Orange County is known for its healthy and fit lifestyle,a perfect setting for this gathering,” said show manager Amy Dageenakis.
As of the beginning of the year, first quarter conventions totaled 181 groups with projected attendance of 453,552 and estimated $360 million in economic impact. In the same quarter last year, there were 212 groups with 456,956 attendees who generated $362 million in economic impact.
There are 26 education-related conventions scheduled for this year, compared with 13 a year ago. That includes educational programs for professional organizations like the National Safety Council.
Tech Shows
Technology and telecom are making stronger appearances, with 11 shows planned, compared with six last year. The largest of those is Design Automation Conference, which will bring 10,000 to OC.
“From a show manager’s standpoint, Anaheim is my favorite place to work,” said Lee Wood, exhibits manager for Design Automation. “It’s easy and cost-effective and airlift into the area is great.”
There are 27 healthcare groups on the books for 2008, compared with eight last year. Medical Design & Manufacturing shows fall in the manufacturing sector, but are related to the medical industry. It’s one of the strongest and fastest growing shows in Anaheim.
This year, the Green Manufacturing Show is the seventh show added to the OC convention mix. It will include an educational conference for the first time in Anaheim.
Kevin O’Keefe, senor vice president of the events division for Los Angeles-based Canon Communications LLC, which coordinates the shows, said Green Manufacturing will feature products that contribute to sustainable manufacturing and bring in new attendees.
The Green Manufacturing Show will contain content for both educational and manufacturing programs, bringing in a larger crowd of attendees.
The collocated concept has yielded mixed results for other industries, but has succeeded for this group of shows, in part because of the lean and mean efficiencies in manufacturing today, O’Keefe said.
“Trade shows had to become more efficient too,” he said.
The exhibitors at Medical Design & Manufacturing have customers in a number of industries, so O’Keefe devised a way for groups from every facet of the industry to hold their shows at the same time.
Also drawing a larger audience to the convention center will be religious groups. Fourteen religious conventions will descend on Anaheim this year. Those delegates are expected to spend about $160 million while they’re here.
Typically, these conventions are held during otherwise slow times at the convention center, which helps balance the convention calendar. They also tend to stay in town longer than some groups.
There are several shows for facility operators this year, including the annual convention of the International Association of Assembly Managers, whose members oversee public facilities like convention centers. It’s that association’s first time in Anaheim.
Its companion trade show will be staged with the National Association of Concessionaires, a group of executives who head up parks, arenas, zoos and ice rinks.
The Facility Management Show West, known as WestFac, and Facilities Expo are supported by the Green Building Council, Orange County Chapter. Facilities Expo also is sponsored in part by University of California, Irvine Extension.
Green Theme
Green is a big draw in 2008’s convention calendar.
Aside from the Green Manufacturing Expo, there are three other environmental conventions scheduled in 2008.
This sector is poised for growth in the future, partly due to a new round of environmental consciousness, but also because of the Anaheim Convention Center’s own efforts to go green.
The center was on the leading edge among existing convention centers to embrace recycling, environmentally friendly products and sustainable menus, the latter through its concessionaire partner, Aramark Corp.
Jim Tripp, Aramark’s general manager at the Anaheim Convention Center, was recently promoted to director of sustainability and innovation for the western region of Aramark. The Philadelphia-based company instituted a green mandate for all its operations. Tripp will oversee training for the other buildings.
“We’ve just made the first steps,” he said.
The economic impact of each convention is measured in dollars, but goes beyond the Anaheim borders even when the convention is in Anaheim. Side trips, spousal tours, VIP dinners at restaurants and pre- and post-stays make the convention industry a big piece of OC’s economic engine.
