Nancy Hasselback works for a family-owned, privately held business with a culture of calculated risk-taking. Diversified Business Communications has adopted an aggressive mandate for growth that has seen it grow throughout the recession in a way that would make many envious in the more prosperous years. Here, EW finds out how the company has achieved this, its strides to acquire and establish platforms in new geographic regions, its partnerships and expansion into new forms of media.
How did you get into the international exhibition business?
My interest in the sea and commercial fishing took me back to university for a graduate degree in marine affairs, after which I landed in Seattle in order to buy a sailboat hull that I intended to finish and sail around the world. I knocked on Diversified Business Communications’ door looking for a job and was hired as editor of Seafood Business magazine. That was 30 years ago and life at Diversified has expanded greatly with the company’s growth.
In the early Nineties we published three magazines and organised three trade exhibitions in the US. Customers at our successful International Boston Seafood Show suggested Europe would benefit from a dedicated, pan-European seafood event. We launched the European Seafood Exposition in 1993 in Brussels, which began our international expansion. We now organise around 100 events each year around the world through our divisions in six countries: UK, US, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and India.
What key objectives have you set yourself and why?
Personally, I am motivated by doing a job I enjoy every day, working with very high-performing global teams, facilitating best practices across the organisation, and growing the business, which provides new opportunities for our teams. Key objectives for Diversified are for continued growth through the methods described above and identifying new revenue sources. We are also focused on gaining better insight into our qualified buyers through analytics (what are their demographics, how did we find them, what are their purchasing needs?), and finding more like them by publishing relevant content, mostly delivered online.
I currently serve as the 2010-2011 chair of the Society of Independent Show Organisers (SISO), an association serving for-profit exhibition organisers, based in the US. The association’s objectives are to continue doing what we do best - providing networking and education, and expanding international connections for our members. Our conference attendance from outside of the US has grown considerably in the past couple of years due to our members’ interest in international opportunities, and the high level of education as industry leaders share their expertise and experience with candour and transparency. We expect to see many global players at the upcoming CEO Summit in Florida in April and welcome your readers to consider attending.
SISO has been making good progress on our goal to provide college professors with information needed to teach integrated marketing and business students the value of face-to-face events and how exhibitions work within an integrated marketing mix, while at the same time drawing more attention to exhibitions as a fascinating career path. A case study is in distribution, coupled with professional outreach to professors to offer assistance in training.
There appears to be a divide between the global exhibition community, represented largely by UFI, and the US exhibition community, represented by SISO and the IAEE. Is this the case in your opinion, and if so what should we be doing to close the divide?
I believe the divide has narrowed to a sliver from where it was a few years ago. The relevant associations have found their place, and they all provide value to their membership. As an example, Diversified belongs to SISO, IAEE and UFI and the value we receive varies significantly from each. There is more cooperation between the associations, whose leadership recognise that we share common problems, and by working together on issues and not being redundant, our voices will be more effective and efficient in the long run.
What is the best way to protect your business against another global financial crisis?
During 2009, our leanest year in many, we survived without layoffs, but not without sacrifice. Simultaneously we had a record year in acquisitions and launches. I would follow the same strategy again if need be. Our teams cut costs across the board, many of which we have not reinstated. Vendors were very understanding and accommodating. We ramped up our acquisition activity knowing that the landscape might be less competitive, and new business is now contributing to significant growth in new and existing industries. Every year we closely review our portfolio to determine where our products are in their life-cycle, and during the financial crisis, we accelerated our decision making on where to invest, where to divest and when to ‘postpone’. That strategy continues during the economic recovery.
Diversified is upping its presence in Hong Kong, with three new launches last year. Which other emerging markets are you looking at?
A couple of years ago, we acquired majority interest in a Hong Kong exhibition company with two events, and subsequently launched our seafood brand into the market, with ideas for future launches. Soon after that we acquired a business in Mumbai and are expanding further into India in a measured fashion. We are opportunistic as well as strategic in our growth and are strongly considering opportunities in the Middle East as well as an assortment of other geographic regions that have been coming our way. A partnership is underway in mainland China, and we have a full pipeline of business development activity.
What trends are you noticing emerging in the international exhibition industry?
Our pricing model does not significantly align with the value delivered to our customers. Rather than charge per unit of space, the absolute correlation would be the number of qualified leads delivered. Many organisers are offering partial and turnkey packages to exhibitors, which is efficient and effective for cost control, but still does not tie the rate to the actual value delivered as a magazine does through a CPM formula. As more of our customers experience online marketing, where the cost is tied to the number of impressions, we are going to experience pressure on our pricing model.
On another note, as a media company, the opportunity to deliver content and access to buyers year-round cannot be ignored. By combining the reach from our exhibition’s most current database with relevant content delivered online through electronic newsletters, webinars, virtual events and more, we are creating online communities that provide our customers with a robust integrated marketing solution when combined with exhibitions and print.
The challenge is to continuously engage online readers through compelling content and to subsequently convert them to attendees, paid conferees and buyers of information.
What would you be doing if you were not working in the exhibition industry?
Honestly, I have no idea where my career might have taken me, as it was not planned. I feel very lucky to be in the position I am in, and believe that synchronicity, or meaningful coincidence has shaped my life.
When I have more time, I would love to pursue my passion for exploring the world by boat rather than by plane. I like to be on the water, preferably under sail.
You are clearly a very busy woman – what do you do to relax?
I find my work relaxing because it is challenging and gratifying. Certainly travel is more stressful these days, but I thoroughly enjoy being in our offices around the world, and of course our home office in Portland, Maine. Maine is all about seasons, I ski in the winter and spend as much time as possible on a boat in the summer.
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A short history of Nancy’s career
1973 - Operated commercial fishing business in Rhode Island and Alaska
1979 - Joined Diversified Communications as editor of Seafood Business in Seattle
1985 - Transferred to headquarters in Maine to become publisher
1991 - VP Business Development responsible for leading growth
2003 - President and CEO Diversified Business Communications
2006 - Chair CEIR Board of Directors
2009 - President and CEO Diversified Communications
2010-2011 - Chair SISO Board of Directors
