Conferon Buys ExpoExchange

Meeting planning giant Conferon Inc.'s May acquisition of tradeshow and attendee management firm ExpoExchange will increase its industrywide breadth, its president said, enabling the company to deepen its base of corporate clients.

The primary effect on the corporate meetings market of the acquisition of ExpoExchange—one of the largest managers of registration, housing and sales leads—by Conferon's New York-based owner, equity firm The Riverside Co., will lie with those corporations that stage tradeshows, ExpoExchange's primary market. Yet, the deal also exemplifies Conferon's desire to expand its reach throughout the industry, including the corporate meetings market, said Bruce Harris, former president and CEO of Conferon and president of the combined entity.

"We are the leading meeting planning company, and they lead in three other areas," Harris said of Conferon and Frederick, Md.-based ExpoExchange. "We had a strong desire to expand. This gives us more clout than anyone and increases significantly our presence on the hotel side. It will allow us to keep a balance and means that we will grow going forward as we look to the corporate sector."

Twinsburg, Ohio-based Conferon has been in business for more than three decades and offers services for nearly every aspect of corporate meetings management, most recently reaching a deal to offer consolidation services through online meeting portal PlanSoft, which Harris co-founded. The firm's clients include Coors, Ernst & Young and Office Depot, Harris said.

Banking on an upsurge in corporate meeting volume has not been a winning strategy for nearly two years, but Harris believes those days are ending and an upswing is imminent.

"Some of our corporate client partners are excellent, and we are very fortunate," Harris said. "Overall, I think the industry has bottomed out and is on an upswing. By January, everyone will know we're on an uptick."

Although the nature of this industry slowdown, fueled by terror, war and the economy, has no true precedent, Harris said the lessons of history still offer reason for optimism.

"If you look at this recession, there were some hyper-aspects to it, with 9/11, war and a severe economic downswing," Harris said. "Yet, there are still positive trends with the stock market and analysts, and there has been an uptick in the number of meetings in the past six months, so there's cautious optimism, with an emphasis on the word 'cautious.' "

One development throughout the downturn, however, is the increased prominence of travel alternatives, as the use of videoconferencing and Webconferencing has grown with each international development. "There will be more meetings on the Web, absolutely, but there will be more meetings, period," Harris said.

Under the terms of the ExpoExchange deal, Harris will assume the title of president of the combined entity, Conferon Global Services. ExpoExchange president and CEO Mike Goodwin will serve as CEO of CGS. The Conferon and ExpoExchange brand names survive, with Conferon COO Dave Lutz succeeding Harris as president of Conferon. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, as all involved firms are privately held.