Show event planner offers big benefits to exhibitors, attendees
Talk about an entrepreneurial challenge: Try buying a business, largely tied to luxury spending, right before the recession in the state hit hardest by the slump.
Despite the hurdles, event promoter Chad Dutmers has kept his Giant Motorcycle Swap Meets alive by boosting the benefits that businesses, mom-and-pop motorcycle shops and individuals get from exhibiting at his shows.
By tweaking the show schedule, adding innovative marketing gimmicks and constantly reaching out to new vendors, Dutmers has weathered an industry slump that saw motorcycle industry revenue drop 8.6 percent between 2005 and 2010, according to the market research firm IBISWorld.
"Because there is less discretionary money available to everybody, including our commercial vendors, our exhibitors have had to rely more on us," Dutmers said. "My job is to promote the shows so we get as many people as possible who come looking to buy."
In 2007, Dutmers, a former commercial banker and longtime motorcycle enthusiast, bought the three-decade-old swap meet company, which had grown from a single 1975 show at the State Fairgrounds to a circuit of nine events in five Michigan cities.
Today, Traverse City-based Giant Motorcycle Swap Meets runs 10 events a year across the Great Lakes region, which he says has an unusually high concentration of licensed riders.
With expo space starting at about $35 for a 5-foot-by-12-foot booth, Dutmers packs up to 95,000 square feet of exhibit space with hundreds of vendors ranging from commercial parts suppliers to apparel sellers to customization artists and even individuals selling from their parts stockpiles.
Giant charges no commission to vendors and uses all of the proceeds from space rental to market the shows; the company's profits come from ticket sales.
Tony LaMantia, owner of Tony Chrome Customs in Westland, started out as a swap meet customer a decade ago.
"Working on people's bikes, I have all of these parts piling up and eventually I said 'Maybe I should do that myself,'" said LaMantia, who's now a customization specialist and dealer of V-Twin parts at six shows a year. He spends $340 for space at the swap meet — where up to 5,000 potential patrons see his wares during a one-day event — and says it's an affordable marketing tool for a small-business owner.
Even during the recent sales slump, "You still get people coming to look," LaMantia said. "It's a way to network, build your reputation and keep yourself out there."
Dutmers, however, wants show attendees to do more than look. He constantly strategizes ways to keep sales flowing, like bargaining down the parking fee at some venues, so show-goers have more cash in their wallets.
He also is devoting thousands of marketing dollars to Giant Bucks, a promotion that gives attendees scrip they can spend at dealer booths. Dealers then turn in the Giant Bucks to Dutmers in exchange for cash.
"We pick six winners (at each show) from our mailing lists and give away another $200 every hour," Dutmers said.
The aim is to encourage winners to apply, say, $50 in Giant Bucks to a $200 purchase the patron might not otherwise have made. "This is cash in the building that otherwise wouldn't be there," he said.
Other tactics: Canceling or reducing the schedule for less successful shows — Grand Rapids, for example, will get a fall show every other year — and adding events in Milwaukee and Cleveland to extend the reach of the meets.
The company also offers co-op marketing on direct mail to small firms that otherwise couldn't afford it. "They might not have the budget for a $5,000 mailing, but for $450 they can tag along with us," he said.
IBISWorld forecasts a 2.5 percent uptick in the $4.2 billion cycle and parts sales during the next five years, and Dutmers says Giant is poised to reap the benefits.
"It's been harder," he said, "but we're still selling out every show."
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110310/BIZ/103100360/Motorcycle-expos-beat-slump#ixzz1GDI3GRTq
source: The Detroit News
For mor info on the Giant Motorcycle Swap Meets, check their listins in our Motorcycle Event Calendar...