USA - Exclusive services offered by convention centers are bad for business and potentially illegal under US antitrust law, according to the Society of Independent Show Organisers (SISO).
Venue managers consider cornering the market on various services as a convenient revenue stream to be tapped to help cover their own overheads However, event organisers see them as a dangerous long-term drag on their ability to offer cost-effective services to their own customers.
“Requiring organisers to use exclusive services impedes our ability to deliver a competitive return on investment for our exhibiting customers,” said chairman of SISO, Nancy Hasselback, also CEO of Diversified Business Communications.
In a statement, SISO said the idea of demaniding show organisers use in-house services is akin to promoting unfair monopolistic behavior. “SISO considers exclusive services as anticompetitive and potentially in violation of US antitrust statutes that prohibit agreements which unreasonably lessen or restrict competition,” said the association.
The idea that exclusives violate federal antitrust law is being tested in San Diego. United Maintenance Companies is currently challenging a 2007 policy that requires them to hire the San Diego Convention Centre’s cleaning crew for its booth cleaning contracts, according to EW’s US partner, Trade Show Executive. United Maintenance claims the higher wages and revenue-sharing demands of the convention centre have effectively frozen them out of the venue. The case is on track for a jury trial in federal court sometime next year.
