Freeman, the US-based integrated services provider for face-to-face marketing events, has been in the exhibition and tradeshow business a long time. The company, established by Buck Freeman in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1927, is headquartered in Dallas and produces 15,000 events each year, including the majority of North America’s 250 largest trade shows.
But today the company is entering a different arena, the design and organisation of events. In 2011 it acquired Wheelhouse, an experiential marketing services firm comprising three companies, Champion Exposition Services, George Fern Company and Immersa Marketing.
A year later it sold Fern to an investment group led by Fern COO Aaron Bludworth in a management buyout. Freeman’s leadership team evaluated the two companies’ strategic goals and advantages, and decided it was in the best interest of both companies for Fern to continue operating as a standalone entity.
However, Freeman continues to make strides towards the management of events. It is already capable of ensuring the whole event is on-brand, tailored to fit with attendee demand and optimised in terms of show floor planning, visitor flow and interaction. In the US market, home to most of Freeman’s business, associations make up most exhibition management teams. EW asks Freeman CEO Joe Popolo if there’s an opportunity for a trade show specialist to take over all aspects of event management.
How has Freeman changed during your tenure as chief executive officer?
Our business has continued to evolve since it was founded 85 years ago by Buck Freeman in Des Moines, Iowa. That evolution continues because our customers are looking for more strategic solutions, leading-edge technology, creative resources and customer service. We compete by providing the most comprehensive set of solutions – exposition services, audio visual, creative and strategy. Our customers are under more pressure than ever to make their events an experience and to do so as efficiently as possible.
We are committed to making sure we are leveraging our capabilities and our insights to provide best-in-class solutions that help make them successful. What has not changed is Buck and Don’s philosophy of empowering our employee-owners to take care of our customers. Vice-chair Carrie Freeman Parsons and I share a strong commitment to our culture, which has been so key to our success.
What new development is taking place at Freeman, particularly in your role in live event marketing and creation?
Last summer, we announced that Chris Cavanaugh had joined us as president of our newly created marketing solutions division. This group was formed by combining our existing Immersa Marketing, ProActive and Event Mark teams. Their mission is to provide our corporate and association clients with very strategic and creative solutions, working with them to manage events and experiences around the globe.
Innovation is one of our core values. We want to be serving our clients for at least another 85 years. Last autumn, our exposition and AV teams announced our latest innovative technology solution – Freeman Technology Suite (FTS), a fully-integrated platform containing six of our most powerful tools. The suite is designed to simplify event planning and enhance the face-to-face experience. The tools streamline the event design and review process, ease the online ordering process for our exhibitor customers, provide mobile solutions, and manage literally hundreds of presentations at one time. We were very excited that one of those tools, Concierge Elite, won the UFI Operations Award in 2010.
How important is it – specifically in the US – to be a full-service provider? How would you exploit that ability overseas?
Being a full-service provider in the US is key to how we compete. We have found that our domestic customers like having a partner who can be that single point of contact, providing the same high level of creative, strategy and project management skills, as well as being able to select and manage best-in-class partners in the markets around the globe where they have events. To help this very fast-growing segment of our business we opened an office in London, England, last year. Our Global Events team is constantly evaluating key international markets to see if it makes sense to expand our presence. It’s a logical next step for both our marketing solutions and exposition services teams.
Freeman has moved from tradeshow-logistics provider into event creation and experiential marketing provider. To what extent is the company positioning itself as a trade show organiser and manager?
We don’t want to compete with our customers as a tradeshow organiser, there is still plenty for us to do serving our current clients. Rather, our goal is to partner with our clients to provide solutions for all facets of the face-to-face event and experiential marketing space – from event design and production; content development and measurement to logistics planning and on-site coordination; graphics; furnishings, flooring, and décor; event staging; audio, video, lighting, and projection – and everything in between.
Why did you offload Fern?
After bringing on Fern as part of the Wheelhouse Solutions acquisition, Freeman and Fern’s leadership teams evaluated the two companies’ strategic goals and advantages. It became increasingly clear that our core customers’ needs were different, and therefore it made sense to allow Fern to operate as a separate company. We were pleased to be able to sell the company to Aaron Bludworth and the Fern management team. Fern has a great history and I think they will do well under Aaron’s leadership.
Will the progress made with the unions in Chicago act as any sort of bellwether – will it make the prospect of setting up in the US a more attractive proposition for international organisers?
Having a good working relationship with the unions – in Chicago and elsewhere – is incredibly important to our business. The key to progress made in Chicago was the involvement of our customers in helping to communicate the challenges that both event organisers and exhibitors were having, and crafting a solution that was a win for all involved. The contractors, the unions, and the City of Chicago all made concessions to help make Chicago a better place to hold events.
How did you get started in the industry?
I got my start in the industry the old-fashioned way – I married our chairman Don Freeman’s youngest daughter Chris in 1993, and I joined Freeman in 1997 after completing my MBA at the University of Chicago. My first role with the company was working in the finance area, and I moved over to the operating side in 2001 right after the tragedy of 9/11. It was a challenging time, but it forced me to really dig into the operations of the business to learn how, and where, we needed to change if we were going to continue to be successful.
What do you do when you’re not working at Freeman?
Chris, our three kids and I enjoy spending time together. In the winter, we like to travel and ski. During the summer, we like to get up to the beach on Cape Cod where we play golf, travel together, and watch Red Sox games. We have family in London and enjoy visiting there, too. I have become a big football fan, and to the consternation of many of my UK friends, an Arsenal supporter.
This was first published in the Issue 1/2013 of EW. Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
