WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.–The new structure at GLM has created a more streamlined and responsive operation for the trade-show management company, according to Alan Steel, executive vice president of the business-to-retail division of DMG World Media, parent company of GLM.
In an interview today with HFN, Steel spelled out the need to reconfigure the GLM operation. “The old structure had individual management teams for each of our shows and a middle tier of management, which provided support for all of the shows,” Steel said. “What we’ve done is to remove that middle-management level, and move those support functions to within each of the show teams, reporting to the managers of each show.”
The restructuring created three show teams headed by Phil Robinson, Dorothy Belshaw and Lori Kisner, all GLM senior vice presidents, and shifted the show-management responsibilities for other executives within these teams. It resulted in the elimination of 31 positions at GLM, which, according to Steel’s estimate, represented about 25 percent of the total staff at its office here.
“The acquisition by DMG (which took place last year) required us to take another look at our business,” Steel said in explaining the need for the moves. “Also, we’ve been facing a weak market for the past couple of years. Eliminating the two shows (Global Home Textiles and Global Home Decor) was another factor in creating a new structure.”
Steel described GLM’s current business as “very healthy.” Explaining why the two shows were eliminated, he said, “We had produced them for the past three years, and we felt they weren’t delivering the density of buyers that would make them sustainable.” Steel defined “density” as an internal GLM ratio measuring the number of attendees per square feet and per exhibitor at each show. “The prospects for these shows weren’t strong enough over the short term,” he added. “But we could look at reviving them if the economic climate improves globally.
“For the remaining shows, our focus over the short term will be to focus on what we do well,” Steel said. “The density levels for those shows are good, but we always feel we can improve on them.”