international

Chem Show gives foreign guests "V.I.P." plan Department of Commerce

program aims to promote

exports by encouraging

foreign businessmen to

attend trade shows in U.S.

R. A. Macaskill sat in the foreign vis­itors' lounge of the 33rd Exposition of Chemical Industries at New York City's cavernous Coliseum and thumbed through a stack of literature he had collected. Mr. Macaskill works for his father's company, A. D. Macas­kill, Ltd., in London. The company imports pipe, valves, and fittings, and acts as sales agent for several Ameri­can companies.

Mr. Macaskill told C&EN's senior editor, Earl Anderson, that he may have made it across the ocean to the Chem Show anyway. But what clinched it was that very early in the year he received an invitation to the show from a U.S. Department of Com­merce representative in London. The advanced planning that Mr. Macaskill was able to make paid off in a smooth and enjoyable trip. At the Chem Show, he was able to firm up existing arrangements with some American companies and lay the groundwork for possible new clients.

Mr. Macaskill's visit to the Chem Show, which he says was far better than he thought it would be, was bene­ficial to him and his father's busi­ness. It also meant additional foreign business for some American pipe, valve, and fittings companies.

Promotion. Receiving the invitation to the Chem Show from the Depart­ment of Commerce's London office was no accident. It was only one of thou­sands of similar invitations distrib­uted to foreign businessmen through­out the world by foreign offices of the Department of Commerce, commer­cial attachés, foreign branches of American banks, airlines, travel agents, and exhibitors at the show.

This massive effort is part of a pro­gram developed by the New York Regional Export Expansion Council (REEC) to encourage foreign business­

men to attend major industry exhibi­tions in the U.S. as potential buy­ers. The New York REEC, a group of New York and New Jersey business­men appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to advise his department and to stimulate wider business in­terest in export expansion, calls its promotion effort the "V.I.P. program" —Visit, Investigate, and Purchase.

This is the first time that the Chem Show has been selected for V.I.P. pro­motion and it is only the sixth time that any industrial exhibition has re­ceived V.I.P. treatment. Other shows that have been sanctioned for V.I.P. promotion have focused on electronics, plastics, hardware (twice), and de­sign engineering. The American Man­agement Association's 41st National Packaging Exposition, which opens a four-day run at the New York Coli­seum on April 17, 1972, is next on the list.

The V.I.P. program is the brain child of Howard G. Sloane, manag­ing director of the New York Coli­seum and, since July, chairman of the New York REEC. He still chairs the V.I.P. committee and, according to Ar­thur C. Rutzen, head of the Depart­ment of Commerce's New York field office, he "provides the muscle that makes the program go."

Know-how. Export expansion has been a pet project of the Department of Commerce, the National Export Ex­pansion Council, and the 42 REEC's throughout the country. Mr. Sloane felt that, in order to promote exports, he had to bring an overseas buyer to­gether with an American seller and to surround them with all of the tools and people necessary to consum­mate an export sale.

The V.I.P.-trade show combination does just that, especially for small buyers and sellers. Mr. Sloane says that large multinational companies have the people and the know-how to conduct international business. But most of the trade comes from thou­sands of small companies which can't afford to maintain large staffs or make long, time-consuming, and expensive trips overseas searching for export business. Nor do most of the small companies have the expertise to han-

In V.I.P. lounge at Chem Show, two Lon­don businessmen (above) study map of New York City and a group of foreign and U.S. businessmen chat over continental breakfast (right). Below, foreign visitors check in at registration desk

18 C&EN DEC. 13, 1971

die the financing, documentation, and shipping that can complicate over­seas business.

The same is true of the small over­seas buyer. He can't afford the time or expense of wandering throughout the U.S. searching for competent sup­pliers. Merging the V.I.P. program with a major trade show, however, erases the problems of time and ex­pense.

But V.I.P. won't work for all trade shows, which is why only six have been selected so far. The trade show must be the major event of its kind and represent a major segment of its industry. Products on display must have export potential. It must have a preponderance of American exhibi­tors. A gift show, for instance, of mostly imported products would hardly generate export sales.

At least a dozen trade shows, says Mr. Sloane, have requested the V.I.P. program, but they were turned down because they didn't meet the criteria. He estimates that no more than 10 shows held in the entire country are suitable for the V.I.P. program. And, since most of these are held in the New York Coliseum, the New York REEC is the only one of the 42 in the U.S. that has a V.I.P. program.

Volunteer. Another reason for being selective is that the program requires a lot of hard work, most of which is done voluntarily by private business­men. Some of the more than 100,000 pieces of literature that have been dis­tributed for the five previous shows were handled by overseas offices of government agencies and Mr. Rutzen helps to coordinate the program. The invitation itself is a note from the Sec­retary of Commerce to lend an "official overtone" to the program, but V.I.P. receives no government funds.

In sending out trade show informa­tion up to a year before the show, "we can't perpetrate a fraud," says Mr. Sloane. "We have to do the job we say we are going to do." The job they do includes setting up a special registration desk for overseas visitors and providing them with special badges. Exhibitors are alerted to ex­tend special courtesies to foreign vis­itors. Registration fees, if any, are waived.

In addition, the New York REEC sets up a special V.I.P. lounge where overseas visitors can conduct business, accept telephone calls, and receive messages. Or they can just relax.

The lounge is staffed with multi­lingual hostesses and interpreters are available to help the visitors conduct their business. George C. Wells, Union Carbide vice president and a member of the New York REEC, made two company interpreters available. Japan Air Lines provided another. Trade specialists from the Department of Commerce, REEC members, and other trade experts also staff the lounge to give advice to foreign vis­itors.

Benefits. Are the results worth the effort? It's too early to tell with the Chem Show, but Mr. Sloane says that he has documented at least 5000 for­eign visitors at the five previous shows that wouldn't have come had it not been for the V.I.P. program. He esti­mates overseas attendance doubled at each event that used V.I.P.

Mr. Sloane also says that he can document at least an additional $70 million in export sales as a direct re­sult of the five V.I.P. efforts. In ad­dition, there are many benefits that can't be directly measured. For in­stance, he can't put a dollar figure on the licensing agreements that were consummated, the trade representa­tives that were signed up, the cumula­tive effect of reorder business, or the long-range potential for future sales. But he knows they are there.

The U.S. balance of payments also benefits from the money that the vis­itors spend on travel, hotels, and meals while they are in the country, especially if they bring their wives and families. As a result, the U.S. Travel Service is becoming more interested in the V.I.P. program.

Mr. Sloane says that he has tried to extend the visitors' stay in this country by suggesting a series of in-plant visits. This hasn't been too suc­cessful. He doesn't know exactly why, but he speculates, "It shows that the V.I.P. program is doing its job."

DEC. 13, 1971 C&EN 19