Special guest David Audrain, CEO of Exposition Development Company, joins the Suite Spot to discuss the upcoming 2025 Independent Hotel Show Miami and how Expo DevCo develops, facilitates, and hosts the convention. Attendees will also learn what they can look forward to from this year’s event and much more in the episode.

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. We have reached the crescendo of our Independent Hotel Show series. It is fast approaching here and with me to preview the Independent Hotel show. Miami got a very special guest, David Arin, CEO, and partner of Expo Devco, which owns and produces the Independent Hotel Show Miami. David, thank you so much for joining me. I’m excited to talk about this event that is just around the corner here.

David Audrain:
Thank you, Ryan. I’m very happy to be here with you and always happy to talk about our show.

Ryan Embree:
Yes, it’s an incredible show. We’re gonna talk about the history, but before we get into talking about the show, what you have geared up for Miami Beach in September. I wanna first talk about maybe your career journey and what led you to Expo Devco and your involvement with the Independent Hotel show, Miami.

David Audrain:
Well, I’ll, I’ll try not to bore everybody with too much detail, but, I grew up in Europe, to a English Father, American mother, born in the us, grew up in Europe, little island of Jersey, the original one, not the new one. Right off the French Coast. Actually, my father and his father’s business before was a Green Grocers, wholesale and retail green grocery business. So, I actually was walking in the back doors of kitchens of independent hotels from a very early age and always had some good contacts and good friends in the hotel business growing up and going forward. Ended up leaving Europe and moving to the US Back in 1989, I’d sold a technology business and moved to the US and ended up working for an association, happened to be the Texas Restaurant Association. And my very first trade show was a substantial show in Texas for the restaurant and hospitality industry. And that’s what got me hooked on the trade show business. So I’ve now been in the trade show business for 33 years, and worked for several major, some of the largest trade show organizers in the world. I’ve produced some of the largest trade shows in the world, everything from the largest automotive aftermarket show to the largest floor covering show to the largest apparel fashion, manufacturing industry shows. And ended up running the North American business for a major European company called Messer Frankfurt. Ran that for seven odd years. And then in January of 2012, my partner, who happens to also be my wife, Stephanie Everett and I left that business and started Exposition Development company, Expo Devco. We’ve partnered over the years with several companies out of Europe and produce different shows. And the one that’s obviously relevant to here is the independent hotel show. The company that originally launched the Independent Hotel show in London is a company called Montgomery Group. They’re a 130 year old family exhibition business. And they had started the Independent Hotel show in London, more than a dozen years ago. And I happened to visit it and talk with my friends that owned the Montgomery and really liked what they were doing with it, the specific niche for independent hotel, independent luxury boutique hotel operators. And that’s how, that’s how we, we first got started.

Ryan Embree:
It’s an incredible story. You’ve seen it all, but hospitality being the one that brought you into, being your first show, I think is super special to hear. And that’s, I think the beauty of hospitality, David, is that, you know, we all get to experience it. Maybe some of those other, maybe some of those other businesses or shows that you’ve been a part of, you might not really be in that business, but we’re all in the business of hospitality, right? We enjoy going to restaurants, we enjoy traveling, and it all circles back, which makes just for the perfect and a reason why a lot of people fall in love with our industry and some of our guests even on this independent hotel show show series, you know, really didn’t start in hospitality, but fell into it and have had decades long career since. You know, one of the things I’m sure putting on all of these events that we’ve talked about before, David, is you can’t just throw a a show anywhere and hope it’s successful. You and your team picked Miami Beach, some would argue the independent hotel capital of the world. Why is Miami Beach just the absolute perfect location for the show here in the us?

David Audrain:
You’ve got it right. I mean, the hospitality industry is all encompassing and the people that are in it from every side and of the world and the marketplace. And, but they really are in the hospitality business. I say I grew up around hotels and restaurants. I’ve obviously enjoyed traveling most of my career and life and experienced a lot more than the average the average traveler out there. When we first started talking about bringing the independent hotel show brand to the us, obviously we did our research. We looked into the, the marketplace and there are great places around North America, that could be hosts for the show. But what we really wanted to look at is where could we create a base that would create a foundation to launch the show? Because to be honest with you, launching trade shows is not for the faint of heart. It’s not easy. It’s a very competitive landscape. And today compared to, you know, 10, 20, 30 years ago, it’s probably even more difficult because people —

Ryan Embree:
Well, in an industry too, David, where hospitality, I mean, time is one of the biggest assets for, for somebody in hospitality. So for, for someone, an independent hotelier, to be able to say, Hey, I’m going to a show for a day and a half, you know, as long, however long that is, has to be super compelling. And I think that you and your team have done a great job of creating so much value and saying, you, this is a need to be at show. It’s going to be worth your time and then some.

David Audrain:
Exactly right. We have to create, we people don’t go to trade shows just for the heck of it. They go because there’s value, there’s value for their time, and it is, and time, you’re exactly right, is the number one criteria for value for everybody getting involved in it. And so in looking in doing the research, we looked at many places and Miami Beach is really just a great fit for several reasons. One, Florida in general has one of the highest concentrations of independent hotels, in the country. And within Florida, obviously Miami is a true mecca of independent brands, both, upscale and midscale. And so, that became a good, a good hub to be able to bring a really great local base to the show, but also, in terms of being able to attract people from throughout North America. And we have people coming from Central America, Canada, west Coast, you name it. We also wanted to be able to make it, easy and attractive. So in terms of the Caribbean, in terms of Central America, Miami’s obviously a destination for many, and it’s very attractive for that community to come in. And if you’re in the north, you know, north of the country and also in Canada, September, and Miami’s not a bad place to be. And of course, the general lift, the general attraction of the city itself, the airport access, all make it very convenient and very easy for most people to be able to get there in a one stop hop.

Ryan Embree:
And one of the underlying themes that we’ve had throughout this series, David, is talking to some of the advisory board members, which we’re gonna talk about here in a minute, is the theme of independent hotels really embracing the local community. And I think Miami and Miami Beach in particular, has such a strong culture is a strong cultural center. And it’s felt throughout the show, it, it’s really embracing Miami. And I think when you look at the larger independent hotel, just community and business model, that local community has to be ingrained in there because a lot, because the, the most successful independent hotels are the ones where the locals really embrace it. And it feels like you’re going to, travelers when they, when they go to a different market, they don’t wanna feel like they’re just going to another place. They wanna feel like they’re a part of the city that they’re traveling in. Independent hotels have a very unique value proposition, for travelers and can embrace that a little bit differently than maybe your flagged or branded properties there. Let’s switch gears to your advisory boards. Very intentional, David, that you just boast such an impressive, deeply engaged advisory board. This was intentional by you and your team. How has that group helped shape the direction and really propelled this show to where it is today?

David Audrain:
Certainly, advisory boards to us are a key element of how we build a new show brand. We have found in launching shows in many industries over the years, that it, as much as we might think we know about a marketplace, if we’re not particularly ingrained in that marketplace, we we’re not gonna know everything we need to know. So creating an advisory board, specifically of the target buyer audience is what we do is step one, we start working on two for two reasons. One, most importantly, to make sure we’re educated on what the needs of that marketplace are. What are they, what are they gonna get value out of? What kind of education, what kind of of vendor support at the show are they gonna find useful and interesting? And more importantly, what can they share with us to help us develop the right attractive content around the show that will bring more like them, to the show.

Ryan Embree:
I love that. And, you know, I want to thank you for giving me the privilege to speak to some of your advisory board members. This series has just been incredibly, really showcasing the eclectic collection of independent hoteliers. I mean, we started up in, New York with Cat Woods, we just spoke with Nicholas Gold out there in southern Utah and Gabriel Perez down in, South Carolina. So you really have taken hoteliers from all over the country. But I think it’s so important because although as spread out as they might be and different, their markets might be, you know, independent hotels still face very similar challenges. And it’s spaces like the Independent Hotel show where you can network peer-to-peer, get together, talk through some of those challenges, see what trends you’re seeing. I mean, that you talk about AI and technology, right? And how much that’s changed in the last three months, let alone an entire year. So to have a tradition of going to the independent hotel show year after year and saying, you know, what are you, what have you implemented at your property? You know, what are you seeing? What trends, how is this impacting you? International travel is a huge topic right now, and it’s all happening here September 17th & 18th in Miami Beach. A quick reminder to our Suite Spot listeners use promo code EMBREE25 for a complimentary registration. We would love to see you there. You and your team have done a fantastic job, David programming lining up in some extremely powerful panels. What are some of the sessions, conversations that you’re most looking forward to this year?

David Audrain:
Well, I appreciate you, letting us talk about the content that’s happening because, you know, there are two really key elements of why people go to shows. And again, I’ve been doing this an awful long time, 33 plus years now in many industries. And over that entire time we’ve been surveying our customers and we continue to every year. But from an attendee perspective, they come looking for three things. They’ve always, it doesn’t matter what industry, what region, anything about the shows. People come to find new products and suppliers, they come for education and they come for networking. Those are the three things they come to shows for. So every time we, every, we keep that in front of mind in everything we do about creating a show. We keep those three elements. What is, how is something we’re doing going to affect the ability to deliver those three things? In terms of the content itself, I think there’s some great topics and I absolutely zero responsibility for any of them. Our advisory board has been key to it, and our team have worked very closely with them to develop topics. So some of them that come to mind. I know the first time we’re having a new session on the importance of food and beverage and how hotels are losing revenue to things like DoorDash and Uber Eats, even when they have their own kitchens and restaurant facilities. And in fact, the founder of Indigo Road Hospitality Group, Steve Palmer’s gonna be speaking on that session. Well, and I think that’s gonna be very interesting for many. We also, one of the things that’s comes up a lot from the independence and particularly has been some of the rating programs, and we’ve got some, a great session, by Gina Taylor from the Forbes Travel Guide. We’re gonna be talking about how ratings are measured and issued and how it works and what these independent hoteliers should know about how they can improve their ratings, as they go forward. I think that’s gonna be very valuable, for a lot of the independents out there as we go through.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, absolutely, David, I mean, those are, those were two topics and themes that were, again, underlying throughout this entire series, the importance of food and beverage used that as a differentiator between some of the different branded hotels maybe in your market. And then, yeah, ratings are, are so important, right? We’re always, as independent hotels trying to show where we stack up against competition in our area. So trying to figure out how can I show value to my traveler, which is mostly that research now almost completely done online. Now there’s new avenues of doing that research through LLMs Chat, GPT, you know, how can you be put in a position to succeed? And I love what you said about the education is really just kind of the, the starting point, an icebreaker for a lot of these conversations. And that’s what I tend to do when, when we’re covering these events, is talking about some of the sessions and how it relates back to that particular person, that specific property or market. And I think that’s what really helps some of the best events I’ve been to have the best programming. And that for some reason, you just feel the networking was amazing at that show, but it really, it stems from the educational and the programming that’s put together. Because if those topics are compelling enough, those conversations now bleed into your networking events that, that theme of network. You said those were your three pillars, right? Networking being one of them. How have you incorporated that into this year’s event, and what can guests look forward to from a peer-to-peer connection standpoint?

David Audrain:
Several things, as I said, as part of the education programs. And in fact, we have two education stages, on the show floor. So they’re integrated fully into the show, and that’s purposeful, because what we found is that a lot of people want education and they, they rate it highly, but then when they get on the show, get to an event, they tend to get distracted by all the people they’re talking to and the people products they’re seeing and and the like, and they tend to forget about the education when it’s buried off the off in the building somewhere else. So what we’ve done purposefully is build these two stages on the show floor themselves, our innovation stage being focused very much on the, the type of content I was just talking about, hoteliers, talking to hoteliers on these particular specific topic. Our second stage is our business center, and this is more of a product and service driven new technologies, new products, new information that some of our key suppliers partners are able to share with hoteliers. And that’s where you’re gonna learn the latest about, you know, AI and some of the new technologies that are out, things like that. And these, these alternate these stages alternate so that people can go from pop from one to the other. And in between those sessions on the show floor, we have two specific networking areas, our lobby lounge and in the middle of the floor and our corner bar. And both of these areas will be easy, relaxed areas for hoteliers to sit out and network amongst themselves and take advantage of being, again, all on the show floor, all in one place that they can interact with the suppliers that are exhibiting. They can look at the products, they can network with each other, they can experience the education all together.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah, you know, there, there’s something, the Independent Hotel show is one of my favorite events to attend every year because of that energy that you feel, right when you walk in, you got that music going, everybody, you know, you start to feel, you can tell how well a show is gonna go based on, you know, when you first walk in. And the independent hotel show absolutely brings that energy. And those networking areas are always buzzing industry influencers. You can bump into someone, vendors, brands, hoteliers. It’s really the place to be. And you know, the, the last pillar that you talked about was connecting those suppliers to independent hoteliers. And we’ve talked over the years to independent hoteliers about how important that is because the brands, they have tons of leverage, right? They’ve got thousands of these, tens of thousands of these properties that they’re able to, you know, really get the best deals, connect you with the best vendors. They’ve got these big, you know, list of vendors, suppliers that you can choose from, independent hotels. It’s a little bit different. It’s a little bit more challenging out there. So it’s events like this where you can connect directly to suppliers, the latest technology. Tell us a little bit about how the Independent Hotel Show connects supplier to hoteliers.

David Audrain:
The trade, the whole trade show model literally goes back millennia, goes back to markets in, you know, in, in ancient times. One of the key elements about the value of trade shows is simply bringing buyers and sellers together in an environment that creates an opportunity for people to find new products and new suppliers for service companies, service providers and products sellers out there. It’s very hard to get in the door of somebody new physically to actually, when somebody calls you up, if you’re even answer the phone. You know, your willingness to give somebody you don’t know time in your office, in your property to come and actually show you products is limited. And it’s very hard for those companies to get into those new product.

Ryan Embree:
Well, and I would, I, again, David, I would even argue harder for hoteliers where you could be getting a call from linens,and then all of a sudden your pool supplier, echo Lab, you know, all of these different suppliers within an hour timeframe that has to do with so many components of your business. Hospitality is a very complicated business model.

David Audrain:
Exactly. And what we, you know, in the trade show business, what we know is that somebody who wouldn’t give you the time of day on the phone, or certainly wouldn’t let you set up an appointment to come and, and pitch them in their office or their hotel will be a hundred times more likely to spend five minutes at your booth on a trade show floor. It is the most, trade shows are the most efficient way for both buyers and sellers to investigate new products and services. For a buyer, you can come and you can see a hundred new products and suppliers in a day. You can’t do that any other way. And for a supplier, you can get in front of hundreds of new potential prospects or existing customers in a day that you can’t possibly do any other way. And more importantly, even if you could get a hundred hoteliers to give you a meeting in their property, you certainly couldn’t do it in a day, and you certainly couldn’t bring your, you know, your booth or your, your showroom to them as it goes forward. So that’s why trade shows, I mean, trade shows as a, as a tool are bigger today than they’ve ever been.

Ryan Embree:
I want to talk about that, David, ’cause I’m sure this is a, listen, you’re the first guest on our show that has this much experience in the, in the live event and trade show space, and probably will be here, for our next dozens of episodes. But I wanna pick your brain about that, because I’m sure there were a lot of times, you know, you think about over 30 years, you got the great recession, you had obviously the pandemic that I’m sure in each one of those spaces, there were times where people were telling you, Hey, this is it. This is the, let’s go ahead and start digging the grave for live events and trade show. We heard it on our end back in, in 2020. How has it evolved in in that time? And you’re right, I I truly think, especially with the rise of AI and technology, these peer-to-peer connections are going to be more authentic, meaningful relationship building than it’s ever been. Talk to us through some of that evolution, David, ’cause I’m sure you got some great insight there.

David Audrain:
Yeah, it is true. I say I’ve been doing this since the early nineties. And I was with the, at the time, at the late nineties, I was with, I had a senior exec role running a division for then, the largest trade show management company producer in the world. And around those late nineties, you know, technology was going crazy. The internet was exploding. And again, at that time, as you rightly said, everybody said, well, with the internet, why do we need trade shows? Why would we need, you know, everybody can go find everything online. And the reality is, you can’t touch it, taste it, feel it, interact with it, you know, you’re not gonna spend whatever you spend. I’ve got another show where we sell, where it’s a manufacturing, and they said, huge machines. People aren’t gonna go buy huge machines without seeing them. And they, you know, they’re not gonna, I’ve run shows in the fabrics and fashion industry and the like, and nobody’s gonna buy a sheet without feeling it. Nobody’s going to, you know, nobody’s gonna buy food without tasting it. These sorts of things don’t happen online. And so while the, you know, while everybody thought to everybody, a large portion of the world thought that trade shows would, you know, disappear because the internet would replace everything. What happened is the internet provided the ability for trade shows to become even more valuable because the ability of being able to customize information, of sharing personalized information needs became much more valuable and much more authentic. And the opportunity to create that link became much more efficient. The pandemic was, was devastating. The COVID-19 closed our industry down globally for a one to two years in many different places. Our own company didn’t produce a live event for 18 months. It was devastating, but what happened afterwards is the need for that interaction, that face-to-face interaction exploded the industry back to the point where within literally three years, the industry was as big as it was prior to the pandemic. And today is even bigger globally as an industry. So I, you know, I’m a little self-serving. I’m in the industry. I produce trade shows, but I personally believe very much that trade shows will always have a place and they will continue to grow in importance and value to people, because you can do more and a live event than any other means.

Ryan Embree:
I had the privilege of attending, you know, some shows early 2021, 2022, and I would argue the fevver and passion that people came back to, those live events were different. It was a completely different show. There was just like this exhale of like, okay, this is, and the conversations were more meaningful. It was just, you know, we always talked about revenge travel on the leisure side, people coming back and missing that, of course, everybody missed going on vacation, but I don’t know, you know, you speak to a lot of business professionals, I don’t know how many of them were like, man, it just feels good to connect again with peer-to-peer, you know, some of those people. And I still think that that is still happening today with the shows that are happening. And, you know, you and your team have done, like I said, a great job to kind of set this show up for success, exposure and growth. And it really is the must attend event for independent hoteliers vendors in the independent hotel space. That’s kind of my pitch, but David, I’m gonna give you the floor to, you know, some of our Suite Spot listeners. What would you say to somebody who’s maybe considering attending this event for the first time?

David Audrain:
It’s only our third edition here in the US. So we’ve been, you know, in growth mode, in building mode, for the show, the brand, you know, been a hotel show, in London’s been around for over a dozen years. It’s been in Amsterdam for since prior to the pandemic. And last year they expanded it into Munich as well. Our colleagues over there, Montgomery are doing a fabulous job. But this is only our third edition here in the US. And what we have done is focus exclusively on what the luxury independent boutique hotel operator needs. So our focus is very much on the full range of everything from lemons and bedding to furnishings and decor to technology and services, all, everything that they will need to run their, their hotel property. But most importantly, we’re focused on the fact that these, these are independently minded hoteliers. They’re looking at ways to deliver a unique experience with their property. And so we wanna make sure they have a range of products and service suppliers, to support them and of all levels as well. So luxury properties are gonna find plenty to find at the show and to work with. Mid-range properties are gonna find plenty, as they go forward. And that’s our, that’s our number one goal is delivering an ROI for the attendees that justifies them. Spending their time, gives them a lot of takeaways. You know, if you, if you don’t leave a trade show event like this with some new ideas and some new suppliers and products that you wanna look at, then you haven’t really tried because it is definitely there for the taking.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah. And you’ve done such a great job, like I said, listening to the feedback from the advisory board, from the attendees themselves each year that we’ve been there, been able to cover the event. We’ll be there again, obviously this year in September in Miami covering the event. We’ve seen more and more innovation, more and more, just growth in that, in that show. So such a pleasure and privilege to be, be a part of it. I want to thank you, David, for taking the time outta your busy schedule. I hope to see you obviously in September in Miami, along with all of our Suite Spot listeners. Any final thoughts before we close down the episode today?

David Audrain:
All I encourage listeners to do is, is visit our website, IndependentHotelShow.US. There you can see the great advisory board members and brand ambassadors that are participating and supporting us. All of the organizations, that are supporting the show and participating in the show. AHLA, for example, is doing some great sessions on current advocacy work as well as issues very dear to everybody’s heart on the human trafficking awareness, et cetera. And also you can see our list of suppliers that are participating in the show and get a and start planning plan for the kind of products you wanna look at, plan for the sessions you want to attend, and get together with some hotels and plan some time together to network and share and, and have a good meal somewhere in a great city of Miami Beach.

Ryan Embree:
I’ll be tuned into the session on podcasting and marketing for independent hotel shows. Thank you David, so much again for taking the time and joining me here on the Suite Spot.

David Audrain:
Thank you, Ryan. Appreciate it.

Ryan Embree:
Thank you so much and we’ll talk to you next time. And hopefully we’ll see you down in Miami Beach in September. We’ll talk to you next time on the Suite Spot to join our loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.