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National Convention Services: bringing service to the auto show floor
More often than not, you'll find him on the road. And he regards his clients more like friends than as business acquaintances. And vice versa.
For Jimmy Angellino, founder, president and sole owner of National Convention Services, it may be a living but it's certainly one that's built around service. "We wouldn't be as successful as we are without paying attention to the customer," says Angellino.
"It's been in my family for a long time," says Angellino in speaking of the ability to use his hands. "My Dad was a carpenter and it's something I've done basically since I was very young. I used to go to the Coliseum with my Dad when I was four or five years old. I've been around carpentry my whole life."
After earning a degree in psychology and business, he steered that knowledge into a new direction, joining a number of partners (many of whom were contacts of his father) and forming a company that today bears the name National Convention Services.
Since then, Angellino has bought out his former partners and 20 years later, the firm employs a core of about 50 people and up to 3,500 trades as the auto show season progresses.
And although auto shows has become an increasingly dominant part of National Convention Services' portfolio, that wasn't always the case.
"When 9/11 hit, things changed," says Angellino. "Trade shows as a whole declined dramatically after that, but auto shows, oddly enough, did not. They've actually either maintained or grown since then and we've been able to grow with them."
At the core of the business is the I & D (installation and dismantling) work that's essential to an auto show being ready to open its doors to the public.
A sampling of the many displays installed at this year's New York International Auto Show
by National Convention Services.
While larger companies may deliver a wide range of services, including drayage as well as the I & D work, Angellino says it's actually a testament to National Convention Services that the company's client base continues to be loyal.
He thinks he knows why.
"We spend a lot of time with our clients, and we're constantly looking for ways to serve them better," says Angellino.
And there's no doubt: the business he's in is no cake walk.
"The labor side of the business, which is what we're in, is not the most profitable compared with areas like drayage," says Angellino. "But our ability to stay service oriented is what makes us successful."
Angellino also points to the loyalty and expertise of National Convention Services' staff as being instrumental to the company's success.
"Many of the people we have here have been with us for more than two decades," he says. "These are people who would walk through fire for our clients and I'm personally grateful for their dedication to what we do."
Those service oriented traits come into play in little ways, such as how National Convention Services flies its key supervisory personnel to auto shows, knowing they have the ability to get the work done in more efficient ways, having done the very same work in show after show.
Or in lining up crews who've worked together and on the same displays in a half dozen shows before, knowing they know how a complex exhibit can be installed and dismantled in the optimum way.
Being closely involved in the business is something of a Jimmy Angellino trademark.
"I go to all the major shows and a good number of the smaller ones as well," he says. "I'm intimately involved in our clients. If there's an issue, I make the decision to fix it."
Angellino's expansion from his New York City base came as word of his work spread.
Even so, not every opportunity for work was pounced upon.
Recalling an opportunity to do even more work than he'd already been offered in Miami, Angellino says he very nearly declined the opportunity, even though it would have meant more money in his pocket.
"I told the client I wouldn't do it unless I was reasonably sure I could bring the people I needed together, including the supervisory staff who were familiar with the exhibits," he says. "In the end, it happened and we got even more opportunities as a result, but I'd rather be able to do an outstanding job than take it and not do it well."
Being able to successfully deal with labor issues in dozens of cities every year is another competitive advantage for National Convention Services.
"We deal with shop stewards and business agents all over the country," says Angellino. "And there are numerous payroll and benefit issues to contend with. For a lot of our clients, they're in that city once a year. Taking care of those details is another piece of the value equation."
As a post script, Angellino makes a comment that underscores a belief based on the ultimate teacher: experience.
"There are businesses that have grown a lot faster than we have, but most aren't around anymore."
This article appeared in May 2006 issue of The Auto Show Report.
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