Gary Shapiro is a proponent of a leadership style called MBWA—Management byWalking Around. The pres- ident and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Associa- tion (CEA) explained this, somewhat unnecessarily, on a recent springafternoon as he offered an impromptu tour
of CEA’s offices, where more than 140 employees occupy two stories of a buildingin Arlington,Va. As he wandered alonghall- ways, past cubicles and storage areas, and through a conference room with a sprawlingmap of the exhibit hall for CEA’s 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) tacked to the walls, Shapiro stopped frequently to introduce employees, prompt them for updates, and exchange jokes and chitchat. Shapiro had just finished a leisurely,wide-ranging interview,
and even though the conversation was something of a downer —he thinks the United States has lost its mojo as an economic superpower — he was still peppy and talkative. The same dichotomy—call it grim optimism—is at work in his blunt- spoken new book, The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, in which he writes, “The United States is drowningin debt, its political leaders are focused on false solutions, and we are failing to prepare our next genera- tion to confront tomorrow’s challenges.” This month Shapiro will deliver a general-session presenta-
tion at thePCMAEducation Conference in Baltimore. Our con- versation with him—about the growth of International CES into a 150,000-attendee behemoth, the origin ofThe Comeback and the creation ofCEA’s InnovationMovement, andhowasso- ciations and meetings can help America get back on track— made for a great preview.
International CES is one of the most high-profile trade shows in the world. How has it gotten to that point? It’s a combination of good luck and good strategy. The good luck is that we are part of an industry that has obviously had tremendous innovation and change, which consumers love. The strategy has been that we have continuously redefined the show. We saw 15 years ago that the top retailers would have filled a very tiny room and not [been] enough to sustain a show, so we decided to redefine the show every year, to expand and to cap- ture innovation that’s current.We have over 20 tech zones with different partners focused on new areas.We succeeded in not only getting the auto industry to engage in the show, but [also] Hollywood, broadcasting, media delivery, even the Apple infra- structure in different ways. The way we define the show is, we really focus on customer
service and the experience of our attendees.We invest in the show, which is somethingthat associations can do much better than a for-profit alternative. And we engage our different communi- ties, and we treat them somewhat vertically, but also combine
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them and talk about efficiency. When the Internet first became popular, there was a lot of talk aboutmeetings and events going away, so we try tomake sure it’s a five-sense experience.
How so? When you’re at a trade show or you’re meetingwith people, you’re evaluatingyour competition or your potential partners by all five senses. You can’t do that sittingat your desk on the Internet, no matter how sophisticated your video connection is. Much as I advocate for technology, I think that face-to-facemeet- ings are essential for so many different reasons. You get more out of the experience.
Why are associations in a better position than other organizations to invest in their meetings? Assuming that the association board is strategic—which is a big assumption, because many associations are hurt by their boards’ lack of long-term experience and interests and moti- vations—they will focus on the long term. In the for-profit event world, a lot is driven by multiples and cash return in the short term; and if there’s one thingwhere you can take a tremendous amount of cash out in the short term and kill the longterm, it’s a meeting or an event. You could get everyone there, have them pay their money, and give them a horrible experience. That event may not occur the next year, but on paper, it could look like it’s phenomenally successful. And that’swhat has happened to a number of commercial events. Or people get caught up where they think their valuations are so high that they’re bought and sold and bought and sold repeatedly, and there’s no real alle- giance to the event itself. Although the for-profit world views associations as slow and lethargic and not really good com- petitors, the fact is that we are able to invest for the longterm, provided we have a strategy and a supportive board.
What made you decide to write The Comeback? I have a son who’s three years old, and I’m concerned about his future. The fact is, we are in trouble as a nation. Americans are very complacent, and our politicians have not to date— either Republicans or Democrats—stood up and said, “We have a major problem here.” The biggest problem is clearly the deficit. There’s no ques-
tion about that. And I believe when you’re in trouble as we are financially, you have three choices:You can raise taxes, you can cut spending, or you can grow.We need all three, and growth depends upon innovation, [and] innovation depends upon a