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Competition / Competitors The market for our products and services is intensely competitive. In the trade show and conference segment, we compete for trade show and conference expenditures and attendees. In the publication segment, we compete for advertising expenditures and readers. The competition is highly fragmented, both by product offering and geography. On a global level, larger international firms operate in many geographic markets and have broad product offerings in trade shows, conferences, publications and marketing services. In several industries, such as information technology and healthcare, we also compete with large firms with a single-industry focus. Many of these large international and single-industry firms are better capitalized than we are and have substantially greater financial and other resources than we have. Within each particular industry sector, in addition to large firms, we compete with a large number of small to medium-sized firms. While most small to medium-sized firms operate in a single geographic market, in some cases, our small to medium-size competitors operate in several geographic markets. In the trade show and conference segment, we compete with trade associations and, in several international markets, with exposition hall owners and operators. Trade show and conference competition in each industry sector and geographic market occurs on many levels. The venues and dates of trade shows drive competition. Historically, successful shows have been held at desirable locations and on desirable dates. Given the availability of alternative venues and the ability to define events for particular market segments, the range of competition for exhibitor dollars, sponsorships, attendees and conferees is extensive. In the publications segment, we typically have between two and five direct competitors which target the same industry sector and many indirect competitors which define industry segments differently than we do and thus may be alternatives for either readers or advertisers. The significance of the content to readers and the efficiency of the target audience to advertisers determine the competitive performance of a publication. Historically, publications which deliver relevant and up-to-date industry-specific information attract audiences to which business-to-business advertisers seek to disseminate information about their products.