Bob Simmons retired several years ago as vice president and group publisher after 36 years with the Akron-based affiliate of Crain Communications.
But Simmons had other business ideas he wanted to pursue, building on his background and experience.
“I am young enough to think about something else,” Simmons said. “I didn’t want to get into the print business but the event business.”
He gathered friends and brainstormed. And out of that, Blue Sky Events was born last summer.
Simmons and his colleagues have significant experience in events planning. Simmons founded the International Tire Exhibition & Conference and organized others, largely in niche areas such as the polymer industry and waste and recycling.
Blue Sky Events is thinking more broadly for its first major undertaking.
Simmons and his partners looked at different concepts, including putting on automobile aftermarket expos similar to the large Las Vegas SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show. They soon ruled out that idea and kept exploring.
Now they think they have the right niche: the needs of parents.
“What we saw were a lot of baby and kid events,” Simmons said. “These were small events. It got us to look at it a little more.”
The smaller programs tended not to be very well done, in the opinion of Gary Vernon, Blue Sky’s marketing director.
The more they investigated, the more they thought they could do something on a larger scale in multiple states that would have an impact on children and their parents.
Their concept is called Parenting Expo. The program is intended as a two-day event where parents and children attend and share information on diverse topics.
“We wanted an event where you could have credible information,” Simmons said. “If it’s worthwhile to the attendees, it will be good for the exhibitors.”
The first one, Parenting Expo Pittsburgh, comes up soon: March 8-9 at the Monroeville Convention Center, 12 miles east of Pittsburgh. Four more expos are scheduled later this year; three in Ohio — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — and one in Indianapolis.
Blue Sky has signed up “Doctor G,” Dr. Deborah Gilboa of AskDoctorG.com, as the parenting expert for all five events. Gilboa is a Pittsburgh-area family physician, mother of four children, and a parenting author.
Blue Sky has created advisory councils and partnered with hospitals for the expo programs. The Pittsburgh event will draw from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Magee-Women’s Hospital.
The goal is to draw as many as 5,000 attendees to the Pittsburgh Parenting Expo, Simmons said. They are confident they will hit that number, he said.
The Cleveland expo, scheduled April 26-27 at the I-X Center next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, will have speakers from Akron Children’s Hospital.
Jim Tressel, executive vice president at the University of Akron and former Ohio State football coach, will be the keynote speaker.
Parenting Expo workshops will help parents learn how to teach their children money habits; motivate children to succeed; college admissions strategies; dealing with bullying; preparing children for kindergarten, and more.
Simmons said he has a lot of his personal money invested in Blue Sky Events, as does co-founder Chris Harris. The business plan doesn’t call for the company to make a profit in its first year, Simmons said.
“Your objective is to do something of value to the marketplace. The money will follow,” Simmons said. The business, in offices at 1799 Akron-Peninsula Road, has eight employees; Simmons is the chief executive officer/president but prefers to be referred to as the “head coach.”
The events business model is similar to publishing, Simmons said. Instead of readers, events have attendees; instead of advertisers, there are exhibitors.
Blue Sky Events intends to have business-to-consumer and business-to-business events and other growth plans. It is using traditional marketing to gain exposure as well as social media and video on YouTube.
More information is online at www.parentingexpo.com and www.blueskyevents7. com.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.