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Transforming an advertiser add-on into a self-sustaining profit center doesn't happen every day in b2b, but when it does, it can be more rewarding than the best-laid new market-development plans. When it happens, it speaks not so much to good planning but to good fortune and the ability to hone in on and exploit new markets.
This is what seems to have happened with CMP Media's program of XChange conferences in its core IT marketplace. Originally created in CMP's Channel Group a decade ago as a value-add for advertisers in CRN (Computer Reseller News) and VARBusiness magazines, the XChange portfolio has now swollen to five annual events, including upcoming meets in Nevada and California. More remarkably, CMP Channel Group marketing director Gordon Plutsky recalled, "it was never originally seen as a profit center. We really wanted to use it to help cement relations with our advertisers. Now, it's become...