group Y Member Profile: Aaron Levant Co-Founder of Agenda TradeShow

Your name and official title

Aaron Levant, President & Co founder of AGENDA, LLC. @AgendaShow

Tell us a bit about Agenda Show and how it got started

Agenda got started in 2002 when me and my old partner Luis Pulido had a brand called GrnAppleTree. we were attending other shows like ASR and we were generally unhappy with the trade show options for new brands at a time. We were doing something different and something that had a higher design aesthetic, the shows at that time where doing nothing to cater to us from a price and environmental standpoint. In September 2002 we decided that we would launch our own show and we pulled together 30 of our friends and launched Agenda in January 2003 in the back of a restaurant in Long Beach, CA at the same time as ASR…. The rest is history.

Before Agenda what other companies and projects were you involved in?

Before Agenda I started as an Intern at an LA street-wear label GAT/ Milk Distribution, witch later became GrnAppleTree. I was interning there from age 16 when I was kicked out of high school. I worked my way up the ladder at that company, from intern to graphic designer, to sales all the way to minority partner over 5 years before launching Agenda together with Luis Pulido GAT founder. Along the way Luis gave me the opportunity to launch my own skate/surf label through Milk Distribution called “Matador” with my best friend Trace Marshall. Trace Marshall later went on to launch the high end surf labels Gonz and Warriors of Radness with Freshjive founder Rick Klotz. Luis and I parted ways a few years back and he still runs GrnAppleTree to this day. After parting ways with Luis I formed a new partnership with my cousin Seth Haber,whom I am partners with to this day.

What advantages do you feel you have over the more established trade shows?

Agenda has numerous advantages over the bigger shows. The number one thing is that we get “it”and we don’t feel that any of these other shows do. We understand the market and we are leading, while everyone else is following. When we see a change that needs to be made we make it in a timely manner. We react at the speed of the market and thats why we have the competitive edge. Other shows see a clear problem or change in the market but cant make the proper changes for years. Such as adjusting to the new needs of the brands/buyers whether it be dates, trends or new product categories.

Being a smaller trade show, is it easier or harder to deal with the economic changes? How have you dealt with the climate so far?

We are not a Smaller trade show because we can’t get bigger, we are smaller by choice. We do not allow crap into our show and if that makes us smaller then thats a good thing to me. Agenda is invite only and we only have the best of the best from each category. If you make a skateboard pogo stick or you are Ed Hardy then go to another show because Agenda is not for you. As far as the economic side of your question we have been doing great and having double digit growth every season, we have been seeing the upside of the bad economic times. The reason being is brands are changing their patterns and trying new things like Agenda and dropping out of the stagnant shows. The days of doing things the same way just because thats the way they have always been done are over.

To read the rest of the interview, go to groupYnetwork.com