Last December, Arlington, Va.-based
event firm PGI closed eight offices, cut 50 staff members and
folded its year-old separate destination management brand,
Destinator by PGI (its DMC operations are now part of PGI’s
strategic events division).
The move came on the heels of the failed acquisition of PGI by
another industry organization, rumored to be Minneapolis-based
Carlson Marketing Group, although neither entity would confirm or
deny that detail.
A month after the shakeup, M&C spoke with Bob
McCormick, PGI’s president and COO, for the lowdown.
M&C: Why did you eliminate your destination
management brand?
McCormick: Destinator was a branding strategy to
let clients know what we did, but after it was launched, there was
a tremendous growth of our meetings services division, which is
still going strong. We kept DMC services in areas where our clients
most often go and closed offices that had less than 10 to 15
percent growth projections.
M&C: Will the company be looking for another
buyer?
McCormick: We are not putting ourselves on the
market right now. If somewhere down the road someone shows
interest, we might consider it.
M&C: What are your future plans?
McCormick: We are adding resources that contribute
most to the bottom line, particularly in the realms of production
and communications. We have no additional plans for restructuring
at the moment.
Also, we plan on growing our existing offices. We’ve hired a
new leader for our interactive group PGI’s technology division and
a new senior vice president of business development. We feel good
about where we are in the marketplace now.