Dallas-based Freeman has acquired Encore Productions, a full-service creative production and audio visual equipment rental company based in Las Vegas. Encore has been in business for more than 20 years and has full-service satellite audio visual rental offices in 14 of the top Las Vegas properties. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“Encore is privately owned. They are regarded as leaders in their field and also have a reputation for outstanding customer service,” said Joe Popolo, chief executive officer of Freeman. “Encore employees understand the value of partnering with customers, and we believe they will be a great fit for Freeman.”

He added, “Encore has demonstrated they are the technology and creative leader in their space. With the addition of their relationships to Freeman’s resources, we are positioning the combined Freeman organization for growth in an important segment of the face-to-face industry.”

Freeman will retain Encore’s name and brand identity, according to Freeman officials. Encore’s executive leadership team also will remain in place to manage (more…)

Penton Media has selected CompuSystems to be its registration vendor and onPeak to be its housing partner as part of a multi-year contract.

“To leverage our best buying power and streamline our organization, it only made sense to have an exclusive partner for registration and another for housing to handle our entire portfolio,” said Alan Peterson, president of exhibitions of Penton Media. “The technology of both CSI and onPeak is clearly the best in the business for their respective specialties.”

Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo

Penton has worked with both CompuSystems and onPeak for years, and the advantages were clear to make the decision to bring both companies on exclusively, according to OnPeak officials. The expanded integration of CSI’s registration software and onPeak’s Compass Reservation System enables data sharing between the event registration and housing processes so that users are only prompted to enter their information once. As a result, there is a singular, combined event confirmation and heightened convenience for show organizers and participants, according to onPeak officials.

“CSI and onPeak work exceptionally well together because of our common dedication to heightened customer service,” said Michael Howe, president and CFO of onPeak. “It’s a great foundation for the new and enticing ways we get delegates to fill the event hotel blocks.”

CSI and onPeak are currently slated to handle all Penton and New Hope Natural Media shows, including WasteExpo, Electric West, Club Industry, Club Industry East, Coal Prep, LDI and The Special Event. The new contract also includes Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo, Natural Products Expo East/Organic Products Expo and Natural Market Place NutraCostmetics.

“CSI is excited to work with such a distinguished show organizer,” said Chris Williams, senior vice president of CSI. “We are committed to providing Penton with superior service and technological innovation and continuing our incredible partnership with onPeak.”

Global Experience Specialists also recently signed a three-year deal with Penton to be the general service contractor for trade shows Natural Products Expo West/Supply Expo, Natural Products Expo East/Organic Products Expo and Natural MarketPlace.

In addition, GES will continue to service 12 other shows under the Penton banner, such as WasteExpo, Club Industry National, International Wireless Communications Expo and LDI. The new agreement begins in 2011 and runs through 2013.

“Penton Media has been impressed with the GES team, and we are pleased to expand our relationship to include our full portfolio of shows,” said Penton Media President of Trade Show and Conference Group Alan Peterson. “GES’ award-winning customer service, technology enhancements and continued investment in green options make GES the right partner for our shows.”

GES Executive Vice President of Global Accounts Sal Infurnari added, “GES is honored to partner with Penton Media and service the full portfolio of U.S. shows. GES and Penton share a commitment to provide exhibitors with hassle-free customer service and industry-leading technology, allowing them to focus on a successful show.”

The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority has picked venue management company SMG to oversee the city’s Cobo Center.

The venue, which spans 700,000 square feet, will be the largest one signed by SMG, according to Gregg Caren, the company’s senior vice president of development. There are other venues on SMG’s roster that are larger, but they were expanded after SMG came on board, Caren said.

The DRCFA’s board of directors voted to approve SMG as the venue’s new manager Aug. 26, and the contract will go into effect in the fall, he added. The overall RFP process was much faster than usual, just 6 to 8 weeks, Caren said. “It’s literally been one of the faster processes we’ve had,” he added.

The RFP initially went out in July, there were two weeks to respond, four firms submitted bids, and two, including SMG, gave formal presentations, Caren said.

The Cobo Center has struggled during the years with a stalled plan to expand, and its biggest show, the North American International Auto Show, threatened to leave because of the lack of space at the center. Late last year, the DRFCA, an agency that includes the City of Detroit, State of Michigan and the three area counties, was appointed to oversee (more…)

Intermat – the International Exhibition for Machinery, Materials and Equipment for Construction and Infrastructure – already is a successful show in Paris, but now it will spread its wings and debut next year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The new show will be held March 28-30 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre and will feature an estimated 180 exhibitors, according to show organizer Comexposium. Mecom Forums, which is partnered with U.K.-based Clarion Events, will work with Comexposium to produce the new U.A.E-based show.

Intermat Middle East will be held during the Arabian Construction Week and take advantage of that week’s track record of attracting high quality visitors and delegates from the Middle East, Africa, the Arabian Gulf region, Iran and the countries bordering the Black and Caspian Seas, according to show organizers.

They added that creating Intermat Middle East was a “next logical step” in view of the Middle Eastern countries’ development.

“A large number of Intermat exhibitors, with the support of their professional bodies, have already shown great interest in the event,” said Maryvonne Lanoë, Intermat’s exhibition manager. “In fact, the Intermat Middle East exhibition launch fits (more…)

After nearly a decade at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Global Gaming Expo, also known as G2E, will be moving to the Sands Expo & Convention Center next year.

The news was announced at an Aug. 31 press conference at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas attended by officials from the American Gaming Association, Reed Exhibitions and Las Vegas Sands.

G2E, which is organized by the AGA and Reed and was launched in 2001, also will move its dates in 2011 from the November time frame to Oct. 4-6, according to Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., president and CEO of AGA.

“The (changes) allow gaming operators to plan for the coming year with greater ease,” Fahrenkopf said.

The new dates also allow for more space between G2E and another gaming show held in London in January, he added. In addition, date changes were announced for the association’s Asian show in 2012, from a June to May time frame, and its South American show that now will be held in November.

“These changes accommodate the needs of members around the globe,” Fahrenkopf said. (more…)

To go along with its new Music City Center convention center that’s on tap to open in 2013, Nashville, Tenn., signed a predevelopment agreement with Omni Hotels & Resorts to build an anchor hotel.

The $250 million Omni Nashville Hotel will feature approximately 800 guest rooms and suites and more than 80,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including two ballrooms. The hotel also is estimated to open later that same year.

“By itself, the convention center is a homerun for downtown and our tourism industry,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. “The addition of an adjacent headquarters hotel takes the convention center project from a homerun to a championship win in terms of attendance and the number of events it’s expected to host every year.”

The project will be privately financed by Omni Hotels & Resorts. The predevelopment agreement outlines an incentive package, which includes an economic development enhancement grant valued at $103 million to be paid during a 20-year time period by tourism taxes generated by the hotel’s operation and $25 million in tax increment financing.

“Many cities have had to publicly finance convention center hotels, and the general thought last year was that Nashville would have to do the same,” Dean said. “But Nashville’s not those other cities. We’re a special place. We have a unique appeal as a convention destination, and this project confirms that.” (more…)

There aren’t many sectors of the trade show industry right now that seem to be recessionary-proof, but there’s at least one in particular – discount clothing – that has beat the odds during the past few years.

The Tarsus Group’s August OffPrice Show not only drew more exhibitors to its Aug. 15-18 event at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, but also it did something most shows just dream of in these more stringent times – maintained attendance of more than 10,000.

At this year’s show, there were 1,228 booths, compared with 1,100 at least year’s event, 46 of which were new exhibitors, according to Don Browne, OffPrice marketing director and group publisher.

“For our August show, these numbers are terrific,” Browne said.

One of the many highlights of this year’s show was its move into the main halls at the Sands. OffPrice was held in the lower-level halls of the venue, but Project, another show that runs during Las Vegas Fashion Week, moved to the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, which opened the upper-level space at the Sands.

“High ceilings, fabulous lights, all the vendors were happy, and the buyers couldn’t be happier!” said OffPrice Executive Vice President David Lapidos. “It was very gratifying to receive feedback from everyone on how much they love our new home.” (more…)

Cautious optimism was a pervading sentiment at the American Society of Association Executive’s Annual Meeting & Exposition, held Aug. 21-24 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Although participation was up slightly, with approximately 5,500 attendees and 1,883 exhibitors spanning 73,300 net square feet of trade show space this year, compared with almost 5,000 attendees and 1,798 exhibitors covering 73,200 sq. ft. last year, many exhibitors and attendees said they believed the association events industry was trending in the right direction.

According to John Graham IV, ASAE president and CEO, while the association had anticipated participation to be somewhat flat, compared with 2009 levels, some numbers still exceeded the association’s expectations.

“Our executive attendance is higher than anticipated … and our buyer/seller ratio is 60/40 (percent), which is the highest it’s ever been for us,” Graham said. “This is a significant increase, and a lot of the exhibitors we talked to on day one were very excited about the traffic they’d been getting.”

Although the health of associations and their events differs by the industry, there are signs that some are on the mend, according to attendee Jason McGraw, senior vice president of expositions for InfoComm International, which produces four annual exhibitions domestically and abroad. (more…)

As the economy continues to impact the way exhibitors choose to spend their money, Champion Exposition Services released the findings of its “Exhibitor Trends Survey” on how these more stringent times are having an effect. The survey looked into exhibitors’ reduced participation in shows, as well as what’s in store for the future.

As trade show activity rebounds in the coming year, exhibiting companies are looking to maximize their participation and increase engagement with attendees before, during and after the show, according to Champion officials.

Champion Exposition Services worked with the PCBC show to design the Green Standards Pavilion

According to the survey, 81 percent of the exhibitors made concessions in the way they conducted their business. Fifty-six percent said they sent fewer staff to shows, and 39 percent reduced the number of shows their company participated in.

Even so, with an eye toward recovery, 51 percent of exhibitors surveyed indicated they planned to participate in more trade shows in the future. Exhibitors’ top goals to participate in trade shows included collecting leads (79 percent) and creating brand awareness or growing market share (75percent), while 33 percent said they used trade shows to launch new products.

The exhibitors said they measured value or return on investment by the quality of leads collected (74 percent), booth traffic (59 percent), quantity of leads collected (54 percent) and number of sales resulting from leads collected (52 percent).

“The trade show industry is in a period of transition,” said Leslie Brand, vice president of marketing for Wheelhouse Solutions, parent company of Champion Exposition Services. “Exhibitors report that participation in trade shows is not just about selling products or services. As stakeholders in their industries, they are looking for ways to leverage a return on the investment throughout the year and stay connected to others in their industry.” (more…)

Germany-based Messe Frankfurt is looking to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to launch three new shows in 2011. The exhibitions, to be held March 7-9 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, are Paperworld Middle East, Festivalworld Middle East and Playworld Middle East.

“Paperworld is a proven success in its field organized by our parent company Messe Frankfurt in Germany, while Festivalworld Middle East is an adaptation of Christmasworld, another well established brand by Messe Frankfurt,” said Mr. Ahmed Pauwels, Chief Executive Officer of Epoc Messe Frankfurt. “We believe that there will be a significant market for these new trade shows in the Gulf and Middle East.”

Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre

He added, “In addition, Playworld Middle East fits well into our overall branding strategy, and the three shows, which are collocated, share similar synergies.”

The Paperworld brand already is successful in Frankfurt, as well as running under the name Paperworld China since 2005 in Shanghai. Paperworld Middle East will be the first of its kind show to be introduced to Dubai and will focus on office supplies, office and household papers, gift articles and greeting cards, stationery and school articles, according to Messe Frankfurt officials.

Festivalworld Middle East, geared toward festival decorations, will be held in conjunction with Paperworld. Festivalworld will focus on a comprehensive array of products used in the decoration of events, such as weddings, corporate events, festivals, and seasonal celebrations, and the event will showcase international trends and innovations that fit the Middle East market, according to Messe Frankfurt officials.
(more…)