More than 180 attendees, including fastest-growing show winners representing the top 50 shows, as well as their guests and sponsors, all came together to celebrate at the 2015 TSNN Awards Nov. 6-8 in Atlanta.

Awards were given onstage at the AmericasMart during a gala celebration emceed by The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore, with The American Coatings Show scoring the overall fastest-growing award for attendance and the ICSC New York National Conference snagging the overall fastest-growing award for net square footage.

The 2015 NACS Show attracted a record 24,392 registered attendees, of which 9,038 were classified as buyers (retailers, convenience distributors).

The total number of registered attendees, which includes Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) buyer registration, was 3.3-percent higher than last year and topped the previous attendance record set in 2004.

The Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association has named management firm Coulter to provide comprehensive association management services to the organization, effective Nov. 1.

Amy Lotz, CAE, Coulter vice president, will serve as HCEA’s executive director.

HCEA’s goal is to provide the effectiveness and promoting the value of all conventions, meetings and exhibitions for the healthcare industry.

Negative show rotation was a key factor in Global Experience Specialists’ overall U.S.-based third-quarter revenue posting a 14.6 percent decrease to $143.5 million, compared with the same quarter last year with $168.1 million.

Even with the dip, the good news was same-show revenue continued to surge with 4.7 percent growth in the third quarter, compared with the same quarter last year.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ CONEXPO-CON/AGG already is the largest show in the United States, and now it’s reaching new heights in South America as well.

CONEXPO Latin America, which debuted Oct. 21-24, 2015, in Santiago, Chile (Espacio Riesco), attracted nearly 32,600 attendees from more than 90 countries.

The top five Latin American countries besides the host country (in order) were Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia.

Just a few weeks before doors open, more than 1,000 companies from nearly 40 countries already have reserved approximately 553,000 net square feet of exhibit space for IAAPA Attractions Expo 2015, making it the second largest trade show floor in the event's 97-year history.

 Indoor space has sold out, and a limited amount of outdoor space still is available.

IAAPA Attractions Expo is owned and produced by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).

The Miami-based FIME Exhibition & Congress, consistently ranked the No. 1 medical trade show in the United States, was bought by U.K.-based Informa Exhibitions as part of its Life Sciences portfolio.

As tracked by the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association, FIME attracts more than 57,000 attendees to its annual event.

FIME complements the Group’s existing collection of 22 exhibitions and in excess of 100 conferences across the EMEA and APAC Life Science markets.

The Las Vegas Convention Center’s need for renovations and new exhibit and meeting space should have already occurred was the consensus among top trade show organizers who spoke Oct. 22 to the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee.

In a candid fact-finding session, they urged the 11-member committee to think strategically about the Las Vegas future and its position not just as a U.S., but also as a global trade show destination.

The session was the third of five the committee was conducting before making decisions on what would be priorities for next year.

By Wendy Helfenbaum

When Kathie Canning first started working at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center in the mid 1980s, it was a bit of a circus. Literally.

“At that time, we were the only concert venue; we did a lot of civic events, and we did the circus every year. It was very interesting when Avon came in to do a meeting right after the elephants left,” said Canning, now the OCCC’s executive director. “Many things have changed drastically since then; it’s been quite an amazing transformation.”

As the 5^th IMEX America wrapped up in Las Vegas, records were broken across the board, with a total of 3,100 companies representing 150 countries exhibiting, including 80 new booths and 56 expanded booth.

In addition, the IMEX hosted buyer program brought a record 3,000 buyers from 54 countries to the show, for a total 10,600 people participating in the event.

There were 66,000 business appointments of which more than 57,000 were one-to-one appointments and booth presentations.