EDITOR'S CORNER
Greetings to our readers!
A
t last! The lockdowns are ending, tradeshows are returning and the industry is recovering—and not a moment too soon! Our July/August issue usually features the women in our industry, and this month we continue that tradition along with celebrating the survivors and silver linings from the last year. Bob McGlincy highlights nearly a dozen of the “Wonderful Women of Willwork,” (pg. 3538) who have taken on new tasks and responsibilities so Willwork could avoid furloughs and news editor Emily Olson did a Q&A with Champion Logistics CEO Dina Hall (pg. 32-33) on becoming certified as a Women's Business Enterprise. Part One of our pivoting survivors from the last year include an Ithaca, New York-based designer named Pete St. John who created the Tooty Toob (“the best fart toy you’ll ever own”) to Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Trussworks’ President Steve Hess who pivoted into hand sanitizer stands (pg. 40-41). We talked to tradeshow/meeting producers, including Informa’s Maria Ramirez, as they created a start-up with Melanie Bash and Molly Hoisington called Get Informed Concierge Event Service. We also spoke with Joe Murphy and Andie Weinman from Continental Buyers Group on how they “rolled the dice” and set their meeting at Caesars in Las Vegas for the first week of June. Fortunately, Lady Luck smiled on them and all restrictions were lifted on June 1. We talked to Teamsters who became entrepreneurs, Melissa Skipworth’s foray into becoming a realtor, Las Vegas Mannequins/Store Supply owner Alison Wainwright, who has opened the Voodoo Brewing Co. Vegas bar, Johnny Vegas’
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CONVENTION SERVICES ASSOCIATION
AS VEGAS
8 July/August 2021 Exhibit City News
PUBLISHER Donald V. Svehla Jr. (702) 309-8023 ext. 102 DonS@exhibitcitynews.com
prospecting at Arizona abandoned gold mines and Chicago-based tradeshow staffing guru, Lisa Breitman, who branched out to voiceovers and live events and was happy to staff the Sweets & Snacks 2021 show in Indy last month. See pg. 24-29 for still more pivoting survivor stories. The industry lost several more giants in the last couple of months and ECN sends out our deepest condolences to everyone at GES, Nth Degree, Condit Exhibits, 3D Exhibits and more. We thank those who let us know when someone passes and who let us share their thoughts and memories in our tributes. Our columnists have their finger on the pulse of the industry as always—veteran Jim Obermeyer talks about how important it is to come back and give the exhibitors more of a voice in transparency, costs, attendee data and safety protocols. AIPC’s Sven Bossu also writes about maximizing the ROI for exhibitors; Bob McGlincy discusses the light at the end of the tunnel from CEIR’s webinar; Paco Collazo weighs in about taking care of your mental health and Calanit Atia features the extraordinary Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars as Las Vegas buffets start their comeback. Mike Morrison headed to EDPA’s Engage and writer H.K. Wilson describes how ESCA’s AllIn campaign will help the industry be able to handle the next few months of a compressed show schedule. We hope you like our features on this issue's focus city, Houston, and, as Jim Obermeyer always says, “See you on the show floor!” Stay healthy and have a wonderful summer!
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeanne Brei (702) 309-8023 ext. 103 JeanneB@exhibitcitynews.com MANAGING EDITOR/GAL FRIDAY Lisa Abrams (702) 309-8023 LisaA@exhibitcitynews.com ART DIRECTOR Thomas Speak Tom@Speak-Design.com NEWS EDITOR Emily Olson EmilyO@exhibitcitynews.com COLUMNISTS / WRITERS Calanit Atia Sven Bossu Paco Collazo Bob McGlincy Mike Morrison Jim Obermeyer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Vince Battaglia Larry Kulchawik Jeff Quade Tristin Vaccaro Gina Widney H.K. Wilson PROOFREADER Emily Olson NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Christy Giambattista ChristyD@exhibitcitynews.com CIRCULATION Manny Chico Mike Morrison
Editor-in-chief Vol. 27, issue 4, copyright 2021 by EXHIBIT CITY NEWS, published six times a year by Mr. Tradeshow Communications, LLC, 1675 E. Desert Inn Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89169. Editorial views presented within this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher and no liability is inherent. To subscribe, go to ExhibitCityNews.com or call (702) 309-8023. Reproduction/reuse of this material may only be permitted with expressed permission of Exhibit City News. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to location listed above.