http://www.expoweb.com/ Expoweb: Top Stories en-us Sure, you refresh your show or reposition a couple of elements every year. But how often do attendees or exhibitors notice and, more importantly, is it driving attendance or exhibit sales? If not, it could be because the changes you make are too marginal to make an impact. But it also could be that the strategy — and your promotional effort surrounding it — just isn't hitting the mark. When Pack Expo show organizers wanted to attract more brand marketers to its annual Las Vegas show (the event's audience consists largely of managers, engineers, manufacturers and purchasers at large packaged consumer goods companies), they decided a little, well, repackaging was in order. This year, the event (which is owned and produced by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute) launched the Brand Zone — a new take on the show's "materials and containers" pavilion, repositioned with brand marketers in mind. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7891 <a href="http://www.viad.com">Viad</a>, the parent company of <a href="http://www.ges.com/">GES Exposition Services</a>, reported a loss of $97 million in the third quarter as revenue dropped nearly 40 percent from the previous year. Revenue totaled $181.1 million, down from $302.3 million during the same period last year, as a result of negative show rotation and the impact of the economic recession, according to Viad. GES' third quarter revenue dropped to $106.6 million, down from $203.3 million during the same time last year, a decrease of 47.6 percent. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7890 <a href="http://www.freemanco.com/freemanco/">Freeman</a> COO Jeff Price, who joined the company in July 2007, has stepped down from his position to pursue other interests. Before joining Freeman, Price previously served as President of Cygnus Expositions, where he oversaw operations for 17 trade shows. His industry career has included positions at Cahners, the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, Dallas Market Center Expositions, Wyndham Travel Management Inc., Norwegian Cruise Lines and The Cruise Line Inc. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7889 Five trade show industry associations have teamed to form the Exhibit Industry Council (EIC) to develop and promote industry best practices. According to EIC founding members from the <a href="http://www.hcea.org/">Healthcare Exhibitors Association (HCEA)</a>, the <a href="http://www.tsea.org/">Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA)</a>, the <a href="http://www.cemaonline.com/">Corporate Event Marketers Association (CEMA)</a>, the <a href="http://www.edpa.com/">Exhibit Designers + Producers Association (EDPA)</a> and the <a href="http://www.eaca.com/">Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Association (EACA)</a>, the effort was launched to address increasing exhibitor concerns that industry best practices are leading to an unsustainable business model. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7888 Industry veterans Chris Valentine, Nate Derby and Chris Young have founded <a href="http://www.t3expo.com">T3 Expo</a>, a new general service contractor that will focus on trade shows and corporate events. The company plans to offer new products and technology, modular pricing and creative service solutions to make shows more productive. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7887 The United States hotel industry saw declines in all three key performance measurements during the week of Oct. 18-24, 2009, according to Smith Travel Research (STR) data. In year-over-year measurements, industry occupancy dropped 6.3 percent to end the week at 59 percent. The average daily rate (ADR) fell 8.3 percent to end the week at $100.04, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) dropped 14.1 percent to end the week at $59.03. Among the top 25 markets, Oahu, Hawaii, saw the largest occupancy increase, up 10.4 percent to 83.8 percent, followed by Boston with a 7.5 percent increase to 79.8 percent. Houston experienced the largest occupancy decrease, falling 32.9 percent to 57.5 percent. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7886 <a href="http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/imexamerica.html">IMEX</a> will launch IMEX America, a new U.S. show for incentive, travel, meetings and events, at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, Oct. 11-13, 2011. The show is expected to draw 1,500 hosted buyers...Five show managers will be presented with <a href="http://www.theexpogroup.com">The Expo Group </a>Show Manager of the Year (SMOTY) award on Nov. 12 in Houston. SMOTY award winners include: Michelle Roddie, Vice President of Operations, Mid-America Events & Expos Inc.; Jenn Kampmeier, Founder, Indy Baby Expo; Crystal Lucas, Director of Event Operations and Services, UBM; Tyrone Curtis, Exhibits Manager, AARP; and Gene Sanders, Senior Vice President of Trade Shows, Society of the Plastics Industries... http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7885 Looking for new and unique (and, yes, inexpensive) ways to drive attendance to your show? Think video. It's easy, it's fun and it builds a buzz — at this year's event and beyond. Event marketing company, Live! Marketing, works with shows to collect video clips at events to create "commercials" for promotional use. The company recently worked with the American Library Association (ALA) to snag footage at its winter event in order to promote its larger summer annual conference. The goal: to entice "fence-sitters," to go ahead and click that "register now" button online. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7882 EXPO magazine has announced a new date for the <a href="http://www.expotechshow.com/virtual/">EXPOtech Virtual </a>event technology forum — December 15 — to coincide with the launch of an important new initiative for EXPO readers. The Event Marketing Institute (EMI), a think tank and professional resource for the live marketing industry, will debut its EXPOTRACK program for show organizers during EXPO's virtual technology event. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7881 <a href="http://www.penton.com/">Penton Media</a> is joining the growing list of over-leveraged trade magazine publishers and event producers trying to restructure their debt. In a memo to staffers this week, Penton CEO Sharon Rowlands said the company has hired global investment bankers Rothschild Inc. to assist with an evaluation of its current capital structure, according to FOLIO:, EXPO's sister magazine. A review, presumably, is an initial step before Penton looks to renegotiate its debt structure with its major lenders. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7880 Despite the economic downturn, not all 2009 consumer event news was negative. Although 50 percent of consumer event organizers canceled at least one event in 2009 due to the economy and 44 percent were forced to lay off employees, 12 percent of the events conducted in 2009 were launches and more than two-thirds of the new events met or exceeded organizers' expectations, according to 2009 Public Events Council survey from the <a href="http://www.iaee.com/">International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE)</a>. http://www.expoweb.com/headline_search.asp?id=7879