EACA News
Chris Griffin Receives Hazel Hays Award at EDPA ACCESS. The EACA is happy to congratulate Chris Griffin, Crew XP on receiving the highest award that EDPA awards annually, the Hazel Hays. Chris was recognized for the singularly vigourous effort he made during the pandemic to work on behalf of the trade show industry at-large to lobby Congress for PPP relief funds among other funding sources. His efforts in conjunction with other notables in our industry like Rob Cohen of Display Supply & Lighting proved invaluable to many of our members receiving the forgivable loans from the SBA that made surviving the COVID pandemic possible.
The EACA extends its thanks and gratitude to Chris and all the others for their efforts.
EACA Board Meets at EDPA ACCESS – Elects New Directors. The EACA Board met in San Antonio at EDPA ACCESS on Wednesday, November 30 to review results from 2022 and make plans for 2023. The 2023 budget was approved and elections were held to renew/replace 3 Board Directors, and to approve the Officers for the coming year. Here is the make-up of the EACA Board for 2023.
President Ben Power, Nth Degree
Vice President Durl Jensen, CDI USA
Treasurer Rick Bellerjeau, Momentum Management
Secretary Noelle Webster, Willwork
Immediate Past President Colleen Johnson, Sho-Link
Executive Director Jim Wurm, EACA
Directors Elected to New 5 Year Terms
Bernie Massett, EMS
John O’Shea, Czarnowski
Scott Roemer, Eagle Management
Directors Continuing on Board
April Hurley, The Expo Group
Bill Muller, Nth Degree
Bob Dobinski, Corporate Events I&D
Bruce Green, Coastal International
Chris Casconi, Willwork
Jason Eisenhut, Employco USA
Les Bunge, Laser Exhibitor Service
Matthew Little, Nuvista
EAC Registration Schedule. EACA is supporting the following events with our EAC registration services:
- Winter Fancy Foods Jan. 15-17 Las Vegas
- NAFEM Feb. 1-3. Orlando
- Game Developers Conference Mar. 21-24 San Francisco
- Enterprise Connect Mar. 27-29 Orlando
EACA Member News
Take Advantage of New Health Insurance Offering. The EACA has recently joined the Small Association Leadership Alliance (SALA) in order to take advantage of their health insurance programs which can offer discounts up to 50% of what companies and individuals typically pay for coverages with carriers like Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Member companies, or individual employees of member companies, can enroll in the program. Additional information on how members take advantage of these programs is on the EACA website. Click on Healthcare Insurance for a program overview. When you click on SALA Healthcare Program you will come to a page where you can see a link to Enroll Now.
If need assistance in getting your program set up there is a 24/7 Concierge Service to assist you.
Just send an email to [email protected]
LVCC & Freeman Extend Parking Offer for CES. The LVCC has agree to provide parking for the workforce, beginning on Jan 2nd, for the remainder of the show. It will be located at the SLS lot, which is at the corner of Paradise and Sahara if you are not familiar. Freeman, as CES general service contractor, is absorbing the cost of the parking which is being extended to all CES workers, not just Freeman employees.
CCC Offers Helpful Billing/Collections Tips. As previously mentioned, Commercial Collection Corp. of NY(CCC) is the EACA’s newest Affinity Partner. CCC provides discounted collection services to our members. In addition to pursuing collections CCC offers the following:
- EACA members can call Lisa Puckett at CCC (913-302-2285) when engaged by a new customer to check on their credit.
- Additionally, CCC can provide first party services and act as your AR department should you be short staffed in that area. Lisa et al will make phone calls, send emails and letters to take care of past due accounts.
If you have an account that you’d like to check on their credit worthiness, or if you have a collection you’d like to place with CCC you can reach Lisa by email at [email protected].
Industry News
Causton Retires. David Causton has retired from his position as General Manager of McCormick Place as of December 2.
The longest tenured General Manager in the history of McCormick Place, Causton ushered the facility through a number of changes, improvements and the longest interruption in the event industry due to COVID.
Always a forward thinker, one of Causton’s greatest innovations was the introduction of McCormick Place’s BEEP system (Building Entry Exit Procedure). The program was designed to improve security in the building for the entry of show floor workers during move-in and move-out. The BEEP system informed all event contractors and workers that they are to will the building through designated points. Cleared workers will then receive a one-day wristband that indicates they are part of that day’s crew. During the pandemic the BEEP system was upgraded to a high technology system where individual workers would scan their McCormick Place ID at kiosks located at entry points to receive their wristband for the day.
A retirement party is to be held in his honor on Tuesday December 6 at McCormick Place.
Flying Over the Holidays Will Cost You More This Year. <M&C News> Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone.
On social media, plenty of travelers think they are being gouged. It’s an understandable sentiment when government data shows that airfares in October were up 43 percent from a year earlier, and U.S. airlines reported a combined profit of more than $2.4 billion in the third quarter.
Part of the reason for high fares is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.
TSNN Awards for 2022 <TSNN> The 2022 TSNN Awards program celebrated achievement, innovation and leadership in trade shows with the 12th Annual TSNN Awards and education conference, which was held Nov. 8-9 at host venue Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. TSNN received a record-breaking number of nominations in 12 categories for the Innovation Awards and an incredible number of nominations for the Outstanding Show Pro Awards.
Karen Chupka, Consumer Technology Association, was honored with the Industry Icon Award for producing the association’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the world’s most influential tech event and the largest trade show in the U.S, and for her widely recognized contribution to the trade show industry.
The Other Outstanding Show Pros who were honored include:
- Kim Roehricht and Amy Bartz – AWFS
- Jennifer Muna – International Market Centers
- Emily Hartstone – From the Hart Management
- Diana Rich – Emerald
- Dawn Walton – Questex
- Kelly Helfman – Informa Markets
- Brittany Weltcheff – Association of Equipment Manufacturers
- Diane Vidoni – eMerge Americas
- Joseph Marks – Informa Tech
- Liz Bothwell – Informa
In addition, Tommy Goodwin, Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance, received the Industry Support Award; Specialty Coffee Association was honored with Sustainability Award; and Janice Rogers, Diversified Business Communications, received the DEI Leadership Award.
ExhibitorLive Will Take Place in 2023. Mark Johnson, chairman and CEO of Minneapolis-based The STARGroup, recently confirmed that ExhibitorLive will take place in Louisville next April according to sources. While this announcement has yet to be posted on their website, ExhibitorLive is scheduled to take place in Louisville on April 23-27, 2023 at the Kentucky International Convention Center.