EACA News
Randy Smith Joins EACA Board. Randy Smith, Operations Manager for Eagle Management is the newest member of the EACA Board of Directors. Randy grew up in the industry with his parents, who worked in different aspects of trade shows. After the military, he moved to Florida in 2006, where he worked for a few different labor companies and eventually for ASI Display.s Randy started coordinating their labor in Orlando. In 2008, Randy started a small labor company and eventually met the owner of Octane in 2009. They gradually built the company together with their team and grew it until 2025, when Octane merged with Eagle Management where he has assumed the role of Operations Manager.
EACA at Trade Show Industry Panel at ExSys <Exhibit City News> Artificial intelligence, rising costs, new rules, labor needs, and the demand for real human connection are changing the tradeshow industry. Those forces framed “Forecasting the Future,” a July 28 panel presented during the 2026 ExSys Awards at Moss Inc. headquarters in Franklin Park, Illinois. Exhibit City News (ECN) Editor Marlena Sullivan and The Experiential Design Authority (TEDA) Executive Director Travis Stanton moderated the discussion.
The panel brought together Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Association (EACA) Executive Director Jim Wurm, Steve Riches of the International Federation of Exhibition and Event Services (IFES) and Laguna Displays, and Steve Deckel, chief executive officer of Deckel & Moneypenny. Read more.
32nd Annual Randy. The 32nd Annual Randy takes place at Chateau Elan in Braselton, GA again this year on September 28. Golf slots are filling out fast and there’s still time to sign up to play and/or Sponsor. Be sure to get your company recognized on our esteemed list of industry sponsors.
EACA Writes Article on EAC Fees. Responding to the ongoing onslaught of EAC Fees the EACA has crafted an article that explains “Why the EAC Fee is Actually a Tax on Exhibitor Choice.”
The article, to be published this week in Exhibit City News, explains the punitive nature of the EAC Fee particularly when the fee is charged multiple times at shows when an EAC is serving more than one client. This onerous practice is particularly penalizing in an EAC registration process that only requires the EAC in question to be vetted once. Every event undertakes the EAC registration process for risk management purposes. The show organizer wouldn’t know who is servicing a particular client and whether they have the requisite licensing, union contracts (if required) and insurance coverage. That process has been in place for more than 40 years. But certain events, and some general service contractors have turned this process into a boondoggle by collecting multiple fees when a small nominal charge would adequately cover the administrative cost.
EACA App Coming Soon Development of the new App for EACA is on the way and we expect to launch soon. The EACA App will include these features:
Directory of Individuals in the EAC community
- Directory of Service organizations in the EAC community
- Local community networking – stay up-to-date on show needs and issues, reach out to the community to get informed, solve challenges or provide support to your industry colleagues
- EAC Forum – share ideas, provide alerts offer suggestions, discuss upcoming event challenges
- Industry Knowledge Base – includes Best Practices, guidance from industry experts
- Media Center – EACA courses, Panel discussions
EAC Registration Schedule EACA is supporting the following events with our EAC registration services:
NBAA Oct. 20-22 Las Vegas
RSNA Nov. 30- Dec. 4 Chicago
EACA Best Practices. As seen on LinkedIn today EACA has developed Best Practices for our members to facilitate efficiency and business growth. Be sure to check them out.
EACA Member News
New Member Welcome. EACA would like to welcome our newest member All Venues Installation & Dismantle Services. Rick Connor and Joe Fee are the co-founders and operators of AVID. With over 60 years of combined experience between the two, they know the business inside and out. They provide exceptional knowledge of how the industry works. Mitch Connor is the second generation of the company. He brings five years of experience to the table and offers a fresh perspective on many of the new systems. All Venues has always been family oriented; and with the addition of Mitch, we have truly become a family business.
Employco Welcomes Owens as SE Bus. Dev. Mgr. <Exhibit City News>. Employco is pleased to announce the addition of Thomas Owens to its team as Southeast Business Development Manager. Offering human resource solutions for national trade show companies, Employco saves clients time and money by reducing workers’ compensation premiums and outsourcing payroll processing and union fringe reporting.
Las Vegas Parking for September. The LVCC has shared its Parking Lot Activity for September. Please share with your work crews.
Industry News
Dick Swandby Passes Away. On August 13, 2026, events industry veteran Richard “Dick” Swandby passed away. In 1963, Swandby founded Exhibit Surveys, Inc., which was the first company to independently measure the value of trade shows and exhibits exclusively. Swandby will be memorialized as a Legacy Recipient at the 32nd Annual Randy on Sept. 28.
Learn about his distinguished life and career:
https://lnkd.in/gbWMKv9n
ECA Opposes Maryland Ad Tax. The Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance reported that earlier this month, the Maryland Tax Court ruled that the state’s digital advertising tax was unconstitutional and violated federal law. While this tax passed to target large technology companies, it was merely passed down to small businesses, including many event organizers, exhibitors, and venues.
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By the numbers: Since taking effect in January 2022, Maryland collected $535 million from companies paying the tax.
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For years, ECA has fought the Maryland ad tax and supports the repeal of similar taxes in Utah, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Global Business Travel to $1.7 Trillion in 2026 <Northstar Meetings Group> Global business travel spending is projected to reach $1.71 trillion in 2026, while business trip volume is expected to total 1.84 billion trips, according to the newly released GBTA Business Travel Index Annual Global Report and Forecast.The figures point to another year of expansion for the sector, although spending continues to grow at a significantly faster pace than trip volume.
According to the report — which combines economic analysis with survey responses from more than 4,700 business travelers across 66 global markets — business trips are expected to increase 1.3 percent this year while spending is forecast to climb 7.2 percent.
Lackluster Jobs Report for Hospitality Industry <Northstar Meetings Group>. Most economists were expecting a rebound in jobs growth with the release of July labor data today, but the numbers released by the Department of Labor unexpectedly reveal that the U.S. market overall lost 23,000 jobs last month. Especially surprising was the reduction of 40,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector, the second straight month with a decline of that magnitude. It’s especially curious given the tourism boost that was expected from summer travel, particularly with the allure of the FIFA World Cup matches and surrounding activities.