Industry News

Dallas, TX  – The two leading organizations representing convention centers and convention bureaus  have formally joined forces to increase intra-industry communication and establish best practices. The DMAI-IAAM Liaison Group, a committee formed by the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) and

Atlantic City, NJ – Atlantic City’s famed casinos were forced to shut down at 8 a.m. July 5th due to the New Jersey Legislature’s inability to pass a new state budget by the July 1 deadline but  the city’s hotels and

New York, NY – Advanstar Communications announced several management changes on July 5. Laura McConnell was promoted to the newly created job of executive vice president of fashion and will take responsibility for the company’s entire fashion portfolio while former Reed

Dallas, TX – A consortium made up of Wyndham Jade executives and founder/former owner Lucy Billingsley has acquired the company by buying out the equity held since 2001 by The Lafayette Investment Fund. “We pulled our team together and got it

Orlando, FL – Ending a two decades long career in the convention business, Bill Peeper announced June 26 he would retire on December 31st as the only president the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau (Orlando CVB) has ever had. A

Houston, TX – Houston’s convention centers weathered this week’s torrential rainstorms without any impact on scheduled activities.  Houston Hobby Airport recorded 7.4 inches of rain on June 19 while other parts of the sprawling metro area experienced more than 10 inches

Las Vegas, NV – A funeral mass will be held on June 22 for Manny Cortez, 67, the former president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority who died on Father’s Day of a heart attack. Cortez was long a

Cincinnati, OH – Cincinnati jumps into the spotlight  of the midwest exhibition business this week with the June 22 grand re-opening of its convention center,  a downtown venue that now offers nearly 200,000 square feet of prime exhibition space and

Medford, NJ – Information Today, Inc. (ITI)  acquired the SpeechTEK Conferences and Expositions along with Speech Technology Magazine from AmComm Holdings, Inc. The deal, announced June 20th, was effective immediately and increased the size of ITI’s stable of IT conferences to an even dozen. SpeechTEK

Washington, DC – Reba Pittman Walker was named general manager and CEO of the Washington Convention Center Authority on June 15 after serving six months as acting general manager. Tom Mobley, former general manager and CEO of the Washington, DC Convention