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This Just In

Freeman COO Jeff Price Steps Down; O’Connell Assumes Duties

HIL ANDERSON, SENIOR EDITOR

Dallas, TX – Freeman President John O’Connell added the responsibilities of chief operating officer to his duties after COO Jeff Price stepped down in late October.

O’Connell joined Freeman in 1988 and was named president last year. As president, he has overall responsibility for Freeman’s operations in the U.S. and Canada.

Jeff Price, COO of Freeman since July 2007, left to pursue other opportunities.

Price did not disclose the next step in his career in the exhibition industry, which began in 1979 when he joined Cahners Exposition Group as a group show manager. He went on to become a top executive with a number of other companies in the trade show and travel industries, and an active member of various exhibition industry associations.

Price was chairman of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE) in 2007 and a past chairman of the National Association of Consumer Shows (NACS). He was also a trustee of the Exhibition Industry Foundation (EIF).

Prior to joining Freeman, Price spent five years as president of Cygnus Expositions, where he increased the show management portfolio from a dozen events to more than 40, totaling more than seven million net square feet. The position at Cygnus marked Price’s return to the trade show business after a brief period as executive vice president with Norwegian Cruise Line. Price had previously spent ten years with travel-oriented companies in the Trammell Crow Company.

Price’s earlier career included tenures as the president/CEO of Dallas Market Center Expositions and director of trade shows for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA).

Reach John O’Connell at (214) 445-1000 or john.oconnell@freemanco.com; Jeff Price at (817) 734-9180 or isjeff@aol.com

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