Carlsbad, CA – Trade Show Executive will honor the 100 shows that have set the Gold Standard for the trade show industry at its Gold 100 Awards Gala & Summit September 17-19 at the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Resort in Laguna Niguel, CA. The event includes an Academy-Awards® type ceremony where California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to appear.
Gov. Schwarzenegger will greet the leaders of a multi-billion dollar industry that generates an average $25 million in economic impact for any city that hosts a single Gold 100 show. As with any top public official, a statewide emergency could take priority, however, the Governor’s participation has now been confirmed within the 30-day scheduling window.
Bill Kurtis, a former CBS News anchor and current producer and host of the A&E crime and news documentary shows, will emcee the Gold Gala.
Gold Summit Offers Sessions that Look to the Future
The Gold event also features a fast-paced, one-day summit where most sessions will not exceed an hour. The industry’s leading executives will discuss the major issues confronting our industry as well as the new opportunities that lie ahead.
- Keynote Speaker Terry Jones, former President of Sabre and founder of Travelocity.com, will discuss today’s challenging travel issues in “The State of Travel” and the interplay of technology and communications in the years ahead.
- Members of Trade Show Executive’s Exposition Forecasting Board will present an overview of the economy, recent trade show performance and their forecasts for the month, quarter and year ahead. Their opinions will be based on statistical data gathered on trade shows by industry sector; feedback from other trade show producers; and their educated estimates based on years of experience. Moderator Margaret Pederson, president of Amirex and incoming chair of IAEE, will lead this panel consisting of Frank Chow, Trade Show Executive’s senior economist; Doug Ducate, president and CEO of CEIR; and Terence Donnelly, vice president of Experient.
- Columnist Bob Dallmeyer will bring his acclaimed Power Lunch column from the pages of the magazine to the stage as he interviews one of the industry’s most fascinating leaders – Chuck Yuska, president & CEO of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI).
- Skip Farber and Gary Shapiro will team up in an interactive session on “Burning Issues Confronting the Exposition Industry Today.” Farber is president and CEO of MCF & Associates, Inc. and former president and CEO of WSA. Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association.
- A panel of Chief Marketing Officers will give their perspectives on trade shows and what they really expect from show management.
The unprecedented event is limited to 200 participants including management of the largest 100 trade shows; the top brass from the major show producers and associations; senior executives of industry associations including UFI, SISO, ABM, MATSO, CEIR and ESCA; and editors from the business media.
The Biggest and the Brightest
Ten of the 100 Gold shows will be further recognized in one of ten categories [see categories below]. Blue Star Jets, one of the world’s largest brokers of private charter jets, signed on as a Gold sponsor of the event and will award chartered jet travel for six people anywhere in the U.S. as one of the prizes. The winner will be announced at the event and must be present to claim this unique prize.
The 10 Grand Awards include:
1. The Largest Show managed by an Association or Society
2. The Largest Show managed by an Independent Show Organizer
3. The Top Show Organizer among the Gold 100 (i.e. the association or independent organizer with the largest number of Gold 100 shows)
4. The Top Brand (the parent show must be U.S. based and among the Gold 100; other shows under the brand name can be held in any other city in the U.S. or overseas)
5. The Show with the Most Dramatic Growth
6. The Show with the Highest Economic Impact on the Local Economy
7. The Show with the Most Innovative Practices
8. The Show with the Highest Global Participation
9. The Show at the Forefront of Technology
10. The Greenest Show
Darlene Gudea, vice president/publisher of Trade Show Executive, said, “The 100 shows that will be honored at the Gold Gala are the giants in the industry, not only in sheer size but also in economic impact on their host cities. They have truly set the Gold Standard for the exposition industry and the industries they serve.”
Gold Sponsors
- The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority is the title sponsor of the event.
- Gold Sponsors include SMART-reg International, Inc.; Hargrove Inc.; PRG/Hi-Tech; United Service Companies; and Blue Star Jets.
- Silver Sponsors include GES Exposition Services; the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and Advantage Boston; the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Orange County Convention Center; the Rosemont Convention & Visitors Bureau; and the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.
- Bronze Sponsors include the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority; SMG; ngn; PrivilegedAccess.tv; the Georgia World Congress Center; Champion Exposition Services; production Transport, Inc. and Freeman.
Hargrove Captures Gold in Gala Décor
The Ritz-Carlton offers an unbeatable setting for the inaugural Gold event. The seaside resort is perched on a summit above the Pacific Ocean on a stretch of beach so picturesque that it became home to the famed Laguna Beach artist colony.
Hargrove Inc. took advantage of the distinctive California atmosphere to design a setting that melds the event’s gold theme with the golden sunsets that are a daily starring attraction along the Orange County coast. Design Director David Solsbery put the color pallet to work with a series of gold swirls and other designs representing the Pacific Ocean while the high backdrop signifies the 100 trade shows that will be honored for reaching the summit of the industry.
The Gold Gala comes at busy time for Hargrove, the Washington-based decorating company that is in high demand during election years. Famous for designing the sets for every Presidential inauguration since Harry S. Truman in 1949, Hargrove has also set stages for numerous televised events this political season. That includes events featuring both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama; Vice President Dick Cheney; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
To Register for the Gold Gala
Registration is available online at www.tradeshowexecutive.com/GoldGala/GoldGalaHome.asp. A limited number of registrations are available for VIPs of shows and organizations not in the Gold 100 ranking. Please contact Diane Bjorklund for more details.
Reach Darlene Gudea at (760) 929-9666 or dgudea@tradeshowexecutive.com;Diane Bjorklund, director of events, at (630) 312-8915 or dbjorklund@tradeshowexecutive.com
