Miami Beach, FL – The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) achieved a major goal of re-establishing a Summer event when it struck a partnership deal with National Trade Productions (NTP) which owns TS² – Total Solutions Marketing for the Exhibit and Event Professional.
The agreement between IAEE and National Trade Productions (NTP) will stake out a mid-year show for IAEE to go along with its annual conference and Expo! Expo! held in December.
IAEE President Steven Hacker said that he and NTP Chairman Bob Harar began talking about a possible collaboration 18 months ago. Harar said, “Finally, the industry will have an event where show managers and exhibitors can have a dialogue.”
Hacker said IAEE would add educational content of interest to show managers that will go along with the sessions aimed at exhibitors and marketers. There will also be opportunities for exhibitors who take part in Expo! Expo! to also contract exhibit space at TS².
Harar noted, “IAEE members represent a bridge to tens of thousands of exhibitors who will now have a strong voice and educational platform with TS².”
The content will be provided through a new IAEE subsidiary, the International Center for Exhibitor and Event Marketing, which will be partially funded through TS².
The agreement also allows IAEE to resume the mid-year event it had staged for more than 50 consecutive years and discontinued in 2003 – without having to start from scratch. The next TS² takes place July 20-23, 2009 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
The move could also prove beneficial to TS² in terms of attendance and exhibitors. Here are the stats from each show:
• The 2008 TS2, held in Philadelphia July 28-31, drew 3,500 registered attendees. The exhibit area covered 40,000 net square feet and included more than 200 exhibitors.
• The most recent Expo! Expo!, held in Miami Beach in December, drew nearly 2,000 attendees along with 290 exhibitors who took up 41,300 net square feet of floor space.
Harar said the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) will remain a major sponsor of TS² at least through 2014.
Reach Steven Hacker at (972) 458-8002 or shacker@iaee.com; Robert Harar at (703) 683-8500 x258 or bharar@ntpshow.com; Margit Weisgal, president and CEO of TSEA, at (312) 949-5791 or mbweisgal@tsea.org
