Atlanta, GA – Lori Kisner rode a 20-year wave of success in the trade show industry with dmg world media’s Surf Expo and now into a new position running apparel leasing and trade show sales for AmericasMart Apparel.
Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner was named to replace Kisner as senior vice president of Surf Expo, a leading show for manufacturers of apparel and other products in the surf, skateboard and resort wear segments. The 2007 Surf Expo January show was ranked No. 97 on the Trade Show Executive Gold 100 roster of the largest trade shows, with 250,000 net square feet of exhibit space.
Turner is no stranger to Surf Expo. Prior to joining the show staff in 2007, he owned a board shop and counted 45 Surf Expos he has attended in the past 30 years. “It is a little daunting to come in after Lori,” Turner said. “But I am excited and we will continue to find ways to build a better show.”
Kisner told TSE she was “exhilarated, nervous and enthused” about leaving a highly successful show at the top of her game. But AmericasMart Apparel is not completely unfamiliar waters since the company is a unit of AMC, Inc., which sold Surf Expo to dmg in 1999. “It feels like going home in the trade,” Kisner said. “I worked there for 13 years and owe much of my success to my early training and experience at AMC.”
Kisner replaces Chuck Corvi and Lawton Hall, who recently left AmericasMart Apparel to pursue other interests.
AmericasMart Apparel houses more than 8,000 apparel and accessory lines in more than 550 showrooms and up to 1,000 booths, constituting the largest single apparel market on the East Coast.
“The Apparel Mart is a great business and one that will keep me in the trade show arena as well as introduce me to the mart business model,” said Kisner. “I look forward to applying a lot of my experience at Surf Expo to the apparel business.”
Reach Lori Kisner at (678) 781-7970 or lorikisner@dmgworldmedia.com; Roy at (678) 781-7979 or rturner@surfexpo.com
