San Francisco, CA – A vague plan for a trade show at a San Francisco venue that has no exhibit space turned out to instead be the quiet preparations for a high-profile product unveiling by Apple.
The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was reserved September 6-10 for a “trade show” being run by a firm called Adams & Associates, according to city hall documents. However, a number of technology bloggers and mainstream media outlets were highly suspicious and speculated that the exhibition would actually be the unveiling of a new iPhone.
That bet paid off when Apple officially invited members of the press to the Graham for the September 9 launch of the iPhone 6S.
Apple, which did not immediately comment on the details of the big event, apparently used Adams & Associates to fill out the paperwork to secure the city-owned theater, which is generally used a concert hall and has no dedicated exhibit space. Adams Associates remained a bit of a mystery since the name could not be connected to Apple or any event organizers in the Bay Area.
The event at the Graham appears to be something lavish. Some Apple observers noted that the Graham’s 7,000-seat capacity was far larger than that of other venues used for similar iPhone events in the past. Other reports said the permit application included a plan to remove four large windows so that an “exterior wall mounted star graphic sign” can be mounted. Observers noted that the five-pointed star on the drawings looked fairly similar to Apple’s logo.
Reach Steve Dowling, Apple vice president of communications, at (408) 974-1896 or dowling@apple.com
