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This Just In

TSE’s Fastest 50 Awards Opens with Nearly 130 Executives in Attendance

DANICA TORMOHLEN, EDITOR-AT-LARGE & DARLENE GUDEA, PRESIDENT

Orlando, FL – The inaugural Trade Show Executive (TSE) Fastest 50 Awards & Summit opened Wednesday, March 9 with nearly 130 attendees who gathered to celebrate the 50 shows that were the industry’s growth leaders in 2010. The event kicked off with a Culinary Cook-Off at the Peabody Orlando Hotel and a Golf Tournament at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. In the evening, attendees gathered at the opening reception, which was held in the Trade Show Executive Innovation Zone, sponsored and designed by Freeman.

The Fastest 50 shows were honored at an elegant and entertaining black tie ceremony at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando. In addition, the organizers of seven U.S. shows and five overseas events that were the fastest-growing shows percentage-wise and in sheer numbers were presented Trade Show Executive’s Grand Awards.

Welcome to Orlando

Sponsored by the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, a golf outing was held at the award-winning Shingle Creek Golf Club. The first place winners were: Martin Moggre, Freeman; Kevin Johnstone, NAMM; Tyler Stewart, Venetian/Palazzo/Sands Expo; and Steve Anderson, Freeman. The winner of Longest Drive was Tom Berberet, PRG, and the winner of Closest to the Pin was Marco Parrotto, Hargrove Inc.

The Culinary Cook-Off was held at the Peabody Orlando. With the help of staff chefs, trade show organizers and sponsors rolled up their shirt sleeves, donned a Fastest 50 chef coat and competed in teams to create a unique dish that would be judged by the three head chefs. The winning team — Michael Howe of OnPeak, and Irene Sperling of Trade Show Executive — created an Asian stir fry dish. After the Cook-Off, attendees were treated to a gourmet meal at a chef’s table in the kitchen.

Innovation Zone
Designed and sponsored by Freeman, the Trade Show Executive Innovation Zone opened with a select group of technology vendors displaying the latest and most promising  mobile apps, lead management, registration services and social media tools. The entertaining Kevin Johnstone, director of trade shows for NAMM, and emcee of Innovation Zone, visited each exhibitor with a camera crew from Convention News Television, for a demonstration and Q&A about their products and services. All of the exhibitors performed exceptionally well in their video debut, impressing the audience with their stage presence. Perhaps the most entertaining presenters were Richard Stone and Steve Werntz of Expocad, who sang the praises of Expocad Space Draw™ to the tune of “Pina Colada.” [Check out the video]. The video clips of all Innovation Zone exhibitors were replayed to the audience during a session on Thursday afternoon. In the spirit of American Idol, the attendees used PRG’s Audience Response device to vote for the best innovation. The vote was close, but  Freeman scored a perfect five in each criteria more often than any other contender and was proclaimed the winner. All of the other exhibitors scored enough points to earn the Trade Show Executive Seal of Approval.

And the Winners Are….
Twelve Grand Awards were presented during the awards dinner by TSE President Darlene Gudea, VP of Events Diane Bjorklund and each of the Gold, Platinum and Title sponsors. View the video to see the presentation of  awards, but here is a summary of the winners and their impressive performance stats:

Group I:   U.S. Growth Leaders

Organizer swith the Most Fastest 50 Shows: Business Journals Inc.
It says a lot when a company such as Business Journals, Incorporated has a portfolio of four trade shows in the fashion sector and three of them made the Fastest 50 list.  Britton Jones, Mac Brighton, Sharon Enright and their trade show division have staked out a prime location in the fashion and apparel industry… and it is a certainty that their success is more than a passing fad.  MRket has already picked up two Grand Awards tonight, and Moda Las Vegas and Accessories-TheShow are also showing strength as well. Congratulations Business Journals Inc. for your tremendous accomplishments.

Highest Growth in NSF – By Percentage:  MRket
Fashion trends take off fast… and that includes our winner, MRket.. The New York show, produced by Business Journals Inc. at the Javits Center,  saw its exhibit space jump 147% last year to 419,500 net square feet. The economy was still on the ropes at that time, which makes gains in a consumer-oriented sector like apparel an even greater story. Congratulations Business Journals Inc.!

Highest Growth in NSF – In Sheer Numbers:  Las Vegas Market – Winter
Our friends at World Market Center called Las Vegas Market – Winter the first bull market of 2010. And they weren’t kidding. Las Vegas Market saw its exhibit space grow well over 357,000 net square feet to nearly 648,000 square feet… big even by Las Vegas standards and terrific for another show than leans heavily on the consumer retail market. Congratulations World Market Center!

Highest Growth in Exhibitors – By Percentage:  MRket
An impressive 147%  increase in the number of exhibitors at last Winter’s MRket at Javits Center propelled the show into first place for the highest growth in percentage of exhibitors. And with an attendee pool limited to retail buyers, it was certainly the place to be. Business Journals Inc, show producer, signed up 252 exhibitors for the apparel and ready-to-wear show, including a lot of new interest from Italy and Great Britain. Congratulations Business Journals Inc.!

Highest Growth in Exhibitors – In Sheer Numbers:  MAGIC Marketplace
MAGIC is no newcomer when it comes to the designation as the premier event for the apparel industry. Advanstar’s flagship event has been one of the largest trade shows in the United States for many years, which makes the addition 492 new exhibitors in 2010 a feat that definitely rates a Grand Award and the April cover story on MAGIC’s Chris DeMoulin.

Highest Growth in Attendance – By Percentage:  SIGGRAPH
The word is getting out about Hall-Erickson’s SIGGRAPH. Attendance at last year’s show at the Los Angeles Convention Center was up 105% as the animation and computer graphics industry continued to skyrocket.  Congratulations to Hall Erickson Inc!.

Highest Growth in Attendance – In Sheer Numbers: SIGGRAPH
Hall-Erickson made the right call when they scheduled their 2010 show in Los Angeles. SIGGRAPH’s target audience is video gaming and computer-animation and simulation crowd, which is thriving in L.A. The crowd topped 22,000, which is 11,539 attendees higher than the previous year. The 2011 show will be held in Vancouver, Canada, another hotbed of the digital industry. Congratulations to Hall Erickson again for sweeping this award category.

Group II: International Winners 

Fastest-Growing Show in Canada:  Canadian Waste & Recycling Expo
The Canadian Waste and Recycling Expo in Montreal has become the must-attend event for Canada’s recycling industry. Messe Frankfurt reported exhibit space was up nearly 76% to more than 38,000 net square feet… and a 24% jump in attendance. The show included tours of composting and electronic-waste centers in the Montreal area. Congratulations to Messe Frankfurt!

Fastest-Growing Show in Latin America:  PAACE Automechanika Mexico
Last year was a record one for Messe Frankfurt’s version of Automechanika for the Latin America market. The show signed a cooperative agreement with the Automotive Service Association, which helped expand the educational offerings and boost exhibit space nearly 95% to 101,784 net square feet. Congratulations to Messe Frankfurt once again!

Fastest-Growing Show in Europe: SUDTEC
SUDTEC reached 21,563 net square feet in 2010… that is up 148% from the previous year. SUDTEC launched three years ago in Stuttgart, which is in the heartland of southern Germany’s manufacturing region. That made the show convenient to the many small and medium-sized sub-contracting companies in the area. Congratulations to UBM!

Fastest-Growing Show in Asia:  Retail Asia Expo
Diversified Events Hong Kong saw the exhibit space at Retail Asia Expo jump more than 93% in 2010 to 26,423 net square meters. Attendance was also up 23% and the show had the support of 15 industry associations from throughout Asia and the Pacific. Congratulations to Diversified!

Fastest-Growing Show in the Middle East/Africa:  Automechanika Middle East
Messe Frankfurt continues its great showing outside the friendly confines of Europe. Automechanika Middle East grew 15% to 14,634 net square meters. Dubai’s role as a major transportation hub for the entire region helped draw more than 1,000 exhibitors from 46 nations and 16,000 attendees. This makes three Grand Awards for Messe Frankfurt. Congratulations again to David Audrain in building this fine franchise of automotive shows!

Trade Show Executive’s next Fastest 50 Summit and Awards will be held in April 2012.

Reach Darlene Gudea, president, Trade Show Executive Media Group at dgudea@tradeshowexecutive.com or (760) 889-8585, and Diane Bjorklund, VP of events, at dbjorklund@tradeshowexecutive.com or (630) 863-6501.

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