NEW YORK CITY — When asked about the “hidden heroes” of the events industry, Christine McMahon, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Javits Center’s Senior Vice President of Labor Relations and Show Operations, highlighted the venue’s show and facility trade members.
“This includes our carpenters, electricians, freight handlers, cleaners and more that keep our building in top shape and prepare for events year-round,” McMahon said. “The knowledge they have about their specialty and the building itself is unmatched. It is a demanding schedule, but they are very committed to sticking to the show deadlines.
“The events industry is seven days a week, 24 hours a day, rain, snow or shine. The work runs on strict deadlines for shows opening and closing. That is what your life works around — and that’s a challenge sometimes. Our show trade members appreciate the importance of these deadlines and work through any challenges to meet them. They have that pride in themselves and they’re committed to the building. The work doesn’t start and stop at events — our facility trades are maintaining the building so every light, vent and screen are in the best condition for our client’s use. All of our trades are invaluable to events. It is truly a team effort with many different trades working together for a common goal: putting on a successful event.”
Dive into how Javits Center’s trade members collaborate with organizers to host effective exhibitions and more in Trade Show Executive’s first “Hidden Heroes” spotlight.
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Collaborating for Trade Show Excellence
“Along with the event success team, the collaboration with event organizers begins as far as a year out to help them understand the best way to utilize Javits Center’s infrastructure and space,” McMahon explained. “From knowing the best way to manage air flow to cool a 90,000-square-foot space to where the best place to set up food & beverage areas for access to plumbing is, our trades are an integral part of planning for every step of the process — from CAD drawings to materials to build to show open and close.
“You see these huge booths and there’s so much going on — but you don’t realize it all began as a conversation. They collaborate with show management and exhibitors to find the best way to bring their ideas of how they want their booths designed to life. Everyone works as a team for the common goal of making sure that show attendees, exhibitors and show management have the best experience.”
Also, trade members at Javits have built effective relationships with show organizers that have lasted for decades. According to McMahon, the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) NRF: Retail’s Big Show, one of the venue’s largest events, is a large-scale example of the power of trades.
“The event continues to grow and our trades work with event organizers and exhibitors for the best way to use our space,” McMahon said. “There are a lot of different stakeholders and plans in place that our trades execute on, but they aren’t just order takers. Javits Center has a vested interest in the success of every event and our trades share that interest. Our trades take such pride in their work, how they represent our building and the impact we have – not just on our clients, but also on the city and the state.”
Javits Center also makes sure that its trade members stay up to date on industry trends.
“Our trades also receive continued training as the industry grows and changes, which builds the individual trade member’s skills and develops our talent range to the elite force our clients expect from the Javits Center,” McMahon shared. “There is so much opportunity in these roles to grow and build a solid career.”
Getting Involved
Are you interested in learning more about this field or even joining its ranks?
McMahon offered this advice: “There are many different ways for young professionals to join the trades. Some people come from generations of trade members while some come from a university background. The talent pool among our trades is very broad-reaching because they are so highly educated. Particularly the growth on the IT front has opened a new world of interest in technology and digital media beyond the carpenters and engineers that people usually think of when talking about trades.”
Learn more about Javits Center here.
Do you know of more members of the events industry who deserve a spotlight?
Contact awarrick@tradeshowexecutive.com to share your perspective.
