NATPE Finds Home at Mandalay Bay

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 4/19/2004

After several years of bouncing around, the annual Natl. Assn. of Television Program Executives Conference and Exhibition has found a home at Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center in Las Vegas – at least for the next two years. NATPE announced a two-year contract with the facility for its Jan. 25-27, 2005 show, as well as its 2006 event, set for the week of Jan. 23.

Beleaguered by an industry in crisis and an association in transition, the former Tradeshow Week 200-ranked NATPE has shifted around since 2000. It has moved between New Orleans and Las Vegas, and changed venues in Las Vegas. The show has canceled and rebooked contracts in the process – all in an effort to appease disgruntled producers, who in 2002 went so far as to pull out of the show and hold court in nearby hotel suites in protest.

Still, 2004 saw signs of revival for NATPE. The exhibit floor grew by 21,000 square feet and drew more than 250 more professional attendees, compared with 2003. Although 2004's 91,000 net square feet, 353 exhibiting companies and 4,545 buyers are a far cry from the 451,000 net sq. ft., 870 exhibitors and 20,348 attendees of 2001, when the show placed 40th in the TSW 200, the association's ongoing efforts to cut exhibiting costs and re-energize meeting content appear to be paying off with a stabilized showfloor.

Now, the location has stabilized as well. NATPE President and CEO Rick Feldman said the association chose Mandalay Bay because it best met the group's specific space and date needs. For the 2004 show, the association took over booking and management of suites as well as showfloor space, in order to streamline services and recuperate revenue. Feldman said a combined hotel-convention center facility is necessary for this type of meeting, and Las Vegas is a good location because of its proximity to Los Angeles, the heart of the television industry.

"We had a really great experience at the Venetian, and we talked to them also, but in the end it was a better combination of dates and availability and the other stuff we needed at Mandalay Bay," he said.

NATPE would not give projections on the size of the 2005 show, but said it is holding 200,000 square feet of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center plus suites and meeting rooms for that event.