Industry Representatives Launch Cancer Fund-raising Drive

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 4/18/2005

The American Cancer Society has announced its support for "Be-Cause It's Cancer," an industry-wide drive that calls on event organizers to donate $1 for each attendee to cancer research.

Tradeshow Week is helping form an advisory board to encourage participation. Representatives from Freeman, GES Exposition Services, the Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Reed Exhibitions and VNU Expositions have already agreed to serve on the board.

According to Angela Geiger, vice president, corporate initiatives for the American Cancer Society, Be-Cause It's Cancer is the first industry-wide drive ever conducted to raise funds for its programs. "The enthusiasm has been huge so far," Geiger said. "It's pretty exciting."

Tradeshow Week Publisher Adam Schaffer and breast-cancer survivor Karen McElroy Hunter, principal of Atlanta-based consulting firm The Mission Group, have been the driving forces behind the initiative.

"Tradeshow Week is thrilled to be involved," Schaffer said. "So many people in our industry have battled with cancer, and this is a simple, but very important, way for all of us to give back. I am particularly proud that this is the first industry-wide initiative ever that the American Cancer Society has launched."

Additional information on Be-Cause It's Cancer is available at www.TradeshowWeek.com.