Association Head Resigns Weeks Before Show
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 5/9/2005
Barely a month before the Natl. Kitchen & Bath Assn.'s big annual show, Larry Spangler, the group's CEO, has resigned.
"It was a mutual decision. We wish him nothing but the best," said Jeff Cannata, president of the 30,000-member trade association. "I don't know if there's ever a good time or a bad time."
The resignation came as the association prepared to hold its Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference in Las Vegas for the first time May 10–12.
Cannata said Spangler's departure shouldn't affect the show, which ranked No. 36 on the latest Tradeshow Week 200 with a 475,085 net square foot showfloor and 836 exhibitors that attracted nearly 41,000 attendees to Chicago's McCormick Place in 2004.
Cory Smith, a VNU group show director, said the effect should be minimal, since the companies were very far along in the planning process. "We expect everything to go very well," he said, adding that this is the first time the show has been held west of Dallas.
K/BIS will return to Chicago in 2006, but head back to Las Vegas in 2007. Smith said the show's future rotation is currently being analyzed.
The association is forming a search committee to consider Spangler's replacement.
Spangler, the association's director of marketing for four years, was promoted to interim CEO two years ago after Cecilia Balazs resigned from her 5-year post as CEO. Spangler had also overseen K/BIS during his years as the group's marketing head.
