New Faces

Chet Burchett

President, Reed Exhibitions Americas

To qualify as a new face on the TSW Power Pack, the rules are simple: Don't have too high a profile in the industry when the last Power Pack was published three years ago.

Burchett fits the bill, and more. He wasn't even in the tradeshow business at that time. Today, of course, the former public relations executive runs all the Western Hemisphere operations for the largest tradeshow company in the world.

As with many B-to-B executives in the past year or so, Burchett has been busy fine-tuning a portfolio, dumping shows in sectors that may not have contributed a lot to his parent company's bottom line — including Natl. Manufacturing Week, which went to Canon — and acquiring ones in areas that do (Contemporary Forums and its dozens of medical education events, for instance).

Burchett also took a stand in the to-audit-or-not-to-audit debate by declaring that every Reed show in the United States and Canada would undergo strict third-party evaluation.

Trevor Foley

Group chief executive, Events Industry Alliance

He may have been in the background much of his career, for instance in his role as director of the assn. of exhibition organizers since 1998, but Foley has stepped into the spotlight recently as group chief executive of the events industry alliance. His attempts in the United Kingdom to bring together various tradeshow associations under the same umbrella — in order to elevate the industry's profile — may have appeared to be a rogue venture at one time, but he's getting results.

The EIA is attracting all kinds of attention, ranging from meetings with the government, to enhanced press coverage, to possibly nabbing bigger clients that didn't previously know much about the power of face-to-face marketing.

Foley has even called for U.S. associations to consider consolidating, and faster than everyone can collectively say "No way," he points out the success he's had with the EIA.

Tom Gaither

Vice president for consumer shows, AGI Events

It's all about the RV for Gaither. He's been an avid RVer practically since childhood, and has enjoyed attending RV shows over the years. Now he gets to buy RV shows and start up new ones — what he calls a "dream job."

And yet, Gaither hasn't spent too much time daydreaming since going to work for the Affinity Group less than two years ago. Since then, he has acquired three consumer show groups with dozens of shows and has been known to declare that his company's ultimate goal is to have 150 shows all over the country.

AGI Events, the group he now heads, is focused on acquiring shows that are related to the company's magazines dealing with outdoor recreational activities, such as RVs, boating, ATVs, motorcycles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft. AGI uses its database of consumers and its media channels to drive traffic to its shows, increasing exhibitors' sales potential.

Richard Harper

Vice president, sales, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

If the tradeshow industry had a popularity contest last year, Harper might have won it. That's when he took over managing the third-largest convention center in Las Vegas from a team that, well, let's just say it wasn't quite so popular among show managers.

In addition to being new to our list, Harper is relatively new to convention center sales and marketing. Although he has nearly a quarter-century of hotel experience, he only really dove into conventions when he became vice president of sales at the MGM Grand in 1999.

Apparently, he's a fast learner. When parent company MGM Mirage bought Mandalay Bay in May of last year, it put Harper in charge of sales and marketing for its new property, including the 934,731 sq. ft. of exhibit space that some thought was sorely underused.

That could be changing, if Reed Exhibitions' booking its first show ever at the facility means anything.

Phillip Jones

President and CEO, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau

Dallas was at a turning point when Jones arrived on the scene three years ago. He replaced a veteran CVB executive who had resigned under pressure because of concerns in the local media about entertaining clients, and the city had lost a handful of key shows to other venues in other cities.

Since then, Jones has worked hard to create a new brand for Dallas and drive business to the city. The most recent coup was the decision by the Food Marketing Institute to bring The FMI Show to Dallas in 2009 after spending the last 20-some years in Chicago.

A former Louisiana secretary of culture, recreation and tourism, Jones orchestrated a revival of the tourism industry in that state before heading for Dallas in 2003. Last year, he led an effort to help shows slated for New Orleans post-Katrina find new venues, all with the understanding they would return to Louisiana as soon as possible.

Michael Massari

Vice president, meeting sales and operations — Las Vegas, Harrah's Entertainment

Think his title's a mouthful? Get a load of his responsibilities: The 36-year-old, with only 11 years' experience in the hotel business, oversees sales and operations for Harrah's six Las Vegas properties, which encompass 750,000 sq. ft. of meeting and exhibit space and 17,000 rooms.

Massari had all this dumped in his lap quicker than you can say "mega-hotel-casino-merger." When Harrah's took over Caesars Entertainment in June of last year, he went from managing a staff of 300 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel Casino to having nearly 1,500 names under his box on the organizational chart.

Don't think Massari's been coasting since the merger was completed. He had to implement the ambitious Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's project, consolidating group sales and operations across six properties. Caesars Palace is expanding its convention space, and Harrah's is making closely guarded plans for the property now occupied by the aging Imperial Palace, its most recent acquisition.

Ed Meek

President and CEO, Oxford Publishing

Oxford, Miss.-based Meek used to launch tradeshows and publish B-to-B magazines serving everything from the satellite communications world to pharmacies and computers. He even founded the Tupelo (Miss.) Furniture Market.

Then one day a little over 20 years ago, he discovered there might be a bit of money in bars and nightclubs. He launched Nightclub & Bar/Beverage Retailer/Beverage & Food Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas in 1983. Three years ago, it made its first appearance on the TSW 200, where it has since stayed.

Earlier this year, he collocated his Nightclub & Bar Beverage and Food Fiesta Latina with Diversified Business Communications' Expo Comida Latina in Houston. Next year, in conjunction with his Las Vegas bar show, which Meek refers to simply as "The Show," he'll launch the Las Vegas Intl. Restaurant Show and the Las Vegas Hospitality Expo.

Think he might have latched onto a good thing?

Kevin Rabbitt

President and CEO, GES Exposition Services

Talk about new. Rabbitt has been on the job less than nine months. He took over for Paul Dykstra, who left the position to become president and CEO of the parent company, Viad, when its former leader retired.

It might seem to some in the tradeshow business like it all happened so fast. Many still referred to 5-year veteran Dykstra as GES' "new guy."

In fact, Rabbitt rose to the top at rocket speed. With previous management-level experience at Bain and Co. and the Texas Ice Stadium, he joined GES only four years ago and has since been an executive vice president of both products and services, and national operations.

Rabbitt's pedigree might help explain things. The 35-year-old has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, backed up by a B.A. from Rice University. And he hasn't wasted any time getting to know the industry, serving on the boards of directors for CEIR and the EDPA.

Tim Roby

President, Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau

Roby didn't single-handedly remedy the challenging labor reputation Chicago had with tradeshow exhibitors and managers, but he just might have been the good luck charm the city needed.

A few weeks after the former hotelier started at the CCTB (having relocated from Kerzner Intl. in Florida), Chicago dropped behind Orlando on the 2006 TSW 200. To keep his staff motivated, Roby enlarged a front page of the Chicago Tribune edition that carried the headline, "Chicago losing ground in convention battle," hung it on his office wall and advised his staff to hold their heads high.

In subsequent months, Roby did his part to brighten Chicago's labor picture. He and the CCTB helped the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority facilitate exhibitor-friendly deals for McCormick Place between two major labor unions and service contractors. He also worked to keep the 74,000-attendee Natl. Restaurant Assn. show from fleeing to Las Vegas or Orlando. Not bad for a first-year rookie.

Shawn Samson

Managing partner, World Market Center

Samson might be the only person on this list who can say he's built a shopping mall. Not just one either, but two mega-malls, the 4.2 million sq. ft. Mall of America outside of Minneapolis and the 5.2 million sq. ft. West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta.

Apparently, these projects just weren't big enough for Samson. In 1999 he and co-managing partner Jack Kashani hatched the idea that would morph into today's master plan for a 12 million sq. ft. home furnishings market in Las Vegas.

The first of what will eventually be eight buildings is already open with 1.3 million sq. ft. of space. A second is set to open in January.

So, what does all this have to do with tradeshows? Samson and his WMC team last year pulled off what was probably the biggest tradeshow launch in history, the 1.6 million net sq. ft. (including showrooms) inaugural Las Vegas Market.

Sheldon Adelson

Chairman of the board, Las Vegas Sands

Some billionaires might have been tempted to stop after creating COMDEX, selling it for $800 million, then building the Las Vegas Sands and the Venetian Resort Hotel Complex ... but nooooo, not Adelson. Now he's busy conquering Asia. He's already signed 26 shows for the 1.2 million sq. ft. convention center (and two hotels) he's building in Macau, and another 1.2 million sq. ft. of exhibit space is scheduled to be available in Singapore by 2009.

Sandy Angus

Chairman, Montgomery Intl.

Angus has already served a two-year term (2001–2003) as president of UFI, and is just a couple of months away from wrapping up a term as chairman of IAEM — making him not just a transcontinental show organizer, but a multinational industry leader as well. Oh, and he runs one of Europe's largest, best- established tradeshow companies, based in London. He began his exhibition industry career in South Africa in 1968, and today visits virtually every continent multiple times a year.

Stephen J. Barry

Chairman of the board, TWI Group

Since what seems like the beginning of time, Barry has been shipping exhibit booths from the United States to the far corners of the world. His TWI Group is the parent corporation of TWI Extras, TWI Import Services, TWI North America and TWI Canada, all of which provide shipping and other services for U.S., Canadian and foreign exhibitors in international exhibitions. Son Steve Barry is TWI president and CEO.

Marco Giberti

President, Reed Exhibitions Latin America

From his Miami office, Giberti manages Reed Exhibitions' portfolio of 15 annual events in Latin America, primarily Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. After starting his business career as Apple Computers' marketing manager in Latin America, Giberti moved into the tradeshow world. This included a long-term relationship with E.J. Krause & Associates, Reed's one-time partner in a number of Latin American shows. When Krause sold its side of the business to Reed, Giberti became its man in the region.

Ned Krause

President and CEO, E.J. Krause & Associates

Twenty-five years ago, Krause went to work building an international operation that would eventually be the most extensive of all U.S.-based show firms. Long before the globalization of business, he was opening offices and producing events around the world, including the first U.S. exhibition in China after normalization. In 1984, EJK produced a single event; today, its Expo Comm China alone attracts more than 250,000 visitors. EJK employs more than 230 people and produces more than 80 shows each year.

Cherif Moujabber

President, Creative Expos and Conferences

Cherif, as everybody calls him, is the quintessential globetrotter — traveling not only helps him do his job, it is his job. Before he became the go-to guy for those in need of international support, he'd already built up an impressive foreign-service portfolio. He's had offices in Singapore and Paris and, while president of IDG World Expo, the company went from having four shows in two countries to 46 in 18 countries. The four languages he speaks fluently help too.

Mike Rusbridge

Chairman and CEO, Reed Exhibitions

The longtime head of Reed Exhibitions (since 1982) runs a portfolio of 460 events in 38 countries. Rusbridge has taken a lower profile in the United States since hiring Chet Burchett to run Western Hemisphere operations three years ago. While continuing to put out fires throughout the world, he has also focused the company's energy on emerging economies by, for instance, going into a joint venture with Sinopharm, a major Chinese pharmaceutical firm, to produce medical shows in China.

Mark Shashoua

Chief executive, Expomedia Group

Shashoua has launched shows and opened venues in parts of the world many would have considered either too remote or too dangerous to set foot in. Expomedia Group, which he co-founded in 2000, offers venues and show organizing services in Poland, Russia, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Morocco and the United Kingdom. Expomedia, valued at more than $100 million, currently organizes more than 85 international exhibitions and 250 conferences.

Thom Connors

Senior regional vice president, Latin America, SMG

Now based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Connors has been involved with just about every facet of building, expanding, opening and running convention centers for more than 25 years. He joined SMG in 1982, and has served as general manager of the Miami Beach Convention Center, director of development for SMG Intl. and senior vice president of operations overseeing the convention center division. Quite familiar to American show managers, Connors' shift to Puerto Rico signals SMG's growing interest in Latin America.

Jonathan "Skip" Cox

President and CEO, Exhibit Surveys

What kind of marketing plan will make tradeshows cough up what you want from them? Just ask Cox, arguably the industry's leading expert on everything from the effect of booth location on exhibit performance to tracking down and qualifying the number of people that really showed up for a show. With Exhibit Surveys for 35 years, he manages a research team that has conducted primary studies of more than 2,700 exhibitions and events.

Thomas Mobley Jr.

Senior vice president, conventions, Global Spectrum

Few know how to run a convention center better than Mobley, who honed his skills managing Chicago's 2.2 million sq. ft. McCormick Place and the 725,000 sq. ft. Washington (D.C.) Convention Center. Now he's taken that knowledge to a position created specifically with him in mind at Global Spectrum, a venue management firm with 11 convention center clients. Mobley's expertise in the field also made him a perfect candidate for CIC chairman.

Ray Pekowski

President and CEO, The Expo Group

Even though he actually introduced the term "general service contracting" back in 1987, Pekowski gladly admits he's happy not to be one of the two big GSCs (GES or Freeman) these days. He has carved out a busy, profitable niche for his company with his patented Single Source Solution program that offers all things to all exhibitors. Founder of the annual SMOTY awards, Pekowski and his company sponsor one of the highest-profile awards programs for show managers each year.

Colin V. Reed

Chairman, president and CEO, Gaylord Entertainment

Blame Reed for the convention center-hotel craze. Since he became president and CEO of Gaylord in 2001, it has opened convention center resorts in Kissimmee, Fla., and Grapevine, Texas, prompting some center operators to go green with envy over their everything-under-one-roof efficiencies. Reed will keep venue operators sweating in the coming years, as Gaylord opens its fourth resort complex near Washington, D.C., develops its fifth in the San Diego area and renovates its oldest property in Nashville, Tenn.

Dave Scypinski

Senior vice president, industry relations, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Earlier this year when industry suppliers grew dissatisfied with being repeatedly asked to donate to multiple industry associations' capital campaigns, Scypinski took action and spearheaded efforts to stop the gravy train and set some industry fundraising standards. He knows what he's talking about, having served on several industry association foundation boards. Based in Washington, D.C., he has more than 29 years of experience in the hospitality industry.

Ed Shartar

President and CEO, Experient

When Conferon officials said it was time for something or somebody completely different, Shartar's name quickly came to mind. After 13 years at Coca-Cola, most recently as president and CEO of its Canadian subsidiary, he joined what was then still called Conferon Global Services as CEO in October 2004. He added president to his title earlier this year and changed the company's name to Experient, uniting the former Conferon, ExpoExchange and ITS divisions.

Patti Shock

Professor and chair, Tourism and Convention Administration Dept., Harrah College of Hotel Administration, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Into every really fun business a little serious intellectualism must fall. That's Shock's job. When people start screaming that the tradeshow industry needs better education, someone always reminds them that Shock and her team at UNLV have had a model program for years. A pioneer in the field of convention management education, Shock started at Georgia State University in 1978. Most recently, she's been blazing trails in Asia, setting up cross-cultural programs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Dieter K. Ungerboeck

President, Ungerboeck Systems Intl.

The 2006 Super Bowl was played at Detroit's Ford Field, but if it weren't for Ungerboeck's software product, Event Business Management System, designed to help venue managers with various aspects of their job, the event might not have gone off as planned. Ungerboeck founded the company in 1985 and, with 10,000 users on six continents and offices worldwide, EBMS is a regular part of the workday for a sizable chunk of the events industry.