IAEM clique

Jeff Price

President, Cygnus Expositions

Since Price joined Cygnus in 2001, the tradeshow division has more than doubled in size and added more than 50 new positions. His staff assists 9,000 exhibiting companies in doing business with the 190,000 customers that attend Cygnus events annually. The IAEM chairman-elect has more than 25 years of involvement in the tradeshow industry. He oversees 44 tradeshows in seven different industries, including two agricultural tradeshows with more than 1 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.

Peter Eelman

Vice president, exhibitions, Assn. for Manufacturing Technology

As plenty of tradeshow owners have discovered, sometimes their customers have the best ideas about how to run things. That turned out to be the case with Eelman, a former Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show exhibitor who began producing the biennial show 10 years ago. Since then, IMTS reached No. 1 on the TSW 200 for its first time in 2000 and the association expanded its global presence.

Henry Givray

Chairman and CEO, SmithBucklin

You probably won't hear Givray say, "Been there, done that." After 13 years with SmithBucklin, he left in 1996, only to return in 2002 as president and CEO. Since Givray rejoined it, the company has transferred its ownership to employees and promoted 19-year staffer Julie Silverstein from COO to president. The firm also has joined with the Geneva-based management group to form the SmithBucklin + MCI Global Partnership.

Mary Pat Heftman

Senior vice president, Natl. Restaurant Assn.

Manager of the very successful Natl. Restaurant Assn. Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, Heftman has been the most visible advocate for labor reform at Chicago's McCormick Place. After getting Chicago and McCormick Place officials to take seriously her threats to move the show (No. 29 on the most recent TSW 200) if changes weren't made, one announcement after another has followed of labor unions agreeing to concessions that make life easier — and move-in cheaper — for her exhibitors.

Karen Malone

Vice president, meeting services, Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society

Malone runs one of the fastest-growing shows in one of the fastest-growing sectors, health care. HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition helps solve the problems the medical world faces by being among the last to move into the 21st century when it comes to information technology. Malone, meanwhile, helps things along with the show, which jumped from 285,500 sq. ft. in 2004 to 320,000 sq. ft. in 2005 — and from No. 76 on the 2005 TSW 200 to No. 64.

Chris Nemchek

Vice president, exhibition management, Natl. Assn. for the Specialty Food Trade

This former Reed Exhibitions manager has likeability down to a science. Traveling the world the last five years, Nemchek's used his down-to-earth style to convince buyers and sellers from 33 countries to participate in the thrice-yearly Fancy Food Show (in Chicago, New York and San Francisco), adding them to the 37 countries already represented. If that weren't enough, he's also a voice of reason in the potentially volatile food-show collocation that brings together a half-dozen associations and management firms in Chicago.

Dennis Slater

President and secretary, Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers

Gary Shapiro might get the press, but Dennis Slater can claim the biggest — albeit not annual — tradeshow in the country: CONEXPO-CON/AGG, the triennial construction-industry giant that topped 1.8 million net sq. ft. last year. And that's not all. AEM also produces the biennial ICUEE (No. 3 on this year's TSW 200), IFPE and World of Asphalt. Bored with these small tasks, Slater used his 2004 term as IAEM chairman to turn the industry on its head with an ambitious plan for consolidation.