TSW Las Vegas
-- Tradeshow Week, 6/7/2007
Teamsters, Culinary Unions Still in Limbo
Deadlines for negotiating new labor contracts have passed, but Teamsters Local 631 and Culinary Local 226 workers still don’t have an agreement with their major employers.
The Teamsters are in a state of suspended animation. For several weeks, the union, which represents workers who set up and dismantle tradeshows, has been negotiating with Freeman and GES Exposition Services. At press time, there was no agreement, and the deadline for reaching one had been extended to June 15.
“It could have a profound effect (on the tradeshow industry) if there’s a labor dispute,” said Local 631 Secretary-Treasurer Wayne King. “Our membership is very interested in certain issues, and (GES and Freeman) are unwilling to budge on those issues.”
Besides economic issues, key points of discussion were just cause for termination and/or suspension and seniority, according to a statement by the union.
King said that so far, negotiations were “not positive” and, if needed, a further extension would be “open for discussion.”
Still, he added, the two sides were trying to work it out in a way that would avoid a negative economic impact on the city.
In a joint statement, GES and Freeman said they “continue active negotiations with Las Vegas Teamsters Local 631, with all parties working toward an agreement that will benefit the workers, the union, the employers, our mutual clients and the Las Vegas industry.”
For their part, Culinary workers are still waiting to lure MGM Mirage to the table. Negotiations with Harrah’s Entertainment have been “constructive,” according to Chris Bohner, the union’s research director, but there has been “far less” progress with MGM.
Meanwhile, Bohner said, the Culinary union also had to seek an extension. Expired contracts will remain in force until new agreements are reached. If that doesn’t happen in the next two weeks, “then we see a long, hot summer ahead,” he added.
The union had hoped to reach settlements with MGM and Harrah’s before going into negotiations with stand-alone Strip and downtown casino companies. MGM is the largest Strip gaming operator with 10 properties under its wing, while Harrah’s owns six.
According to Bohner, MGM is resisting the union’s economic proposal and is “strongly against” plans the union has to organize workers at third-party joint ventures, such as CityCenter. Culinary is concerned that a failure to include joint ventures would set a precedent with a company that has many similar projects in the works.
MGM spokesperson Gordon Absher said, “While our conversations with union leaders have allowed us to find agreement in many areas, there is still work yet to be done. We are still in conversations on some major issues and have just received the union's first economic proposal.”
Though the union has no plans to strike in the next few weeks, the situation is “unsettling to the service industry, and not good for business,” Bohner said. At stake are workers’ wages, benefits, health care, pension and training programs.
He advised the meetings and events industry to protect its interests by reviewing contracts with Las Vegas properties in the case of a labor dispute.
“We’ve generally had a cooperative partnership with the industry, with relatively little labor unrest,” Bohner said. However, “with the new ownership of properties, that changes the tenor of negotiations. We’re always here, but who the (property) owners are can change rapidly.”
–Lisa Plummer
Chicago
NXTcomm will make Las Vegas its home for the foreseeable future – at least in even-numbered years. The telecommunications phoenix that rose from the ashes of Supercomm plans to rotate between here and Chicago, management recently confirmed.
The show, jointly owned by the Telecommunications Industry Assn. and USTelecom Assn., is coming up June 18-21 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. It is next scheduled June 17-20, 2008, at the Las VegasConvention Center.
Wayne Crawford, NXTcomm executive director, said the show also had a commitment to the LVCC for 2010. In ’09 and ’11, he would like to return the show to McCormick Place. No firm bookings are in place, however, as Crawford is working with the Chicago convention bureau to get first-option dates.
Part of the plan is to collocate NXTcomm with InfoComm Intl., the annual event for the audiovisual communications business, in Las Vegas in even-numbered years. InfoComm has already booked the LVCC for both '08 and '10.
InfoComm, the TIA and USTA expect the combined 2008 event to fill about 750,000 net square feet of exhibit space with 1,350 exhibitors and attract 50,000 attendees.
Freeman will be NXTcomm’s general contractor this year. Show management is currently reviewing RFPs for services in 2008 and 2009.
NXTcomm is the reincarnation of the now-defunct Supercomm, a former Tradeshow Week 200 event that filled 309,000 net sq. ft. with 670 exhibitors and 15,732 professional attendees when it last took place in 2005. Following that show, the TIA and USTA parted ways to produce their own separate events. They’ve now canceled those shows and reunited on NXTcomm.
March Sees Across-the-board Increases
March may have that “lion and lamb” reputation but, according to the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Executive Summary, the month was mostly lion this year.
In March 2007, convention attendance was up 4.5 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. The number of conventions held and the economic impact were both up 9.7 percent over the previous March.
In terms of number of shows, the Las Vegas Convention Center calls March its busiest month of the year, noting that this year the building hosted 20 shows attracting more than 220,000 attendees – with multiple shows in the building on 11 different occasions.
Overall convention attendance totals for March, however, still didn’t reach January and February levels. March saw more conventions held (2,700) than either of the previous months, but recorded fewer attendees (682,824) and a slightly smaller economic impact ($932 million) than January or February.
Among the March shows with the largest attendance were ASD/AMD Trade Show – Las Vegas, with 65,000; Nightclub & Bar/Beverage Retailer/Beverage & Food Convention & Trade Show, 25,000; Photo Marketing Assn. Intl. Annual Convention & Trade Show; 28,000; Ace Hardware Spring Convention & Exhibit, 18,000; Natl. Rural Electric Cooperative Assn., 13,000; ShoWest, 10,000; and Wedding & Portrait Photographers Intl., 8,000.
Year-to-date through March, overall visitor volume to Las Vegas was up less than 1 percent, but convention attendance was up 1.5 percent.The year-to-date number of conventions in Las Vegas was up 15.1 percent compared with the first three months of last year, and the economic impact was up 6.2 percent.
–Diane Taylor
Start Your BlackBerrys, Please
The next few weeks will see one national association hold its summer meeting in Las Vegas, and two local groups hold their annual golf tournaments, among other industry events:
• June 7-9, Westin Casuarina, ACOM ’07 Summer Education Conference, Assn. for Conventions Operations Management, http://www.acomonline.org/acomHome.asp
• June 12, time tba, Las Vegas Natl. Golf Club, 5th Annual Las Vegas Scholarship Golf Classic, Exhibit Designers and Producers Assn., http://www.edpa.com/index.html
• June 12, 6 p.m., 2221 S. Pioneer Way, officer installation, Intl. Special Events Society, http://www.iseslv.com/content/calendar.php
• June 13, 3-7 p.m., Cashman Center, Business Expo ’07, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, http://www.lvchamber.com/calendar/index.htm; CSA members will gather at Business Expo booth in lieu of monthly meeting, Convention Services Assn., http://www.csalv.org/
• June 22, 12 p.m., the Canyons, golf tournament fundraiser, Las Vegas Hospitality Assn., http://www.lvhospitality.org/
• June 28, Radisson Newport Beach, second-quarter chapter meeting, Southwest and Pacific Chapter, Professional Convention Management Assn., http://www.pcma.org/
Aramark recently named Andrew Atwell executive chef of the Las VegasConvention Center, responsible for all food, beverage and catering operations at the nation’s busiest tradeshow facility. TSW Las Vegas recently caught up with the man in the white hat to find out what’s on his menu.
Question: You’re filling a pretty big hat replacing Chef Jesus who was known for his spicy, exotic dishes. What are your specialties and how will you integrate them into large-scale menus? Answer: Food for me should be simplistic, nothing too fancy. I prefer to infuse a lot. Coming from the Asian-Orient region and working in the Middle East, (I like) simplistic (cooking) with lots of flavors.
Q: What trends are influencing your cooking these days? A: I look at the top chefs, what’s going on in town, the number of different styles and flavors. That, and presentation. I call food sexy. It’s got to present itself as good enough to eat.
Q: Will you change anything about the system Aramark uses or the services it offers at the LVCC? A: I’ll be enhancing it, especially with clients. Clients are very important to me.
Q: What is your approach with clients? A: I love to work with the guests, build menus together and develop them. It’s not a matter of just giving them what they want; it’s a matter of exceeding their expectations.
Q: Do you have any specific tactics for dealing with the larger groups, such as ICSC Spring Convention, Leasing Mall & Trade Expo? A: I look at it as a pie. Everybody (on my staff) has got a slice. I try to keep everybody focused on their wedge, and on that particular client. I look at the pie, cut it down, delegate it out and use the logistics of each wedge to bring it back together.
Q: How will the renovation of the convention center impact your job? A: We’re very flexible. We do a lot of catering that involves logistics. With ICSC, we had to (create) makeshift kitchens to adapt and overcome the growth part of that event. We’ll do the same with the expansion.
Q: Why specialize in the convention and hospitality industry rather than open your own restaurant? A: I like large-volume numbers. Whether we’re doing a party of 100 or 10,000, to me it’s the same approach: great food, great service. Anyone can cook to get the food ready, but to get it out to all the stations hot, fresh, clean-looking, takes a lot of skill.
– Lisa Plummer
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series about the business of tradeshow modeling.
Talk to the attractive young men and women who take temporary jobs at Las Vegas tradeshows, and you’ll find the word “model” is definitely not the whole story.
Fifty years ago, advertising executive Scott Griffith, founder of Holiday Models Convention Services, was a pioneer in the use of “beautiful people” to increase sales at national conventions. Holiday’s Barbara Mapes said good looks still attract attention, but communication skills are an even bigger part of the package.
Judy Venn, whose agency books an estimated 80 percent of tradeshow talent in Las Vegas, won’t even use the word model. “Our literature talks of professional hosts, hostesses, demonstrators, narrators, crowd gatherers, interpreters, sales assistants or special talents,” she said. “We offer much more than a pretty face.”
Recently booked at The JCK Show, Las Vegas, Naomi Frigo calls what she does mobile marketing. San Francisco-based Naomi has a degree in economics and biochemistry, but plans to earn a master’s degree in marketing, an interest developed because of her tradeshow work.
Wendy Wenzel, president of the Classic Models arm of her Classic Models and Elan Agency, doesn’t object to the models designation, but in her Trade Show Rules of Behavior, she describes the work as tradeshow representative.
“I am very clear with our talent,” Wenzel said. “Our job is to make money for the client. We can stop traffic, but we can also qualify customers and greatly increase the efficiency of the booth staff.The most satisfying jobs call on brains as much as beauty.”
Venn agreed that her company’s services are important to the industry. “Our business is to sell your product, not our product,” she said.
Primarily a floral company, ExpoEase also supplies booth talent for smaller conventions. “Talent in this town works by word of mouth, so that’s how young men and women find out about us,” said Jayne Wynes, who handles ExpoEase booth staffing.
“But before talent is listed with a reputable agency,” Venn said, “the agency must get to know the people behind the photos. Glamour shots and resumes aren’t the whole story. Personal interviews, work samples and client feedback are all necessary parts of the equation.”
–Diane Taylor
