Price Exits Cygnus, Goes to Freeman

For Jeff Price, leaving a position as president of Cygnus Expositions, based in Burnsville, Minn., and joining Freeman as executive vice president in Dallas on July 1 is a little like going home.

"My wife and I have moved quite a few times over the past 31 years, and this time we get to go back to a place we are familiar with and a place where we have a lot of really good friends," said Price, the current chair of the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions & Events.

It's because he lived in Dallas when he was president and CEO of Dallas Market Center for nine years in the '80s and '90s.

Price left Dallas in 1996 to serve as a top executive in the cruise and travel industry. After following that with six years as president at Cygnus, Price is returning to the Lone Star state.

"Jeff has an outstanding reputation in our industry because he has proven his expertise in leadership and guiding several organizations' successful strategic growth," said Joe Popolo, president of Freeman.

When asked what attracted Price to the position at Freeman, he said, "For me, a better question might be: What's not attractive? Freeman is a great company that I have known and worked with for years. The people are highly regarded, smart and highly ethical."

Freeman has produced conventions and expositions since 1927, and now the company manages exhibit programs and designs and builds custom exhibits. Headquartered in Dallas, the company has 27 branch offices and three other offices for sales and exhibit fabrication and graphics.

Cygnus hasn't named a replacement for Price, and Cygnus spokeswoman Kathy Scott said the company isn't commenting on Price's departure.

"Jeff has done a great job at Cygnus," she said. "He is very well respected, and we wish him well."

At Freeman, Price will be involved in the company's overall strategy, not in specific projects, Popolo said.

"On the surface, many might think that it will be as different as night from day," Price said of his position at Cygnus compared with his new one at Freeman. "After all, I am not going to be involved with the production of tradeshows."

But, he added, the positions he's held in the tradeshow industry and the travel industry have been strategic in nature.

"That is the type of work that I will be doing for Freeman — it just happens to be within an industry that I know but from a different perspective," Price said.

At Cygnus, Price oversaw the production, management and promotion of 43 regional and national tradeshows serving the agriculture, aviation, construction, public safety and industrial industries, including EMS Expo and Firehouse World Exposition & Conference, previous TSW Fastest 50 winners, and CONEX, a construction-related show.

Price also fits in perfectly with Freeman's plan for customers.

"We have been fortunate to have had successful growth in recent years, through a focused, strategic effort to become a totally customer-centric organization based on our customers' changing needs," Popolo said.

It's not just Price's leadership that will be valuable to Freeman; he's also had first-hand experience as a customer, Popolo added.

"My many years of producing tradeshows, consumer shows and even running a couple of convention centers will hopefully provide Freeman with an even closer perspective into what it is like from the producer side," Price said.

His involvement in the industry's trade associations also will be an asset.

"(Price's) involvement in IAEE contributes greatly to the knowledge he can bring us on what our industry's major issues and challenges are, so that we can properly address them in our own business strategy," Popolo said.

In addition to Dallas Market Center, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Cygnus, Price also has a background managing trade and consumer shows with Cahners Expositions Group, which is now Reed Exhibitions.