RECAP - MATSO Annual Business Meeting and Conference

July 20, 2005 — Nineteen MATSO member companies with thirty-two company representatives attended the most recent MATSO Meeting and Conference held in NYC July 11-12 in conjunction with NASFT's Fancy Food Show. Some of the largest shows in America were present for the Major American Trade Show Organizers (MATSO) Annual Business Meeting, accompanying educational sessions and senior-level knowledge/idea exchange. MATSO welcomed five new member companies to the association: E3 Show, SemiWest, Hall Erickson (MINExpo & Motivation Show), Photo Marketing, PMA Show and HIMSS (Health Information & Management Systems Society.)

After the business portion of the meeting, Skip Cox from Exhibit Surveys presented new trends and industry statistics to the group; topics included ROI, benchmarking trends; the impact of corporate events on the trade show industry and discussion of CEIR index numbers. City Task Force leaders then reviewed center expansion updates and city changes that {could} impact large shows in Orlando, Las Vegas and Chicago. NYC & Company + the Javits Center gave a presentation on the cities' convention center expansion plans.

Jim Gilmore from Strategic Horizons greeted the group and presented the session "The Experience Economy and Trade Show Production." Show organizers applied lessons learned from this session to create memorable trade show experiences plus applied tactics to help create the ultimate trade show experience. Other discussions included a Show Profile from The International Toy Fair™ and Justifying Budget Increases to your upper lever management and Board. Thanks go to NYC & Company as well as the Javits Center for their assistance.