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Meetings Industry Rallies in Chicago - More Than 2,300 Participants Attend Association Forum’s 21st Annual Holiday Showcase CHICAGO (Dec. 21, 2009) – Although the recession has made it a difficult year for meetings and events, nearly 2,300 participants attended the Association Forum of Chicagoland’s 21st annual Holiday Showcase last week in Chicago, where they rallied in support of what many experts predict will be the start of a slow but certain economic recovery in 2010. “Thanks to its one-stop-shop format and its get-it-done character, Holiday Showcase 2009 was a resounding success,” said Association Forum President and CEO Christie A. Tarantino, CAE. “Because of recession-fueled budget cuts and travel embargos, this year has been an especially challenging one for our friends in the business services and meetings industry. However, optimistic attendees showed up in droves at this year’s Holiday Showcase, ready to get back to work facilitating the face-to-face connections that are so necessary for doing real business in a virtual world.” Consistently rated the No. 1 business services and meeting sites exposition in the Midwest, Holiday Showcase 2009 took place Dec. 15, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. In addition to meeting planners and association professionals, the event hosted more than 900 exhibitors, including the nation’s leading business services as well as hotels and destination marketing organizations. Like attendees, suppliers demonstrated considerable optimism, buoyed by a recent International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) study, which concluded this fall that although they’ve been impacted by the recession, association meetings have outperformed other meeting sectors this year in spite of it, and will continue to do so in 2010, when 39 percent of association meeting planners anticipate increased attendance at their major events. “For more than 20 years, Holiday Showcase has been the Midwest’s largest and most important gathering for association and meetings industry suppliers,” said Holiday Showcase 2009 Exhibit and Sponsor Advisory Group Chair Karen Pornoy, managing director of RSM McGladrey. “This year was no exception. Encouraged by early signs of a potential economic recovery, attendees and suppliers alike came ready to do serious business,” said Holiday Showcase 2009 Program Advisory Group Chair Jennifer Jones, marketing and communications manager for the International Association of Lighting Designers. “And because Holiday Showcase is designed to catalyze commerce, serious business is exactly what they accomplished.” In addition, participants also attended an entire morning’s worth of cutting-edge educational sessions on topics such as association law, social media and international meetings, after which they were treated to a keynote presentation by Center Stage speaker Jeffrey Taylor. Founder of Monster.com, the Web’s first and largest online job search site, Taylor offered his perspective on the current economic crisis during an hour-long address that focused on the power of attendees’ social networks. After a networking lunch, sponsored by the Peabody Orlando and the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, participants descended on the exhibit hall for an afternoon of BtoB shopping and deal-making, which concluded at 4:30 with seven grand-prize giveaways valued at $1,500, including vacation packages to St. Louis, Hawaii, Canada, Colorado and more. “Holiday Showcase was an encouraging end to a discouraging year,” Tarantino continued. “Newly energized by the people they met, the educational sessions they attended and the contracts they signed, we expect 2009 attendees to start 2010 off on the highest possible note.” Holiday Showcase 2010 will take place Dec. 14, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Details will be available in June at www.associationforum.org. ### HOLIDAY SHOWCASE SPONSORS The Association Forum would like to thank its sponsors, such as Peabody Orlando and Orlando CVB logos (lunch); Grand Sierra and The Summit (water stations); Mexico and Sonoma (beverage stations); TMA Resources and Wisconsin Dells (coffee bars); Abcom (internet café); Grapevine (name badge holder); Body Works (relaxation station); Columbus, Harris Bank and Johnson Lambert (dessert stations); American Program Bureau (Center Stage); Baltimore (CEO/CFO breakfast); Hawaii SMG (Legal Considerations for Meetings & Events); Association Media & Publishing (Copyright and Intellectual Property Law for your Publications) and Mexico (Ensuring Successful International Meetings Education Session). Click here to view the 2010 Marketing Guide for Association Forum. ABOUT ASSOCIATION FORUM The mission of the Association Forum of Chicagoland is to “advance the professional practice of association management.” Founded in 1916, Association Forum serves 47,000 association professionals whose efforts serve more than 37 million members and generate $22 billion in global annual expenditures. Visit www.associationforum.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE Photos of specific events are available on request by e-mailing Urbanczyk@asssociationforum.org. |
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