Share this post:

A Look Back at ECN Tradeshow History: June 2026

June 2, 2026

By Mark Hebert

Welcome back to “A Look Back at ECN Tradeshow History.” This month, the archives move from pandemic recovery to digital reinvention and long-running industry change. From women leading logistics and event services to social media entering the tradeshow playbook, these stories show how people, platforms, and venues kept reshaping the business. You will also find record fan events, green convention center positioning, labor disputes, and industry awards that marked their moments. Got your own memory to share? Email Mark at Markh@exhibitcitynews.com. We would love to include it in a future edition.

Five Years Ago
June 2021

Q & A with Dina Hall, CLG President & CEO

Dina Hall discussed her path to leading Champion Logistics Group, the Illinois-based, family-owned logistics company founded by her father, Lance Lucibello. Hall described joining the business after college, first building an employee benefits program, then moving through human resources and into leadership. Under her tenure, Champion sharpened its focus on specialized freight, including tradeshow exhibits and live events. The company also earned Certified Women’s Business Enterprise designation after Hall increased her ownership stake and reapplied. Hall said Champion’s culture, long-tenured staff, and client focus helped the company navigate the challenges of the COVID shutdown.

2026 Update: Dina Hall retired from Champion Logistics Group (CLG) in late 2025 after more than three decades with the company, including nearly six years as president and chief executive officer. Her retirement marked the close of a leadership chapter that began in Champion’s human resources department and evolved into one of the most recognized women-led roles in exhibit logistics.

Las Vegas Buffets are Back!

As Las Vegas conventions and tourism returned following COVID-19 shutdowns, casino buffets began reopening across the Strip. Properties including Caesars Palace, Wynn Las Vegas, MGM Grand, Circus Circus, and South Point brought back buffet operations with upgraded sanitation measures, reservation systems, and expanded menu offerings. Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace reopened after a multimillion-dollar renovation that added new dishes and nearly 100 menu items.

The Wonderful Women of Willwork

Willwork spotlighted women across its Northeast team and national operations during the COVID-19 recovery period. The feature recognized Denise Franzen, Lisa Studley, Sarah Fantauzzi, Anita Bota, Dee Peters, Maureen Jardlin, Stephanie Latzanakis, Danielle Clark, Noelle Webster, Shannon Cushing, and Kaitlyn Kewriga. Their roles spanned finance, accounting, sales, event production, digital services, project management, graphic installations, estimating, client services, and operations. The story showed how Willwork continued serving clients through shutdowns, safety shifts, virtual event work, and the return of live meetings.

Ten Years Ago
June 2016

MomoCon 2016 Draws Record Number of Attendees

MomoCon welcomed a record 28,000 gamers, fans, and pop culture attendees to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). The event featured gaming and pop culture panels, content creators, comic artists, game producers, and Disney voice actors. MomoCon also drew a large online audience through Twitch. Organizers reported 330,000 unique viewers, 23,000 hours of livestreamed panels, and nearly 10,000 concurrent viewers for the Smash 4 Finals. The event had grown from a small college gathering into the largest gaming convention in the Southeast.

2026 Update: MomoCon continued to grow well beyond its earlier record. The 2025 event drew 59,222 unique attendees over Memorial Day weekend at the Georgia World GWCC. The convention expanded to more than 1 million square feet, including a 300,000-square-foot game hall and more than 90,000 square feet for tabletop gaming. The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) projected a $42.4 million economic impact for the metro area.

Exhibit Force Wins 2016 Best Exhibit Technology Award

ExhibitForce received the BEST Award for Exhibit Technology at the Exhibition and Event Marketers Association (E2MA) Red Diamond Congress. The awards, created by E2MA in partnership with Exhibit City News (ECN), recognized exhibit service and technology companies. ExhibitForce reported that its platform supported more than 115,000 events and projects worldwide and served more than 30 percent of Fortune 500 companies. The company described its system as a business enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool for real-time data, project management, and event operations.

Fifteen Years Ago
June 2011

EDPA Foundation launches Facebook, Twitter pages

The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association Foundation (EDPAF) launched Facebook and Twitter pages as part of a broader social media plan. The foundation aimed to build an online community for designers, producers, service contractors, educators, and suppliers. GetFoundSTL developed the plan to help expand discussion and support around the foundation’s charitable work. The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association Foundation supports industry peers through scholarships, the Randy Smith Memorial Golf Classic, Exhibits4Smiles, and local need-based programs.

Social media invades the tradeshow industry

Social media was moving from student chatter to tradeshow strategy. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube gave organizers new ways to promote events, support registration, share updates, and keep attendees engaged. Cvent’s Event Marketing 2.0 framed social media as part of the full event cycle, from goal setting to onsite interaction. Industry voices pointed to networking, audience listening, and low-cost promotion as key benefits. The story captured a moment when event marketers were learning how online communities could extend the life of a show before, during, and after the floor opened.

Chicago Carpenters respond to appealed legislation

Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters President Frank Libby urged the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) to stop litigation and negotiate over McCormick Place costs. His comments followed a United States District Court ruling that sided with the union on legislation affecting collective bargaining rights. Libby also pointed to reports of steep exhibitor markups, including labor and floor space charges. The union renewed its call for an exhibitor bill of rights, billing transparency, and independent third-party audits as part of future McCormick Place reforms.

Twenty Years Ago
June 2006

Allowing exhibit designers free reign, E3 wows ’em in Los Angeles

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) filled the Los Angeles Convention Center with 400 exhibitors and more than 1,000 computer and video games. Organizers said the show floor gave designers unusual creative freedom, with exhibits built to entertain as much as to sell. GameTap used a booth by Freddie Georges Production Group to promote its subscription gaming service. The company projected more than 6 million subscribers within three years. With console sales slowing and handheld gaming growing, exhibitors used the show to build excitement around new platforms, titles, and interactive experiences.

2026 Update: The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is no longer held. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced the end of the show after more than two decades as a central gaming industry showcase in 2023.

Pittsburgh promotes green convention future

Exhibit City News (ECN) Publisher Don Svehla attended a familiarization tour hosted by the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau (GPCVB) and wrote about Pittsburgh’s push as a convention destination. The feature highlighted the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the first certified “green” convention center in the United States. Svehla also noted the $367 million facility, Pittsburgh’s 88 neighborhoods, riverfront setting, cultural attractions, PNC Park, and the city’s 1,945 bridges. The trip positioned Pittsburgh as a cleaner, more visitor-friendly meetings market with growing appeal for planners.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

June 2001

Philly union dispute disrupts show set-up

A labor dispute disrupted showfloor setup during the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Philadelphia. The conflict centered on drape installation at the Philadelphia Convention Center. It involved decorators, contractors, and union carpenters working under the city’s Project Labor Agreement. Show managers brought in additional crews to avoid delays. City officials and industry leaders moved quickly to calm tensions and keep the event on schedule.

Convention center to be built in Overland Park

Officials in Overland Park, Kansas, announced plans for a new convention center and headquarters hotel. The site was near Interstate 435 and Metcalf Avenue. The $80 million project included a 412-room Sheraton hotel and 90,000 square feet of exhibit space. Plans also included meeting rooms, ballrooms, expanded banquet facilities, multimedia capabilities, and a direct hotel connection.

Las Vegas Industry Awards Night

The Las Vegas chapters of the Exhibitor Appointed Contractors Association (EACA), Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA), and Women’s Services Association (WCSA) joined for an “Evening of Awards.” The event honored leaders in management, showfloor operations, and association service. ECN publisher Don Svehla received the Top Executive Award. Philip Freeman of Freeman Cos. earned the management award. Ed Klein of Coastal International received the People’s Choice Award.

Mark Hebert

Mark Hebert is a senior writer at Exhibit City News. His career journey has taken him from a sports intern to publisher at three community newspapers in Montana, and later to daily news outlets in Dallas and Las Vegas. He has a BA in print journalism from the University of Montana. He can be reached at markh@exhibitcitynews.com or on LinkedIn at Mark Hebert. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hebert-95b7762b3/

Author Archive

Share this post: