“I tell you, the past is a bucket of ashes. I tell you yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the west. I tell you there is nothing in the world, only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.”
That Carl Sandburg quote was part of Bob Dole’s last Senate speech, and it sums up the theme of EDPA ACCESS 2021: Focus Forward. We had the ocean, we had the sky—and we looked forward to all the tomorrows in our industry as it emerges from the pandemic shut down.
With the return of the golfers (more about that later), Experiential Designers & Producers Association (EDPA) President Amy Sondrup opened the meeting, welcoming attendees in her opening remarks and establishing an upbeat tone to the meeting. She then introduced corporate comedian Greg Schwem who kept the positive vibe and reminded attendees, among other things, that humor is an important part of our work and our outlook.
Already in a good mood, the EDPA ACCESS attendees moved outside for the opening reception. The Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, provided a stunning nighttime atmosphere, with the ocean in the background.
Focus Forward
Wednesday, the Forward Focus offered a content-rich morning. The opening speaker, Troy Hazard’s title, Future-Proofing Your Business: Prepare Your Business for Tomorrow Today, underscored the theme of future focus, sharing what he learned from his own journey, failures and successes. Randy Acker, President and COO, Exhibitor Media Group, shared the most recent statistics from several sources such as UFI, CEIR, IAEE and Exhibitor that cautiously predict a full industry recovery to rival 2019, the most successful year ever for in-person events. Greg Moyer, CEO of the Innovati Group, provided a roadmap for “inventive thinking,” dispelling the myth that creativity can be taught, encouraging us to tap our inner resources to find the creative spark that lives in everyone.
Deeper Dives into Top-of-Mind Issues
After a networking lunch for EDPA chapters, Ms. Sondrup led a lively management issues forum, with topics ranging from benefits to morale. Concurrent sessions, CFO Insights from Larry Yunger, CFO, Kubik, and Design Issues Forum under the guidance of Stephen Ross, VP, executive creative director, Access TCA, allowed attendees to take a deeper dive into their areas of interest and to learn how their colleagues approach different issues and challenges.
For the second year, EDPA recognized its Future Leaders. Led by Liz Nacron, partner, Live Marketing, the new inductees into the Future Leaders group, like the inaugural group from 2020, became a sign that the experiential industry has a bright and hopeful future.
A Night for Awards
The perennial highlight of the annual gala recognized individual and corporate contributions to the life of EDPA and the industry. Matthew Little, Nuvista, was named Ambassador of the Year, and TK Wismer, Deckel & Moneypenny, the Designer of the Year. Mark Nagle, Czarnowski, received the industry’s highest honor, the Hazel Hays award. The award for Best Large Exhibit went to Von Hagen Design for its Euroshop stand. The Best Online or Multi-Media campaign award went to Display Supply & Lighting for its series of humorous emails. Hamilton won for the Best Pivot and Derse for the Best End-to-End Experience. The EDPA Large Chapter of the Year Award went to EDPA Midwest, while the best Small Chapter of the year award went to the newly formed EDPA Texas.
Amy Sondrup addressed the group for the last time before becoming President Emeritus, thanking everyone for their support and resilience. Incoming president, Dan Serebin, CFO, Derse, gave his presidential acceptance speech via Zoom.
More Future Focus and the Work Remaining
The traditional State of the Association panel kicked off the last day of EDPA ACCESS 2021. While, like every other association, EDPA has been affected by the pandemic, the report was hopeful and spelled out new and continuing initiatives designed to promote the growth and health of the association.
Jeff Butler discussed the task of Building a Multigenerational Workforce, demonstrating the fallacy of generational generalities. Almost everyone in the room laughed at the stereotypes that need to be replaced by real-life experiences and preferences.
Finally, the advocacy panel, a very active group throughout the past almost two years, reported on the progress made at the government level for the inclusion of in-person events in programs aiding industries financially during the pandemic and recovery.
Winners!
The afternoon was devoted to the chapter challenges, always a place for good-hearted competition.
And oh, the golfers. A happy group returned from the golf scramble at the Jacaranda Golf Club, and the list of winners includes:
- Longest drive women: Antonio Nuzzola
- Longest drive men: Justin Jones
- Driving Range Challenge: Lorie Schlichting
- 1st Place team: Rob Cohen, Matt Klinerock, Justin Jones, Brian Kaltas
- 2nd Place team: James Zacharias, Bill Glasser. Paco Collazo, Adam Karns
EDPA ACCCESS 2022 will return to La Cantera Resort in San Antonio Texas. Watch for more details in the coming year.
Founded in 1954, the Experiential Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) is recognized internationally and serves thousands of professional members representing more than 300 corporations across 18 countries. EDPA is committed to driving growth within the exhibit, event, and experiential industry through advocacy, networking, education, and good works. For more info, visit www.EDPA.com
