I just returned from a two-week run to a client show in Cleveland and then ExhibitorLIVE in Tampa Bay, where I also attended the EDPA ENGAGE and the EDPA Chapters Collide events. I spent the weekend catching my breath and resting. I thought a lot about this industry and the people I have worked with over the many years.
Looking back on a 45-year career, I just kept finding more reasons to be thankful for the opportunities I have had to work with the people that shaped my career and became good friends:
Thank you to Karl and Myron, the tradeshow team at McDonnell Douglas Corporation that brought me on to their team in 1981. You taught a guy who had never heard of tradeshows what this industry is all about. You sent me to my first show in Fort
Worth, Texas, and then to Germany, Sweden and all over the U.S. in my first year.
Thank you to Dan for hiring me as a marketing director for Hamilton Displays in 1993, where I jumped from the client side to the supplier side of this industry. I learned so much about what makes this industry work, and why I loved it so much.
And thank you to Dan and Mick for having confidence in me to open and run a division of the company in St. Louis in 1997, where we built strong relationships with clients like Anheuser-Busch, Ralston Purina and AirBP. The team we built in St. Louis did an amazing job supporting our client’s tradeshow and event marketing goals.
Thank you to Kim and Randy for trusting me to open a new tradeshow marketing firm and bringing all of their work to us, helping us jump-start a new business in 2001. I can’t give enough thanks to our team of people at Reveal Exhibits who committed to making our company a success in a very competitive market. To this day I still think about these people and am thankful for their dedication to our work.
Thank you to Gene for convincing me to come to an EDPA ACCESS Conference in 2006 so that I could connect with other business owners in our industry and build strong relationships with supplier companies. I haven’t missed an ACCESS Conference since then and each year it brings new connections and renews existing relationships. It’s simply a ‘can’t miss’ event in this industry.
Thank you to Mike for telling me about the Randy Smith Memorial Golf Classic and telling me, “Once you go, then you’ll know.” So, I went and haven’t stopped going since that first trip in 2014. The opportunity to give back to an industry that has supported my career since the beginning is something I just can’t miss. And seeing the passion in the team that runs this event is truly inspiring.
Thank you to Dan once again for convincing me to come to Chicago to open a sales and design office for Hamilton following the sale of my business in 2015. We had a strong team of sales, design and project management talent until the pandemic hit and all things shut down. I have no doubt that these talented people will continue to succeed wherever their careers take them.
Thank you to Rob for compelling me to join the Bray Leino Events team in the US in 2020. The opportunity to help this UK-based company build partnerships in the US and build a strong team here to support clients exhibiting here sounded like fun. The chance to visit their offices and meet the teams in Bristol and Devon in the UK was inspiring.
Thank you to the Executive Committee and the Foundation Board of the EDPA for allowing me to be a part of these esteemed industry teams. It has been an honor to work with these groups to help our industry grow and become more well known. I have no doubt these teams will carry this industry forward.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone I’ve met and built strong relationships within this industry. I have always said it is the passion in the people who work in this industry that has made this such an amazing career path. Seeing everyone at industry events is the highlight of each year. I could not have done this without every one of you.
See you on the show floor…at least one more time.
Jim Obermeyer has been in the exhibits and events industry for over 45 years, both as a corporate tradeshow manager and exhibit house owner. He can be reached at jobermeyer903@gmail.com.
This story originally appeared in the Q3 2026 issue of Exhibit City News, with the original magazine layout available here.
