By any measure, Calanit Atia is highly experienced with tradeshows and other events, particularly when it comes to providing models and other specialized talent. Now she is leveraging that experience with a new venture aimed at easing the process for hiring models for tradeshows and other events.
The owner and founder of A to Z Events in Las Vegas, Atia has helped countless models and their clients connect to enhance the tradeshow experience and boost marketing outcomes. Now she has a new enterprise to go with her successful A to Z Events company called Convention Models Directory, which is an online resource for connecting models and their clients without using an agency or other third party.
“My new service is a game-changer in the conventions and tradeshows industries,” said Atia. “For the first time, models and the people who want to hire them can negotiate directly and remove the middle man. That means models make more money while the people hiring them pay over $600 less. It’s a win-win.”
Atia’s extensive experience in the tradeshow industry includes providing services for many high-profile clients, such as Sony, JCK Show Management and EXHIBITOR. A to Z Events also has been named a preferred vendor for the Wynn Las Vegas.
Her organizational skills and achievements as owner of A to Z Events have garnered many awards and accolades. She was given the Miller Freeman Award for her contributions to the tradeshow industry. A to Z Events also was the runner-up for the contract to manage the business center at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
In addition, Atia and A to Z Events are avid supporters of associations that work together for the betterment of the industry. That philanthropic nature is at the root of the new online service created after seeing a need to help her friends in the modeling industry. Many told her of their bad experiences in trying to get paid for events months after they were over and horror stories of dealing with some agencies, and some clients had complained agencies did not send the models they claimed they would.
To help both sides, she created Convention Models Directory with one purpose – to empower clients and models. With the new service, there is no more going through third parties and agencies. Instead, convention clients will be able to contact models directly.
Her new online service enables female and male models in dozens of cities across the nation to post their best photos and background information and choose the cities in which they are available for work. Clients can peruse the listings and contact the models directly.
“We are here to connect models and talent to potential clients through our top-rated website while saving the client money,” said Atia. “Why pay more when you can go direct?”
While A to Z Events remains her primary business focus, giving models and their clients a better way to connect and deal directly with one another reflects Atia’s philanthropic as well as entrepreneurial spirit and likely will prove as successful as A to Z Events has become.
