by Jeanne Brei
It’s been a week of big, breaking news in the industry—from Yellow’s shutting down tradeshow freight to Freeman announcing the acquisition of Sparks—and the talk on Facebook and the tradeshow floor are all about the big news.
Marcus Kryshka opined that it “seems like Freeman mostly wants them for the special events contracts, the booth work is really just gravy as far as they’re concerned.” But the real concern, as Gary Parsons wrote on Facebook is that “Soon Freeman will own everyone and they will control pricing for the entire industry and inflate it to an unaffordable level and exhibitors will pull from shows in mass. They are becoming too big and too controlling within the industry for the future to be sustainable, viable and competitive.” Another concern over this news was brought up by Pat Hruz who wrote that it could lead to where “virtual will be the norm in no time at all.”
As for the Yellow news, carpenter Dave Hinchcliffe believes that “they’re likely restructuring and going back in business as non union. The top three heads of Yellow have been selling their stock holdings in the company for months preparing for this move. Reaganomics still at work dismantling unions…”
But as we head into August, many on the show floor are thinking of charity golf events, baseball, bowling, networking—yes, the Randy’s have begun! The 20th annual Chicago Randy was held this week on Monday (July 31) with a record number of participants. Ion Exhibits CEO Kevin Fett, Gina Porcaro, Classic Exhibits, Inc. regional sales manager and Mike Morrison, WS Display national sales director and co-host of EXHIBITORNow podcast with The Exhibitor Group, all shared photos and enthusiastic thank yous to all the volunteers who helped make it such a great event on Linkedin. (Pictured right with Gina are Trinity Displays’ Marty McGinnis and Jamie Baczkowski and Eagle Management Group, Inc. Account Executive Reid Sherwood)
Willwork’s Noelle Webster is looking forward to EDPA Texas chapter’s second annual Top Golf Tournament on Aug. 14. She writes that if you attended in 2022, you can contact her for a special promo code and discount. Click https://lnkd.in/g4r5Xfda for more info.
EDPA Upper Midwest is having its UMEDPA kickoff event at TopGolf, 6420 Camden Ave. N. Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 on Aug. 17, 4:30-6:30 p.m. CDT. Click HERE to register for an evening of golf, food, drinks, networking and fun!
EDPA SouthEast has opened registration for the 2023 Atlanta Randy on Oct. 6 at Stone Mountain Golf Club in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Click HERE to register for the Atlanta Randy. If you or someone you know in the trade show industry has suffered a severe tragedy or faces insurmountable medical expenses and is in need of financial assistance, please download and submit the application here.
EDPA SouthEast also offers supporting the Randy Smith Foundation by joining The Get Out of the Gutter bowling event taking place on Aug. 24 at Bowlmor in Atlanta. Click HERE to register for the bowling event.
The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Annual Scholarship Fund Golf Outing will be held at the Crystal Springs Golf Club in Hamburg, N.J., on Oct. 13. Since its inception, the EAS Carpenters Scholarship Fund has been able to award more than 400 scholarships to the children and grandchildren of union carpenters looking for financial assistance to attend college. (EAS)
Registration will be opening soon for the EDPA’s ACCESS conference to be held Nov. 28-30 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida. And the Live Production Summit (LPS), is returning to the beautiful JW Marriott Desert Springs, California , from Jan. 18-20, 2024. For more than 20 years, the LPS, formerly known as Tour Link, has welcomed thousands of participants and partners to attend the premier conference for live events and entertainment production professionals. LPS encompasses all areas and functions of the touring and live events industries—including production management, technology, event design, travel & hospitality, logistics, safety, security, finance, health & wellness, diversity & inclusion, and much more. Beyond the incredible networking opportunities and the chance to learn directly from manufacturers, the Live Production Summit is a focused, forward-thinking approach to the future of the industry. Discussions are led by well-known subject matter experts in a welcoming round table approach to nurture and support new ideas, answer questions and encourage engagement. Presented by OSA, Master Tour by Eventric , and Shomotion, LPS24 will bring people together from all areas of live production, click HERE to register (early bird pricing ends Sept. 1) or visit https://liveproductionsummit.com for more info.
