Stateside with Stephanie |
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older and far wealthier cousin . Like ITC , there were categorised areas of the exhibit hall and spaces for scheduled 1:1 meetings . New companies and launches were in kiosks . 10x10 ’ s ( 9sqm ) were a new shell scheme configuration . High end complimentary food and drink were everywhere . What I hadn ’ t seen before on a show floor : a beauty salon / barber shop for men and women ( sponsors were informed when any visitors of interest had booked an appointment so they could get some quality discussion time while said visitors were pampered ), a quiet dome with bean bag chairs for those needing to take a break from a kinetic expo floor environment and not one , but two medical clinics providing free flu , Covid , RSV and Shingles vaccines . HLTH , held at the Venetian Expo , waited until a week before the event to share their keynotes and celebrity speakers . Unlike the usual celebrity keynotes , those who appeared were there to discuss initiatives , foundations and more . Included in the speakers list were Dr Jill Biden , Halle Berry , Lenny Kravitz , John Legend and Chelsea Clinton . Notable industry leaders included Kimberly Powell ( VP of Healthcare at Nvidia ), Seema Verma ( executive vice-president and general manager Oracle Health ), and Dr Taha Kass-Hout ( chief medical |
officer at Amazon ). Small , medium and large stages were scattered throughout the exhibit hall capturing all content produced on said stages for later use . Yes , you read that correctly : ALL CONTENT was captured for later use . As a side note , GoMLR , the beauty salon provider , provided make-up artists backstage for speakers on the main stages , including Dr Biden ! The new multi-million dollar renovation of the Venetian Expo is noticeable and the new video screens impactful . Last up was SEMA , the largest trade exhibition for the automotive specialty equipment industry . It ’ s owned and produced by the Specialty Equipment Market Association ( SEMA ), a non-profit trade association founded in 1963 . The expo had 2,400 exhibitors and 160,000 trade visitors from 140 countries . It literally took over every square inch and centimetre of the Las Vegas Convention Center – including all exhibit halls , parking lots , sidewalks and walkways . It ’ s a community on steroids . Or should I say nitro-fuelled ? What SEMA does right : putting the community first and foremost . There are several competitions and numerous affiliated associations . There were cars , boats ( even a hydrogen one !), juiced up and creatively painted motorcycles , |
Far left : ITC Vegas Instagram monument
Left : SEMA Fuel to Electric exhibition
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detailed , made into low riders ( one of note was the Rolls Royce ) and more . There ’ s an entire pavilion devoted to clean energy vehicles . Did you know there are converters to modify a gas vehicle into an electric one ? I didn ’ t . There were thousands of new products and equipment . Because of huge consumer interest , a limited number of badges were available for the public to purchase for entry the last and fourth day . The SEMA fest ( a music and car festival ) this year was held on a smaller scale than last year ’ s ambitious premier edition and remained popular .
The Las Vegas Convention Center is undergoing a multimilliondollar renovation and the newly refurbished North Hall looked good ! The lighting was as bright ( if not brighter ) than sunshine .
Lessons learned : Community is everything . Celebrate your industry . Be out-loud vocal about it ! Provide the space for your industry to grow and sustain itself . Make new companies and those new products a priority on the show floor – don ’ t relegate them to the back corner of the exhibit hall . Make it affordable for them to be at your expo .
• Don ’ t be cheap on exhibition décor . It ’ s noticed – even when you think it ’ s not .
• Be BOLD . With five generations attending our events – programme education and activations around all of them ! Remember we are all consumers first , business people second .
• Delight and surprise . Put the SHOW back in Show Business . It works .
• Don ’ t count on a keynote or celebrity to bring in even one visitor . It won ’ t . However , if they are speaking , ensure they relevant to and speak about your industry . EW
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