Laguna Niguel, CA – The early arrivals at the Trade Show Executive Gold 100 Awards & Summit were welcomed at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel on Tuesday.
The gala event held each Fall on the Southern California coast honors the biggest and best trade shows in North America with an awards banquet preceded by a full day of educational sessions led by the leaders of the trade show industry.
Sunny skies after the cool mornings that are standard at the beach were forecast for the September 22-24 event.
The event officially begins on Wednesday with a round of golf at the challenging Pelican Hills links or a harbor cruise in famed Newport Harbor. The evening will start on a high note as Nathan Brown’s Jazz Trio entertains while guests enjoy tapas, sushi, Peking Duck and exotic chocolates, cheese and wine pairings from ENO, the upscale wine-tasting room at the Ritz-Carlton.
Thursday will get under way early with the Gold Summit, featuring keynote speaker, Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Guests will learn how one of the entertainment industry’s savviest entrepreneurs deals with the issues we all face: securing funding for our grand ideas, managing cost overruns, working with difficult personalities and the role of surprise and suspense in keeping audiences coming back for the sequel. Additional sessions featured include: a focus on the 2011 exposition industry forecast; innovation and idea lab; strategies for success; Power Lunch with Chet Burchett, president of Reed Exhibitions Americas; tapping the international market; and industry burning issues. The day will culminate with a banquet followed by dancing and even more networking into the night.
The banquet will include the announcement and presentation of the 15 Grand Awards for the trade shows in 2009 that had the largest show floor, greatest economic impact on their host city, highest international attendance, showed the most dramatic growth, and other categories that tie in with the organizational and marketing prowess of the organizers.
The representatives of the winning shows and companies are eligible for a drawing for a complimentary weekend at a New Orleans jazz festival.
Reach Diane Bjorklund, TSE vice president of events, at (630) 312-8915.
