**** Press Release ****
The
Home Entertainment Show / T.H.E. Show
Las Vegas and Denver
**** For Immediate Release ****
Contacts: Richard Beers, President
T.H.E. Show, Las Vegas and
Denver
(702) 242-4545
president@theshowlasvegas.com
www.theshowlasvegas.com
Paul Holder, Vice President
Value Price Expo
(714) 653-8995
paulholder@vpexpo.com
www.vpexpo.com
**** Text – Press May Edit ****
(Las Vegas,
NV) Date: March 20, 2008
“T.H.E. Show
Joins Forces with Exposition Company”
Corporate officials
from The Home Entertainment Show, which produces high-end audio and home
theater conventions annually in Las Vegas and Denver, today announced a
joint venture with “Value Price Expo” a corporation based in
Long Beach, CA. VPExpo officials have 30 years of experience in
running high-volume conventions including five conventions annually under
the banner of ASD/AMD, a highly successful international trade show,
produced in Las Vegas, New York and Atlanta with over 3,500 companies
represented in 8,000-plus exhibits.
“In teaming up with
the Value Price Exposition folks,” says Richard Beers, President of
T.H.E. Show, “we have all the pieces of the puzzle in place to truly
expand and move T.H.E. Show to its next level.” “Despite
being plagued by bad hotel management decisions, intense competitive
opposition and some fairly lean years, T.H.E. Show has survived due to its
loyal and tremendous exhibitor base, as well as, our reputation of being
not just a low-priced alternative for the last ten years but also a company
that supplies superior services and dedication to our exhibitors.”
Paul Holder, V.P., VPExpo and his associates visited T.H.E. Show in
January 2008 at the St Tropez and Alexis Park Hotels in Las Vegas and, says
Holder, “We were darned impressed. T.H.E. Show supplies
everything the exhibitors could want: a professional but relaxed
atmosphere, a community-networking venue with unlimited resources available
and, to put it simply, a lot of ‘bang for the
buck’.” “T.H.E. Show’s respect and
appreciation for what their clients are attempting to accomplish, mirrors
the corporate motto of our own VPExpo’s goals.”
“In the last ten years, we have seen a lot of big conventions come
upon the scene and many crumble. The next five years or so the
convention business will be volatile and ever-changing. Companies and
manufacturers are going to have to keep costs down”, says Holder,
“and that will change the current landscape drastically”.
“Agreed,” says Beers. “We at T.H.E. Show
have been through a long, sometimes up-hill battle to survive, but the
economy has reached a stage where ‘limitless’ funding of
exhibiting at conventions is a thing of the past. If you noticed, at
least half of the headlines concerning the giant Consumer Electronics Show
last year were about the cost of doing business. Many felt that
increasing convention, services and even hotel and food costs were getting
out of hand. A lot of exhibitors have chosen to stop coming at all or
are finding less expensive alternatives in which to display their
goods.”
“There has also been a tendency”, say
Beers, “for many exhibitors to split off from organized convention
sites and simply display on their own at hotels across the valley, relying
on their own invitations and sales incentives. It is our goal,”
says Beers, “to reunite many of those companies and introduce new
ones to a convention that is, to coin a phrase, ‘value priced’,
and, at the same time, supplies the best of services and marketing
possibilities.”
Under the agreement, T.H.E. Show will
continue to manage and operate the actual conventions and VP Expo will
increase marketing and sales. Holder says, “Our organization
specializes in targeting specific marketing groups and bringing them into
our venues. We are confident, we will be able to grow the size of
T.H.E. Show in no time at all.” “The product is already
in place; the reputation is undeniable and we have to compliment T.H.E.
Show organizers on not allowing costs to sky-rocket as many conventions
have, caving into labor and venue escalations that they are forced to pass
on to their exhibitors.”
“Basically,” says
Beers, “we’ll be marketing T.H.E. Show as ‘CES On A
Budget’ and everyone needs to keep costs down these days.
It’s a no-brainer with our exhibit rooms starting at $2,500, theirs
over $4,500. And, our static display space is only $13 per sq. ft
right now.”
Beers feels the marriage of the two
corporations is a perfect fit. “VPExpo expounds the same desire
to please clients without the price gouging that we see running
rampant.” “To that end,” says Beers, “we
still have in-place, long-term and reasonable contracts with both the St.
Tropez and Alexis Park Hotels in order to keep our prices reasonable at
this time. We have taken a thorough look at the possibility of
relocating into some of the larger and more modern Vegas Resorts, like the
Mirage or Caesar’s Palace or the Wynn, but the timing simply is not
right. In order to hold conventions in those high-end locales, prices
would have to be raised dramatically and we believe that is not what
exhibitors want right now.”
Mike Maloney, CEO of T.H.E.
SHOW adds, “We do know that people are in search of bargains.
Many of those companies who are at CES are doing smaller exhibits with them
and then enjoying larger, much more reasonably priced exhibit spaces at
T.H.E. Show. We feel the VPExpo folks are going to make sure everyone
knows they can still exhibit in grand style, without spending a
fortune. Many companies cannot afford the exorbitant prices of
‘doing’ CES, but they also know they can’t afford to skip
the largest gathering of international electronics specialists in the
world. And, this same mindset is in place at CEDIA in Denver to be
held next September. Even the larger corporations cannot afford to
continue spending $100,000-plus on these events and The Show alternative is
looking mighty good to them right now.”
Beers adds,
“And, although our hotels may be a bit older, and a bit more worn, I
have yet for anyone to tell me that their 400 sq. ft. marble bathroom, with
eight shower heads increased their business. I’m also given
assurances that both of our hotels will be upgrading in 2009, but
don’t look for those giant bath facilities…..that’s just
not going to happen.”
Alan Paggao, the V.P. of Marketing
for VPExpo also sees the potential for growth. “Through our
international call center and sophisticated inner-industry marketing
resources, we’ll be reaching manufacturers, dealers and distributors
never approached by T.H.E. Show in past years. It will be our goal to
inform everyone within the industry that they can unite under T.H.E. Show
banner and still go home with change in their pockets’ having
accomplished the same thing for their company and their products as they
would have by emptying their wallets.
Beers optimistically
predicts a very, very good year for T.H.E. Show. “We already
have about half of last year’s exhibitors re-signing for their
exhibit spaces, the rare record & CD folks on the convention floor
indicating they will be returning and we have a few more tricks up our
sleeve. In addition to the pluses we think VPExpo will add, we are
considering a way to open up T.H.E. Show on the last day to both industry
and “invited guests” interested in actually purchasing demo
equipment right at the convention. This will, perhaps save a few of
our exhibitors the expense of shipping their demonstration models back to
their home base. In addition, this will, no doubt, add to foot
traffic on that last day and, hopefully, introduce the industry to a newer,
broader audience.”
T.H.E. Show, Las Vegas
St
Tropez Hotel and Alexis Villas Resort
January 8 – 11, 2009
Thursday thru Sunday
www.theshowlasvegas.com
T.H.E. Show,
Denver
Denver Athletic Club (next door to Denver Convention Center -
CEDIA
September 4 – 7, 2008; Thursday thru Sunday
www.theshowdenver.com