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Review All Articles > January 30th 2008 - Vol 11, Issue 5

EACA Showfloor Buzz

Vol. 11, Issue 5, January 30, 2008

EACA NEWS

Orlando Chapter to Host Customer Service Training.The Orlando Chapter of the EACA will host a Customer Service Training for all showfloor workers there on March 19-20, 2008 at the Orange County Convention Center.

Showfloor workers in Orlando will have the option of taking part in this four program on either the morning of March 20, or in the afternoon that day..   The 4 hour program will be delivered twice that day to accommodate different worker schedules.
 
The EACA Customer Service Training Program was developed and will be delivered by Randy Eppard, Phd in Human Development.   Eppard is an associate professor for University of Maryland University College,    Prior to his professorship, Eppard worked for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters as Director of Training Curriculum.    Randy developed th customer service program under the direction and guidance of Chicago Chapter EACA President Joe Mondelli, and EACA Executive Director Jim Wurm
 
EACA members will also be able to take advantage of a Train the Trainer session which will be offered on March 21 at the Orange County Convention Center.   The Train the Trainer session will allow designated EACA members, and staff, to become certified in delivering future Customer Service Training programs.
 
Registration materials for the Orlando Customer Service Training Program will be distributed next week.
 

Make Plans to Attend the National Labor Management Conference    The EACA, along with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and ESCA, will be sponsoring a National Labor Management Conference in Las Vegas, NV on March 7-8, 2008 at the UBC Training Center.
 
This invitation-only event will not only include labor and contractors who utlize labor to provide exhibit services, but also facility management, show organizers and other industry leaders from across the nation.  The intention of the conference is to examine ideas and initiatives that can enable trade show contractors and labor to improve the quality of customer servicing at trade shows.
 
Invitations for attending the NLM Conference have been sent out.   If you are an owner, or senior level employee, and haven’t received an invitation you can request one by sending an email to jimwurm@eaca.com.
 
Rally at the Alley IV Date Set The Rally at the Alley IV will be held on March 27th at Lucky Strike Lanes in Boston. More information will be available in the coming weeks and can also be found at www.rallyatthealley.com. Sponsorship opportunities are available; please contact Sharon Bingham for details at 800-342-1482 or sbingham@championboston.com.
 
The Rally at the Alley is a bowl-a-thon event held in Boston every March, was founded four years ago to not only financially support the RSMGC but also as a way for New England and East Coast based companies and people to gather and show support for our industry.
 
This year, we are once again grateful for the opportunity to be of assistance to a local individual and her family, Bonnie DiStasio of Champion Logistics Group, Boston.

Bonnie has had a difficult year battling and eventually beating breast cancer. Until you have experienced it, no one can imagine the emotional and financial damage cancer can do to a family. Bonnie and her husband Matt have worked hard this past year to fight a terrible disease while maintaining a normal lifestyle for their two children, Gina, 11 and Anthony, 7. While insurance has covered a good portion of Bonnie's medical expenses, personal expenses such as travel to and from the hospital, parking fees and time away from work for both Bonnie and her husband Matt can quickly add up.

The Rally at the Alley is proud to be an ancillary event of the Randy Smith Memorial Golf Classic, a 501.3.c charitable organization.
 
 
EACA PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

The EACA would like to extend its condolences to the family of Ron Fritkin, as well as everyone at Fritkin-Jones who passed away last week.     Memorial services were held for Ron last Sunday in Skokie, IL.



CHAPTER NEWS

Orlando Chapter News

Orange County Convention Center Parking Advisory

Effective Tuesday, February 5 through Sunday, February 17, 2008 all Canadian Court employees/labor parking will be relocated to the new SeaWorld Aquatica parking lot.  Parking is free at this reserved lot only.   The Canadian Court Garage and Flat Lot will be used for IBS attendees only.

Extended employee shuttle service will be provided from the Aquatica lot per the following schedule and will have a frequency of 25-30 minutes (depending on traffic)

2/5/08 to 2/9/08:       5am – 1am (last bus departs OCCC West dock at 1am)

2/10/08 to 2/17/08   24 hour service (starts at 5am on 2/10 and ends at 12am on 2/17

Please note:  Normal employee shuttle service will resume on Monday, Feb. 18 at 6am from Canadian Court.

The reserved Aquatica parking lot is located off International Drive.   The physical address is 5800 Water Play Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32821 (road signs may not be present as park is still under construction.   Please use the PCL construction and employee/team member entrance.

Those who normally park in the OCCC West Hall A parking garage may continue to do so.  When full, employees will be directed to the reserved Aquatica lot.

Please allow extra time to reach your work site as traffic will be heavy during this time.   For emergency assistance, please call OCCC West Command Console at 407-685-9828.
 



Southern California Chapter News

Anaheim Convention Center Announcement

RE: Exhibit Hall Trash/Tape Residue Removal          

I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, the general service contractor and/or the respective cleaning contractor for each event will be responsible for the removal of tape residue on the exhibit floor at the conclusion of each event.  Please note the following:

•           At the conclusion of each event, an Anaheim Convention Center representative will inspect all contracted exhibit space with a cleaning contractor representative to determine if cleaning has been completed according to Anaheim Convention Center standards.

·               The general service contractor will then be directly billed for any costs to the Anaheim Convention Center for cleaning to the proper standards.

Please review this procedure with all of your employees and/or cleaning contractors and contact me directly if you have questions or suggestions regarding it.

Sincerely,

Michael Dziurgot                                                                             

Assistant Facility Services/Parking Manager


INDUSTRY NEWS

Evil of Exclusivity Is Relative   <Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week>    An apparent contradiction has me stumped, so I'm going to try to work it out here. It has to do with exclusives, so I'm hoping all those readers who like to write us letters on this topic will pitch in and help me figure out what's going on.
 
In last week's issue, my editor-in-chief, Michael Hart, wrote a story covering three major tradeshow industry associations' objections to exclusive contracts (see “Groups Restate Stand Against Exclusives,” Jan. 14). Judging from the timing of the joint statement the associations made and developments in a case involving exclusive contracts at the San Diego Convention Center, one had to do with the other.
 
I won't bother reiterating what's already in the article. A summary suffices: Exclusives are bad! That's according to the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events, the Society of Independent Show Organizers and the Major American Trade Show Organizers. The Exhibition Services & Contractors Assn. joined the protest with its own statement Jan. 14.
 
But, wait ... if you go back one more week, you'll find at least one person associated with these organizations saying, “Exclusives are good!”
 
That person is Doug Ducate, president of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (an institution intricately associated with IAEE). Ducate wrote a letter to the editor (see “But the Plaintiff Still Didn't Win,” Jan. 7) objecting to a statement made by Scott Bennett, president of Nth Degree, in an article about an exclusive labor arrangement at the New England Intl. Auto Show (see “Exclusive on Labor Ruffles Feathers,” Dec. 10).
 
According to Ducate, Bennett erroneously stated that a case in which exhibitor-appointed contractors sued to be able to do business on a show Ducate managed a couple of decades ago was decided in favor of the contractors. In fact, Ducate corrected, the court ruled that the show organizers had the right to make and enforce their own rules as they saw fit. In the case Ducate cited, the ruling was that Freeman was the exclusive provider of services that companies like Nth Degree wanted to provide at the show.
 
So, in other words, facility management is wrong if it tries to keep out the competition, but show management is in the right if it does the same thing.
 
Am I reading this right?

 
IAEE Says No to Drugs   <Tradeshow Week>   The Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events has adopted a policy aimed at achieving drug-free workplaces in the exhibitions and events industry. Its first step: random drug testing for all IAEE employees.
 
The association will take other measures as well:
 
* IAEE's Board of Directors will encourage a right-of-entry provision for all major venues, to be coupled with random drug testing.
    * IAEE will encourage members to adopt random drug testing at their workplaces.
* It will inform members of the consequences and scope of drug use via all its education and information channels.
* It will urge all organizations in industry organization's to support these efforts with their own initiatives, and to join in creating a drug-free workplace alliance.
 
The anti-drug effort that the Washington (D.C.) Convention Center undertook in conjunction with service contractors and organized labor in 2004 inspired IAEE's program. Steven Hacker, IAEE president, said Ken Viscovich, international representative of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, helped convince him that combating drug abuse is good for the industry.
 


THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the “still small voice” within me.

-- Mohandas Gandhi



Publisher's statement.   The Showfloor Buzz is a publication of the Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Association (EACA) which is dedicated to "raising the level of service excellence on the showfloor."  
 
This publication is sent free of charge to all EACA members each Wednesday, and to non-members four weeks later.   Annual subscriptions to current issues of the Buzz are available to non-members for $49.95.    Please send subscription requests to jimwurm@eaca.com.
 
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If you have news from the tradeshow floor that you feel is important to the success of our members,  or our industry's customer, the exhibitors, please forward it to the EACA  @ 541-317-8768 or email us @ jimwurm@eaca.com