EACA News
Ron McEntee Passes Away. It is with a heavy heart that we pass along the news of the passing of Ron McEntee on April 3 after his long and courageous battle with cancer. Ron passed away at home in the presence of his loving family. Ron was a good friend to many of us and he will be sorely missed. Services were held at Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary Church, 204 Haverford Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096 on Thursday, April 5.
Our sympathies go out to Ron’s family and all his many friends and colleagues.
EACA to Develop Certification Program for Members. The EACA is working on establishing a member certification program to recognize outstanding professional achievement in the provision of event and exhibitor products and services. EAC applicants to the 5 Star Program will be rated on a 1 to 5 Star basis according to criteria established by the EACA 5 Star Certification Program Committee.
The major focus of the 5 Star Program is the evaluation of performance in five key areas: industry responsibility, customer responsibility, employee responsibility, industry ethics and industry leadership – the manner in which an EAC conducts itself when confronted with problems and challenges that are beyond its capacity to solve unilaterally and yet impact an event’s overall success.
Employee Engagement Webcast Posted to the Web Site
The EACA webinar presented by Jason Eisenhut, VP Human Resources for Employco on Employee Engagement has been posted to the web site Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organization to give of their best each day, committed to their organization’s goals and values, and motivated to contribute to organizational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being. Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, two way commitment and communication between an organization and its members. It is an approach that increases the chances of business success, contributing to organizational and individual performance, productivity and well-being. It can be measured. It varies from poor to great.
View this program by clicking on this webcast link and learn how It can be nurtured and dramatically increased.
New Safety Protocols for SOFIC 2018
EACA has been requested to notify all members of new security protocols for SOFIC 2018.
EAC/I&D houses will be able to check in at a security desk on the loading dock at their scheduled/targeted booth move in times. Security will be provided a list of approved EAC’s based on the companies that have sent certificates of insurance to Arata Expositions, Inc. and NDIA. If an EAC form and certificate of insurance has not been provided to Arata Expositions or NDIA, the EAC and I&D house personnel will not be allowed access into the exhibit hall. Please see page 37 of the exhibitor service manual for EAC instructions and deadline dates. If the company is on the approved list, EAC supervisors and all labor personnel will receive security wristbands that must be worn at all times during move in and move out.
Wristbands will be different colors on each day and must be picked up daily at the security desk located on the loading dock. EAC/I&D supervisors are responsible for verifying that all personnel authorized to work for the company are wearing the security wristbands.
Should an EAC need to be on the show floor past 10:00 PM on Monday night, they will be required to register at the main registration desk and obtain a conference badge to access the show floor. Wristbands will not gain you access to the show floor during show days until move out begins.
EACA Member News
OCTANORM USA is now OCTANORM North America. April 2, 2018 marked the first official day of business for OCTANORM® North America, Inc. Norm Friedrich recently shared that they are excited about their new beginning and would especially like to welcome their Canadian Partners. Jason White will remain a member of the team and will act as National Sales Manager – Canada.
The website for OCTANORM® North America will remain the same as it has been for OCTANORM® Canada and OCTANORM® USA but will now be under the domain http://www.octanormna.com . While our former email addresses will still function for the time being, all email addresses have been changed for everyone. The new email addresses for everyone will be first initial last name @octanormna.com. The only exception will be mine which will remain [email protected].
Local 631 Opens New Training Center. The Convention & Training Program for Teamsters Local 631 in Las Vegas will be hosting the Grand Opening of its new Training Center on March 28. The Board of Trustees, the Convention & Training ProgramTraining Director and Staff will open its doors to showcase their new facility for their training program.
Industry News
Bob Priest-Heck Named CEO of Freeman. For the first time in Freeman’s 90-year history, a non-family member was named its fourth CEO – Bob Priest-Heck. “We are focused on building our clients’ brands and helping them succeed in a dynamic environment by creating meaningful brand experiences that help build relationships and drive clear and measurable outcomes,” said Joe Popolo, CEO of The Freeman Company, the newly created parent company that encompasses Freeman, Encore Event Technologies and Alford Media. “Bob is no stranger to this, having previously served as the president of Freeman.
New Las Vegas Expo Center to Cost $76 million. Las Vegas announced plans to add a new Expo Center downtown recently. The new Expo Center will provide state-of-the-art exhibition and meeting space in the downtown area for corporate and private events, meetings and tradeshows, as well as service the Las Vegas Market furniture, gift and home décor trade events that attract roughly 100,000 attendees annually.
The cost of the Expo Center will be approximately $76 million of which the City of Las Vegas will contribute $30 million through a TIF (tax increment financing) note. Construction is slated to begin in the next 12-18 months and will take approximately 18 months to complete. The new Expo Center design, which will be architecturally consistent with and connected to several of the existing structures, is in the final stages of design. The plans include exposition space, ample meeting/office space, and allocation of space for all back-of-house and administrative functions needed to run larger scale conventions and trade shows.
WIS Badge Required for Entry to Salt Palace Convention Center. Effective April 2, 2018, the Salt Palace will transition to the ESCA Exhibition Industry Worker Identification System WIS Badge.