EACA News
Sands Expo Center Tests Convention Center Safety Plan with Mock Event. <Las Vegas Review Journal> In early October, the Las Vegas Sands Expo Center held a mock trade show with a 296,000-square-foot, physically distanced event setup at the Sands Expo exhibit hall for Gov. Steve Sisolak and other meeting industry professionals ahead of the state finalizing its new public gathering guidelines. View Video.
Nevada Issues Several Guidelines for Gathering Safely. Recently the state of Nevada increased the limit on the number of individuals that can attend a tradeshow or convention to 1,000. In doing so, Nevada also issued several safety guidelines for the re-opening of events up to 1000 persons in attendance. See below:
- Large Gathering Venue Safety Plan
- Nevada Guidelines for Safe Gatherings
- Large Venue Safety Plan Checklist
Derailment of Additional Stimulus Also Delays PPP Forgiveness Considerations. <Politico> The collapse of pandemic relief negotiations has brought complications for the massive emergency lending program leaving banks and borrowers unsure of how to proceed with a key phase of the rescue. Before talks between congressional Democrats and the White House fell apart, there was clear bipartisan support emerging for revamping the program, which offers government-backed small business loans that can be forgiven if employers maintain their payroll. One major revision would make it easier to convert the smallest loans — those for $150,000 or less, which account for most of the program’s volume — into outright grants, making life easier for both borrowers and lenders.
But the negotiations stalled just as the Small Business Administration began accepting applications for businesses to have the loans forgiven. Now many lenders are waiting to see whether a deal can be salvaged before they start the process. The stalemate is creating more doubts for small business owners as they try to navigate the program and avoid being stuck paying back loans they expected to be forgiven.
- “While some of our members are currently taking forgiveness applications, many are awaiting congressional action to simplify the forgiveness process,” said Consumer Bankers Association spokesperson Allison Heimberg.
Together Again Expo…..Again Postponed.As you likely have heard by now, the second Together Again Expo which was to take place in Dallas on October 23 has been postponed to January 15.
EACA Member News
The Expo Group Offers Webinar on Mitigating Risk. The Expo Group, in conjunction with their partnership with a public health expert, Lauren M. Sauer, Director of Operations for the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, will be offering a Webinar on Mitigating Risk on Wednesday, October 28 at 11am ET.
Registration is open and Space is Limited.
OSHA-10 Training Available for Local Workers in Las Vegas Las Vegas Teamsters Local 631 is still offering Zoom classes for all local Las Vegas workers who want to get their OSHA-10 Safety Certification. Contact the Training Center to find out when the next class will be scheudled.
IBT To Offer OSHA-10 Training to All Others. The Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters are offering OSHA-10 certification for all trade show professionals who reside outside of Las Vegas.
EACA Member Request
Send a Letter to Congress to Save Events Industry. In March of this year, the live events industry was completely shut down in the fight against COVID-19. Since that time, thousands of events have been cancelled, and 77% of people in the industry have lost 100% of their income.
The 12 million people who work in the live events industry need support from Federal and State governments as soon as possible, or we risk doing permanent damage to an industry that has an economic impact of over $1 Trillion annually on the US Economy.
The United States faces a wave of small-business failures this fall if the federal government does not provide a new round of financial assistance — a prospect that economists warn would prolong the recession, slow the recovery and perhaps enduringly reshape the American business landscape.
Click this Link to send a letter to our representatives to include policies that extend a lifeline to the live events industry and its workers, including:
- Extend the now-expired $600 weekly federal supplement to state unemployment benefits.
- Pass the RESTART Act and other direct economic support for organizations in the arts, entertainment, and media industries with appropriate workforce restoration requirements to get people back to work when it is safe to do so.
Industry News
UFI and SISO Executives Call on Governments to Enact Testing Before Quarantining <TSNN> UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and SISO, the Society for Independent Show Organizers, are calling on global policymakers and governments to follow a “testing before quarantine” approach for business-related travel and activities. This approach, both organizations say — which would include activating the potentials of rapid antigen COVID-19 tests — would enable businesses to move forward out of a severe global recession.
Fern and NEXXTSHOW To Offer 100% Refund Policy for Exhibitors <TSNN> Cincinnati-based Fern and its sister company, NexxtShow, have eliminated service cancellation charges as part of an ongoing series of changes to the traditional exhibition services provider model. This change helps to simplify the relationship between Fern/NexxtShow and the exhibitor while easing the exhibitor’s decision to commit to show participation, according to Fern CEO Aaron Bludworth.
US Tradeshow Industry Takes Steps to Re-Open <TSNN> As the pandemic stretched into its seventh month here in the U.S. and even longer globally, the industry here continued to take small steps forward to slowly getting trade shows and events back on track.
Globally, shows opened successfully in several countries – including China, Malaysia and Germany, to name a few, while Germany also deemed trade shows ‘essential travel’. Here in the U.S., a few more cities opened for events, albeit at limited capacity. At the same time, there were substantial efforts to implore the U.S. Congress to not leave town for elections until they passed the next COVID-19 relief package, as the hospitality, travel and events industry continued to be under extreme pressure.
In addition, some U.S. trade show organizers took a look at 2021 and the current state of COVID-19, which still is rising in several states, and moved their shows later into the year.