ASD MarketWeek, a biannual event that combines nine consumer goods trade shows inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, moved its V.I.P. reception to a lounge on the show floor, drawing high praise from attendees and saving $10,000. The most recent gathering, March 1 to 4, included more than 45,000 buyers from around the world. At past events, the reception for hosted buyers took place in a meeting room inside the convention center; this time, organizers reconfigured one of the lounges on the show floor for the party.
“When it was in a meeting space, we really had to dress it up. Being on the show floor it gave it atmosphere already. All we had to do was enclose the space,” said Sarah Lessley, operations manager for Emerald Expositions, the show’s owner and operator. “We saved about $10,000 by doing it this way because we didn’t have to furnish a completely different space that we would only use for two hours.”
Lessley used white screens from her existing inventory and pipe and drape to enclose the 2,400-square-foot Health & Beauty lounge for the private party. There were a total of 11 lounges used during the day on the 650,000-square-foot show floor, so for the evening reception she also moved faux hedges from two other lounges to line the entrance. The only new decor expense was a light-up arch in the arrivals area.
“Everyone really liked it. It was a livelier environment being on the show floor," she said. "It also gave the exhibitors in the area great foot traffic having all these V.I.P. buyers that would not necessarily go by their areas."
Along with appetizers and an open bar, this year organizers added a make-your-own ice cream sundae bar to the reception, which fueled an additional savings. Lessley said the ice cream was so popular that fewer attendees consumed few cocktails, resulting in a bar tab that was about 20 percent lower than at past receptions.
