Two Shows Appear for Florida 2004

Just when everyone’s used to having one big stone show in Florida during March … there are now two.
The PanAmerican Stone and Tile Expo will occur on March 30-April 1 next year in Miami Beach, just a few days after the end of Coverings 2004 in Orlando. And, many of the familiar faces of Coverings – as far as the event’s organizers – will be appearing at the PanAmerican trade show.
The two-show scenario developed as Coverings’ board of governors ended its relationship in early July with North Palm Beach, Fla.-based Trade Show International (TSI) Inc. for managing the massive stone- and tile-industry event. TSI had managed the show since its inception in 1990; the board selected National Trade Productions (NTP) of Alexandria, Va., as the new Coverings management firm.
Although TSI seemed synonymous to exhibitors and attendees as the company behind Coverings, it only managed the event. Coverings is sponsored by five associations: Spain’s Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association (ASCER); the Association of Italian Ceramic Tile and Refractories Manufacturers (Assopiastrelle); Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA); National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA); and Tile Council of America (TCA).
In announcing the change in management companies on July 8, a statement from the board of governors thanked TSI and the company’s president, Skip Mason. This followed an e-mail sent from TSI on July 2, noting the end of its relationship with Coverings, where the company thanked those “who learned of this situation early on” for supportive e-mails and FAXs.
On July 16, TSI announced the PanAmerican event, to be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in the days immediately following the March 23-26 Coverings 2004 show in Orlando. The news release for the new show noted that “the cost of exhibitor participation will be substantially lower than at association-owned industry events,” and that the PanAmerican event will occur annually at the same time of the year.
TSI noted that Miami Beach served as the “primary venue for what is now the industry’s largest event” before leaving in 1995. Coverings began its Orlando run in 1996, with a one-year move to New Orleans in 2001.
Coverings is listed on the Tradeshow 200 list of the largest U.S. trade events by Tradeshow Week magazine, and noted itself as the 39th largest U.S. show in terms of floor space. Coverings 2004 will move to larger facilities in the new North/South Complex of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
NTP, the unanimous choice of the Coverings governing board, holds more than 27 years of experience in trade-show and corporate-event management. The company’s latest major show was the TS² event in Washington for the Trade Show Exhibitors Association.