Show Alliance Out; Still Two for March 2004

September 5, 2003

A cross-country partnership between two stone events apparently fell by the wayside in late summer – and the calendar for next March still includes two shows in Florida.
Officials of Trade Shows International (TSI) Inc. in North Palm Beach, Fla., announced on Aug. 1 that talks with Douglas and Rich Caires, the organizers of the International Tile and Stone Show (ITSS) ended without any cooperative agreement. A TSI news release cited “philosophical differences on control and management structure” for the end of discussions, although TSI’s Skip Mason praised the Caires’ efforts and noted the two are “very innovative businessmen.
“Some of their ideas on how to promote a trade show on the Internet … certainly taught me a few lessons,” he added.
The ITSS is set for Nov. 13-15 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. TSI still plans on its PanAmerican Stone and Tile Expo from March 30-April 1 in Miami Beach, Fla.
TSI organized the Coverings event in Orlando, Fla., through this year, but the show’s board of governors opted to hire National Trade Productions (NTP), an Alexandria, Va.-based production and management firm, for future editions. Coverings 2004 is set for the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando on March 23-26.
Coverings received renewed support in a message to members of the event’s five sponsoring organizations: 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). It also received the backing of ICEX, the organizer of the large Pavillion of Spain at the show.
The sponsoring organizations also announced goals for the 2004 event, including increasing attendance with designers, architects and retailers, and from the West Coast in general; lowering exhibition costs; reducing conference sessions while increasing support for those that remain; and increasing hand-on demos on the trade-show floor.