NEW ORLEANS
In an unusual but seemingly strategic move, the board of the
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, in New Orleans, has voted to purchase
exclusive rights to the International Disaster Conference and Expo, the start-up
event it created and co-hosted in January. The center will pay the former host
of the conference--Imago Productions Inc., an Atlanta-based firm that oversaw
the show in conjunction with the Georgia World Congress Center—$185,000 to
acquire internet domain names, various intellectual property, show rights and a
database containing the names of potential exhibitors and sponsors for the show,
which was held for the first time earlier this year.
"It comports with
our strategic plan of being a little bit more in control of our own business in
terms of owning shows that happen on a recurring basis," said Bob Johnson, the
center's general manager.
The unconventional event was born in response
to the reduction in meetings Morial has faced as a result of increased
competition. What makes the disaster conference special is that it is not
sponsored by an association or company that leases space from the center and
sells tickets to its members or employees to attend. It is instead essentially
put on by a convention center; the Atlanta center last year, along with Imoga
took on the job of promoting and marketing the event, as well as organizing the
meeting sessions. The center chose mid-January, a slow time for the meetings
business, to host the disaster conference.
With a new arm dedicated to
trade show management, the Center is looking to expand its present meeting
production business to include two other center-created events, in the similarly
slow months of August and December.
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Courtesy of The Times-Picayune
