By Britaney Wehrmeister

The Overland Park Convention Center announced the OPCC Exhibition Advantage, a full-service program designed to show appreciation, reduce costs, and elevate the show experience for convention and trade show producers, exhibitors, and general service contractors.

The first of its kind, program details include a cash back loyalty program, 50% discount at concessions, free internet access and digital content displays, live camera feeds in show office, time lapse video, equipment and tool sharing, swag bags, complimentary coffee and snacks, and much more.

“Venues have always talked about the tremendous economic benefit exhibitions have on destinations,” said Brett C. Mitchell, CVE, general manager of the Overland Park Convention Center. “Our team wanted to do more than talk—we wanted to make a difference, so we created the Exhibition Advantage program. By listening to our clients and service partners, we identified areas we could add value and eliminate pain points. The program targets the three key members of the exhibition industry: show producers, exhibitors, and general service contractors.”

Benefits for show producers include:

Cash back loyalty program
50% discount at concessions
Live video feeds and time lapse footage
Free access to digital marketing displays
Referral program (up to $10,000)
Concierge service for local food and attractions
Complimentary marketing services to cultivate growth
Free high speed internet access
Swag bags and complimentary coffee/snacks

Benefits for exhibitors include:

50% discount at concessions
Referral program (up to $10,000)
Free high speed internet access (wireless)
Tool sharing (drills, wrenches, ladders, etc.)
Dedicated exhibitor utility room
Concierge service for local food and attractions
Swag bag giveaway and complimentary coffee/snacks

Benefits for general service contractors include:

50% discount at concessions
Referral program (up to $10,000)
Dedicated storage for show equipment
Equipment sharing (lifts, vacuums, flatbeds, etc.)
Free high speed internet access (wireless)
Complimentary coffee and snacks

“As a show producer, I’ve been organizing our biannual events at the Overland Park Convention Center for the last two decades,” said Jonathan Mize, CEO & president of Blish-Mize Co. “I can’t think of any convention center in the United States who is providing what Overland Park is offering today with this new service. The Exhibition Advantage program is a game-changer for us, with so many amenities and providing good return on investment for all involved. It’s just another reason why they are the Best Small Convention Center in North America. With top-notch facilities, great staff, and this new program, we look forward to returning to the center for many years to come.”

To qualify for the Exhibition Advantage program, the event must have at least 60,000 gross square feet (exhibit hall space) with a minimum required spend of $80,000 or more, and peak room nights of at least 150 or more.

For detailed information about the Overland Park Convention Center Exhibition Advantage program, please click here.

By Lori Tenny

A government crackdown on impersonation fraud targeting the business events industry may soon become a reality thanks to efforts spearheaded by the Exhibition and Conferences Alliance (ECA) and its 10 professional, trade, and labor associations, in addition to numerous other industry entities that make up the face-to-face business events industry.

“For far too long, the industry has been preyed upon by the hotel reservation scams and the attendee list scams that not only harm our events but are also a form of identity theft for all the people who get targeted by these scammers,” said Tommy Goodwin, vice president of government affairs for ECA.

One of ECA’s main priorities has been getting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to make the issue a priority, according to Goodwin.

“At long last, they finally have,” he said. “Last fall, they put forward a draft rule that would give the FTC serious new enforcement authority when it comes to going after these scammers, and we’ve been front and center — really ECA and the entire industry — in encouraging the FTC to adopt this rule.”

To that end, last December, ECA filed regulatory comments (signed by all of the business events industry associations) with the FTC advocating in support of the proposed rule. Additionally, in March, ECA joined 235 trade associations and professional organizations in calling on the FTC to finalize its proposed “Rule on Impersonation of Government and Business.”

Most recently, ECA delivered the same message to Congress on ECA Legislative Action Day in June, while in May, ECA, along with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), the American Society of Association Executives, the Consumer Technology Association, and many other industry entities testified at a hearing encouraging the FTC to adopt the rule as soon as possible.

“Given the widespread impersonation fraud efforts targeted at the business events industry, the FTC’s proposed rule is both necessary and urgent,” Goodwin said. “ECA strongly believes that the rule would provide the FTC with another important enforcement tool to target the fraudsters who attempt to prey on exhibitions, conferences, and trade shows.”

The hearing went well, according to Goodwin, who said the significant majority of those testifying support the proposed FTC rule, which would allow the FTC to recover money from, or seek civil penalties against, scammers who harm consumers in violation of the rule.

“Our hope is that something crosses the finish line by the end of the year,” Goodwin said.

Nicole Bowman, vice president, marketing and communications for IAEE and executive director for the Meetings Mean Business coalition, testified at the hearing and told TSNN why she believes it is so important for the FTC to finalize the anti-fraud rule as soon as possible.

“Since 2017, the FTC has received more than 2.5 million business impersonation fraud reports,” Bowman said. “Anyone who has spent any time in the past 20 years producing events knows this has been a pervasive problem in our industry for that much time and longer.”

According to Bowman, she has yet to hear from an event organizer that has never experienced this type of fraud.

“We are talking about a pervasive crime here that takes personal and private information from attendees, exhibitors, and really any event stakeholder and gains access to their financial information along with personal information,” Bowman said. “Show organizers and event producers waste time and money sending cease and desist letters to no avail. And those that do win judgements have no recourse for receiving payments.”

Advocating for the Industry

At the hearing, Goodwin’s testimony highlighted the unique nature of the exhibitions and trade shows, which he said at its core is America’s small businesses helping America’s small businesses.

“More than 99% of all business events organizations are small businesses, and more than 80% of exhibitors at our exhibitions, conferences, and trade shows are also small businesses themselves,” Goodwin said. “It’s these small businesses that are frequent targets of business impersonation fraud.”

Goodwin also said that each of ECA’s member associations are targets of business impersonation fraud, including hotel reservation scams and attendee list scams, as are their members, attendees, and exhibitors, most of whom are small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Goodwin outlined each type of impersonation fraud targeting the business events industry.

Hotel Reservation Scams

Third-party hotel room brokers use deceptive practices to market overpriced or nonexistent hotels room to exhibitors and attendees at business events.

Instead of providing the hotel room promised, the fraudulent brokers often make off with the victim’s credit card information or provide victims with low-quality rooms in remote locations away from the event itself, usually with high booking fees and cancelation penalties attached.

Attendee List Scams

Event exhibitors are contacted by rogue list brokers, often daily, fraudulently claiming to have and sell the event’s attendee list before the event itself takes place.

The scammers use the event name, logo and/or organizer’s name in their email signatures to create the illusion that their efforts are conducted with the approval of the event organizer.

The scam does not include the actual attendee lists. Rather, the scammers crawl event-related websites to harvest usable email addresses, which they subsequently target with phishing scams designed to illegally obtain an exhibitor’s business and financial information that can be used for fraudulent practices.
Goodwin called attention to three examples of events that have fallen victim to impersonation scams, including the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the International Sign Association (ISA) and Fast Forward Events.

RSNA brings together more than 50,000 attendees and 700 exhibitors from more than 120 countries for its annual conference.

“In advance of its 2022 event in Chicago, RSNA was alerted to 36 fraudulent sites that were illegally advertising housing, registration, or attendee list selling services,” Goodwin said. “For its 2023 annual meeting, RSNA has already identified hotel scam websites that are using its trademarked logo without its permission.”

ISA brought its community of nearly 20,000 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors together in Las Vegas in April.

“In the lead up to the ISA International Sign Expo, the association sent nearly 300 cease-and-desist letters to hotel reservation scam and attendee list sale scam artists preying on its event,” Goodwin testified. “Its exhibitors and attendees contacted ISA daily voicing their confusion and concern about the emails they were receiving, many of which used the event name and ISA’s logo in their disingenuous attempt to sell their fraudulent services.”

Meanwhile, a Fast Forward Events’ conference and expo in San Diego was targeted by a hotel room booking scam.

“These scammers harvested contact information for registered exhibitors and called them in an effort to book their hotel rooms outside of the official process, almost certainly in an effort to obtain their financial information for fraudulent purposes,” Goodwin said.

Given the breadth of business impersonation fraud perpetrated against stakeholders across the face-to-face business events sector, ECA and its members support the FTC’s proposed rule and feel it is both necessary and urgent, according to Goodwin.

“Let’s give the FTC some more enforcement authority to go after the scammers and make sure that our industry isn’t continually targeted when it comes to these types of scams.” Goodwin said.

Lori Tenny is Editorial Director for Trade Show News Network.

By Gloria Fong

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited (“HML”) will roll out a new AI Life Sense Alert System in 61 accessible toilets of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (“HKCEC”) to further enhance safety of its visitors. Installation is now being conducted in phases with completion slated for end of July.

HML Managing Director Ms. Monica Lee-Müller, said: “Investing in and applying technology to upgrade HKCEC’s hardware and software has been a continuous focus of HML. With safety of our visitors being our first and foremost priority, we have taken the precautionary move to introduce the AI Life Sense Alert System so that our staff can provide timely assistance to visitors in distress during an emergency. The key is to reach the visitors in need as soon as possible so as not to miss the golden hour between life and death.”

The first phase of installation covering 10 accessible toilets has been completed. The installation of the remaining 51 toilets will be completed by end of July. The system can detect a toilet user’s posture (active or static; seated or lying down) and collect motion value for AI-enabled analysis to identify if a fall/accident has taken place or the toilet user has become motionless. In the event of an identified accident, the system will send out an alert within five seconds via hand-held devices such as mobile phones or tablets. Staff will be able to locate the toilet and get there as soon as possible. At the same time, the security control room will also receive the alert to allow for rapid additional manpower deployment. The system will facilitate provision of assistance to visitors in need within the critical life-saving golden timeframe. The AI Life Sense Alert System has already been introduced in public hospitals.

The AI Life Sense Alert System also provides humidity, temperature, and air quality readings, facilitating monitoring of the environment in the accessible toilets and adjustment of cleaning frequency to enhance visitor experience and efficiency.

HML has been pioneering the application of artificial intelligence and robotics to continuously enhance its operations and service. In addition to offering 5G service with 100% coverage of the entire HKCEC, HML has introduced 5G smart security robots and smart cleaning robots – also a green measure in light of its water conservation feature.

Gloria Fong is Head – Corporate & Marketing Communications at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

From cairnsconvention.com

The $176 million expansion of the Cairns Convention Centre is complete and is about ready to open. With the Cairns Convention Centre you get a winning combination – being in one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, between the Great Barrier Reef and the oldest living rainforest, and what is now one of the most beautiful convention centers in the world.

The expansion adds a rooftop banquet area, outdoor terrace, three flexible meeting rooms, an exhibition and plenary space in the 10,500 square meters of new floor space, giving the ability to host multiple or larger events with conventions and exhibitions of up to 2,500 guests.

The new Trinity Level offers views of the region’s stunning beauty. The Trinity Room is perfect for galas and large cocktail functions for up to 500 people. The Trinity Terrace wows with views over the Trinity Inlet.

As the popularity of hybrid meetings continue, the Cairns Convention Centre has an array of audio-visual equipment to meet those needs. PTZ cameras are fitted across all meeting spaces, offering pan, tilt, and zoom control features. There are digital lecterns with built-it preview monitors for easy reference to presentation notes. Throughout the centre there are high resolution laser projections in every room, providing bright, crips images for presentations. With the larger spaces there is an opportunity to use a large format screen and projector combination that permits multiple content to be displayed simultaneously.

It’s a myth that Cairns is too small and too far away to host international conferences. Our events get many attendees because we are a bucket list destination. People connect more here as they attend all activities because they are not doing other meetings.

From stadiumbusiness.com

New 5G-powered headsets that let visually impaired fans watch live sport were trialled by Vodafone at this year’s Wimbledon tennis championships.

Live footage was streamed from local TV cameras over Vodafone 5G to the GiveVision headsets. They then enhance the footage to suit the person’s specific sight profile, by bringing it closer to their eye to stimulate the photoreceptor cells in the retina (cells that respond to light), which means a degree of sight can be regained.

It is the first time this 5G technology has ever been used in tennis.

The headsets were trialled for the very first time at Wimbledon by three visually impaired tennis fans.

After a successful trial, Vodafone is exploring the possibility of making the 5G headsets more widely available at future Championships, as well as at other live sporting events across Vodafone partners.

Vodafone’s UK chief commercial officer, Max Taylor, said: “At Vodafone we are committed to using our technology to bring fans closer to the action. Wimbledon is one of the most iconic moments in the British summer calendar, and we are proud to be able to showcase how the power of our 5G network can help make the sport more accessible to people.”