A Decline in Dallas: “Something had to be done.” The PPAI Expo was held in Dallas, near PPAI’s headquarters, for 27 years. In 1999, the event reached a new high watermark in terms of exhibitor booths. But when the event came around that year, things didn’t look like a celebration. Steve Slagle (PPAI president and CEO, 1996-2012): We exceeded the convention center in Dallas. We were [setting up booths] in concourses and hallways and so forth. More important than the logistical issues was the fact that distributor attendance did not match the high exhibitor volume, a trend that continued over the next few years. At the turn of the century, Dallas had stopped developing in ways that excited out-of-towners. And yet still, people came, making it the largest trade show in the industry. Wayne Greenberg (PPAI board chair 20022003): The PPAI Expo 2001 and 2002 saw a good-sized drop-off in in distributors. What the board knew was that Dallas, as a town, had become complacent and boring. No new restaurants, no new anything. [Some of ] the hotels were taking us for granted. As much as Expo was still the premier event in the industry, people were beginning to think, ‘I’ll skip it this year. I’ve seen it before. I’ve been there before.’ [The PPAI Expo] is very important to the infrastructure of our association. Something had to be done. Tina Berres Filipski (PPAI director of publications, 1995-2022): The PPAI Expo has always been the Association’s centerpiece and one of its largest sources of revenue, so keeping it robust was of paramount importance. PPAI was willing to do whatever it took to continue strengthening the show. It was obvious to everyone – staff, board and members – that The PPAI Expo had outgrown the Dallas Convention Center, so moving it was a logical and natural next step. Discussions of moving The PPAI Expo to another city were happening in an unofficial capacity, but after a quarter - century in Dallas and contracts with hotels in the city, such discussions were only whispered rumors to most. Slagle: We started looking for other locations in late 2000. Greenberg: Up until that point, there weren’t any facilities in the Unites States big enough to hold Expo. Dallas Convention Center was actually it. It was kind of like, ‘We’ve got to get out of this place, but where do we go? What can we do?’ Paul Bellantone (PPAI’s vice president, marketing and communications 2001-2004; future president and CEO of PPAI): I was more frightened that we would do nothing. Steve Slagle Wayne Greenberg Tina Berres Filipski somchaij / Shutterstock.com FEATURE | PPAI Expo | Twenty Years in Las Vegas 64 | DECEMBER 2022 |
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