Slagle: We looked in New Orleans, Chicago and Orlando. Greenberg: In July of 2001, the [PPAI] board met for a hastily called meeting in Chicago while we were in the city for a trade show called Promotions Midwest. The board was called into session to be presented with the fact that this hotel in Las Vegas called Mandalay Bay was going to build a brand-new convention center that would be big enough to hold The Expo. The board told Mandalay Bay that PPAI had some preliminary interest, but a few things needed to be sorted out. Mandalay Bay was so early in its planning that the rules and regulations weren’t all quite in place. There weren’t any non-compete clauses preventing the venue from holding an unaffiliated promo trade show the next month, for example. And the earliest date that could be offered was February, a month later than The PPAI Expo’s typical date. Greenberg: The board was divided [in that moment] between leaving Dallas and going to Vegas. Dale Denham (current PPAI president and CEO; ASI senior vice president, 2000-2010): The Dallas show had a long history in the industry. Greenberg: People don’t like change. A lot of people just didn’t want to make that change. Nevertheless, a straw vote was in favor of moving, but it was only a straw vote, depending on what the rules and regulations were. PPAI didn’t make any commitments in July 2001, and two months later tragedy struck the country on September 11, 2001. Construction was halted on Mandalay Bay. Revisiting The Idea: “What are you doing tomorrow at 9:30?” The PPAI Expo 2002 was held in Dallas again in January. Meanwhile, the board was still looking for another option, and it was time for the board’s yearly strategic planning meeting. They decided to hold it two days before the ASI trade show in March, where they would all already be, anyway. It just so happened to be in Las Vegas. Greenberg: I took the gavel in January of 2002. What was clearly on everybody’s mind was that the 2002 Expo was down quite a bit. The topic of moving The PPAI Expo came up in the meeting, and the board wondered what the state of Mandalay Bay was at this point. As the meeting wrapped up, Bren Clevenger-Ori (PPAI vice president of program services from 1997-2003) decided to pick up the phone and call the sales manager of Mandalay Bay. Greenberg: I was in the room listening to her side of the conversation. It was Steve [Slagle], myself, Bren and Paul Lage, who was the incoming Board Chair. All I heard was, ‘When do you start building again?’ The answer he gave her was, ‘We started March 1.’ This was March 11. Then Bren asked, ‘What are you doing tomorrow at 9:30?’ He responded, ‘Well, I guess I’mmeeting with you all.’ As board chair, Greenberg had obligations the next morning and was unable to meet with Mandalay Bay. Slagle, Clevenger-Ori and Loge went to the construction site and met with the sales manager. Slagle: They took us up in a suite on a high floor and we could see the footprint and the construction was underway. There was a lot left to do. We thought 2004 would be more realistic. They said, ‘Well, we’ve got January 2003 open now. And we sort of thought, ‘OK, but can you finish the building in time?’ This was March 2002. Paul Lage (PPAI Board Chair, 2003-2004): We had a great meeting with the head of conventions for Mandalay and this opportunity was evolving quickly. I remember looking out over empty piece of land where the convention center was going to be constructed. There was no way that this was going to be done in time. Paul Bellantone Dale Denham Keith Vincent Randy Miramontez / Count Chris/ Kit Leong / agsaz / Shutterstock.com The 2002-2003 PPAI Board of Directors Officers who voted to move The PPAI Expo to Las Vegas Officers: Chairman of the Board: Wayne Greenberg Chairman-Elect of the Board: Paul Lage Immediate Past Chairman of the Board: Bob Davis Vice Chair: Brian Rechten Vice Chair: Donnamarie Senn Vice Chair: Tom Elsbernd Vice Chair: Laura Forbes Directors: Katherine Burke Charles Pecher Carol D. Aastad Patricia Dugan Mary Ellen Sokalski William F. Jarman Jr. Margie Price Barbara Gerlach Carole Hill Danny Simon Keith Olivit PPAI Expo | Twenty Years in Las Vegas | FEATURE | DECEMBER 2022 | 65
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