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COUNTING DOWN TO THE 2011 APTA ANNUAL MEETING AND EXPO
Going Behind the Scenes at EXPO in New Orleans: What You See, What You Get—and What You Don’t See!
BY SUSAN R. PAISNER, Senior Managing Editor

Did you ever stop to think what goes into creating EXPO? The number of people involved? The amount of materials required? The number of gallons of coffee consumed?

Maybe after you’ve read what follows, you’ll have a better sense of why this extraordinary products and services showcase—the largest one in the public transportation industry in the world—is held only every three years!

For example, you walk the aisles and see booths—some simple, some elaborate. Before they become booths, however, they must first arrive at the venue. So before they are booths, they are effectively “freight.” And more than 1.7 million pounds of freight went into EXPO 2008 in San Diego. Compare that number to the Titanic, which weighed 99,208 pounds. With all this freight, you could build more than 17 giant ships!

In 2008, this freight fit into hundreds of thousands of net square feet—enough to hold 77 buses, plus one helicopter! In New Orleans, we’re talking 280,000 NSF, so who knows how many vehicles will ultimately be there?

And what does all that footage translate into, miles-wise? Well, you can expect to be walking on close to 23 miles of aisle carpet—so do heed earlier advice and wear comfortable shoes!

For those of you who attended EXPO 2008, here’s a “thank you”—for spending more than $78,000 at concession stands in the San Diego Convention Center.

You drank 5,521 bottles of water, 2,676 sodas, and nearly 11,000 gallons of coffee (that includes regular coffee, decaf, and tea). You apparently weren’t as hungry as you were thirsty, though, since you ate only 2,232 cookies and 744 muffins!

Do you remember seeing plants or flowers as decorations? Well, 103 exhibitors—representing 32 states and six countries—ordered 672 plants and flowers.

By the time you walk through EXPO 2011, everything in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will be running smoothly. But have you ever wondered how many people are involved in the final product—meaning, the trade show? In no particular order, you have:

* APTA members;
* APTA staff;
* Exhibitors (close to 6,500 registered already);
* NTP (trade show management company);
* Centerplate Catering (at the convention center);
* Freeman (booth set up and audio-visual support for sessions);
* Lakeshore Production (producers of the General Sessions);
* Convention center staff; and
* Additional companies hired, such as security and a florist.

How many people are we actually talking about? Anticipating at least 17,000 attendees (that’s how many came to San Diego), almost 6,500 exhibitors registered already (and bear in mind that one exhibitor may have up to 10 staff in attendance), plus all the other companies and individuals listed above (at least 600)—the total is well over 50,000 people. To use a technical term … that’s a lot!!

So, while this vast undertaking will unfold with clockwork precision, that doesn’t mean things are always precise when a trade show is being set up! For example, during another organization’s recent EXPO in Dallas, the asphalt was so hot that the fire trucks parked outside waiting to go into the convention center melted the asphalt—and sank into it.

In preparation for another show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the general services contractor was hanging outdoor banners on the convention center wall. Unfortunately, it was terribly windy that day—so much so that the winds tore the $150,000 banner off the wall, which necessitated replacing it within the day before the show opened!

As in San Diego, food always plays a big part in an EXPO. In one association’s reception—not APTA’s!!—attendees apparently were (a) hungry and (b) tired of waiting, because they pulled up their chairs to the buffet line and dug in. One gentleman even went behind the carving station, picked up a turkey leg, and started eating it!

Oscar Wilde once wrote: “Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.”

Given that formula, with all conditions “go,” success will clearly be front and center at APTA’s EXPO in New Orleans in October!

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