COVER STORY
MUST GO ON O
STORY BY BY RICHARD N. VELOTTA PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE MARCUS nce in a while, Chris Meyer sees a few familiar
faces from out of town hanging around trade shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center. They're here to steal his business.
"Yeah, I'll see people from Orlando and
Chicago in here," said Meyer, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's vice president of sales. "They're usually talking with show managers, making a pitch to give them a try." The pitches haven't been too successful so far, as Las Vegas
continues to dominate as a site for conventions. Industry associations report that the city hosts the highest percentage of the nation's top 200 trade shows and exhibitions. The 2012 forecast from Meyer and others familiar with
the trade show industry is that Las Vegas won't lose any ground, either.
CROWDED HOUSE: The lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center is shown during the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show. STEVE MARCUS
| 30 JANUARY 2012 | 15
