We're Here and We're Near
‘The Show’ Establishes its Marketplace of Ideas on the East Coast
By Tad Wilkes
The industry’s smartest trade show set up camp in East Coast
bar owners’ backyard, and the response was nothing short of incredible.
Approximately 4,500 East Coast bar and club operators came away from
the Nightclub & Bar Food and Beverage Convention & Trade Show
(known as “The Show”) at the Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City with
products, ideas, strategies and new ways of thinking about how they run
their bars, clubs, restaurants and more.
The new East Coast version of the larger Nightclub & Bar show in
Las Vegas brought its famous mix of education, exhibits and killer
nightly events to Atlantic City for a resounding success October 10-12,
launching what certainly will grow and flourish as a national show
located conveniently for East Coast owners and operators, but also for
others from other parts of the country. More than 90 percent of the
attendees — from bars, restaurants and nightclubs on the East Coast
predominately — had never attended “The Show” in Las Vegas or its other
regional shows before.
Learn to Earn
James Alverson, who trekked from Outer Limits, a nightclub and sports
bar in Edinburgh, Ind., was one attendee who had experienced “The Show”
before and returned for more.
‘I love (the shows),” Alverson said. “I go to all of them. I recommend
to anyone who’s not coming to get here —(those people are) losing
money. I worked in a factory for 30 years, and everything I’ve learned
about running a bar I’ve learned here at the Nightclub & Bar shows.
This has been great for me.’
Newcomers at the Atlantic City show found out what Alverson already knew.
“The seminars are full of good ideas,” said Chris Luciano, owner of
Coco’s Raw Bar in Parkton, Md. “I’ve been to a lot of other
(non-Nightclub & Bar) shows, and they aren’t all that.”
“I think (speaker Jon) Taffer is a genius,” Alverson said. “He’s a
guru. I’ll go to a show just if Taffer’s there, to listen to him talk.
I enjoy him.
“You’ll not get anything but positive feedback from me.”
Exhibit Hall Kudos
Beyond the seminars, the Exhibit Hall was a true marketplace of
innovative products and services. Companies who hosted booths in the
Exhibit Hall also generally were impressed with the turnout, which
exceeded predictions, and with the success they found at “The Show.”
“You get to meet not just workers; now you get to meet the buyers, the
owners — people who make decisions,” said George Wilson with Network 1
Financial. “That’s what makes ‘The Show’ successful.”
Allied Beverage Group was one East Coast distributor that recognized The Show as an opportunity.
Howard Jeger with Allied described the Exhibit Hall as “very high
energy ... eclectic collection of people — a lot of people asking
questions. I think it’s been a really good turnout. It’s very, very
positive. As far as our booth, it turned out better than we had
anticipated it would.”
“The Atlantic City show actually has a very high quality client base,”
Michael Lam with Liquid Ice said. “We’ve had a lot of leads, and we’re
getting a lot of very good leads — solid leads. At the other (non
Nightclub & Bar) shows we’ve been to, they’re just bartenders, and
they’re not decision- makers. This show is different because of the
quality of the people who come in. They’re all serious buyers. As a
business owner and an investor, this is the type of place where we want
to be to grow our business.”
Lighting Up the Night
The seminars and Exhibit Hall were only two thirds of “The Show.” The
nightly parties brought attendees and exhibitors together to experience
the best in Atlantic City nightlife, with drinks, fun and networking as
the watchwords.
“We went to House of Blues last night,” said Robert Panico, owner of
Molettiere’s in Lansdale, Pa. “That place was off the hook.”
House of Blues was one venue to host events for “The Show” at its
Foundation Room and its nightclub Worship and other bars within the
HOB. The Casbah at the Taj Mahal also lent its high-energy nightlife to
the mix. Allied Beverage Group hosted the Cocktail Craze event at the
Taj Mahal, introducing attendees to a bevy of creative drinks they
could incorporate. Rounding out the experience was a monumental tour of
the Tropicana’s venues in The Quarter Crawl, which took the masses to
Cuba Libre, RiRa Irish Pub, Red Square, TSOP and Planet Rose.
“Atlantic City proved to be the right connection, with more than 4,500
in attendance and a sold-out exhibit hall,” said Jennifer Robinson,
C.O.O. of “The Show’s” producer, Oxford Publishing. “The Show expanded
to a brand new market and opened the door for continued growth to the
nation’s No. 1 hospitality area — the East Coast. The response has been
overwhelming, and the partnerships developed will allow us to grow and
develop the East Coast show as a complement to our flagship in Las
Vegas.
“Much of the success of the show was created by the partnerships and
relationships developed with area distributors, associations and
suppliers who definitely stepped up to the task of helping spread the
word that ‘The Show’ had arrived on the East
Coast.” NCB
If You Missed it in Atlantic City, Get to Vegas!
“The Show” hits Las Vegas in a big, big way, March 5-8. Packed with
innovative products and services, industry gurus sharing strategies and
new ways of thinking about every facet of on-premise operation and
high-wattage nightly networking events, “The Show” in Vegas is known as
the epicenter of the industry.
Register online at www.nightclub.com or call (888) 966-2727 now!
The industry’s smartest trade show set up camp in East Coast
bar owners’ backyard, and the response was nothing short of incredible.
Approximately 4,500 East Coast bar and club operators came away from
the Nightclub & Bar Food and Beverage Convention & Trade Show
(known as “The Show”) at the Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City with
products, ideas, strategies and new ways of thinking about how they run
their bars, clubs, restaurants and more. 
