Event Solutions wins national award for Best Conference & Expo from FOLIO magazine, beats The Oprah Magazine

TEMPE, Ariz.-- Event Solutions is proud to announce that its 2006 trade show and conference, the Idea Factory: Events, Education, Expo, has won the gold FAME award presented by FOLIO magazine for Best Conference and Expo. Held in Denver last year, the Idea Factory, the leading trade show for event and meeting professionals, beat out the event O! You by The Oprah Magazine, to win the top FOLIO: Awards for Magazine Events award in its category. The Idea Factory 2006 will be featured in an upcoming FOLIO: Awards for Magazine Events article.

“We want to sincerely thank everyone who was involved in making the 2006 Idea Factory such a huge success,” said John Baragona, president of Event Publishing LLC, which publishes Event Solutions magazine. “Everyone was crucial to our success, from our partner magazine catersource, to our Showcase, Project GRAMMY and Spotlight Awards producers, all our featured speakers and presenters, exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees.”

The award nomination process included seven essay questions and photo and video submissions of the Idea Factory 2006 to FOLIO’s panel of judges.

Aspects of the Idea Factory that contributed to its win include the following:

- More than 200 exhibitors brought the newest products to the tradeshow floor. Featured speaker and event giant Michael Cerbelli presented ‘Hot Event and Entertainment Ideas,’ to an overflowing audience.
- The ‘Keep it Pure’ and catering showcases brought hundreds of people together to demonstrate the best event execution possible—live!
- Real-time construction of an event space during Project GRAMMY allowed attendees to see new ideas in action, not just the final product. GRAMMY Vice President of Production Branden Chapman said of the competition, ‘I was extremely surprised with the well-executed and well-thought-out delivery of every team’s concept…they really took our brand to the next level.’”

FOLIO judges also awarded top honors to the Idea Factory based on its success in connecting an increased number of event professionals with event suppliers and service vendors, and facilitating demonstration of the latest products, equipment and services through the following innovative strategies:

- Pavilion formats on the show floor facilitated connections between planners and vendors and allowed greater flexibility in exhibition spaces.
- A record-breaking number of attendees came to the trade show floor, and to both evening showcases to see products and services in action — with contributing event pros on hand to explain their work.
- Through Event Solutions’ new partnership with the American Express OPEN card for small business owners, 72 attendees were able to attain new financial planning resources they needed to grow their businesses.

The award judges recognized the Idea Factory’s excellent education program, spanning four days with tailored programs to educate industry professionals. Education aspects lauded include the following comments and statistics:

- Kristina Barbier of Wausau Signature Events said, “To hit one spot, get multiple subjects, get presenters that know their stuff, and then be able to go home and say I did it [obtain a corporate planner certificate], was really nice for me.”
- Brenda Glaze of Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, said “As a first-time attendee I was really impressed…It actually lived up to the expectations that I had when I saw the information about the conference and decided to attend, so it definitely fulfilled my needs.”
- Statistics: 66% of attendees said educational sessions were good or outstanding, 35% said the classes are the main reason they attend the Idea Factory and 79% of attendees said the education level was right for their needs.
- A total of 35 people received an Event Management certificate through the University of Las Vegas and received credit for UNLV courses.
- Sixty education sessions were available during the four-day event. Total numbers of those receiving association and corporate planner certificates were up from the previous year.

The second-ever FAME Awards ceremony was conducted Tuesday March 13, at the Magazine Event Strategies Conference at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.

About Event Solutions magazine

Event Publishing, LLC publishes Event Solutions magazine, a monthly trade publication covering the events, meetings and incentives industry, and produces the annual trade show and conference, the Idea Factory: Events, Education, Expo. The company provides resources for everyone in the events industry, by operating a full-service news Web site, providing professional certificates for planners and producers, and doing primary research to quantify and identify breaking trends in the industry. Event Solutions is a controlled circulation magazine, audited by BPA, and is read by more than 27,000 corporate, independent and association event professionals, as well as service providers for the event industry.

Crystal Weaver
480-831-5100 x 24
crystal@event-solutions.com

This release was published on openPR.