Environments for Aging - Spring 2017 - 12

SHOW TALK

You spoke, we listened
The 2018 EFA Expo & Conference is heading to Savannah, Ga.
By Kevin Gaffney
It's no small feat to plan and execute a show like
the Environments for Aging Expo & Conference.
And it doesn't get any easier when you consider
making a change. It requires months of research,
surveys, studies, and discussions. And in the
case of the 2017 EFA Expo, we did all those
things and identified a new direction that, at the
time, seemed to be the clear choice.
We decided to collocate the EFA Expo with
Medtrade Spring (also owned and produced
by Emerald Expositions) for both this year and
next. Medtrade, the largest trade-show brand in
the U.S. focused exclusively on the personal medical equipment market, appeared to match up
well with EFA Expo and its focus on the design of
environments where people would very likely use
personal medical equipment. Add fabulous Las
Vegas to the mix, where Medtrade is traditionally
held, and we were sure we had a winning formula.
What we've since realized, though, is we
were wrong.
Frankly, the 2017 EFA Expo was a great
show. Held at the very modern and very large
Mandalay Bay Convention Center & Hotel, the
educational content was top notch and the
expos together showcased more than 300 companies and their latest products and services.
And even despite a change in EFA Expo's usual
schedule, attendance was great.
However, what didn't work is how it felt to you.
And you let us know that pretty quickly.
Your opinions on the location-and, spe-

cifically, on the idea of returning to Las Vegas
in 2018-were clear. So right there, on-site, we
determined that we had to figure out how to make
it right. Before we left the event, I sat down with our
association partners and got their initial thoughts,
and then we asked attendees to provide ideas on
a more appropriate venue via a post-show survey
(the response was tremendous-thank you!).
It took some doing, as there are a lot of moving
parts that go into planning an event of this size;
locations are often selected years in advance. But
with your input and thanks to the amazing operations team at Emerald Expositions, we made it
happen.
I'm pleased to announce that the 2018 EFA
Expo will take place April 21-24 in beautiful Savannah, Ga., at the Savannah International Trade and
Convention Center located on Hutchinson Island
on the banks of the Savannah River. Between
conference events, I encourage you to enjoy the
history, beauty, and charm of this much more fitting
locale.
I look forward to welcoming you to Savannah. EFA

Kevin Gaffney
Group Show Director, Environments for Aging
kevin.gaffney@emeraldexpo.com
770.291.5446

Environments for Aging Expo
& Conference
April 21-24, 2018
Savannah International Trade &
Convention Center, Savannah, Ga.
EnvironmentsforAging.com
12

EFAmagazine.com * Spring 2017

Kevin Gaffney

Chief Executive Officer and President
David Loechner
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Philip Evans
Chief Information Officer Bill Charles
Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary David Gosling

Account Executive Lindsey Judy
lindsey.judy@emeraldexpo.com
770.291.5405

Senior Vice President, Operations
Lori Jenks

Sales Coordinator Emily Clay
emily.clay@emeraldexpo.com
770.291.5439

Vice President, Human Resources
Eileen Deady

Senior Vice President, Digital Teresa Reilly
Vice President, Marketing Services
Joanne Wheatley

Vice President, Corporate Operations
Denise Bashem

http://www.EnvironmentsforAging.com http://www.EnvironmentsforAging.com http://www.EFAmagazine.com

Environments for Aging - Spring 2017

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