NPE 2015 exhibitors to select booth space at space draw in February 2014

The NPE2015 Space Draw will take place February 19-21, 2014 at Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida, with close to 1,000 companies expected to select booth space amounting to well over half of the total anticipated for NPE2015, it was announced today by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, which produces the triennial NPE.

Applications to participate have been posted at www.npe.org/spacedraw and are also being sent to NPE2012 exhibitors. Companies must submit applications and a down payment by November 15, 2013 to be eligible for the Space Draw lottery process, which determines the selection order of companies. Companies submitting applications after November 15, 2013 will select space after the lottery participants.

Besides selecting the best available booth locations, Space Draw participants will have the opportunity to meet with show service providers, show management staff, and representatives of local hotels and attractions, as well as attending workshops on operations and marketing. The agenda will also include many opportunities for networking with plastics professionals from across the industry.

“For each NPE, Space Draw itself is a major industry event that brings together people from hundreds of companies and from countries around the world,” said Gene Sanders, SPI senior vice president of trade shows and conferences. “Each participant sees first-hand how the show takes shape and thus can select the best available booth location for his or her company. At the same time, Space Draw provides an opportunity for concentrated planning of the company’s NPE program through face-to-face meetings with contractors, vendors, and SPI staff.”

The NPE2015 Drawing will consist of an ordered series of lotteries. Each company will be assigned to a drawing priority category according to the number of previous NPEs in which it has exhibited and whether or not it is an SPI member. Within each category, the order in which companies select their space is determined by a random drawing.

Last month SPI conducted the NPE2015 Pre-Draw for 69 companies that had exhibited in at least 16 of the past 27 NPEs. These exhibitors committed to 179,600 square feet (16,685 sq.m) of net exhibit space—up 18.5% from the 2012 Pre-Draw numbers. Information on Space Draw, to include the agenda, housing, and other matters is posted at www.npe.org/spacedraw.