July 31st through August 2nd were a special few days for Sho-Link management as we gathered together for our annual Manager’s Meeting, which brings all managers and their assistants together for a full agenda to discuss ways to improve on our operations and to address concerns that our members bring to our attention during our account reviews. This year’s venue was in Washington D.C. and held in conjunction with the TS2 Show.

     The meeting was kicked off with Alan Scaccia giving an opening statement on the state of Sho-Link followed by an award ceremony to acknowledge milestones that our managers have reached. This year’s awards were handed out to Don Dubro (San Francisco manager), Steve Bierbryer (Miami Manager), and Victor Tadefa (San Antonio manager) for five years of service. Joe Brassell (Nashville manager) and Mike Glover (Louisville manager) were recognized for Outstanding Customer Service. Joe O’Reilly received the Office Appreciation Award, chosen by the administrative staff. This year there was a very special acknowledgement award given to Ken Broadbent for his dedication to Sho-Link. Alan Scaccia chose to highlight Ken with a heartfelt recognition for all of Ken’s contributions to both Sho-Link and the mentorship Ken and Alan have shared through the years. Alan’s words about Ken and Ken’s response served to be an inspiration to all.

     The intention of our annual meeting is to allow for group discussions on new procedures, to reinforce the basics that have made us a success and, just as importantly, it allows for camaraderie between the managers; something we feel makes us different from our competition.

     This year there were three guest speakers that we would like to acknowledge and thank. David Sterne from The Inside Track, a flooring and special needs company, updated our group on the services he can provide. Thanks David from all of us for the generous Starbucks gifts that you passed out. Chris Lake from Highmark spoke with us regarding Highmark, which among other things is a supplier of double decking systems for the trade show industries. Additionally, Dick Rhod, president of ICON Exhibits Inc., addressed the subject of customer service.

     Scott Rudel would also like to acknowledge Corey Connor, our host manager for his help in suggesting the nightly entertainment and the personal tours that he provided to our guests. Also, a special thank you to Shanon Molina and the entire Sho-Link Staff for their support.

     Corey Connor, Sho-Link Washington DC / Baltimore City Manager will be participating in the Marine Corps Marathon on October 29th, 2007. Connor is running in honor of his uncle who succumbed to a blood related cancer at age sixty-five.

     Corey has joined with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training to support this great cause in raising monies to stop Leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Myeloma. His goal is to raise what money he can for research, community education and patient services and his Uncle Jack proves to be a great motivator. “He was a special man,” says Connor.

     Please join us in congratulating Alicia Hernandez, Jim O’Dowd, Joe O’Reilly and Shanon Molina on their recent promotions.

     Alicia Hernandez has accepted the role of Las Vegas City Manager. Starting as a union lead person with Sho-Link more than five years ago, Alicia has advanced through numerous supervisory jobs including her promotion to Assistant City Manager earlier this year. Alicia has over seventeen years experience in the tradeshow industry.

     Jim O’Dowd is Sho-Link’s new Atlanta City Manager. Jim has been in the industry for twenty years and has had various city manager roles throughout the country, including Las Vegas, New York, and Atlanta.

     Joe O’Reilly continues with Sho-Link in his promotion as Project Manager, overseeing traveling personnel, Sho-Link’s training program, and cities in his region, among other corporate responsibilities.

     Shanon Molina, having started with Sho-Link handling order processing, customer relations and Show Management questions has accepted the position of Customer Service Supervisor overseeing the order processing department.

     We believe these changes will serve to strengthen our operations nationwide and look forward to working with these individuals in their new roles.