Presidio Trust and Wedgewood Weddings & Events have entered into a master leasing partnership for the operations of several of the Presidio of San Francisco’s iconic venues; the Golden Gate Club, the Chapel of Our Lady and the Log Cabin. Wedgewood Weddings & Events will lease the buildings and provide full-service events management including catering. Since the Presidio closed as a US Army base and became a national park site in 1994, thousands of people have enjoyed special experiences like weddings, reunions, and corporate meetings in these venues, with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay. Previously, the US Army had used them in a similar capacity.
Wedgewood Weddings & Events is a family-owned business that currently leases and operates forty-three facilities from coast to coast, 28 of them in California. No stranger to park-settings, their California venues include the meticulously restored Jefferson Street Mansion in Historic Benicia, the University Club at UC Irvine, and Redwood Canyon, a municipal golf course owned by the East Bay Regional Park District. The largest independent event management firm in the country, their clients include golf courses, hotels, and unique event space owners.
The business events industry today announced the formation of the Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance (ECA), an advocacy group that will champion the common interests of U.S. exhibitions and conferences with legislators. This new coalition of eight industry associations will promote the impact of the sector, drive general industry awareness, initiate legislation on behalf of business events, and work with partners globally as needed to maintain a favorable operating environment within the United States.
Existing advocacy initiatives Go LIVE Together and Exhibitions Mean Business will continue under ECA and carry out their respective missions—Go LIVE Together in advocating for federal COVID-19 recovery funding and Exhibitions Mean Business in promoting the value of face-to-face and the economic impact of exhibitions at the local, state and national levels. Sue Sung, SVP, Corporate Strategy at Freeman will continue to serve as Executive Director of Go LIVE Together. ECA’s organizational structure will also allow for the development of new advocacy campaigns as specific needs arise in the future.
Scott Flexman has been named Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the new Broadmoor resort. The Broadmoor is situated at the gateway to the Colorado Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs and sits on 5,000 acres.
Flexman’s career spans over 37 years in the hospitality industry. Most recently, he was Complex Director of Sales and Marketing, Caribe Royale Orlando/Buena Vista Suites. Prior to his role with Caribe Royale, Mr. Flexman was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Fontainebleau, Miami Beach and Director of Sales and Marketing for Landsdowne Resort, a AAA Four Diamond Award-winning property in Northern Virginia. Before that, he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Boca Raton Resort & Club. His management experience includes 16 years in various management positions with Stouffer and Renaissance Hotels.
VOK DAMS, one of the world's leading event and live marketing agencies, and IBM will be collaborating to facilitate virtual events and digital customer and brand experiences. By creating the platform "Marketing Experience Hub" which runs on IBM Cloud, VOK DAMS will enable companies to host events and fairs virtually during the pandemic and beyond and ensure seamless customer engagement.
Due to the pandemic, corporate conferences have shifted online. Companies and event organizers are forced to switch to digital and hybrid event formats and often time-consuming research, expensive trials and necessary compromises in the selection of the technical solution, are the consequence. To meet the increased volume of online events and the individual requirements of customers, VOK DAMS is working with IBM to expand its portfolio. The agency is working with IBM to develop an event platform that will enable enterprise clients to hold customized fairs
The American Rental Association (ARA) has released its annual forecast, which is predicting a 13 percent decline in equipment and event rental revenue this year compared to 2019, dropping to $48.7 billion in the United States.ARA forecast calls for more positive growth in 2021 and beyond.
The previous forecast, released on Nov. 12, projected a modest uptick of 0.3 percent in equipment and event rental revenue in 2021, but the new forecast, released Feb. 16, shows an expectation of more than 1.5 percent growth in 2021 to surpass $50.2 billion. This comes after a difficult 2020, where total industry revenues dipped 11.7 percent to just under $49.5 billion, with party and event showing a decline of 49 percent. Construction, which showed an 11 percent decline in 2020, is expected to show a 1 percent drop in 2021 while general tool rental revenue is expected to grow 4 percent and party and event starts to recover from the devastation of 2020 to grow 37 percent in 2021.
Overall, the ARA forecast calls for accelerated recovery in 2022 with revenues growing 11.3 percent to $55.9 billion, then nearly 5 percent to $58.7 billion in 2023 and another 3.1 percent to $60.5 billion in 2024.
