Opinion:

Every little trade show counts for Southern Nevada’s economy

The swizzle stick — it’s functional and can be decorative, but it doesn’t get a lot of attention, much less love.

Except if you’re a member of the International Swizzle Stick Collectors Association.

Yes, it exists, and when its members get together for a convention, they choose Las Vegas. Twenty people are expected this year.

In 1987, the inaugural swizzle stick convention drew 69 enthusiasts to the Frontier. Fourteen biennial conventions have followed, all in Las Vegas. This year’s will be in September at the Riviera.

Such stories make Chris Meyer smile. It’s his job to make sure conventions come to Las Vegas — and keep coming.

As vice president of global business sales at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Meyer reaches out to all sorts of associations. The United States has roughly 27,000 of them, he said.

“There’s an association for everything, and we solicit all of them,” Meyer said.

Most Las Vegans are familiar with the big conventions that come here — International CES, the Adult Entertainment Expo, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, MAGIC, etc. Those are the conventions that draw tens of thousands of people.

But Las Vegas also hosts hundreds of smaller gatherings that contribute to the city being named the top trade show destination in North America for 20 consecutive years.

Most shows draw just hundreds of attendees, a testament to the diversity of Las Vegas’ accommodations and attractions.

Among the more unusual, niche conventions and the number of people who attend them:

• Show Your Scars, for people who have received, need or have donated organs, 100

• Las Vegas Bead Show, 1,000

• Kite Trade Association International, 140

• Brewery Collectibles Club of America, 200

• Gin Rummy Association, 150

• Kiwi Club, for current and former American Airlines flight attendants, 375

• Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, 300

• Western Museums Association, 300

• Red Carpet Tango Festival, 120

For a tourist-driven economy such as Las Vegas’, every visitor matters. Meyer takes that sentiment to heart.

“Our mission is to put heads in beds, create jobs and other opportunities for growth, and keep our industry moving,” he said. “If I do my job well, people work.”

And the swizzle stick collectors have a place to talk shop and trade sticks.

Tags: The Sunday
Business

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