All show business at smaller Palms venue
Organizers tout hotel as easier to get around
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 6/23/2008
JUNE 23 | HOME MEDIA EXPO: Home Media Expo organizers are pitching this year's smaller venue, The Palms Hotel, as more convenient and easier to get around than past locales, despite the fact that most attendees will be sleeping at the neighboring Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino.
“There will be a continuous shuttle service between the two hotels, beginning in the early morning,” said Carrie Dieterich, VP of marketing and industry relations for the Entertainment Merchants Assn. “The Palms is smaller” than previous show venues, she said, which is why another hotel was needed for guest rooms. But for the show itself, the smaller size makes it “so everything is closer together,” she added, suggesting that once attendees get to the Palms, they'll find it easier to get around.
(Most attendees probably don't remember the exhibit-hotel split at much earlier conventions, such as when attendees stayed at Bally's while the show was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.)
As in other recent years, the bulk of the show will consist of meetings in open suites, but because the Palms' floors are smaller than other hotels where the show has been held, more floors will be used. All open suites will be in the same tower, the Palms Tower, but they will be located on more floors than usual. No special keys will be needed to access them beyond a show badge.
The seminars and exhibit floor booths will be in the separate Fantasy Tower, but the towers aren't far from each other, according to Dieterich. The seminar meeting rooms and exhibit hall are on the same floor of the Fantasy Tower. The seminar rooms are named after music genres: Classical, Jazz and Rock.
Other events open to all attendees are in various parts of the Palms, such as the Brenden Theatres for screenings, Little Budha Restaurant for the closing night party and Pearl Theater for the Home Entertainment Awards, all on the main casino level.
One location that could cause some confusion is the opening night party, which will be held “poolside.” The catch: It's not at the regular Palms pool—it's at the Palms Place pool, the newer part of the complex, accessible down a hallway near the Brenden Theatres, Dieterich said, at the opposite end from the regular pool.
New this year: Thursday is Digital Media Day, featuring separate seminars and awards.
Combined with IDEA's pre-show Indie Expo, what's happening in Vegas for EMA's HME show is staying in Vegas for four days this year.
