Attendance
Jumps at SuperZoo 2006
More than 7,960 buyers from 3,042 companies attended SuperZoo
2006, held Sept. 20-22.at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center
in Las Vegas—up 20 percent from 6,620 buyers at last year’s
show.
The three-day show, produced by the World Wide Pet Industry
Association (Arcadia, Calif.) and co-located with the California
Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers’ Garden
Market Expo, featured 545 companies in 900 booths.
“SuperZoo’s increase in numbers of attendees
can be attributed to three key changes in the show preparations:
the designation of a WWPIA staff member to cultivate a greater
number of attendees; the new personalized program, MySuperZoo;
and the new SuperZoo University program,” said Doug
Poindexter, executive vice president of WWPIA.
The trade show garnered coverage from an array of media.
For example, NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno” taped interviews with 91 exhibitors for a special
segment to air later this year. Also, Associated Press Television
interviewed pet apparel designers backstage during onsite
runway fashion shows.
SuperZoo University proved to be an enormous draw—so
much so that staff had to reconfigure classrooms to accommodate
the 1,300 participants.
WWPIA also previewed its PetSource.org Web site. Expected
to launch this winter, the site will provide pet-related information
for both members of the industry and consumers.
A silent auction featuring pet products and services, sports
memorabilia, vacations and electronic equipment donated by
WWPIA and exhibitors generated funds for the Pet Industry
Joint Advisory Council (Washington).
SuperGroom, a grooming contest held in conjunction with the
show, attracted top grooming professionals from around the
world.
WWPIA Officers
Steve Segner of California Premium Cage (Altadena, Calif.)
was re-elected president of WWPIA. Serving with Segner are
Mike Lasky of Current USA Inc. (Vista, Calif.), first vice
president; Jim Alvord of Petco (San Diego), second vice president;
Lewis M. Sutton of Pet-Ag Inc. (Hampshire, Ill.), chief financial
officer; and Ruth Jeffers of Jeffers Pet Supply (Dothan, Ala.),
secretary.
Newly elected to two-year terms on the board of directors
include Barry Berman of NexPet Retailer Group (New York);
Jim Boschee of Chuck Latham Associates Inc. (Parker, Colo.);
Sara Dreamer of Oxbow Pet Products (Murdock, Neb.); and David
Morris of Zupreem (Mission, Kan.).
Returning board members include Michael Guerber of Evergreen
Pet Supply (Kent, Wash.); Rick Newman of Newman’s Fish
Foods (Hackensack, N.J.); Jeffers; and Segner.
2007 SuperZoo Show Dates
Because of the 2007 Jewish holidays, WWPIA has shifted the
dates of its next show forward by one day, to Sept. 18-20,
2007. For more information, call 800-999-7295 or visit www.wwpia.org.
[December 2006 PET AGE]
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