Stage Expo in Houston, Texas drew thousands of visitors to special events, exhibitors, and exhibitions. Building on the enthusiasm of the sold-out 2008 event, Stage Expo in Cincinnati may be even better.

Photo/Tom Thatcher

Helen Willard
Stage Expo Sales Manager

Stage Expo 2008 in Houston set a new record for square feet of paid exhibit space with 29,800 square feet. This topped Phoenix's record of 27,700 square feet. USITT Stage Expo has doubled in size since Nashville 1994. More than 30,000 square feet of paid exhibit space is expected next year in Cincinnati.

A huge crowd gathered in the George R. Brown Convention Center lobby for the opening of Stage Expo. Grady Lee sang cowboy songs and entertained the crowd as people waited for VP Conferences Joe Aldridge to cut the USITT tape and declare Stage Expo 2008 open. Exhibitors were pleased with the traffic, and 93 of the 127 booth exhibitors lined up to reserve booth space for 2009.

Priority booth space selection for the next year's show is held on Saturday, the final day of Stage Expo. Appointments are scheduled in five-minute intervals, and there was a steady stream of exhibitors at the Show Office from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Over 80 percent of the available booth space is booked for next year's show, so Stage Expo 2009 is already well on its way to setting new records for the number of exhibitors and square footage of paid exhibit space.

The 49th Annual USITT Conference & Stage Expo will be held in the Duke Energy Center, located in downtown Cincinnati. Stage Expo 2009 will be in Exhibit Halls A and B, a more than 150,000 square foot space, with meeting rooms located just an escalator ride from the exhibit halls. The headquarters hotel is the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, a National Historic Landmark, which features breathtaking French Art Deco that has been restored to its 1930s grandeur.

Booth selection for 2009 will continue until all available booth spaces are sold. Priority space selection for table spaces will be conducted later in the year. Anyone who would like to exhibit at Stage Expo 2009 in Cincinnati should contact hpwillard@aol.com for more information.

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