Contact: Britton Jones or Carl Pugh FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E-mail: siso@eventexecs.com
www.siso.org
SISO Selects Shomex Productions as New Management Company
Chicago Ridge, IL [January 25, 2008] – The Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) has announced the selection of Shomex Productions of Santa Monica, CA to be its new association management company. Lew Shomer, who co-founded Shomex Productions in 1984, will serve as executive director.
Shomex was unanimously recommended by the selection committee and the choice was unanimously supported and approved by the SISO board. A letter of intent has been signed by the two organizations.
“When we started this process six months ago, our goal was to find an individual or organization with the demonstrated skills, experience, professionalism and capacity to build upon SISO’s highly regarded track record of member service. We wanted to bring every aspect of the association’s operations, events and member benefits to the highest level of excellence possible.” said Carl Pugh, SISO’s current chairman. “With Lew Shomer and Shomex Productions, we are confident that this goal is now well within reach.”
“This has been a very thorough and thoughtful solicitation and review process,” said Britton Jones, chairman of the search committee and vice chairman of SISO. “We put a tremendous amount of effort into the RFP itself to make sure that it clearly conveyed the collective needs, values, goals and objectives of our members and our organization moving forward. We received a strong level of interest from a variety of candidates and selected Shomex only after months of careful evaluation, rankings, and face-to-face interviews.”
Shomex and Lew Shomer became the clear winner because of their excellent combination of event industry insight and experience, strong involvement in SISO, vision and historical perspective. Lew has managed the production of more than 1,000 shows in his 24 years at Shomex, has been a member of SISO for 14 years, a member of SISO’s Board of Directors for 9 years and served as its Chairman four years ago. Lew is passionate about the event business and is a successful leader. In addition, Lew and his organization have a proven track record for strong marketing, organizational skills, attention to detail and execution.
On learning of his acceptance, Lew said, “I am thrilled at the board’s vote of confidence and at the prospect of giving back to SISO for the many years I have benefited as a member and member of the Board. I look forward to using Shomex’s enthusiasm, creative processes and years of event experience to build upon the excellence that SISO has come to stand for.”
Shomex will work with The Rebedeau Group to effect a gradual transition in 2008 and officially take the reins at the end of the year. Mary Beth Rebedeau and The Rebedeau Group have managed SISO since 2000. During her tenure Mary Beth and her team brought about considerable growth and improvements to virtually every area of the association. The board extends its sincerest thanks to Mary Beth Rebedeau and The Rebedeau Group for all that they have done to make SISO a world class organization during their eight years of dedicated management.
“I am confident that SISO is in good hands with Lew and his team,” said Mary Beth. “Personally, in the future, I look forward to more fully enjoying and benefiting from all that SISO has to offer as Shomex takes over management responsibilities.”
In addition to Carl Pugh of Radius Events and Britton Jones of Business Journals, the search committee included Don Pazour and Sean Guerre of Access Intelligence and Nancy Hasselback of Diversified Business Communications.
About SISO: The Society of Independent Show Organizers, founded in 1990, is the industry’s leading networking and education resource for owners, CEOs, presidents and senior executives at for-profit event management and production companies. It is also serves as a strong event business advocate within government and the broader business community. SISO’s members include virtually all the largest producers in the U.S. as well as many smaller organizations, which collectively produce more than 3,000 trade and consumer events annually worldwide.
Press Contact: For more information, contact Britton Jones or Carl Pugh at siso@eventexecs.com.