ALEXANDRIA, VA – This week is “NACS Show Week” — with every day featuring news about prominent and influential NACS Show General Session speakers, surprises we can’t wait to share with you about the expo or networking events entirely new to the NACS Show. 

Here’s our fourth big announcement this week: The 2013 NACS Show will feature a 392,000-net-square-foot expo, making it the largest NACS Show expo ever.

This year’s NACS Show takes place October 12 to 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. A total of 1,050 companies are exhibiting at the 2013 NACS Show — of which 150-plus companies are first-time exhibitors.

In other expo news, the NACS Show was again named one of the top 50 trade shows based on net square feet according to the Trade Show News Network’s (TSNN) Top 250 Trade Shows in the United States. At 381,050 net square feet, the 2012 NACS Show was ranked as the 48th largest U.S. trade show last year. 

“We are extremely pleased with the strong exhibitor commitment to the NACS Show in 2013,” said NACS Vice Chairman of Convention Pat Lewis, a partner at Twin Falls, Idaho-based Oasis Stop ’N Go. “The near-record retailer attendance in 2012 and the strong attendance thus far in 2013 demonstrate that the NACS Show is an essential part of annual plans for both retailers and suppliers.”

Atlanta, the site of the 2013 NACS Show, was also ranked high in the TSNN Top 250. In a listing of top locations for conventions, Atlanta was tied for sixth most popular convention city.

The top trade show based on square feet was the International CES, with 1.86 million net square feet. The top shows for attendees were SEMA 2012 and AAPEX, which attracted an estimated 135,000 attendees. The complete TSNN list is online at www.tsnn.com/datasite-us.

Earlier this week, NACS announced that the NACS Show was rated in the top 10 among U.S. trade shows in 2012 in three of the four key categories used by exhibitors to measure audience quality, according to a national survey of the country’s biggest trade shows conducted by Exhibit Surveys Inc. The 2012 survey results were tabulated from more than 30 of the top annual U.S. trade shows. 

Also, NACS had announced that acclaimed business leader and best-selling author Chip Conley is the Opening General Session speaker for the NACS Show. Conley is the founder of Joie de Vivre, California’s largest independent hotel company and America’s second-largest boutique hotelier, with over 40 unique and award-winning hotels, restaurants and spas.

At the 2012 NACS Show, a record number of buyers fueled a 7.2% surge in attendance, which hit 24,056 — the second-highest total ever. The excitement from the 2012 NACS Show has carried over to 2013. Exhibition space for the NACS Show is almost completely sold out, which is unprecedented so far in advance of the event.

Registration and housing is now open at nacsshow.com. Full registration, which includes admission to the general sessions, educational sessions, expo and the welcome reception, is $295 for NACS retailer members and $495 for other retailer attendees. One-day registration also is available ($195 per day for NACS retailer members and $295 per day for other retailers). These super-saver rates are available until July 31. Other rates apply for non-exhibiting manufacturers, service providers, brokers and consultants. Exhibitor registration is also now open. 

We have one more exciting announcement to make to close out NACS Show Week — stay tuned…