Trade show : Surf Expo Expands With Addition Of The Boardroom

Surf Expo, the world's leading trade show for the boardsports and beach lifestyle industries, is expanding its audience to consumers with the addition of The Boardroom International Surfboard Show to its September 6-8, 2013 show.

Already a proven hit in Southern California, The Boardroom entered into a partnership with Surf Expo parent company GLM in December 2012. The Boardroom at Surf Expo will gather passionate surfers, surfboard shapers, and the entire boardsports industry as a whole to a celebration of East Coast surfing and surfboard design open to the general public and co-located next to the Surf Expo trade-only event.

"One of the most exciting opportunities offered by our GLM partnership is the ability to take The Boardroom to a variety of different regions with a strong surf culture, and Florida fits that bill perfectly," says Scott Bass, founder of The Boardroom.

The announcement marks the first time in Surf Expo's 37 year history where consumers will be encouraged to attend part of the Surf Expo show.

"For years we've had to turn away dedicated surfers and boardsports enthusiasts who are dying to attend Surf Expo and experience the companies it serves," says Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner. "Now there's finally an event for them―and an easy, effective way for Surf Expo exhibitors to interact with thousands of passionate and knowledgeable end users celebrating the sport we love."

The Boardroom at Surf Expo will feature shaping competitions, seminars, entertainment, autograph signings and hundreds of booths filled with East Coast shapers, and surf apparel and accessory companies. "Surf Expo takes its role as the marketplace for the surf market very seriously," says Turner, "and over the years Surf Expo has become even more than that: It's a meeting place, a reunion, for hundreds of distinct surf communities around the country. The Boardroom accentuates that part of Surf Expo perfectly."

Encompassing more than 215,000 net square feet of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, Surf Expo's September 2012 trade show was roundly praised as the most successful in years, with more than 11,400 buyers attending the show during its three-day run. Surf Expo is produced in January and September and draws buyers from specialty stores across the U.S., the Caribbean, Central and South America and around the world. Surf Expo features approximately 2,000 booths of apparel and hardgoods and a full line-up of special events, including fashion shows, annual awards ceremonies, and demos.

( SportsOneSource Media )