NACS Opens Retailer Registration for 2013 NACS Show
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Retailer registration and housing is now open for the 2013 NACS Show, which will take place from Oct. 12-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Full registration, which includes admission to the general sessions, educational sessions, expo and the welcome reception, is $295 for NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, retailer members, and $495 for other retailer attendees. One-day registration is also available for $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.
NACS Show retailer attendees, as well as wholesalers and distributors, can register for the event and secure housing at nacsshow.com.
Housing is available at approximately 30 hotels in proximity of the Georgia World Congress Center, and show attendees can now request hotel preferences online. Early submission of housing requests will increase the likelihood that attendees will be able to stay at the hotel of their choice within the NACS Show housing block. Equally important, most of these hotels have access to the shuttles for transport to and from the Georgia World Congress Center, according to the association.
NACS hopes to build on last year's event that drew a record number of buyers that fueled a 7.2-percent boost in attendance, which reached 24,056 -- the second-highest ever and only 309 attendees short of the record set in 2004. The number of buyers (retailers, wholesalers and distributors) was 9,764, up 17.1 percent in 2012 compared to the prior year. There were also a record 8,057 NACS buyer registrants at the 2012 NACS Show, nearly 3 percent more than the previous record set in 2004.
According to the association, the 2013 NACS Show will feature a 381,050-plus net-square-foot exposition with 1,176 exhibiting companies, including 100-plus companies that are new to the NACS Show. To date, the exhibition space for the 2013 NACS Show is almost completely sold out, which the trade group claims is unprecedented so far in advance of the event.
In addition, this year's event will feature three days of general sessions and 53 educational sessions. The educational sessions in 2012 drew a cumulative 9,889 attendees, averaging nearly 190 attendees per session, the most ever recorded. Reflecting the growing international scope of the NACS Show, the general sessions will be once again translated into Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and select educational sessions will be translated into Portuguese and Spanish.
The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) is also holding its annual meeting as part of the NACS Show -- something it has done since 2002. Online registration and housing for the 2013 PEI Convention is also now open at www.pei.org/show.
Full registration to the 2013 PEI Convention at the NACS Show includes admission to all educational sessions, the trade show, the PEI Industry Reception and the NACS Welcome Reception. The cost for early-bird registration is $295 for PEI and NACS members and $495 non-members. This early-bird rate is only available through July 31. A one-day early-bird rate is available for $195 for members and $295 for non-members. For companies with five or more for full registrations, PEI offers additional group registration discounts.
The 2012 PEI Convention at the NACS Show was the largest PEI convention since 2004, with more than 3,300 attendees, exhibitors and related personnel.