2014 ICAS Convention

Ten Reasons to Attend the ICAS Convention

• The ICAS Convention is where industry professionals come to learn about the air show business.  There are no textbooks or undergraduate degree programs in air show management. If you want to learn about air shows or get better at running your air show business, the ICAS Convention is the place to be.

• You’ll benefit from every one of the 44 conventions that ICAS has organized before this one. After four decades of tweaking, fine-tuning and adjusting, we’ve established a balance of exhibit sessions and educational programming, of structured and unstructured social sessions that our convention delegates tell us is just right. If it seems like we’ve crammed a lot of activity into a short period of time, that’s by design. We know that your time away from other responsibilities is limited, so we’ve tried to provide you with as many opportunities as possible to take advantage of this unique opportunity to meet, get to know and learn from your air show colleagues.

• An exhibit hall that has been described as the biggest hiring hall in the events industry. With more than 200 exhibitors on 60,000 square feet of exhibit space, you can negotiate, compare prices, and plan your air show without ever leaving the hall.

• The single largest gathering of air show professionals in the world, all of them willing and eager to talk shop. It’s difficult to overstate the expertise and accessibility of the group that will assemble in Las Vegas during the second week of December. And it’s a group that assembles only once a year and with the specific purpose of sharing their ideas, experiences, successes and failures WITH PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU. If there is a common reaction among first timers, it is their consistent surprise that the convention gathers so many experts in one place at one time and that so many of them are willing to share their experiences and expertise.

• The hotel. In 2014, the ICAS Convention will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas. Located minutes from The Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard), the Rio is truly a beautiful hotel and the perfect venue for our annual air show business gathering.  The hotel’s meeting space is ideally suited for the ICAS Convention. And we’ve negotiated a heavily discounted sleeping room rate that will offer some welcome savings during these difficult economic times.

• Unmatched opportunity to increase your knowledge of the key issues and challenges facing air show professionals. With three intensive seminars, nearly 70 educational sessions and more than 100 different speakers, newcomers and veterans will go home equipped with a thorough, well-balanced and comprehensive overview of the industry.

• Networking and socializing opportunities that have been specifically organized and scheduled to help you in your air show business.  All ICAS social events are built around the premise that you want to get together with old friends, start forging relationships with new colleagues and – most importantly – have fun!

• In addition to the ability to interact and develop relationships with the team members and decision makers of most of the military demonstration teams, event organizers have a great opportunity to learn the nuts-to-bolts requirements of putting on an air show. Although the convention is an important and valuable tool for all air show professionals, it is particularly useful to newcomers just getting started in the air show business. 
  

• Representatives from the Canadian military and all four branches of the U.S. military will be on hand to discuss their plans for aircraft support in 2015 and field questions from convention registrants.

• Vegas, baby! The ICAS Convention would be useful, educational and fun where ever we had it. But Las Vegas is an air show kind of town.