People 6-1-2003

Meetings & Conventions: People June 2003

People

By Terence Baker

David Heilbrunn is vice-president of Lifestyle Events Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., where he spends most of his time planning the company’s Coffee Fest (www.coffeefest.com), a trade show promoting coffee and gourmet tea that takes place annually in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Seattle.

How did Coffee Fest come about? Back in 1990, when Lifestyle Events was a production company putting on outdoor shows, we noticed there were espresso and coffee carts on the corners of most Seattle intersections and that gave us the inspiration. At first, I was skeptical about starting Coffee Fest, but thankfully our owner was not.

What was the first show like? It was held during a horrible rainstorm. The state warned people not to leave their homes, but 2,000 came. After a few shows in Seattle, we started staging shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Finally, we decided to have permanent shows so attendees could plan further in advance. Our last Seattle show drew 7,000 consumers and 280 exhibitors.

When did the show become successful? About five years ago. I listened to a speaker say that getting attendees to the show was not a question of their money, but of their time. Inspired, I asked myself, “What can I provide in the way of critical programming at Coffee Fest?” We’ve had four shows since Sept. 11, and attendance is up 30 percent for consumers and 25 percent for exhibitors.

Do you like coffee? Of course. I am not a fan of flavored coffees, though.

PLANNERS

New temp service for meeting planners
Pat Schaumann, CMP, CSEP, DMCP, president of St. Louis-based MAC Meetings, has formed a subsidiary company called Current Temp, a global temporary staffing service for the meetings and events industry. Other key personnel include Michael Schaumann, managing director, and Kate Zipf, manager of client and member relations. Details are online at www.current-temp.com.