FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2004

ISA's McNamara Receives Top Honor for Tradeshow Managers

Alexandria, VA -- The International Sign Association (ISA) announced today that Brian McNamara, ISA’s vice president of expositions, was named to Tradeshow Week magazine’s inaugural list of the Top 25 association tradeshow managers in the nation.

“Brian has always been, and continues to be, a driving force in the success of our trade shows. Through the years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Brian and have gained an enormous amount of respect for his professionalism, knowledge, and persistence,” says ISA Chairman of the Board Greg McCarter.

McNamara has worked at ISA for over 19 years, where he has lead the growth of the International Sign Expo from approximately 100 booths, to this year’s record-breaking show, where 1,491 booths were sold.

“Being named a Top 25 tradeshow manager is well-deserved recognition,” says ISA Past Chairman Steve Kieffer. “Brian is an intelligent guy who knows what he’s doing. He has to be because he consistently runs one of the best tradeshows in the country.”

ISA consultant E.G. (John) Johnson, CAE, who has worked with McNamara during his entire 19 year tenure, remarks “Brian is a guy who gets very focused on the project at hand. When it comes to producing tradeshows, he sees what needs to be done to make the show a success, then does what it takes to get it accomplished.”

According to Adam Shaffer, publisher of Tradeshow Week, McNamara was selected for several reasons. “For one, he successfully runs a number of shows for ISA, not just the big yearly [International Sign] Expo,” says Adam Schaffer, publisher of Tradeshow Week. “He has an important role within the organization and a real interest in the exposition industry. He’s very focused on the industry as a whole.”

The Tradeshow Week staff considered “hundreds of managers over every industry you can imagine,” Schaffer says. “We chose those managers who have had an impact on the exhibition industry, managers who have grown their shows during troubled economic times.”

For more information on ISA’s trade shows, please contact ISA’s expositions department at (703) 836-4012 or e-mail expo@signs.org.

ISA is a 2,200-member organization composed of manufacturers, users, and suppliers of on-premise signs and sign products produced by more than 400,000 employees in all 50 states and 69 countries. ISA exists to support, promote and improve the $30 billion-a-year sign industry, which sustains the nation’s nearly $3 trillion-a-year retail industry.

International Sign Association (ISA)
Alexandria, VA
Phone: (703) 836-4012
E-Mail: expo@signs.org
Website URL: www.signs.org