Not Feeling Vegas – Even Though I’ll Probably Go

By Trish Holder

If it were up to you, where would the 2017 International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR) be held in January?

As most of us in the HVACR industry know, it will be in Las Vegas – not exactly my fav venue, but I get it. It is not terribly expensive to travel to, the convention center can handle the Expo, and there are plenty of hotels, cabs, and restaurants to go around – not to mention casinos.  But like a lot of people who attend or exhibit at AHR, it’s not a town I personally love to visit.  New York, yes. Chicago, yes. Orlando, maybe. Las Vegas, nah.

Regardless of the location, I typically attend AHR each year to visit with existing clients, reconnect with HVAC publishers, and scope out new opportunities. New York and Chicago remain my favorite AHR venues. But Vegas is a place you either love or barely tolerate and I’m afraid I fall into the latter category. I’m not gambler. All the glitz and excess make me feel like I need a good bath and a juice cleanse. And it really ticks me off that so many of the hotels don’t have coffeemakers.

But like I said: I get it. 

AHR is a huge show, and there are only a few convention centers in the US large enough to host it. Still, I’d sure like to pay a visit to San Francisco, Boston, or Phoenix. New Orleans hosted the 2014 Greenbuild Expo at the newly renovated Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and it was awesome. I could stand to go back there again.

What about the rest of you?  Are you hankering for some new scenery outside the AHR convention hall?  If the decision was yours to make and convention center size was not an issue, where would you like to see AHR hosted?

Drop me an email to let me know:  mail@trishholder.com.