America’s Center Celebrated ‘Labor Day’ On Nov. 19

For more information, contact:
Julie Kagy
Exhibition Services & Contractors Association
julie@esca.org
773.418.1955

Anthony Paraino,
Explore St. Louis
aparaino@explorestlouis.com
314.992.0654

For Immediate Release:

AMERICA’S CENTER CELEBRATED ‘LABOR DAY’ ON NOV. 19
Event Provided Training and Hospitality Courses to Frontline Workers
at St. Louis Convention Center

ST. LOUIS (Dec. 3, 2015) – How do you create a world-class destination for meetings and conventions? You provide your customers with the best facilities and the highest-level of customer service. In St. Louis, these are both priorities for the Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) and Explore St. Louis. To ensure frontline workers continue to deliver on these key goals, ESCA and Explore St. Louis held the first-ever ‘Labor Day’ at America’s Center on Thursday, Nov. 19. All the unions that work on the tradeshow floor were invited to participate in this day of complimentary training and enhancement.

“The goal of ‘Labor Day’ was to help build on the skills of the already talented labor force in St. Louis and give a few new tools for their toolbox to be used on the tradeshow floor,” stated Julie Kagy, ESCA Education Director. “The entire program was underwritten by ESCA and Explore St. Louis, who operates America’s Center convention complex.”

The day’s events included several elements beneficial to exhibitions industry union personnel, beginning with a customer service training program produced by ESCA’s Labor & Management Council. The Council is comprised of leadership from the following organizations: ESCA’s Official Services Contractor membership, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC); the Decorators’ Union (IUPAT), the Electricians’ Union (IBEW), Stagehands’ Union (IATSE) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). This program is designed to engage union personnel in innovative and exciting ways to exceed the growing demands of exhibitors and, in turn, benefit the overall event experience of attendees.

Both forklift and boom lift certifications were offered to attendees. This was sponsored and presented by Global Experience Specialists (GES) and Klance Staging.

In addition, Explore St. Louis presented the ‘St. Lou..is Me’ program, which is a successful customer service training course provided to hospitality industry employees and taxi drivers throughout the region.

“We are proud to join with ESCA in providing our frontline employees this unique, first-of-a-kind training partnership to all the unions serving the needs of our clients at America’s Center,” stated Marty Brooks, senior vice president and general manager of America’s Center. “By teaching and sharing these skills in equipment operation, hospitality, customer service and the attributes of our destination, we will strengthen our efforts to provide convention and meeting customers in St. Louis with a first-class experience.”

Lunch and a vendor fair were also included to round out the day, and add to the experience for the attendees, and was sponsored by ESCA members Heritage Exhibition Services.

About the Exhibition Services & Contractors Association
ESCA is the association for firms engaged in providing services and materials for the meetings, exhibition and hospitality industry. Through the education, information exchange and level of professionalism shared by its’ members and their customers, ESCA promotes cooperation among all areas of the exhibition industry.

About Explore St. Louis
Explore St. Louis is the sales and marketing organization responsible for marketing St. Louis City and St. Louis County as a convention and meeting site and as a leisure travel destination. In addition, Explore St. Louis manages and operates America’s Center Convention Complex®, which includes 502,000 square feet of prime exhibit space, a 28,000 square-foot ballroom, the 67,000-seat Edward Jones Dome, the 1,400-seat Ferrara Theatre, and the St. Louis Executive Conference Center.

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*Additional images are available by contacting Anthony Paraino at 314-992-0654 or aparaino@explorestlouis.com.