John Jastrem, President of Global Experience Specialists Inc. (GES), has decided to retire and leave the company. Paul Dykstra, Chairman, President and CEO of parent company Viad, will assume Jastrem’s role until a replacement is named.

In December 2008, Haymarket’s SC Magazine launched its SC World Congress conference and trade show (dedicated to IT security), just at the time when physical events began feeling the effects of the economic downturn. While the event attracted 900 people over two days, it still fell below its goal.

More than two-thirds of those polled in a recent Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) survey indicated that the 2009 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) codes have impacted the level of industry support for their educational meetings.

The Exhibit Industry Council this week released its first best practice, titled "Full Disclosure and Control of Exhibitor Costs." The best practice was designed to increase exhibitor value and to advocate for full disclosure of costs.

The average price of a hotel room fell 14 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, according to Hotels.com’s Hotel Price Index (HPI) annual report on hotel prices paid around the world. In fact, a hotel room was cheaper in 2009 than it was in 2004, when the HPI first started tracking price data. The rate of decline grew less steep over the year – from 16 percent down in the first quarter to 7 percent down in the fourth quarter.

The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), the SuperPetExpo and the National Association of Consumer Shows have responded to Upper Merion Township’s (King of Prussia, PA) imposition of an itinerant merchant tax, which requires show organizers to pay $30-$50 per exhibitor selling products at exhibitions in the Valley Forge Convention Center. Each organization has written a letter to the township’s board of supervisors, urging them to rescind the tax. According to the industry players, no other township or county across the country imposes such a fee, which is prohibitive to organizers doing business in the area.

Thousands of brides-to-be and vendors were duped by the "Boston 411 Home and Bridal Show," a fake bridal show which was to be held at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center this weekend, according to Boston police and the FBI Cyber Crime Unit.

Here’s a taste of some of the announcements made at last week’s Virtual Edge Summit in Santa Clara, CA, which focuses on virtual events, meetings and communities.

COMDEX will make a comeback later this year as a virtual event. UBM, which acquired the brand as part of its acquisition of MediaLive Intl. in 2006, will relaunch COMDEX as a virtual event to be held Nov. 16-17, managed by its Everything Channel business.

Canon Communications will launch three 2010 DesignMed events focusing on the medical electronic imaging, diagnostics and interventional device industry sectors. Electronics Design News (EDN) magazine, which Canon recently acquired, will sponsor the events. The DesignMed series will co-locate with Canon’s Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) shows in the U.S. and MEDTEC shows elsewhere around the world. In 2010, the pairings will be with MEDTEC Japan in Yokohama, MEDTEC China in Shanghai, and MD&M Midwest in Rosemont (Chicago)...

The Americas region experienced declines in all three key performance metrics for January 2010, according to data compiled by STR and STR Global. The region’s occupancy ended the month nearly flat with a 0.7 percent decrease to 45.5 percent; the average daily rate fell 6.0 percent to $96.68; and revenue per available room dropped 6.7 percent to $43.98.

The National Meat Association will co-locate their MEATXPO event with the National Grocers Association Annual Convention and Supermarket Synergy Showcase in Las Vegas next February… Canon Communications announced this week it had acquired Reed Business Information's RBI’s Electronic Design News (EDN), Design News, Test & Measurement World and Packaging Digest. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.