With the holiday season upon us, the trade show industry busily continues to grow its ranks and promote from within.

In addition, some long-time people in the industry passed away recently.

Bob Lozier, former executive vice president of sales and director of The Freeman Company, passed away peacefully at his home with his family Dec. 7 after a long-term illness.

Lozier, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, was hired at The Freeman Company by Buck Freeman in 1967 after service in the United States Marine Corps.

After a period of employment with Wernecke Exposition Services and United Exposition Services, Lozier rejoined Freeman in 1984.

Lozier was the ultimate salesperson and was principally responsible Lozier was not only a key contributor to Freeman, but also a close, personal friend of the Freeman family.

Lozier is survived by his daughter, Melanie Lozier Henke, son-in-law, Greg Henke, and his best friend, Joyce Rosinski. A celebration of life will be hosted by the family after the holidays.

After several years of serious illness, Paul Flackett, managing director of the IMEX Group and long-time friend, collaborator and business partner of IMEX Chairman, Ray Bloom, has passed away.

Flackett was considered a great friend and valued mentor to industry colleagues in all corners of the world thanks to a career in the global meetings and events industry that spanned 30+ years.

During his career, he was actively engaged with many industry groups, holding several association leadership positions.

These included MPI, SITE, the SITE Foundation, Destinations International and, poignantly given the timing of his passing, ICCA. In 2004, he was presented with the Moises Shuster Award during the ICCA Congress for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

Lauren Castine and Leah Soluney have both been named event managers at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (MCCNO) – the sixth largest convention center in the nation. In their new capacity, they will be responsible for managing all aspects of the event planning process.

As a liaison between the Center and clients, they will guide clients through event preparation and show set-up, monitor in-house events and oversee all related activities to ensure successful events.

Tradeshow Logic (TL), an event solutions firm whose services elevate the success of associations and show organizers, has brought industry veteran Chris Gowe onboard as vice president of strategic growth.

In this newly created role, Gowe will lead and inspire Tradeshow Logic’s exhibit and sponsorship sales team as they continue to create and deliver products that exceed client revenue goals.

Chris Eisenberg, CEM,  a 16-year veteran of the trade show industry was promoted from senior vice president, Sales & Business Development to executive vice president.

Eisenberg, who is also an attorney, is now joining the ownership group at Bartizan Connects. Eisenberg is certified in Exhibition Management and was the chairman of the Southwest Chapter of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (SWIAEE) in 2014.

VISIT DENVER, The Convention and Visitors Bureau, has announced Cahal Mowery as the organization’s new director of convention sales, leading the mid-market and Executive Meeting Managers (EMM) sales efforts.

At VISIT DENVER, Mowery will be responsible for supporting tactical initiatives to fulfill the Sales Department’s strategies and goals.

He will lead eight sales managers within the mid-market and EMM divisions, and will work closely with the Vice President, Sales & Services and Associate Vice President, Convention Sales as it relates to strategic planning, industry relations, sales plans, forecasts and reporting.

ConvExx, one of the nations' leading trade show and consumer event producers, announced today that Travis Weeks, experienced media and communications professional has joined the ConvExx Sales Team.

Travis has an extensive background in media and sales, most recently vice president of Media at the Goodyguys Rod & Custom Association.

Edlen Electrical Exhibition Services, the nation’s largest independent electrical contractor to the convention and trade show industry, promoted Yuhi Kim to assistant general manager of Edlen’s Mandalay Bay office.

Kim joined Edlen in 2014 with five years of hospitality experience. She quickly moved into the role of event manager, then senior event manager before her promotion to assistant general manager.  

She has worked on the production of events such as the DNC in Philadelphia, JCK, MAGIC, Black Hat USA, VMworld and SupplySide West.

Aquarian, Shepard’s entertainment and production arm, today announced the hire of Chris Cherek as director of sales and as executive producer.

For more than 25 years, Cherek has managed and produced large-scale experiential event programs for a wide-range of corporate customers.

His experiences range from producing a public seminar series throughout North America for speaker and bestselling author Anthony Robbins, managing an experiential take-over of Times Square for Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle brand, the fan experience and VIP galleries for a PGA tournament and a national tour for Kellogg’s Special K.