Fall 2020 PCA Magazine

46 PCA The Magazine | AUTUMN 2020 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG The 2021 Annual PCA Convention and Trade Show is slated for July 10–13 at the Sands Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. With the 2020 show canceled owing to COVID-19, we thought it’s never too early to start getting excited about next year’s show. So to start off the countdown, we talked with Scott Regina, PCA’s treasurer and chairman for the trade show committee, to get his behind-the-scenes insights on what will be one of the most impactful PCA show in years. PCA: Why is the PCA trade show so important? SR: Now, more than ever, it is tremendously important that retailers attend the show. PCA hosted a virtual town hall meeting in October to review and explain JudgeMehta’s decision in August that ruled the FDA had violated the Administrative Procedure Act against the premium cigar industry. This was a huge decision, providing immediate relief tomanufacturers and importers of premium cigars. Let the floodgates open for new and innovative products, right? As PCA’s treasurer, I was tasked with explaining the finances during the town hall meeting. Between PCA and the Cigar Rights of America, we’ve spent north of $25million over the last 10 years on advocacy and litigation at the state and federal levels. Our efforts led to Judge Mehta’s decision. And the only way we’ve been able to fund those efforts is because of the success of our annual trade show. Think of it in a circular pattern: The success of our trade show is dependent on retailer attendance. If retailer attendance is strong, our associatemembers will exhibit. PCA generates a profit from those exhibitors and then that money goes right back into keeping retailers in business. That’s why the PCA trade show is themost important show each year for our industry. And that’s why the 2021 show is so important to attend. So how are you managing exhibitors for the 2021 show? Basically, we took what we had in the works for 2020 in terms of show floor layout and we condensed it a bit, from three halls to two, but in terms of exhibitors and booth placement, we took that 2020 show floor plan and transposed it over to 2021. We gave every vendor the option to get their deposit back for the 2020 show or have us keep it for 2021. I didn’t knowwhat to expect and I was worried we’d bemaking a ton of refunds. But in the end, I think something like 85 percent said: “No problem. Keep it. Roll it over to 2021.” So the benefit for those vendors who did that is their rate stays the same and they have first choice for booth location. Then, once we get done with everyone who held their reservation, we’ll start going through the second part of the list, which is anyone who decided to cancel their reservation, or someone who exhibited in the past and hasn’t booked space yet. And anyone who didn’t keep their money in, they’ll be paying the 2021 rates. S H O W Q & A B Y G R E G G I R A R D