MARKET AMERICA TO GATHER IN A BIG WAY
The Greensboro company’s international convention will fill the coliseum for four days.
By Donald W. Patterson
GREENSBORO – The Gate City can’t claim many conventions like the one Market America will put on Thursday through Sunday at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
The event attracts an international crowd, fills the coliseum with more than 25,000 people and comes back year after year.
“Other big conventions rotate,” said Henri Fourrier, president and CEO of the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are very fortunate that Market America, a local company, chooses to have its international convention here year after year. That is very significant.”
The event will pump $21 million into the local economy.
“Sure, a lot of that comes in the form of paying for hotel rooms,” Fourrier said. “But in addition, they are eating in our restaurants, shopping in our stores and visiting our attractions. They are leaving significant dollars in our community.”
Market America, a product brokerage company based in Greensboro, works with what it calls “a global community of entrepreneurs” who sell its products to individual networks of consumers.
The company now has operations in Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom, in addition to the United States.
The event gives the company a chance to show off technological advances, social media enhancements and new product lines.
A company official said the convention will attract people from every state and six foreign countries.
“We can’t get any more in there,” Loren Ridinger, senior vice president said about the annual turnout. “We need a bigger coliseum.”
In addition to Greensboro, Market America holds another annual convention in MIami, plus two each in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
This will mark the 19th year that Market America has held a convention in Greensboro. But this will the first gathering since the company announced in December that it had acquired Shop.com, a comparison-shopping engine based in Monterey, Calif.
Shop.com helps customers find products and compare prices by using sophisticated software.
During the convention, Market America will announce a new partnership with the Home Shopping Network. Ridinger will introduce an exclusive new jewelry collection to be sold through HSN beginning in December. Mindy Grossman, chief executive of HSN, also will attend.
The convention typically brings celebrities to the city. Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez and Eva Longoria have attended in the past.
This year’s celebrity list will include NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, plus Los ANgeles Lakes forward Lamar Odom and his wife, Khloe Kardashian.
A convention like that pleases local businesses.
“I wish they would come every month,” said Mo Milani, executive vice president of the Koury Corp. “They spend lots of money. They are all over this town.”
COO Marc Ashley got his second standing ovation of the weekend, this time for introducing the phenomenal next phase of our SHOP integration. A new shop.com portal, comparison shopping, eGift, registry, customized price alerts and more are on the way for World Conference 2012 in Miami! Marc also announced that Market America products are now on over 120 active websites, including stores like Sears. It exposes an entire new customer base to our brands and brings thousands of people to your portal, every single day.