20 Mar Nightclub and Bar Show Las Vegas
Each year, the Nightclub and Bar Show brings together hundreds of brands and buyers from around the country to introduce and promote new products from spirits to gadgets. It is sometimes hard to believe how many new products come into the market each year and some are hits but others are misses. Here’s a little taste of the tradeshow floor:
In addition, a variety of other activities took place during the show.
Competitions
Shake it Up, Battle of the Mixologists competition took place in the center of the tradeshow floor. Sponsored by Southern Wine & Spirits of America, the competition was emceed by Francesco Lafranconi and judged by Southern’s Directors of Mixology from around the country: Bridget Albert (Illinois), Jason Girard (Arizona), Allen Katz (New York), David Nepove (Northern California), Tricia Alley (Southern California), Armando Rosario (Nevada), Arturo Sighinolfi (Florida), Michael Trujillo (New Mexico) and Chandra Lucariello (Hawaii). Thirty selected mixologists competed in the first round presenting an original recipe. The top five were then given a secret ingredient (Moscato d’Asti) that they had to use in a cocktail. Josh Harris of San Francisco’s The Bon Vivants took home the first place title and $15,000. Congratulations!
Seminars
A full conference program was offered for all aspects of the bar industry. With five tracts, there were seminars on bartending, marketing & promotions, operations & management, beer & wine/restaurant & bar food and customer experience & liability. Interesting topics were covered including Tobin Ellis’ “It’s Not Drink Design, It’s Drink Engineering”, Ryan Magarian’s “Cocktails and the Five Senses”, Charlotte Voisey’s “Get Fresh”, H. Joseph Erhmann’s Celebrating Bourbon and Lance Mayhew’s “Emerging Spirits”, to name a few.
Events
With daily happy hours to late night Platinum Parties, Nightclub and Bar lived up to the Las Vegas standard. Lil’ Jon performed at XS Nighclub at the Encore, Malibu Red launched at the Marquee Club at the Cosmopolitan Hotel where musician Ne-Yo hosted the Top 100 party celebrating the top 100 nightclubs in the US, and 50 Cent made an appearance at Tao at the Venetian.
Side Note on the Dress Code
Despite the Dress Code in the Show Directory which states that “attendees should avoid wearing any clothing that may be interpreted as promiscuous, provocative or overly suggestive…” and requests that “attendees dress professionally,” it is, after all, a nightclub and bar show.
