The spacious lobby of the Fontainbleau hotel will welcome NATPE attendees in 2011 Next January, NATPE will be held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. The last time the TV trade show was in this resort town was in 1994, and it wasn’t a great experience. This time around, however, the convention will be different due to its changed focus. After 1994, NATPE went from being a domestic event to an exclusively international marketplace. Miami’s edition will see logistical changes as well, with selling activity moving completely off the convention floor and into a hotel suite trade show set-up. Sixteen years ago, NATPE took up most of the Miami Convention Center area, while the Fontainebleau, the area’s top hotel at the time, was reserved for exhibitors’ entertainment and special events. The international aspect of NATPE has evolved throughout the past few years, from a worldwide exhibition to an almost exclusively Latin American TV gathering. With the Latin American predominance in mind, the 2011 return to Miami may seem ideal, if only with a few caveats. A main concern regarding the Miami location is whether Miami-based TV distribution companies will conduct meetings in their offices rather than at the designated hotel. Locals may also be tempted to go back to these offices at various points in the day, reducing traffic and meeting opportunities. Jose “Pepe” Echegaray, vp International Sales, Latin America at Power Corp. assured VideoAge this would not be an issue for his team. “[We’ll return to the office] only if it is absolutely necessary. The staff needs to focus on the event and the meetings with clients as well as any client needs. We are just a few people in our office, so we need all hands on deck!” Cecilia Rivera of Televisa Internacional expressed a similar sentiment, saying, “We’ll do that if there is a need for it, but we usually have a full agenda during the days of the convention.” Another variable is that in addition to Latin sellers, many Latin American buyers have houses in the Miami area, which may lead them to entertaining participants off-site. Furthermore, a large number of participants, both buyers and sellers, may potentially go home at night rather than staying to mingle with the visiting conventioneers at the hotel. Nevertheless, the fact that Miami-based TV companies will be saving travel and accommodation costs may result in more money being spent on lavish suites and entertainment. Also, it is possible that more people will be in attendance, both from the U.S. and abroad, since many international cities offer direct flights to Miami (as opposed to this year’s Las Vegas destination). These latter factors offer promise for a more successful market than in years past. It’s safe to say that the companies based in the area are looking forward to showing off the new location to all that make the trip. Echegaray said, “It’s been so long since we’ve had NATPE here, not since the ‘90s, that being the host city would energize many of us to entertain outside the hotel.” Sheila Aguirre of FremantleMedia further enthused, “We have an awesome location, so why not show it off? South Beach, Lincoln Road, Miami’s Design District – and I’m certain there will be many who come to Miami frequently who will want to go as far as the Gables to eat at their favorite restaurants.” January is considered high-season by the local travel industry (a “turbo season” as they call it) and so in a sub-tropical resort area like Miami, rates for hotel rooms will be at their highest. All other costs should be comparable to those at NATPE in Las Vegas. On the plus side, the new Fontainebleau offers less bureaucracy (the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas subjects companies to an exorbitant amount of paper work for orders as standard as breakfast meetings). Basing the convention at the Fontainebleau may also present a few challenges. The hotel is located in the middle of the island, a part of Miami Beach that discourages walking, therefore attendees may actually stick around the area rather than taking the $10 taxi ride to popular South Beach for mingling with tourists. Recently, the more than 1,500-room hotel underwent a reported $1 billion renovation, and the results are clearly visible. For one, there are now three entrances — each provided with a checkin counter. Service is good and efficient, a far cry from last time when most of NATPE 1994’s events were held there and the hotel switchboard jammed with the large number of simultaneous incoming calls; restaurants and catering operated at a snail’s pace; limousines couldn’t find drop-off space (at that time, the market featured many U.S. and international TV stars) and taxis were at a premium. The hotel now has a brand new conference area in the main building and four side towers reserved for exhibition suites. Under normal circumstances, it has one breakfast area, two lunch restaurants and four for dinner. However, hotel executives have said that more restaurants will be open for all purposes depending on demand in order to minimize lines and wait times. According to Roberta Annis, the hotel’s senior convention services manager, emergency stairs will be opened if necessary to allow participants to bypass the elevators when going floor-to-floor for the exhibitions suites. She did add though, that at this early stage, the actual set-up is yet to be determined and she will be attending NATPE in Vegas to see how to best serve the needs of 2011’s participants. January is Miami’s busiest season, and many conventions and events tend to be held there. This month, for example, the Fontainebleau will serve as one of Super Bowl 2010’s official hotels, but, fortunately, the event is moving to a different city next year. Taxi rides from the Miami International Airport (MIA) to the Fontainebleau are a flat rate; travel to and from other locations is metered. Despite the fact that the streets of Miami are arranged in a grid system, the city is not easy to navigate since it’s divided into confusing zones like North West (NW), South West (SW), etc. Traffic in Miami is horrendous, particularly during rush hours, which start very early in the morning and intensify later on. This factor may discourage entrepreneurial companies from shuttling people in and out of Miami Beach. V I D E O • A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 1 0 30 N A T P E 2 0 1 1 Miami: Challenges And Opportunities For Int’l TV The outdoor area by the pool at the Fontainbleau
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