SECO is heading to the Big Easy

I have exciting news to share with you all about the future of SECO. In 2019, SECO will be moving to New Orleans on February 20-24 - the first time we have held a meeting outside of Atlanta since 1957.

I know it is a big change and you are likely wondering why we are making this change now. The driving force behind this move is the fact that Atlanta will be hosting the Superbowl in 2019, which impacted our dates - and the dates of other shows - in such a way as to be cost prohibitive for SECO and for our exhibitors. The Executive Committee and Board of Trustees have been discussing the possibility of rotating SECO around other southeastern cities, and the situation with the Superbowl proved to be the perfect time to make the move.

We are excited to bring SECO to a new city and believe that this move will energize the meeting on all fronts - education, exhibits and events. New Orleans has a recently remodeled, world-class convention center located right on the Mississippi River that will be a terrific host location for SECO 2019. The cost for exhibitors will be lower than in Atlanta as well.

Contracts are being finalized and a public announcement will be made soon. We will be holding our 2019 preplanning meeting in October, which is a few months earlier than usual, so we can hammer out all of the ways that a new site will affect your committees, our attendees and our exhibitors.

I know this move will be a lot to take on, but I’m confident it will be a tremendous success thanks to your dedication to SECO. In the meantime, please let me or Elizabeth know if you have any questions or concerns that we can address right away.