NATPE buyers, delegates up as Miami event winds up

NATPE says it has rebounded from several tough years after 4,504 people registered for the 2011 event in Miami. That represented a 22% increase on attendance a year ago in Las Vegas. NATPE president Rick Feldman told TBIvision that about a third of attendees were from outside of the US – many of those were from Latin America.

NATPE said that 702 buyers were in Miami, a 94% year-on-year increase.

Organisers made a conspicuous effort to keep conference and social activities concentrated in a small area giving the show a busy and buzzing feeling and reducing the need for long walks between meetings, which had become a feature of the show in Vegas. However, congestion around lifts in the Tresor Tower in the host hotel the Fontainebleau caused distributors and buyers a major headache, especially on the Monday of the event.

Warner Bros. is one of the companies that escaped the elevator problems by being the only studio located in a separate wing of the hotel. The other major studios were all in attendance, but were working out of the Tresor Tower. NATPE has agreed a two-year deal to move to Miami and Feldman said it  now has a 30-day period to work through logistical issues and sign a new deal with the hotel.

Chris Grant, President, Shine International, and Jordan Levin, CEO, Generate, will serve as co-chairs of NATPE, replacing Lionsgate’s TV boss Kevin Beggs, who has served his three-year tenure. Grant said he will continue to push for the broadening out of the event and the conference programme to cover more widely digital and next-generation media as well as advertising and branding.