Grand Slam Events Will Serve Up New Pizza Industry Show In Orlando Next Fall

January 3, 2022

Grand Slam Events is gearing up to launch a new all-inclusive pizza industry event designed to better serve the East Coast and Southern regions of the U.S.: The Pizza Tomorrow Summit. Set to debut Nov. 9-10, 2022 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., the new trade show and conference for the growing and ever-changing pizza industry will be a full-service event bringing together pizza operators, new companies, suppliers, products and initiatives along with a cutting-edge education program. 

According to show officials, attendees of the new event will be able to expect an energetic and immersive experience that will feature a robust exhibit floor with more than 300 exhibiting companies in key vertical segments including food products, foodservice equipment, pizza ovens, technology and services; exciting pizza competitions; and need-based, hot-topic educational content.  

With the show’s convenient location and industry-focused events, operators will find their plates full of everything they need to help propel their business and the pizza industry into the future, according to trade show industry veteran Glenn Celentano, who along with Urban Expositions Founder Doug Miller, founded and co-owns Grand Slam Events.  

“I am beyond excited to bring this new event to the great city of Orlando,” Celentano said. “The pizza industry has remained strong, despite the impact of the global pandemic on foodservice operators around the country, and we want to meet the industry’s needs.”

He continued, “We are launching The Pizza Tomorrow Summit to provide an all-encompassing experience for independent pizza operators and restaurateurs alike. Whatever their needs may be, from exhibitors showing innovative new products, to exciting pizza competitions, to hot-button educational content, operators will find everything they need to succeed in our evolving industry.” 

Celentano added that so far, the response to the new show has been overwhelmingly positive.

While we are expecting 300 hundred booths for our launch year, we have enough room to grow that to 500 if things continue to exceed expectations,” he said. “We have only been actively selling space for about a month and a half, have already secured exhibitors across key vertical segments and expect the momentum to continue after the holidays and into 2022.” 

In order to ensure operators and vendors alike receive the best educational programming and competitions possible, The Pizza Tomorrow Summit will collaborate with PMQ Magazine as an official sponsor, explained Grand Slam Events Co-Owner Doug Miller.  

“PMQ Magazine’s insight and guidance has been invaluable,” Miller said. “As a cornerstone of the pizza industry, PMQ Magazine has a pulse on the industry’s needs and challenges that has helped us fine-tune our programming topics, event content and more.”  

Grand Slam Events is a partnership between exhibition industry veterans Doug Miller and Glenn Celentano, who have garnered nearly 60 combined years of experience running large-scale B2B and B2C events around the country. Miller previously founded Urban Expositions and has successfully launched and grown hundreds of events in a variety of industries, while Celentano has spent more than 25 years running events for global organizations such as Reed Exhibitions and Clarion Events, including 15 years dedicated to foodservice industry trade shows. 

After spending so many years working on and running shows in the foodservice space, Celentano said he had been searching for the right niche to launch something new. But who would’ve thought that COVID would be the inspiring force behind a new trade show?  

“When the pandemic shut everything down, restaurants were shuttered at an unprecedented rate, [and] when my wife and I found ourselves unable to go out to dinner at our favorite restaurants and ordered take-out pizza (AGAIN!), the lightbulb went off,” he explained. “[I thought] this pizza industry is surely big enough to handle an East Coast-based pizza event in addition to the established show that runs out west in Las Vegas.”

Celentano continued, “When we approached PMQ about the idea, they were instantly engaged and told us that the timing is perfect and that they would love to be involved. We next polled potential exhibitors to vet our findings, and they were confirmed. The rest, as they say, is history!”

To learn more about The Pizza Tomorrow Summit, go here or reach out to Glenn Celentano at glenn@pizzatomorrow.com.

 

Don’t miss any event-related news: Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter HERE and engage with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn!

Add new comment

Partner Voices
Less than six months ago, Lisa Messina joined the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) as the first-ever chief sales officer after leading the sales team at Caesars Entertainment. A 12-year Las Vegas resident, Messina is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and serves on MPI International’s board of directors. TSNN had a chance to catch up with this dynamic leader and talk to her about her vision for the new role, current shifts in the trade show industry, creating more diversity and equity within the organization, and advice to future female leaders. Lisa Messina, Chief Sales Officer, LVCVA With Las Vegas becoming The Greatest Arena on EarthTM, what are some of the things you’re most excited about in your role? Our team was at The Big Game’s handoff ceremony earlier this month, and I couldn’t help but think, “We’re going to crush it next year!”  These high-profile events and venues not only drive excitement, but also provide unmatched opportunities for event planners. Allegiant Stadium hosts events from 10 to 65,000 people and offers on-field experiences. Formula 1 Grand Prix will take place in Las Vegas in November, after the year-one F1 race, the four-story paddock building will be available for buyouts and will also offer daily ride-along experiences that will be available for groups. And, of course, the MSG Sphere officially announced that it will open in September, ahead of schedule, with a U2 residency. It’s going to be the most technologically advanced venue as far as lighting, sound, feel, and even scent, and it will be available for buyouts and next-level sponsorships inside and outside. There’s no ceiling to what you can do when you’re doing events in Las Vegas.  Allegiant Stadium As the trade show and convention business returns to the pre-pandemic levels, what shifts are you noticing and how do you think they will impact the industry going forward? Our trade show organizers are very focused on driving customer experience. Most of our organizers are reporting stronger exhibitor numbers and increased numbers of new exhibitors, with trade shows proving to be almost or above 2019 levels. Now our organizers are really doubling down on driving attendance and focusing on the data to provide that individualized, customized experience to help attendees meet their goals and get the best value. Some companies continue to be cautiously optimistic with their organizational spend when it comes to sending attendees, but I think it will continue to improve. As the U.S. Travel Association makes more progress on the U.S. visa situation, we also expect a growing influx of international attendees. What are some innovative ways the LVCVA helps trade show and convention organizers deliver the most value for their events? We focus on customer experience in the same way that trade show organizers are thinking about it. We got rave reviews with the West Hall Expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), so over the next two years, we will be renovating the North and the Central halls, which will include not just the same look and feel, but also the digital experiences that can be leveraged for branding and sponsorship opportunities.  Vegas Loop, the underground transportation system designed by The Boring Company, is also a way we have enhanced the customer experience. Vegas Loop at the LVCC has transported more than 900,000 convention attendees across the campus since its 2021 launch. Last summer, Resorts World and The Boring Company opened the first resort stop at the Resorts World Las Vegas , with plans to expand throughout the resort corridor, including downtown Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium and Harry Reid International Airport. The LVCVA also purchased the Las Vegas Monorail in 2020, the 3.9-mile-long elevated transportation system that connects eight resorts directly to the convention center campus. This is the only rail system in the world that integrates fares directly into show badges and registration. For trade show organizers, these transportation options mean saving time, money and effort when it comes to moving groups from the hotels to LVCC and around the city. Also, the more we can focus on building the infrastructure around the convention center, the more it supports the customer experience and ultimately supports our trade show organizers. Scheduled to debut in Q4, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will offer 3,700 hotel rooms and 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space next to LVCC.  What are some of the plans for advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) within your organization? We’re currently partnering with instead of working with a leading consulting firm, to lay the foundation and create a solid DEI plan and be the leader when it comes to DEI initiatives. The heart of that journey with the consulting firm is also talking to our customers about their strategic approaches to DEI and driving innovation in this space.  What are your favorite ways to recharge? My husband and I have an RV and we’re outdoorsy people. So, while we have over 150,000 world-class hotel rooms and renowned restaurants right outside our doorstep, one of my favorite things to do is get out to Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Lake Mead. Five of the top national parks are within a three-hour drive from Las Vegas, so there’s a lot you can do. We love balancing the energy of Las Vegas with nature, and we’re noticing that a lot of attendees add activities off the Strip when they come here.  Valley of Fire What advice would you give to women following leadership paths in destination marketing? I think it’s about being laser-focused on what you want to accomplish; building a team around you that lifts you and helps you achieve your goals; and being humble and realizing that you do it as a group. No one gets this done alone. Thankfully, there are a lot of women in leadership in this organization, in our customers’ organizations, and in this city that we can be really proud of. We’re a formidable force that is making things happen.   This interview has been edited and condensed. This article is exclusively sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. For more information, visit HERE.