NBAA changes name of its largest annual U.S. convention to unify with worldwide co-hosted trade shows and events

WASHINGTON, 10 Feb. 2013. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) in Washington is changing the name of its largest annual U.S. event. Formerly known as the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the annual gathering of the business aircraft community now is called the Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (BACE).

The new name for NBAA’s largest event brings it into alignment with dedicated, business-aviation-only events that NBAA co-hosts around the world, explains Ed Bolen, the NBAA president and CEO.

“NBAA’s largest U.S. show has up to this point been referred to as an annual meeting, but in recent decades, it has grown in size and importance to be much more than just a meeting, and this change reflects that reality,” Bolen explains. "At the same time, the new name retains the term convention, which is familiar to everyone in the industry.”

The first event that would evolve into NBAA’s modern U.S. convention was in September 1947. In the decades since, it has grown into an event that ranks fifth in size for all U.S. trade shows, according to Trade Show Executive magazine, NBAA officials say.

The event draws about 25,000 attendees each year from dozens of countries around the world. More than 1,000 Exhibitors participate, and the show covers more than 1 million square feet of exhibit floor space.

The event also features a side-by-side display of nearly every aircraft type in production, NBAA officials say.

The last NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention was last October in Orlando, Fla. The first Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (BACE) event will be 22 to 24 Oct. 2013 in Las Vegas.

For more information contact NBAA online at www.nbaa.org.