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FOUR BAY AREA BUSINESSMEN
INDUCTED INTO POPAI HALL OF FAME
Press Release by Eileen Duhné
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(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) POPAI, international trade association for the marketing at-retail industry, inducted four core members of the San Francisco POP Show Committee into the organization’s Hall of Fame at its annual Industry Leadership Conference held in St. Louis, MO on June 7, 2007.
San Francisco Bay Area businessmen John Bourquin, Tom Brugger, Corky Chapman and Chris Lopin were recognized for distinguished service to the SF POP Show Committee at POPAI’s June 7 Night of Honors ceremony: “We honor these four outstanding individuals who, through selflessness and sheer determination, have saved a 50-year old West Coast tradition, ensuring that the longest running POP show in the United States will continue to be a success for years to come.”
Corky Chapman, representing Corky Chapman & Associates in Alameda explained, “This recognition from POPAI, while focused on the four of us, speaks to the hard work of the entire committee in presenting a vital showcase for the work of the West Coast advertising community.”
POPAI, founded in 1936, feted Bourquin, Brugger, Chapman and Lopin for their efforts to keep the San Francisco POP Show, oldest event of its type in the country, alive despite challenging times following the dot-com bust in 2000. While there is no one person in charge of the San Francisco show, POPAI paid tribute to the contributions of these four men who have been working on the show longer than anyone else and are instrumental to the event’s longevity. These four men have collectively contributed over 75 years of volunteer time to ensure the continued success of the show.
In 1953 San Francisco’s POP Show became the first event to focus on the Point of Purchase and retail advertising industries. In appreciation to local buyers who kept their business in the Bay Area, a group involved with the neophyte industry produced the first show. With participation from producer and supplier companies and displays produced for clients such as
Crown Zellerbach, C&H Sugar, Dole Foods, Hills Bros., Schilling Spices, Del Monte,
Burgemeister Beer, Sea & Ski, and Shasta Beverages, the first annual San Francisco POP show was launched. The San Francisco Ad Club quickly became primary sponsor of the show, which has always been an all-volunteer effort.
Through the years the show has taken on different dynamics, morphing from cocktail and luncheon events to two-day exhibitions with company booths and dinners, and then in the 90s to one-day format. In 2000 the Bay Area advertising community was hit hard with the decline of the dot-coms. The resultant drop in membership forced the SF Ad Club, the show’s principal sponsor, to shut its doors, and the venue where the show had been held for over 10 years also closed. The committee had to face the hard question, "what do we do now?"
The future looked uncertain for this nearly 50-year tradition until individual members of the committee, led by Chapman, Bourquin, Brugger and Lopin, stepped in. Determined that "the show must go on," these four, along with three other committee members, reached into their own pockets to raise funds to reserve the venue and contract a caterer. Their motivation was a realization that the show was both a tradition and a showcase for industry efforts. In spite of the financial risk, the decision to keep the show going was quickly ratified.
Today, the San Francisco POP Show is a networking event and vendor showcase for the work performed by Western US producer/suppliers and their Western US clients. Since 2000 this annual event has been fully self-funded and implemented by approximately 10 to 12 volunteers, who all make their livings in the Bay Area Point of Purchase advertising community.
The 2007 San Francisco POP Show will be held October 4, at the Nob Hill Masonic Center, 1111 California Street, San Francisco. For the second year of what will surely become an ongoing addition to the show, POPAI is presenting an informational seminar. This year’s topic is "Building the Brand Experience at Retail."
HOF Group
For further information, please contact:
Eileen Duhné
415.459.2573
EDuhne@comcast.net
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