CLEVELAND, Ohio - Tom Baugh, CEO of Marketplace Events, announced today that the company has signed a contract with the International Exposition Center (I-X Center) in Cleveland to produce a major home and garden show at the facility, February 5 through 14, 2010.  The company has also been selected as the organizer of an annual home and garden show to launch in the spring of 2010 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. 

The new show in Indianapolis will be in addition to the Indianapolis Home Show at the fairgrounds, the nation’s oldest home show, which Marketplace Events also produces.  The new Cleveland show will be the first show produced by Marketplace Events in Cleveland, although the company is headquartered there.  Both Baugh as well as Senior Vice President Lisa Kropf have produced other consumer events in that market in the past, including the Cleveland Home & Flower Show, formerly held downtown at the Cleveland Convention Center, as well as home shows in both Akron and Youngstown, Ohio and most recently, the Food Network Great Big Food Show, held at the I-X Center in Cleveland in 2004. 

The announcement comes on the heels of their purchase of the Denver Spring Home & Patio Show in September of 2008.   “The Denver acquisition, along with new shows in Cleveland and Indianapolis, are exciting additions to our portfolio and fit very well into our long-term growth strategy,” said Baugh.   The company already produces the largest home show in Canada, -- The National Home Show - which is going on now and runs through March 1 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto.   According to Baugh, the 2010 home and garden show in Cleveland will be the largest in the U.S.  

“We are excited that Marketplace Events will be producing the 2010 home and garden show,” said Robert Peterson, president of the I-X Center.  “They are the pre-eminent home show producer in North America, as evidenced by their association with Ty Pennington as their spokesperson and their relationship with many national sponsors.  We expect the home and garden show to grow to an elite status under their vision and leadership."

Marketplace Events has a three-year partnership with Ty Pennington, the popular host of ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition, who will serve as the spokesperson for all of the company’s shows through 2011.    “Our partnership with Ty Pennington is another example of how we are working to grow our business by aggressively and strategically differentiating ourselves from other home show producers, explained Baugh.”

“This partnership makes a lot of sense for me,” explained Pennington.  “People always ask me where they can buy the cool products they see on our show, and the truth is that the best place to find all the basics, plus all the hot new products - all in one place - is  at the type of home shows Marketplace Events produces.”   

Pennington’s very first paid public appearance was booked by Kropf, who now serves as senior vice president for Marketplace Events, at a home show in Akron, Ohio in 2001 - a show that CEO Tom Baugh owned at the time.  “Tom, Lisa and I have kept in touch over the years, and it just made sense now to partner with people I know and trust - people who produce quality events,” explained Pennington. 

“Plus, I think there’s something really cool about an event that brings together big brands we all know, along with small independently owned businesses, new companies trying to launch the next hot product, and local artisans and craftsmen - all willing to stand behind their products and explain what they do.  It’s not for everyone but for people passionate about their home and for someone like me, who’s a major home improvement junkie, it’s an incredible high.”

Pennington appears in the ad campaigns including the radio and TV spots for all shows produced by Marketplace Events and is scheduled to make a rare public appearance at the company’s upcoming show in Denver on March 21, 2009. 

The addition of shows in Denver, Cleveland and Indianapolis brings the Marketplace Events portfolio to a total of 34 annual consumer home shows in 23 markets in North America.   The company’s shows collectively attract 14,000 exhibitors, 1 million attendees and nearly another 1 million unique web visitors annually.  From 12 offices, the 100-person staff produces some of the most successful and longest-running home shows in the U.S. and Canada including shows in Orlando, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.