7,500 expected for 2012 debut
New national energy tradeshow to hit Houston with green power, city hopes itwill rival OTC
Houston will be home to a new energy conference come August 2012, Mayor Annise Parker, GHCVB chairman Jim Mills and tradeshow producer Vinnie Polito announced Thursday morning at City Hall.
Total Energy USA, a tradeshow bringing together exhibitors and professionals from both the traditional petrochemical energy industry and the renewable, clean energy industry will make its debut in Houston October 16 through 18 of 2012, and is expected to draw around 7,500 attendees.
"We are the oil and gas capital of the world, but people need to realize that we're the energy capital of the world," Parker said at Thursday's press conference.
The expo is about fusing traditional petro-chemical energy and the green energy future, Parker said, and there is no better place than Houston to represent that marriage. And although the expo will have a traditional energy presence, it will be powered entirely be green energy, as are all events at the George R. Brown.
Mills compares the inaugural Total Energy USA to Houston's annual hosting of the Offshore Technology Conference. OTC began in Houston in 1969 with a turnout of around 4,200 attendees. In 2011, 78,000 people attended the conference. Mills said he expects a similar growth pattern for Total Energy USA, and producer Polito said he had already contracted an international sales team to grow the conference ahead of its 2012 debut.
Parker emphasized that the conference is a long-term commitment, albeit one with short-term benefits including the requisite tax revenue, increased hotel occupancy and other economic incentives that come with any major trade show.
For more information about attending Total Energy USA or information about becoming an exhibitor, visit the conference's website here.
