Hurricane Billiards

The 26th Annual Billiard Congress of America (BCA) International Billiard & Home Recreation Expo came to a successful conclusionat the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Buyer attendance for the three-day event was 1,120. The number of companies exhibiting at the event was 116, while the total number of booths was 412. A smaller show to be sure, but exhibitors were pleased with the results. “I was excited to see how well the show turned out and I am very pleased with all of the positive comments that I have received from both exhibitors and buyers,” said Ivan Lee, co-chair of the Expo and 2008-2009 chairman of the BCA Board of Directors. “Informally, the show was a roll-call for the billiard industry and the exhibitors that attended saw a strong show of support from the retail base. Many buyers commented that Las Vegas is the right place for the BCA Expo and they were happy to be back in Vegas. I was also impressed with the Business of Billiards Seminar Series. We had very good attendance at the seminars this year and the information presented was timely and very useful. If you are involved in the billiard industry and didn’t participate in the BCA Expo you missed out,” said Lee. Kicking off the Expo was the BCA’s annual general membership meeting, where results of the 2009-2010 Board of Directors elections were announced: Category 1 (Manufacturer/Distributor) Tom Gregory (Toltec Lighting), three-year term Eric Weber (CueStix International), three-year term Fred Cohen (D&R Industries/Championship LLC), three-year term Skip Nemecek (Tweeten Fibre Co.), three-year term Michael Serra (MBS Group, Inc.), two-year term Thomas Rodgers (Robertson Billiard Supplies), one-year term Category 3 (Room Operator) Danny Kuykendall (Danny K’s Billiards), three-year term In follow-up elections, Ivan Lee of Iwan Simonis, Inc. (pictured) accepted a one-year term as BCA Board chairman, as did each of the remaining seated officers: First Vice Chairman Renee Lyle (American Poolplayers Association); Second Vice Chairman Kathy Vegh (Danny Vegh’s Billiards & Home); Secretary Eric Weber (CueStix International); and Treasurer Karim Belhaj (Predator Group). The remaining directors include: Nick Alexander (Clicks Billiards); George Darafeev (Mikhail Darafeev, Inc.); Barry Hart (Viking Cue Mfg., Inc.); John Petti (Atlas Billiard Supplies); and Tony Stick (The Billiard Factory). “The past year has been turbulent for the economy, as well as for our industry, and leading the Board though this period has been demanding,” said Lee. “However, I will accept the challenge to lead the Board once again and I will work diligently to ensure that the BCA’s key initiatives of enhancing the value of both membership and the BCA Expo will remain in focus. The Board members, individually and collectively, must remain dedicated and committed to the success of the BCA and I am confident that we can work together to accomplish our stated objectives.” The BCA has secured the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2010 Expo, which will take place June 24-26, 2010, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, June 23-25, 2011.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am and is filed under Billiards Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.