IMC Appoints Liz Silver Director of Leasing for Handmade at Las Vegas Market
Furniture World News Desk on
2/7/2018
Silver is a 20-year wholesale craft industry veteran who has held positions with both the American Craft Council (ACC) and George Little Management.
International Market Centers has named Liz Silver (formerly Beauregard) as Director of Leasing on the Las Vegas leasing team for its rapidly expanding artisan-focused HANDMADE category at Las Vegas Market. Silver, 20-year wholesale craft industry veteran who has held positions with both the American Craft Council (ACC) and George Little Management (GLM) will report to Terence Morris, Senior Vice President of gift and Tradeshow leasing, International Market Centers.
“We recognize the growth potential of maker and artisan focused resources at Las Vegas Market, and we are delighted that Liz will expand her current consultative role to help us further develop our HANDMADE resources,” Belshaw said. “I have worked with Liz for years and value her tradeshow industry knowledge, strong personal relationships within the craft industry and proven track record as a business facilitator. As the nation’s fastest growing gift and home décor market, Las Vegas Market is seeing a huge surge in the hand-crafted, global and designer maker segments, and Liz will be instrumental in helping us take HANDMADE to the next level.”
In her new role, Silver will be solely responsible for the strategic growth and development of Las Vegas Market leasing in the HANDMADE temporary exhibits, and collaboratively with Priscila Onou Gilburg for the GIFT temporary exhibits. During her 4.5 years as a part-time sales consultant to IMC, she has expanded HANDMADE to nearly 100+ exhibitors and introduced a new jury process for the category. For the Winter 2018 Las Vegas Market, she was part of the team that successfully restructured the layout of HANDMADE and GIFT temporary exhibits, providing an improved cross-selling experience for buyers.
Prior to joining IMC, Silver was with GLM for nearly 10 years, serving as sales manager for the company’s handmade offerings. Her accomplishments included managing more than 550 exhibitors, creating and developing the emerging maker platform and partnering with several craft organizations to develop channels for artists to begin their wholesale tradeshow business model. Silver also worked as a sales representative for the gift and tabletop segments of NY NOW and the National Stationery Show.
Prior to that, Silver worked for ACC, helping to set up and manage retail craft markets in San Francisco, Baltimore, Charlotte, St. Paul, Sarasota and Atlanta. As part of this, she also assisted with marketing and jurying for applicants with high-end, one-of-kind handmade pieces. Silver holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York-Oswego in communications, along with art history and sociology minors.
“I am energized by Las Vegas Market’s commitment to the artisan community and welcome the opportunity to further cultivate and grow the business,” Silver said. “The maker movement is heightening awareness and increasing demand for unique, handmade merchandise at all levels of the market, and I look forward to working with Las Vegas Market to accelerate the growth of this dynamic and vital category.”
More about Las Vegas Market: Las Vegas Market is the nation’s fastest growing gift and home décor market and the leading furniture marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 4,000+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. The Winter 2018 Las Vegas Market runs January 28 to February 1, 2018. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.
More about International Market Centers, L.P.: Las Vegas Market is produced by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC), the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. International Market Centers owns and operates 12.2 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit http://imcenters.com/.