Sep 16, 2008

Educational seminars, tours by industry experts during NEOCON East

Baltimore – NeoCon East, the premier exposition in the Mid-Atlantic region for the design and management of the built environment, returns October 29-30, 2008 to the Baltimore Convention Center. The show features two exciting days of new products, special events, educational offerings, tours and keynote speakers.

A highlight of this year’s show are two industry expert keynote speakers, Iris Amdur and Stephen Apking.

Amdur is the principal of Greenshape, LLC and has helped more than 100 project teams achieve their sustainability goal. Attendees will join her at noon on Oct. 29 as she discusses regional market transformations, provides a strategy for identifying value-added design solutions and shares case study examples of several influential projects.

Apking, interior design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, designed the U.S. Census Bureau’s new headquarters, applying the latest corporate-workplace thinking to a government agency while being one of the most sustainable offices in the country. Speaking at noon on Oct. 30, he will be joined by Susan S. Szenasy, editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS magazine, to discuss the $331 million LEED Silver project.

NeoCon East boasts more than 30 CEU-accredited seminars and association forums. The programming is designed to enhance the show experience for attendees, providing them with unique educational opportunities to expand industry knowledge and keep current with the latest trends in interior design and architecture.

NeoCon East is a registered trademark of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.

Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI) is a trade show, leasing and property management firm, specializing in managing buildings devoted to wholesale showrooms and commercial office space. MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year.

MMPI manages The Merchandise Mart and 350 W. Mart Center in Chicago; Market Square, the Suites at Market Square, Hamilton Market, Plaza Suites, Furniture Plaza and the National Furniture Mart in High Point, N.C.; the Architects & Designers Building and 7 W New York in New York; the Boston Design Center; the L.A. Mart in Los Angeles; and the Washington Design Center and Federal Center Southwest in Washington D.C.

Vornado Realty Trust, owner of MMPI, based in New York City, is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust. Vornado’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and are traded under the symbol VNO.