Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1952)

r ^ he TESMA TRADE SHOW ^ at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago, November 15-19 . . . in conjunction with the 1952 national convention of Allied States exhibitor organization — An Event of Timely Challenge This year's Tesma Trade Show is to be extraordinary in a number of ways. First of all, it will be the largest exposition of theatre equipment and supplies in the industry's history, which means that it will be the most representative and therefore the most helpful to the people who own, who man, and who design our theatres. Next, it is to be the first such exposition held concurrently with the convention of a national organization of thoatre operators. As the first to join the Theatre Equipment Manufacturers Association in a trade show under the latter's auspices, the Allied States Association of Theatre Owners has inaugurated an arrangement by which the business can enjoy the benefits of an annual comprehensive display of its implements without undue inconvenience and impracticable financial burden. In 1953, the Tesma Trade Show will run day-and-date with the convention of the Theatre Owners of America. Finally, this year's exposition is an event of challenge. A motion picture theatre is a pretty complex institution physically, and at the 1952 Tesma Trade Show will be displayed and demonstrated the latest developments in its materials and tools. If the difficulties of these times have stimulated the energy necessary to deal with them, this year's exhibits will have a record attendance of theatre operators and technicians, from all factions and sectors. In September, two months before the opening day, the number of booths reserved had gone over a hundred, with practically every class of theatre equipment, supplies and services represented. It is such representation of the market that makes an industrial fair the most con Ivenient and economical way to keep posted on the latest implements and methods of one's business. It's all there, in one place, set out for inspection, rigged for demonstra,5 tion, with attendants on hand to give expert explanations and direct, informed answers to your questions — and, it I should be added, to hear from theatre people themselves experiences that may lead to further improvement in design. 1; That's the sort of thing that makes an exposition of this kind invaluable. The theatre operator and his technical aides *; can examine the stuff, see it operating or applied, through all the amazing variety of things that theatre operation involves — and it can be done in a day or two, with a minimum of wear and tear. CIt is stimulating, too. We've question quite a few theatre people at these shows about that. The answer has invariably referred to the exchange of ideas that goes on. When the Tesma trade shows began in 1946, with reactivation of the manufacturers' association after the war, there was little more than tentative promise of what the affair could mean to theatre operators and staffs. By 1949, however, the displays had become spectacular in both scale and variety. At the 1950 exposition in Chicago (none was held last year because of Government restrictions on the business) the function of the exposition, as a source of information and ideas for theatre management, quite overshadowed that of manufacturer-dealer contact. That development promptly suggested, with the force of its obvious logic, that future Tesma shows should be held concurrently with a national convention of theatre operators. And this is the policy that goes into effect in November to give the exposition greater practical significance to the industry as a whole. Action of the exhibitor organizations has made the Tesma show the industry's annual "Show tor Showmen," something that the business should somehow have contrived long ago. And as an industry institution it would come to be of still further service if it could be associated with a group of more or less concurrent conventions, representing all interests of the business. With the amazing array of products that make up a theatre, and with Hollywood sending stars and perhaps new films for preview, the industry could stage an annual exposition of major interest to the public press, which here would be focusing attention upon the technical and creative marvels which make this industry great. In the meantime, the exhibitor-manufacturer-dealer arrangement that we have is an important achievement. Every theatre operator and technician who can go should be at the inaugural of it in Chicago next month. — G.S. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER II, 1952