The Hobby Manufacturers Association and the Craft & Hobby Association Announce Multi-Year Cooperative Exhibiting Agreement
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) and the Hobby Manufacturers Association (HMA) announced today a multi-year cooperative agreement that will provide members in each industry with opportunities to explore and grow their businesses through expansion into complementary markets during 2012 and 2013.
Through the agreement, CHA and HMA will offer reciprocal member discounts for exhibit space at their respective trade shows the 2011 iHobby Expo, October 20-23 in Rosemont, Illinois and the 2012 Expo as well as the CHA Winter Conference & Trade Show held January 29-February 1, 2012 in Anaheim, California. The arrangement will provide exhibiting members of each organization with introductions to a broader range of retail stores while introducing retail buyers to expanded ranges of products and product categories.
“The Hobby Manufacturers Association is pleased to collaborate with the Craft & Hobby Association to increase exhibitor participation at our respective trade shows,” said Michael Bass, President, HMA. “This crossover of product merchandising will expand the buying base and products offered at our respective shows.”
“For years CHA has focused on craft side of the industry while HMA has concentrated on the hobbyist side of the industry. We are very excited about this partnership in that, in a very literal sense it puts the HOBBY back into the craft and hobby industry and inserts crafts into the creative hobbyist market,” explained Steve Berger, President and CEO, CHA. “This cross-promotion will not only provide craft AND hobby retailers with access to new products, ideas and revenue streams but it serves as model for how different sectors of the industry can work together for the common good.”
The CHA-HMA collaboration signifies the launch of a new cross-industry promotional program which could expand to include enhanced retailer education. Both the Hobby and the Craft industries already share a common heritage as both associations hale from the original Hobby Industry Association of America which was founded in 1940 and also share united concerns over important industry issues related to consumer product safety.
ABOUT HOBBY MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (HMA)
The Hobby Manufacturers Association (HMA) is the not-for-profit trade association for manufacturers, importers, publishers, and distributors of all model hobby products and related accessories. Its mission is to promote the public awareness of model hobbies, communicate with and for the members on matters of common interest with a united voice, and to promote trade shows and conventions. For more information, visit www.hmahobby.org.
ABOUT THE CRAFT & HOBBY ASSOCIATION
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is an international, not-for-profit organization consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in the manufacture, distribution and retail sales of products in the $29 billion U.S. craft and hobby industry. The Association offers a broad range of member services, including market research, education, as well as operates award-winning trade show events, the CHA Winter and Summer Conferences and Trade Shows. For more about CHA, visit www.craftandhobby.org.
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