SAINT PETERSBURG, FL – Industry veteran Lewis Shomer, President and CEO of Shomex Productions and Chairman of Abilities Expos, received the prestigious Robert L. Krakoff Industry Excellence Award at a Freeman-sponsored luncheon at the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) CEO Summit held at the Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Robert L. Krakoff Industry Award of Excellence is named in honor of industry legend Robert L. Krakoff, who built and led some of the most successful companies in the exhibition industry. It is the only award given by SISO, and is presented only to the most influential leaders of for-profit companies in the exhibition and event industry. It is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the in-person events industry over the course of their career.
“This award means a lot. I knew Bob and I really liked him. He was an industry leader,” Shomer said. “When he passed away, I was on the board when we decided to give him an award. The irony is that I remember being at the Vinoy in the early 2000s when John Mooney received the first Robert L. Krakoff Leadership Award. We were back at the Vinoy and I didn’t know I was the recipient. It was such a coincidence and a complete surprise.”
Shomer has extensive experience in the trade show industry. He served as executive director of SISO from 2007 to 2015. Prior to that, Shomer served on the SISO board of directors for nine years and served as president for one term. He is a co-owner of Abilities Expo, the nation’s largest producer of exhibits for the disability community.
Shomer holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MBA from the Bernard Baruch Graduate School of Business at CCNY in New York. He began his career at IBM in New York and then joined Honeywell Information Systems in White Plains. He moved to London in 1967 and spent 10 years as vice president of international operations for Computer Investor’s Group, a leading computer rental company. His career in the trade show industry began when Sheldon Adelson hired him as vice president of marketing and sales for the Interface Group, producer of COMDEX, the flagship exhibition that changed the face of the trade show industry.
Shomer is a member of Trade Fair Manager‘s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group guides editorial direction and seeks to shed light on how trade show leaders can embed diversity into their ranks, while improving revenue and reflecting the changing demographics of their audiences.
His diversity experience began in college when he was a member of the country’s only interracial fraternity and includes 20 years as a board member of the NAACP and 14 years as chairman of Abilities Broadcasting.
Contact Lew Shomer at (310) 450-8831, x2 or [email protected]