In this special episode of Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch’s Vending & OCS Nation podcast, presented in cooperation with ACE – the Atlantic Coast Exposition, host Bob Tullio sits down with Timmy Brewer, a 13-year Canteen North America veteran and chair of ACE 2026, for a preview of ACE Around the World.

One of the biggest changes this year? ACE wants to become a true buying show.

Brewer explains why operators should arrive with a shopping list and be ready to talk directly with suppliers, brokers and distributors about new products, equipment, coffee programs and special ACE show deals. The goal is simple: create meaningful conversations that can translate into real business opportunities.

But the buying-show emphasis is only part of the story. Brewer takes listeners through a packed ACE schedule that includes educational sessions addressing legislative issues, cost pressures and the human side of AI, along with an energetic keynote from Jake Failing, Carolina Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes hype man.

There’s also golf, live music, the ACE Honors Breakfast, a cornhole tournament and, of course, the always memorable ACE party. This year, it is built around the wide-open creative possibilities of the ACE Around the World theme.

For operators who have never attended ACE before, Brewer has a simple challenge: give it a try. At a $99 operator registration price, he is confident that the combination of education, contacts, buying opportunities and industry camaraderie delivers tremendous value.

No time to listen? Prefer to read? Here is an edited podcast transcript:

Bob Tullio: This episode of Vending & OCS Nation is presented in cooperation with ACE, the Atlantic Coast Exposition.

ACE has built a reputation as one of the convenience services industry’s most energetic and well-organized regional events, bringing operators, suppliers and industry leaders together for education, networking, new ideas and of course, plenty of fun.

This year’s ACE is raising the bar again with ACE Around the World, and there’s an important new emphasis: Making ACE a true buying show, where operators can discover new products and equipment, connect directly with suppliers and brokers, and find show deals that can make an immediate impact on their business. There’s also a strong educational lineup, a high energy keynote, golf, networking, the always popular ACE party, and an opportunity to spend a few days with some of the best people in the convenience services industry.

My guest today is Timmy Brewer, a 13-year Canteen veteran and chair of ACE 2026. Jimmy takes us inside this year’s event, explains what’s new and makes a pretty compelling case for why operators, including those who have never attended ACE before, should put this show on their calendar.

So, what can you expect from ACE Around the World? Let’s find out. Here’s my conversation with Timmy Brewer.

Bob Tullio: Timmy, I have always been impressed by the hard work that the regional associations do, and certainly you folks at the ACE take it to a higher level. But following Viva Las Aces theme and ACE in Space, this year, it’s ACE Around the World. I have got to assume: It’s kind of a fun meeting when you guys get together to figure out your themes. Am I right?

Timmy Brewer: Absolutely, Bob. You know, coming off last year’s show, we immediately start planning for this year’s show. We meet monthly, even right after the show, to kind of digest how the show went, things we thought we could improve upon, some areas of opportunity for us. But immediately following the show, we’re already looking at things for next year, which is what we’re discussing is this year’s show.

So yeah, it’s definitely a fun meeting. A lot of ideas get turned in by a bunch of different people. You know, there’s 20 people on our planning committee. So, everybody’s got a different direction they think we should go. But once we start throwing those ideas out there and really talking about them, we kind of come to a general consensus, and what we ultimately do is we get it down to the top four or five, and we vote on it. We kind of really see what people think would be a fun theme for — not only for us operators and the committee —  but also from a supplier standpoint or anybody exhibiting. What would be fun for them for how they dress up their booth, how they portray the theme? And it’s always really interesting to see people spin on what our theme is.

Bob Tullio: There are three different state associations involved. Talk to me about that.

Timmy Brewer: Yep, so those state associations are Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. So, we have representatives from each state that make up part of the planning committee. Regionally, based on state, each person has a different set of ideas based on their constituents, if you call it, or the operators that fall within those states. So, it’s always really good to get together. It’s what makes ACE so unique is the makeup and the diversity that we have brought together by those three state associations.

Bob Tullio: What should an attendee expect related to the ACE Around the World theme?

Timmy Brewer: So really, one of the things that we pride ourselves in with the theme is it’s all subject to interpretation. As years pass, some of them were a little bit more defined, so to speak. You know, when you think about ACE in Space, you think about astronauts and, you know, Star Wars or Galactica or something like that. But with Around the World, we think about just how diverse the vending industry is, between all the different operators, suppliers, brokers, everybody collectively make the show up. But, we all have a very different and diverse background.

Whether you’ve been coming to the show for 20 years or this is your first time attending, I think you’re really going to feel the creativity come out, and you’re really going to feel welcomed. But ultimately, we want people to walk away from the show going, “Wow, you can tell the time — you can tell the intentionality that was put into this.” And we really want everybody to walk away going, “Man, this was a great show. This was a great use of my [time],” — two, three, four days, however early you come in to experience the show.

Bob Tullio: Well, one of the things I always hear about this show is that it is very, very well organized and, as you say, intentionally put together. But talk to me about the mission of the show. What are the top priorities besides entertainment and fun, of course? What would you say are the top priorities associated with the show?

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, there’s several priorities that I think that we really try to outline, and when we’re planning, that we try to envision for the show.

Number one is we want operators, suppliers, brokers — everybody that comes together collectively — to be able to really network and have meaningful conversations about our industry. Whether you’re looking for certain specific products, whether it’s equipment based, whether you want to learn more about the legislative process — the things that’s going on in the industry — all of that’s wrapped up into what we’re trying to do with the ACE Show.

But one of the biggest things, Bob, that I kind of wanted to highlight for this year is: As a group, we’ve sat down, and we’re constantly looking for ways. How do we make ACE better? How do we change it up a little bit from the prior year? Se never want the show to feel it’s gotten stagnant or stale.

So, one of the things we’re really pushing this year is we want this to be a buying show. We want people to come in and feel like they can talk with brokers, with suppliers. What is something that you need to kind of elevate your business? Is it new coffee options? Is it new equipment options? Is it new products? This is something that we’re really trying to push this year that ACE is going to become more of a buying show.

Bob Tullio: And that means that the show puts a little bit more emphasis on the exhibitor section as well.

Timmy Brewer: Correct. You know, we really want the operator to come and have their shopping list and say, “Hey, what’s your ACE deal?”

Along with this being a buying show, we’re really pitching it to the suppliers, the brokers, the distributors to say, “Hey, you’ve got a captive audience. What kind of ACE show deals do you have this year?” As an operator, whether you’ve come multiple years or this is your first year, we want someone to really walk up and go, “Hey, this is what I’m looking for. This is what my customers are requesting. What kind of deals are you offering? What’s different about this year than prior years?” And our hope is, through those meaningful conversations, that the operator leaves feeling that they got a deal, but also that the broker, the distributor, or the supplier feels like, “Man, I was able to sell more items this year” through those meaningful conversations.

Bob Tullio: I’m hearing from a lot of people that the venue is really fantastic. The show has been around since 1955, and people say this is one of the best venues you’ve had. Tell us a little bit about the venue itself.

Timmy Brewer: Yep. So Bob, we do it at the Kingston Plantation. There’s a large conference room area. There’s a lot of show floor to where we can suppliers, distributors, brokers, they set up. There’s a lot of common areas where people can sit down and just have a conversation. Bar restaurant is great, but I think the biggest piece of ACE that we really want to pitch is we’re going to have conversations on the ACE floor. We’re going to talk. But a lot of things that happen after hours are some of the best parts of ACE. You get to have meaningful conversations. You get to make lifelong friends. You get to have really that camaraderie with your peers that you may not see all the time.

You know, this may be the only time that we all collectively get together outside of maybe a couple other shows or some type of regional meeting or something, but it really is an opportunity for people to get together to talk, but also conduct business at the same time. So I think that’s where it’s such a meaningful show is you kind of mix the business piece with the friendship piece, and it’s just a really, really good time. I’ve been coming to the ACE show now, this will be my seventh year. And I can’t think back to any show where I felt like we didn’t do it right. We didn’t have a good time, it felt lackluster. I feel like we’ve elevated the experience every year.

Bob Tullio: Well, there’s a lot of excitement around your very energetic keynote speaker, Jake Failing. Give us a rundown on Jake.

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, Jake is just a great guy, great human being, and a very, very good motivating and captivating speaker. So a couple of years ago, his wife, Paige Failing, was actually our keynote speaker. She’s a former Charlotte-area news anchor, very, very charismatic. And every year, we’re looking for a keynote speaker that can bring the energy, can really excite people, especially at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning. And something that people may not know about Jake is he’s the Carolina Panthers hype man. So, he’s used to being in the public spotlight. He’s used to motivating people. And this year, he was also the hype man and did some work for the Carolina Hurricanes, which won the Stanley Cup this year. So he was able to hype those fans up as well.

And really what Jake is going to do for us is, his presentation is on “Hype is not just for halftime.” How do you apply that to the workplace? How do you motivate your associates every day to give the very best product to your customers day in and day out, even when they may not feel their best? So, we’re really excited to see what he brings.

Not to get too far off topic, but one of the educational sessions outside of the keynote speaker, Jake and Paige Failing are actually gonna do a joint session really around AI, because AI is really transcending our environment, especially in the vending, coffee, micro market, equipment space. So really looking forward to not only him as part of the keynote speaker, but as part of the education session as well.

Bob Tullio: Wow, that’s some solid content for a regional show. That’s impressive, but that’s what people expect from ACE now. You guys set the bar high. You keep on delivering.

Timmy Brewer: Yes, sir.

Bob Tullio: What are the highlights of the show day by day?

Timmy Brewer: Thursday is kind of set up for the show for the suppliers, distributors [and] exhibitors. That’s really the setup day, but we do the golf tournament on Thursday. That starts at 11 o’clock, and that usually runs to four to five, just depending upon, you know, the length of time and how many golfers and, you know, to wrap up everything. So, the golf tournaments at Beachwood Golf Club this year. If you have not registered for the golf, we’d love to have you. We’re still looking for registrations and participants, so please feel free to reach out to us. And if you’re a supplier or distributor, we’d love to have you sponsor, whether it’s a golf hole or something in that capacity. We can give you some more info on that. So really on Thursday, setup of the show and the golf tournament. Then that night —

Bob Tullio: Before we go to that night, I gotta ask you — Last year, Chet Cromer, he told me he was a really big hitter, you know, a long ball kind of guy. Timmy, are you the guy you want to have on that scramble team to hit those bomb drives?

Timmy Brewer: I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.

Bob Tullio: There you go.

Timmy Brewer: Chet’s a great guy. I do enjoy playing golf, and I will be there. I will be playing, but can’t tell you I’m gonna be the longest hitter in the group. We’ll just say that.

Bob Tullio: Well, in truth, Chet didn’t play last year. He’s not a golfer, but he gave me a tip on you. So, I think the money’s gonna be on your team, no question about it. But, let’s talk about Thursday night after the golf.

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, so Thursday night, people can register for the show from two to six on Thursday. So if you are coming into Kingston, and you want to go ahead and register, that will be open from two to six. We do have some special music playing at the bar location by Andy Velo. Andy Velo is a Nashville country recording artist, and that’s sponsored by Monster Energy. So that will be from nine to 11 on Thursday night. So, if you happen to come in early, please stop by and take part in that. We had a really, really good time last year. Andy brought the energy, and we look forward to doing that again this coming Thursday.

Going into Friday, we’re really getting into kind of the heart of the show. We do the educational sessions. They start at nine o’clock on Friday. Those go from nine to essentially a little after 12. And we have three really good sessions this year. We’re going to give a legislative update first. That will be in conjunction with the local state legislatures as well as NAMA. The second session will be on navigating cost pressures because in our industry right now, inflation and cost pressures are kind of a hot button topic, and really at top of everybody’s mind. So we’ll have an educational session on that. And then from, you know, to kind of close us out, Jake and Paige Failing are going to do an educational session on the human side of AI. AI is coming extremely fast, whether it’s from a business perspective or personal. So there’s a lot of kind of uncertainty around that. So, they’re going to kind of give a quick rundown on kind of the human side of AI, but also how it can be applicable to business as well.

After the educational sessions, we do the ribbon cutting for the ACE show floor, 12:30. And then the show floor is gonna be open from 12:30 to 5:30 on that Friday.

On Saturday, the show floor will be open from 10 to one, but prior to the show floor opening, we will have the ACE Honors Breakfast. That goes from 8 am to 9;45, which will feature our keynote speaker, Jake Failing.

After that, once the show floor ends at one o’clock, we do have a [---] tournament that’s sponsored by Coca-Cola and Monster Energy that runs from two to five o’clock on Saturday.

As far as the contents of the actual show, that’s really where things kind of wrap up and people were kind of on their own free time after that.

Bob Tullio: But then the party begins.

Timmy Brewer: That’s when the party begins.

Bob Tullio: So it was pretty obvious what the themes were with ACE in Space, no question about it, because you guys like to dress up for these parties. I mean, you guys like some costumes for this stuff. I know that’s a fact. And ACE in Space was obvious. We had a lot of space outfits. And then, of course, there was how many Elvises did you have? The under/over was 12. So I don’t know if we hit that or not, but that was for Viva Las ACES show. So for Viva Las ACES, clearly it was all about the Elvises. I can’t even imagine what the under/over was on the Elvises.

What do you think is going to be the most popular costume with this theme?

Timmy Brewer: You know, Bob, every year we kind of speculate what we think the costumes will be. And like you mentioned, some years it’s a little bit easier to predict than others. This year, if I had to go over under on a costume, I would probably go flight attendant. If I had to pick one, that was probably the easiest. And that may be the one that we see most prevalent for this year’s party.

Bob Tullio: But I would not have come up with that. Maybe pilot, I suppose, too. Sure.

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, pilot. But that’s the beauty of it, is that we’re able to give people the creativity to bring their own flair to the party. So really, really interested to see what we get. And honestly, I’ve been thinking about my own personal costume and haven’t quite come up with what I’m going to do this year. But I’ve been thinking about it the last couple of weeks, and I’ll try to come up with something good as well.

Bob Tullio: Well, I thought maybe you were going to reveal that on this podcast, but we’re not quite ready for that, are we, Timmy?

Timmy Brewer: No sneak peek quite yet.

Bob Tullio: I know that NCVA and VAMA both award drivers and technicians. Now, all three associations typically announce their scholarship winners. Now, you raise money to benefit generally what, is it children of operators and suppliers? Tell us about that.

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, scholarship is something that is really near and dear to us. Having come up through the industry, I’m a second generation, have come up in the business. My dad did it for four decades. It’s really important for me — and something that I really take to heart — is we need young people in this business. There have been so many great pioneers and giants in our industry that it’s important for us to carry on the legacy and to carry on the business of vending, micro markets, coffee, refreshment services, something very near and dear to me, something I take very personal. And we’re able to give back through scholarship. There’s people that have been in this business and still around, you know, 40, 50 plus years that my generation really looks up to. And our hope is, is that by coming to the ACE show, whether it’s through a parent, whether it’s through an operator, partner, we really hope that people take the opportunity to apply for the scholarships and use those funds to further their education. And it would be even sweeter if they stay within our industry as well.

Bob Tullio: Why do you think this show is so important for operators?

Timmy Brewer: I think that any time that you can get around people in the industry, we’re like sponges. We can learn something from everybody. Nobody has the best mousetrap all the time. And even though there is some level of competition among companies, I think one of the things that ACE does really well is they bring everybody together. If I had to put it just pretty simply, for $99, I don’t know if you’re gonna get a better benefit for several days worth of time.

Bob Tullio: So if you’re an operator that comes to you and says, “You know, I’m on the fence, Timmy, I’m so busy, you really think it’s absolutely makes sense for me to come to the show?” That’s your response: “For 99 bucks, you can’t beat what you’re getting at this show.”

Timmy Brewer: Absolutely, I would challenge any operator that’s never been to ACE. For $99, come one time. And if you leave unsatisfied, I would question, did you really get the most out of the show? Did you attend the educational sessions? Did you really have meaningful conversations with all of the distributors, suppliers, brokers? Because there are so many great people in this industry. I don’t think that you could get a better deal.

Bob Tullio: Well, and you’re obviously doing something right because operators are coming from a wider area, year after year, and my understanding is the overall numbers are up.

Timmy Brewer: Yeah, we continue to make the show bigger and better. We keep a pulse check on how many people have registered, how many people have signed up to exhibit the show, how many people are coming, and the numbers continue to increase. Just before I got on this call with you, I wanted to get the most updated information. We’re at pre-COVID numbers as far as registrations go. I think this is going to be a great year.

Bob Tullio: Sounds like things are going in the right direction. You probably get this question once in a while from newer operators. Does this show make sense for me since I’m so new in the industry?

Timmy Brewer: Absolutely. Whether you’ve never been to an ACE show or you’ve been coming for 20-plus years, I feel like everybody can get something out of the show, no matter what. If anything, you’re going to leave with some very valuable contacts of people you can reach out to, people that you can ask questions about, whether you have a question on equipment, whether it’s about product. Contacts with people on the educational side that maybe can help you down the road. Everybody can get something out of the show, no matter what.

Bob Tullio: How do operators and suppliers learn more about the ACE 2026 show, ACE Around the World?

Timmy Brewer: So anybody that wants to learn more about the ACE show, feel free to reach out to myself, Beth Bowen, Michelle Thomason, they are the show directors. I’m the ACE Chair, but also for anybody that just wants to inquire information wise, you can always view the website at www.AtlanticCoastExpo.com.

Bob Tullio: Timmy, thanks for coming in and congratulations on what is sure to be a very successful 2026 ACE Show, ACE Around the World.