Atlantic Coast Exposition 2025 promises high-impact networking for Southeast convenience services operators

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Bob Tullio: I have always been impressed by the hard work done by regional associations and the convenience services industry, especially when they host a regional gathering.

Without question, the Atlantic Coast Exposition, the ACE show sets the bar about as high as it can go, although the more I learn about the event, which is sponsored by three state associations — the North Carolina Vending Association, the South Carolina Vending Association and the Virginia Automatic Merchandising Association — the goal seems to be let’s make this year’s show even better than last year’s show. Not an easy task, but the organizers seem to find a way, and they have some fun with the themes of the ACE Show. Last year, it was ACE in Space. In 2025, it’s Viva Las Aces.

In this episode, presented in cooperation with the Atlantic Coast Exposition, we take a look at their 2025 trade show, October 9-11 at the Embassy Suites, Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach. I sat down with the ACE 2025 show chair Chet Cromer of Cromer Food Services, located in South Carolina, to discuss the exciting program that Cromer and his team have put together for the October show.

Bob Tullio: Following last year’s ACE in space theme, the 2025 theme is Viva Las Aces. I’d like to be in on the meeting when you guys are figuring out your themes.

Chet Cromer: Absolutely.

I’ll just start off by telling you we consist of members from our three sponsoring state vending associations, and those members are operators, suppliers and other professionals within the industry. We meet at least monthly online, and probably two to three times a year in person to plan the show.

One of the very first things we do is to decide on the theme. So, for ACE, the theme has to be fun first and foremost, but one that also promotes our mission and sets the tone for education and entertainment and everything about the show. We ask committee members for their input. You know, we’ll get all kinds of ideas thrown out there, but eventually two or three will rise to the top, and we’ll vote. And that’s how we come up with the theme.

Bob Tullio: So, tell me what the attendee should expect related to that Viva Las Aces theme.

Chet Cromer: Our thinking was, this year we wanted to promote the idea that our operators, suppliers and other professionals could win in this industry, and of course, Las Vegas conjures up ideas and images of winning big. And also, since the name of our show is ACE — the Atlantic Coast Expo — and the single best card that you can hold in a deck is an ace, one of our committee members suggested the theme, Viva Los Aces, and that stuck.

Bob Tullio: Seems like a good idea. It’s good to win. It’s always good to win, that’s for sure.

Chet Cromer: Absolutely.

Bob Tullio: So, tell me about the history of the show. How has that evolved?

Chet Cromer: I’ve been involved since I was about 10 or 15 years old. I would travel with my family to the show.

The history of the show, of course, goes back much, much further than that. The show began in 1955 as the Carolinas Virginia Vending Convention and Exhibit, and the person who really put her mark on the show was Barbara Short. I never knew Barbara personally, but Barbara was one of the early architects of what later became ACE. She served as convention director and director emeritus of the Carolinas Virginia Vending Convention from 1971 until her retirement in 1996.

Later, she was the first recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, and today, that award still bears her name.

As has been the case for the past several years, we’re at Kingston Plantation, and I have to say, I really believe this is the best location.

The best attribute is that we’re all together. You’ve got the meeting space, the show floor, the hotel condominiums you can rent. Everything is on one property. It promotes a lot of networking and camaraderie among the attendees.

Bob Tullio: So, is there a lot of excitement around the keynote speaker, mentalist Bryce Harney?

Chet Cromer: I’ll have to admit, at first, I didn’t even know what the term or concept mentalist was. I did some research. I found out that a mentalist is a type of magician who uses very subtle tricks to understand their audience better. In magic, this could be having the person shuffle a deck of cards and choose a random card out of the deck, without showing the magician. Then the magician would guess the card correctly.

Bryce has tweaked his presentation to our industry, and he plans to teach us ways to better understand and communicate with employees and customers while giving us a magic show at the same time.

Bob Tullio: He’s able to pick up cues, is that right? And he kind of teaches you how to react to cues yourself?

Chet Cromer: Exactly. And you know, by learning how to see those cues in your employees or customers, you can be better positioned to answer them or to interact with them.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. Talk to me about the highlights of the show day by day.

Chet Cromer: It’s a pretty full schedule, but I’ll start with Thursday. So, Thursday, October, the 9th, beginning at 11 a.m., we’ll have our ACE best ball golf tournament. For the past two years, our golf event has been held at the Myrtle Beach Top Golf, and it’s been a huge success. But this year, we’re returning to a traditional golf course. We’ll be located at the Beechwood Golf Club, and we will have different companies sponsoring each hole. We’re planning great prizes for our top golfers, including a chance to win a new car for anyone who happens to shoot a hole in one.

Bob Tullio: That’s always nice. Chet, are you a big hitter, or is it all about the short game for you?

Chet Cromer: Actually, I am not a golfer at all. So I will be there, but I will not be playing.

Bob Tullio: OK, so the car is safe, at least from you.

Chet Cromer: From me? Yes.

So, after the golf tournament, registration will be open at the ACE Command Center, which is in the lobby of the Embassy Suites Hotel. Later Thursday evening, the North Carolina Vending Association will be hosting a pack reception.

And then, as we move on to Friday. Friday morning is when we offer our main education sessions, so I would certainly encourage everyone to attend beginning at 9 a.m. We’ll start our morning off with a federal and state legislative update. We’re going to hear from Michael Hogue from NAMA, and then he’ll give us a report on the industry from a national perspective. After him, we’ll also hear from our three state lobbyists, Dick Carlton from North Carolina, Annie Wilson from South Carolina and Jeff Smith from Virginia. And they’re going to focus on things impacting us at a state level.

And then after a short break at 10:00 AM, we’ll have our second education session. This is going to be a panel discussion titled “Using social media to build your business.” It’s sure to be informative and something that should not be missed. At 11:20, we’re looking forward to hearing from the smart guy Anthony Denino on communication and leadership, and his talk will be titled “Dispensing Excellence, Precision, Hiring and Leadership across Generations.” Anthony is going to talk to us about the differences between hiring a 20-year-old versus hiring someone who’s 55, and the different approaches you have to use

At 11:30 a.m., a box lunch right outside of the education venue, which is the Windsor Ballroom, and then at 12:25 at the very front of the exhibit floor, we’re going to have a ribbon cutting, and this will open the official exhibit hours. They’ll be open until 5:30 that day.

Bob Tullio: The exhibit opening gives operators and guests an opportunity to interact with suppliers, is that correct?

Chet Cromer: So much so, absolutely. And we’re planning exhibit hours both on Friday and Saturday. It’s really very good for networking. It’s excellent for just meeting other operators that you don’t know or meeting exhibitors that you possibly haven’t met before and making those relationships, creating those relationships that can help you down the road.

One of the things that’s always popular during exhibit hours is the ACE bar. We will have a bar again this year during floor hours. Drink tickets will be given out. If that’s not enough for you, we will have a cash bar after the drink tickets are used. Then Friday night, we’ll kind of kick off the entertainment portion of ACE. We’re going to have the ACE party. We’re so thankful to the sponsors of all of these events. But with the ACE party, we’re going to have dinner, drinks and music, and that’s going to go on from 6:30 till 9 p.m. or so.

Bob Tullio: Your parties, typically on Friday night, tend to follow the theme. Is that right in terms of the way people dress and such? Do you expect that this year?

Chet Cromer: Oh yes. I really do. I know, we’re planning entertainment, so live music that will follow that theme, a Las Vegas type. We encourage everyone to dress up as if you were in Las Vegas. We know that it’s going to be a success, and it always is a tremendous amount of fun and benefit to everyone who attends.

Bob Tullio: Let me ask you an important question. Chet, what do you think the under over is on the number of Elvises that show up?

Chet Cromer: Well, that’s yet to be seen, but I know that we will have more than one Elvis at the show this year. I can guarantee that. And one of them might be me! I don’t know if you’ve met me personally, but I am 6'4", so if you see a 6'4" Elvis walking around, you know it could be me.

Bob Tullio: There you go. So, Thursday, it sounds like it’s a golf day. It’s a get-oriented and checked-in kind of day. Friday is a big day, from registration to education sessions, to ribbon cutting, to the show floor. And then, of course, the ACE party. And then if you got anything left in the tank, what’s coming on Saturday?

Chet Cromer: Yeah. So hopefully you’ll leave that ACE party Friday night and get some rest because Saturday is another big day. So we’ll start off Saturday morning at 8 a.m. for the ACE awards breakfast. This is a great time where we recognize current and past industry leaders. We will award the Lifetime Achievement Award. Every year, we look to the industry to find someone who has made the biggest impact.

I know NCVA and VAMA both award driver and technicians. All three associations will announce their scholarship winners. We all three raise money to benefit —generally, it’s the children of operators or suppliers — and that’s always a very fun time.

Bob Tullio: Then you’ve got your keynote coming in.

Chet Cromer: We will introduce Bryce Hardy and, as I said before, he’ll be presenting his extraordinary by design. I really think that’s going to be the highlight of the show.

At 10 a.m., the exhibit floor and the ACE bar will once again be open. After the show floor closes, we have a corn hole tournament. We’re going to have music, games and like always, we have — it’s October — so we’ll have college football playing on the big screens. Really, a very good time to just enjoy a conversation with friends and family, I would say.

Bob Tullio: Well, it sounds like a really good way to wrap things up. It’s a great little networking event, that’s for sure. So, you’re not golfer, but I bet with that big reach of yours, you’re a pretty tough cornhole player.

Chet Cromer: Well, I play every year. I have yet to do very good, but I do play.

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

Chet Cromer: ACE represents a really hard-to-beat value for operators to bring their staff to Myrtle Beach. Don’t get me wrong, attending other shows in our industry is something I love to do, and I certainly get a lot out of traveling to the Northeast or out West or somewhere like that. But at ACE you get a very similar experience, at a much more affordable cost, and I would say it’s a much more personal experience.

The lower cost allows us to budget for bringing staff that we normally wouldn’t bring, including up-and-coming management, their families, and people that we normally wouldn’t take to an NAMA show in Las Vegas just for the cost.

Bob Tullio: And it’s a regional show, so the conversation is going to be regional, and that makes a difference, doesn’t it?

Chet Cromer: It does, and not only that, but I would say most of the people at the show are people you know and people you talk to from week to week. And one of the things that really stood out to me is the fact that our competitors — we work together for the furtherance of this industry. We really are cordial and friendly to one another. It’s a great time to be together. It certainly is.

Bob Tullio: Now, where do the operators come from? Is it becoming an increasingly larger area? I noticed that was the trend last year.

Chet Cromer: Absolutely. So, up until about 25 years ago, I would say ACE was primarily a show for the two Carolinas and Virginia. You would get some traffic from Georgia, maybe Tennessee. But in the past few years, I’ve noticed that we’ve attracted operators from places like Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Florida — places a little further off —and we continue to see growth every year.

Bob Tullio: What’s the feedback you’ve been getting from suppliers about the show?

Chet Cromer: I would say when you attend ACE, it will become apparent that we really are like a family. Your suppliers, they love ACE because it just gives them that more personal time — more personal interaction with the operator. We look forward every year to spending time, not just at the show, but we’ll go out to dinner with the supplier, and that just helps forge relationships even stronger than they were before you went.

I think, suppliers — another reason they love ACE is the cost. The cost of exhibiting at ACE versus a show held in a convention hall in the northeast or in Las Vegas is a fraction. I mean, it’s just it’s really much, much less. We work extremely hard to keep our costs low and pass that along to everyone at the show, not just the operator, but also to the exhibitor.

Bob Tullio: So, if I’m an operator, and I say to you, “Chet, I’m on the fence. I’m so busy. You really think it’s absolutely makes sense to come to this show?” What’s your response?

Chet Cromer: Absolutely. I think it’s one of the easiest decisions you could make. I know, speaking from our personal company, we’re located about a five-hour drive. We’re totally on the opposite side of South Carolina from Myrtle Beach, and it is so worth bringing our people to the show. It’s the kind of show that once you’ve been one time, you recognize the value of coming to this show. Not only financially, but it allows you to go interact with your people around the industry that you normally wouldn’t see while having a little vacation over the weekend. It’s very advantageous to attend.

Bob Tullio: Based on what you’re hearing, what are you anticipating in terms of the number of operators that will be attending?

Chet Cromer: So, we’re anticipating just over 1000 people. That’s what we saw last year. I would just say that if you’ve never attended ACE, give us a try. I really think that your company cannot do better than sending staff to ACE. And if you’re an exhibitor, I don’t think there’s a better opportunity where your exhibit money will go further than being at ACE. It’s just a value all around, no matter if you’re an operator or an exhibitor.

Bob Tullio: You know, the one thing I did want to ask you was, if I’m a new operator, why does this really make a lot of sense for me?

Chet Cromer: So, every year we see not only new operators, but we’ll see people who are interested in learning more about Industry. We really take pride in bringing those people under our wings and you know, teaching them about the industry. There are so many blue sky type scams out there that are ripe to take advantage of people. We want to steer people in the right way if they’re interested in our show. We want to educate them so that they can make good financial decisions.

Bob Tullio: How do operators and suppliers learn more about the ACE 2025 show Viva Las Aces.

Chet Cromer: The best way to get the most up-to-date information is always to visit our website www.atlanticcoastexpo.com, or you can email [email protected].