The new owners of the Industry Summit are......

DALLAS (May 6, 2014) – The sports collectible industry’s trade conference has a new owner.

Beckett Media today announced it has acquired The Industry Summit, the ultimate trade event for sports collectible executives and insiders, from Wisconsin-based Isaacson Consulting Group, LLC. Summit founder Kevin Isaacson will continue to host the March 2015 Summit and additional events under a newly-formed Beckett Conferences division.

“This important acquisition reinforces Beckett’s unparalleled commitment to the sports collectibles category,’’ said Sandeep Dua, Beckett president. “The Summit has emerged as an essential event for our industry’s best and brightest retailers, manufacturers, licensors and service providers. We look forward to working with Kevin Isaacson to expand the Summit’s positive impact for many years to come.’’

The Summit’s rapid growth – paid attendance has increased 300 percent over the past five years – created a significant need for expanded event management expertise, Isaacson noted.

“Pairing Beckett’s incredibly talented staff and significant assets with the Summit’s family-operated approach to customer service is a positive step for our industry,’’ Isaacson said. “This acquisition will help the Summit deliver even more value to our partners next March and into the future.’’

In addition to hosting the Summit, Isaacson will also serve Beckett as an Executive Consultant, supporting the company’s growth initiatives for Beckett Business Solutions and additional product lines.

For more information on the 2015 Industry Summit (March 15-18 in Las Vegas), contact Isaacson at [email protected]. Corporate sponsorship packets and early-bird registration for retailers and service providers will be available in coming weeks at www.theindustrysummit.com.

Look out, Brian. Now it's gone FULL-ON corporate! lol

Will PSA be allowed to come?

gt2590 said:

Will PSA be allowed to come?

Click to expand...

Actually, that is a very good question!

How about COMC?

In the comics industry, there was a magazine company named Wizard that owned the business of comic info magazines, like Beckett. They had a hot list, fun articles, interviews and even an abridged price guide included. But like Beckett they got hammered by online info making them virtually un-necessary.

Instead of continuing in a losing track, they started a convention business. They debuted a bunch of new shows or bought up existing ones. They now host 5 or 6 big shows a year and it seems to be working out well for them. Heck, I think they don't even print the magazines anymore...

On the bright side now everything convention related will actually cost 20% of what the list prices are...

Yes, Wizard ceased paper publication a few years ago. They were also the people who had Collector's Sportslook magazine in the early-mid 90s. But the Wizard website is still basically the same, even if it's completely superfluous with other comic sites doing way better. Wizard World conventions are top-notch, though.