Annual reception well-attended

AAN’s reception at ShoWest, the movie theatre industry’s annual convention, drew 80 to 100 guests yesterday for a free mini-massage, bottled water as well as more traditional refreshment.

ShoWest, the largest international gathering of motion picture professionals in the world, attracts delegates from more than 30 different countries.

“Attendance at the conference was down this year, but our turnout was good,” says Debra Silvestrin, AAN’s director of operations. Fourteen AAN members representing 25 newsweeklies stopped by the suite along with delegates from the movie theater industry, including representatives from McCann-Erikson, MGM, New Line Cinema, and United Artists, Silvestrin says.

Silvestrin says delegates showed more than usual interest in the AAN directory available at the suite. “Several people grabbed them up,” she says.

“The movie people realize that it is harder for us (and them) during a recession, but it is important to keep the flags flying,” says Bruce Brugmann, publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, who attended the event. “They realize this and appreciate this and will remember this.”