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Photo: stock.xchng/Mupsu

In spite of ‘Snowmageddon’ hitting the East Coast, the New York International Toy Fair at the Javits Center went on as planned February 10-13. The blizzard arrived at the same time exhibitors and attendees were making their way into the city, and some booths displayed “Delayed by the Storm” signs on the first day, but exhibitors were still writing orders and meeting with clients. Keep in mind that this show is different from many — exhibits are more like walled fortresses and there’s a strict check-in policy before access is granted. To see a photo gallery from the show (of the exhibits and some really cool toys), check out this post on TheVerge.com.

These days it often seems that the future of trade shows is paved with partnerships. Many shows are either co-locating or combining forces in order to reach a larger audience. Two recent such combos:

• The CTIA Wireless Association will merge its spring and fall events into one single, larger show beginning in September 2014 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. The fall show has struggled with attendance, even after being renamed and refocused as MobileCON. Initial response to the announcement has been positive from previous exhibitors, citing that it will consolidate efforts and maximize exposure.

Graphic: Digital Juice

In this season of miracles and hope, I wanted to share a beautiful story of one attendee’s experiences at this year’s Book Expo.

Christine Kloser is an author and book coach who made a last-minute decision to take the train into New York to walk the floor at BEA. She faced numerous challenges just to get there, but as soon as she entered the Javits Center she began to make serendipitous connections with publishers, store buyers, and even a lady who works on the New York Times bestsellers list! Check out her complete story, “What Grace Looks Like …” on her blog to read all her mind-boggling opportunities from that day.

If you’re an American, chances are you voted last week in the election. No matter which presidential candidate you voted for, the big winners of the night were the two convention centers that hosted the watch parties. Chicago’s McCormick Place hosted the Obama camp, while the Boston Convention Center was the gathering place for Romney supporters. EXPO has a great article on how both venues made these highly visible events happen.

Here are some shows that have recently come up winners as well:

Graphic: NOAA

While the Post Office may have a slogan of “neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will stop us,” the same doesn’t hold true for trade shows. With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on New York in a direct collision course with an arctic blast, shows scheduled for this week along the East Coast have been forced to go to Plan B.

On the Javits Center’s website, there was an advisory posted Sunday that announced New York City had ordered a mandatory evacuation of that part of the city, and only staff considered essential to storm coverage should report for duty today. They also posted a list of shows being held there this week that are affected by the storm: