ORLANDO, FL — A record number of attendees and exhibitors took over the Caribe Royale Resort & Conference Center, here, Feb. 27 to March 1 for the Southeast Produce Council's Southern Exposure trade show.

Almost 1,800 attendees packed Southern Exposure events, from an opening golf tournament to the Feb. 28 circus-themed gala to the keynote address from legendary NFL coach and CBS Sports commentator Bill Cowher to the bustling March 1 tradeshow.

More important, the 267 exhibiting grower and shippers had ample opportunity to make contact with the record 383 retail and foodservice buyers in attendance.

"Those numbers are pretty impressive," said SPC President Andrew Scott of Tampa, FL-based Coosemans Interproduce Divisions. "The opening Tom Page Classic Golf Tournament set the bar with a record number of golfers and that rolled right through the rest of the show. More importantly, from everything I heard, people got a lot of value out of the show."

In recent years, SPC's biggest challenge has been to manage steady growth without diluting the value of Southern Exposure. And while there were 33 more exhibitors this year than last, there are still 80 companies on a waiting list hoping to find their way into the hall at future shows.

To handle the additional volume, exhibitors were split in two factions, one inside a hall in the Caribe and another smaller group in a pavilion out back. Some of the 99 in the latter group initially had worried that being set apart from the main group might hurt traffic. But a color-coded badge system set specific times for retailers to visit both locations in a neatly orchestrated display of traffic management that made sure every exhibitor had equal opportunity to talk to the retail and foodservice buyers patrolling the floors.

Watermelon and potato grower Mack Farms in Lake Wales, FL, had its booth in the far back corner of the pavilion -- geographically as far away from things as possible. General Manager Ken Wiles was initially concerned about the location, so much so that when he first saw the spot he called SPC Executive Director Terry Vorhees to express his concerns. But by the end of the day, Wiles was no longer worried.

"There was a steady flow of traffic all day," he said. "The way they structured the event just kept things at a steady pace and we were busy all day and it worked out very well."

"This was a terrific show for us," said Delbert Bland of Bland Farms LLC in Glennville, GA, whose booth was also in the pavilion. This year's show was of particular importance to Bland, as it introduced its new sweet potato line and a pair of new onion-flavored potato chip options to its Vidalia Brands division.

"So I have to admit I was a little worried when I saw we were in a tent out back -- but it wasn't like that at all," said Bland. "We had great traffic and they did a great job making sure we got a chance to see everybody."

The Southern Exposure schedule was revamped this year to allow more free time. The golf tournament began at 8:30 a.m., instead of its traditional noon window, meaning there was less of a rush to get to evenings out with clients or friends.

Farm and facility tours, long a staple of Southern Exposure, were temporarily abandoned in favor of moving educational workshops to the morning of Feb. 28.

The move worked: Both sessions -- "Customer Connections: How to Make the Most of Your Meeting" moderated by retired Kroger Vice President of Produce Reggie Griffin and "How Digital is Affecting Produce Shopping Trends," presented by John Avola, were standing room only.

The Friday night gala started a little later than usual, giving attendees another chance at late afternoon meetings and dinners with clients.

"We listen to our members and to the buyers who attend every year," Scott said. "They've told us they wanted a little more down time and more windows to do business. We made a couple of changes to accomodate that and by all accounts they worked out well."

About 1,000 attendees filled the main ballroom Saturday morning for the keynote address and the presentation of the SPC Lifetime Achievement Award to Tom Page, an early president and head of produce for Supervalu until his retirement last June.

As Coach Cowher entered the banquet hall, attendees waved yellow towels -- the symbol of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he coached -- in greeting.

"What you do is invaluable," Cowher told the crowd. "Childhood obesity rates have recently gone down for the first time in history and you are a big part of the reason for that. You do more than you have to. Like my dad once told me, 'It's what you do individually when no one's looking that measures your work ethic.'"

While much business got done over the course of three days, attendees indulged in recreation and relaxation as well.

Though Orlando was a little cooler than usual, those from other climes who packed the resort pools Thursday and Friday were not complaining. The Friday night gala spilled extended into the hotel lobby bar for an extra couple of hours. And reports were that on Saturday, the last of the revelers did not leave the show's hospitality suite until 3:30 a.m.

"Work hard, play hard, that's the Southeast Produce Council, that's this show," Scott said. "Southern Exposure is a showcase for us to let the rest of the world know what we're doing and this one was the best yet. We have to give a lot of credit to our Executive Director Terry Vorhees of course. He's the man with the vision and he's where so much of what we've done comes from. But a lot of it has to do with our executive team, our board of directors and our executive committees. It's a big team effort, it really is."