American Meat Institute to gather in Atlanta in 2013 at Georgia World Congress Center

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The American Meat Institute, one of the nation's largest meat and poultry trade associations, will move its annual convention to Atlanta next year.

The decision was announced Tuesday at the International Poultry Expo, an annual meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center that brings more than 20,000 conventioneers to Atlanta every January.

AMI will join the Atlanta-based U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association for an annual show that is expected to be one of the nation's biggest trade meetings, filling almost 1 million square feet of exhibit space at the Congress Center.

“We are very excited about this partnership with AMI and the co-location is something our exhibitors have asked about for a long time," U.S. Poultry President John Starkey said in a release. "The consolidation of the tradeshows will allow our respective organizations to build on the synergies of the poultry, feed and meat sectors, as well as provide a benefit to our exhibitors and members who produce or exhibit across multiple protein sectors.”

About 25,000 people are expected at AMI's annual meeting this year in Dallas, which it is co-hosting with the Food Marketing Institute and a few other groups.

AMI's move to Atlanta is welcome news for the Congress Center, the nation's fourth largest convention center. The facility has struggled to make ends meet as competition has grown and cities across the country add more and more meeting space despite dwindling convention demand. The combined shows will include more than 1,000 exhibitors, the biggest revenue generator for the facility.