• by Newswire Report , June 10, 2003

The National Association of Television Program Executives has decided to push back next year's annual conference by a week due to issues with the venue.

The NATPE conference will be held from Jan. 18-20 at the Venetian Hotel and Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas. The decision to change the event's dates and shorten its length by one day was made after NATPE determined the requirements it held for hotel facilities and exhibition floor space for the original dates of Jan. 13-16 could not be fulfilled. The newly confirmed dates allow greater flexibility with exhibition and meeting space, said NATPE.

"As the deal was being finalized, it became apparent that the association's requirements to hold our event at the Venetian Hotel and Sands Expo Center for the original events could not be satisfied," said NATPE President/CEO Rick Feldman in a prepared statement.

Feldman said the organization didn't want to make a significant change although it did agree to shorten its conference by one day.

"This will allow us to develop a highly-focused agenda of events in one centralized location, while also presenting minimal logistical challenges to people coming to Las Vegas," said Feldman.

NATPE is working on its conference agenda; it expects to unveil the agenda sometime in the fourth quarter.