Trade show veteran markets conventions. (People).

ELLEN Schwartz said her new role as director of sales an marketing at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center for venue operator SMG is an easy fit.

"After more than two decades in the business, I know the industry very well," she said. "I understand customer needs and I now how to match those needs with the services we can provide."

A California native, Schwartz returns after spending the last three years as director of sales for the SMG-managed Miami Beach Convention Center. She previously had been a trade show manager for a woodworking machinery and furniture supply fair in California.

As for the transition from show manager to running the actual venue: "I still have a customer's perspective in mind now that I am a representative of a facility," she said. "As a past organizer and operator of events, I am more in tune with customers' needs than someone who has only done booking."

Schwartz said the 322,000-square-foot convention center, which attracts nearly 2 million people a year, has created a niche in the convention market different from the larger L.A. Convention Center.

"We don't compete with Los Angeles. We attract the smaller conventions that are seeking the benefits of a mid-sized facility," she said. "Many of the local shows we get are looking for the big fish in a small pond feeling that they could only get at a smaller center."

Schwartz said she hopes leverage the strengths of the region to expand the reach of the convention center. She cited six hotels, all within walking distance, and a new entertainment and retail center being built across the street.

"Long Beach has become a different and distinct destination for both meetings and tourists over the last 10 to 15 years," she said. "The area has really grown and blossomed, we hope to benefit from that."

Schwartz received an undergraduate degree in business administration from University of California at Berkeley. She lives in Long Beach.