Neon Museum leader to speak at Las Vegas casino collectibles show

By AI, Created 5:17 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Aaron Berger, executive director and CEO of The Neon Museum, will speak June 18 at the Casino Collectibles Association’s annual show in Las Vegas about the legacy of collecting and the role of iconic casino signage in the city’s history. The free seminar comes as the three-day event brings dealers, collectors and gaming-history programming to South Point Casino.

Why it matters: - The Neon Museum holds one of the largest collections of Las Vegas casino memorabilia, including signage that helped shape the city’s identity. - Berger’s appearance puts museum leadership and casino preservation in front of collectors, dealers and gaming-history enthusiasts. - The session ties museum stewardship to a broader effort to preserve artifacts from Las Vegas’s gambling past.

What happened: - Aaron Berger, executive director and CEO of The Neon Museum, will be a featured speaker at the World’s Largest Casino Collectibles Show on June 18-20, 2026. - The show will be held in Exhibit Hall D at South Point Casino in Las Vegas. - Berger will speak at 8 a.m. Thursday, June 18, in the Joshua Room of the South Point Hotel. - Berger will also meet and greet attendees on the show floor at 10 a.m. Thursday. - The seminar is free and is one of four educational sessions tied to the Casino Collectibles Association’s 33rd annual casino memorabilia show.

The details: - Berger plans to use more than 20 years of museum leadership experience to discuss the legacy of collecting and the importance of The Neon Museum’s signage to Las Vegas history. - The Neon Museum has drawn regional, national and international attention through print, web, podcast and television coverage under Berger’s leadership. - Travel + Leisure named The Neon Museum one of the top 26 museums in America alongside The Metropolitan, The Getty and the Smithsonian. - USA Today named the museum “The Best Pop Culture Museum.” - National Trust for Historic Preservation, Travel Weekly, The Times, Forbes and others have cited museum leadership as an authority on arts, culture and architecture in Las Vegas. - The Casino Collectibles Association’s annual show features casino artifacts and mementos such as chips, tokens, dice, slot cards, playing cards, matchbooks, ashtrays, menus, dinnerware, swizzle sticks, photos, postcards, signs and table felt. - More than 30 dealers from around the world will offer attendees the chance to examine, buy, sell or trade casino collectibles. - The Casino Collectibles Association is a nonprofit club with hundreds of members focused on collecting and preserving casino history. - The show hours are June 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with $10 admission, June 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with $5 admission, and June 20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free admission. - Admission is free every day for first responders, active military and casino employees with appropriate ID. - The Casino Collectibles Association’s social links include Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Between the lines: - The event shows how casino memorabilia has evolved from souvenirs into collectible historical artifacts. - Berger’s seminar positions The Neon Museum as both a cultural institution and a guardian of Las Vegas’s visual history. - The Casino Collectibles Association is using the annual show to pair sales with education, which can broaden interest beyond hobbyists.

What’s next: - Berger’s seminar and meet-and-greet are set for Thursday, June 18. - The three-day show will continue through Saturday, June 20, with free admission on the final day. - The Casino Collectibles Association plans to keep expanding public access to casino-history materials through the Museum of Gaming History and the ChipGuide archive.

The bottom line: - The Las Vegas collectibles show is doubling as a preservation event, with The Neon Museum front and center in the conversation about what casino history is worth saving.