“Imagine if you could somehow do a web search for something that doesn’t exist yet,” Mickey McManus proposed. “There is massive hidden value in the way you engage with customers when something rare, l ...

Of the many advanced technologies that promise to improve the events industry, artificial intelligence (AI) gives rise to some of the most far-reaching scenarios. Yet, it’s among the few that are alre ...

The first decision event organizers make when launching a data capture project is whether it will be “owned” by business management or IT management. There are good arguments to be made for each, but ...

You don’t have to be in the prediction business to safely predict event organizers will see a proliferation of amazing technology introductions over the next several years. Because Lippman Connects pr ...

The more data organizers collect, the more difficult it is to focus on the essential trends that will be driving business in 2018 and beyond. If you’re finding it hard to step back from the tidal wave ...

Like the turning of the leaves in autumn, event organizers will ring the alarm every so often about the practice of outboarding; that is, where a supplier sets up an attraction concurrent with an even ...

What’s that you say? You did not attend this year’s Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF)?  If you now expect I will review all that you missed, relax. We all know that describing a live e ...

It’s no secret that quite a few shopping malls have seen some of their biggest tenants announce store closings, with quite a few smaller retailers disappearing completely. Industry observers point the ...

Is your event delivering a better customer experience than a funeral? Don't be so sure. In a recent Wall Street Journal, we learned that "the funeral industry is reinventing itself." What that really ...

The extravagant promises of virtual reality (VR) date back to the early 90s. So it's no wonder that organizers look at the Pokémon GO fad and see only sponsorship potential. Big yawn, right? Not so f ...

The recent Fashion Week in New York was marked by dramatic responses to the way connected mobile devices are changing the way business is conducted. Fashion icons like Diane von Furstenburg as well as ...

This time of year there are "Best of 2015" lists everywhere you look. Who doesn't want the best of everything? This impulse has encouraged a relentless emphasis on best practices. It sounds logical th ...

Fans of comedian Jeff Foxworthy know there are an endless number of punchlines to his signature joke, “You might be a redneck if …”  Jokes aside, the line inspired us to consider, “You might ...

Not so long ago, attracting attendees depended to a large extent on exhibitors distributing guest passes. Today, marketers rely on a diverse and ever more creative toolset.  Guest passes are still wi ...

Proving ROI to exhibitors and sponsors is consistently one of the biggest challenges facing event sales teams. As in past years, the 2015 Benchmarks and Trends in Exhibit and Sponsorship Sales Study* ...

We can't think of a better measure of the event industry's outlook than profitability expectations for the year ahead. That's why it's one of the key benchmarks of the ECEF Pulse. Two out of three (67 ...

Executives and their exhibit sales teams have differing views on the level of support provided by top management. Exhibit Surveys calls it the “perception gap”. How much is too much? We don't know ...

Executives and their marketing teams agree that the toughest challenge is increasing attendance. With that in mind we surveyed both groups about the perceived level of executive support for attendee a ...

A sure sign of rising confidence in the economy is a sustained interest in launching new events. For two years in a row, the number of organizers planning new events over the next 36 months has hovere ...

You've planned your strategy. You've established your brand. Now you need to follow through with perfect execution of a targeted marketing campaign. Follow these rules, courtesy of mdg (Marketing Desi ...

Our exclusive research informs us that creating memorable experiences for exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees is the Number One challenge for the largest exhibitions and conventions. When it comes to ...

Glenn Hansen wants you to know "sustainability is not only for tree huggers." It's one of the biggest misconceptions organizers have about sustainable events, according to Glenn, who is CEO and Presid ...

Themed attractions and gamification are not what you expect to find at a big-city museum. To our surprise that was exactly what we discovered at a recent visit to the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). Savv ...

No doubt it's standard procedure for your organization to suggest several booth locations to every new prospect and renewal. But is it standard to identify the customer's favorite selection method bef ...

How well do we know our attendees or exhibitors? International Sign Association (ISA) realized that to grow its event, it would need in-depth research to understand its customers the way Fortune 500 c ...

There is no question that the growth of sponsorship sales has been a welcome source of new revenue for exhibitions and conventions in every market sector. The number and variety of offerings continue ...

It was practically a stroke of genius. During a slow news period last December, the digital news outlet Vox updated and republished a trove of articles that were at least two months old. In just five ...

Both you and your exhibitors look forward to a successful event. The only difference is exhibitors have a different definition of success than you do. And that difference makes it hard for both partie ...

I've written about how fortunate I am to spend every day speaking with, and learning from, the best and brightest minds in the events business. Not surprisingly, I've picked up a few insights that I a ...

Before the close of every Lippman Connects Roundtable, we ask attendees to name their favorite take-away of the day. Here are four of our favorites from a recent Exhibit Sales Roundtable and four more ...

Co-locating exhibitions is a rising trend now in its third year according to multi-year surveys of ECEF attendees. The ECEF Pulse 2014 reports that one out of four industry executives plans to co-loc ...

Event marketers are always on the lookout for new attendance-building ideas. mdg's Shauna Peters and KC Coerr suggested event marketers might take inspiration from Coca-Cola's success with personal ...

As new technologies continue to transform exhibition and convention processes, marketing automation (MA) in attendeeacquisition – an implementation that promises big payoffs – is not gaining tract ...

Understanding how to use specific social media tools will help you build a community that enhances your business-to-business (B2B) brand and awareness. Jason Falls, a leading digital strategist, autho ...

The selling doesn't stop when the contract is signed. Your exhibitors and sponsors have more choices than ever competing for their marketing dollars. When it's a close call, your customer service repu ...

The September 19, 2013 Attendee Acquisition Roundtable (AAR) was so full of good ideas, I came away with six pages of summary notes. One of my favorite take-aways was an exhibitor invitation program t ...

A significant plurality (42%) of the Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF) 2013 attendees found Millennials more difficult to manage than previous entry-level generations. Those who report ...

If you want to build a stronger partnership with your exhibitors, do all you can to eliminate their cost uncertainties and help them measure your show's Return on Investment (ROI). That was the candid ...

A key finding of Lippman Connects' exclusive Attendee Acquisition Best Practices Study 2013, produced by Jacobs Jenner & Kent, is that as more event organizers add matchmaking programs, they increasin ...