In this session hosted by mdg, A Freeman Company and UFI — in conjunction with ECEF 2022 — speakers will discuss how to effectively revitalize your international event strategy, post-pandemic. After the session in Freeman’s Alexandria office, buses will return ECEF registrants to Washington D.C. in time to attend the Welcome Reception.
During the 90-minute program, leaders from the global industry will share the latest insights from the UFI Global Barometer and practical tips for forming alliances, managing delegations and working with influencers to develop your brand internationally. Freeman's SVP of Data Solutions, Ken Holsinger, and mdg’s international marketing strategist, Anjia Nicolaidis, will provide practical advice for ranking, prioritizing and penetrating markets based on criteria such as industry relevance, ease of travel and growth potential.
Registration is complimentary, but space is limited. Please reserve your seat by Monday, May 23. Registering for this event does NOT include registration for ECEF.
Sam Lippman, President, Lippman Connects will start the day with a data-driven overview, spotlighting insights gleaned from recently completed research surveys.
Offering an event program that captures attention, touches attendees’ emotions, and inspires is a tall order when your meeting participants are behind screens. It’s an even tougher task when you consider the struggles your audience faces as unprecedented uncertainty stretches on — coupled with feelings of isolation from the time we’ve spent apart.
Erin Uritus, CEO of Out & Equal, will share the approaches that enabled her organization to welcome 5,000 members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community digitally, grow sponsorship opportunities by 110%, and drive both social change and support for the LGBTQIA+ community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erin will unpack the Out & Equal event strategy at the most powerful level — blending content and community to create transformative and moving experiences that connect people. She will reveal how you, too, can achieve this success virtually.
You'll take away pragmatic strategies to achieve these increasingly important goals:
Implement strategies that increase partnership engagement while adding value to your audiences.
Use virtual platforms to build active communities that strengthen connections, even amid disruption and uncertainty.
Deliver powerful and emotionally evocative content that promotes inclusion, accommodates different communities, and drives workplace change.
While most organizers were reeling from the devastating impact of COVID-19, the SHOT Show surged ahead by doubling down on these time-tested values: Truly know your audience, starting with already strong relationships with exhibitors and attendees; Radicaltransparency developed a trust between show management and the community and helped neutralize detractors; More, more, more education and communication created more confidence among exhibitors, and a better return on their investment.
We may be occupied with recovery, but corporate exhibit sponsors are more frustrated than ever. For example, supply chain challenges and inflation couldn't have come at a worse time. Drawing on data from Freeman, CEIR and the Health Care Exhibitors Association (HCEA), you'll get a 360-degree panorama of what's on the minds of your biggest customers. Listen now or regret it later.
Key Take Aways from this session:
A realistic view of what forecasting, budgeting & planning looks like now from the exhibitor/sponsor perspective
Challenges exhibitors and sponsors are facing as we return to business.
Behind the lens of virtual vs. hybrid vs. in-person.
When a globally respected standards development organization decides that accelerating digital transformation is the best way to serve their constituents, that's called disruption. In September 2021, ASME formed a startup — Metrix Connect, an ASME company — evolving their business model in order to anticipate customers’ future needs. Metrix, a "marketplace company" will host an integrated events and content platform. Building intelligent connections between buyers and sellers is responding to the way people want to connect and consume knowledge in the new world.
Key Takeaways:
Explore the potential of a ‘startup culture’ in a legacy organization. Hear how a virtual event pivot became a permanent value. Pragmatic approach to keeping an agile mindset.
External factors can and will play a role in your organization’s transitional choices. It's likely that the pandemic, coupled with your natural progression on strategic planning, is causing you to look at different ways of working and the impact on organizational structure. Hear how AEM managed the transition of longtime exhibition management leader Megan Tanel to President of the association, and elevated Nicole Hallada's position to broader responsibility. They'll take you inside AEM to see how they managed the organization's adjustment to their new roles and how their teams were central to the process.
Key Takeaways:
Realize why and how to contemplate multiple scenarios.
Understand how to effectively use communication, balancing when and what to share.
Gain awareness of organizational resources to implement the plan effectively.
After two years of navigating the pandemic and adjusting to significant staff changes (and budget cuts), exhibition and convention executives are cautiously optimistic about what's next in the new normal. A lively panel of thoughtful executives will speak candidly about the biggest challenges in returning to in-person events (so far) and the most important concerns for 2022 (and beyond). This frank, unscripted panel will explore the truth behind hybrid events, health and safety, staff limitations, and more.
Panel participants are selected from Freeman’s focus group listening sessions and speaking out for the first time exclusively at ECEF. Panel will moderated by Ken Holsinger, Freeman's Senior Vice President, Data Solutions. In addition to planned questions and responses, this session will include an audience Q&A for a deeper dive into key issues, share additional insights, and explore what organizers need from vendors to move forward.
ECEF is one the few opportunities where independent and association show organizers get to mingle and learn from one another.
Karen Chupka
Senior Vice President, Consumer Technology Association
You've got 200 C-level executives here. There's a lot of peer-to-peer learning, which is incredible.
Chris Dolnack
Senior Vice President, National Shooting Sports Foundation
As a newcomer to events, it is so valuable to connect and have interactions that pay off.
Cassandra Farrington
Co-Founder & CEO, Marijuana Business Daily
I've had a bunch of conversations with people we're going to want to do business with.
Chris Bown
Executive Vice President, National Association of Broadcasters
ECEF is a great event! In one day I can hear insights and best practices from the ‘Who’s Who’ in our industry.
Mary Pat Heftman
Executive Vice President Conventions, National Restaurant Association
ECEF is a fixture on my calendar. Don’t delegate this one; as a CEO, you need to be there.
Lori M. Anderson, CAE
President & CEO, International Sign Association
At ECEF I learned the exhibition industry’s key trends and met peers from both associations and business media companies.
Doug Woods
President, The Association for Manufacturing Technology, AMT
The value I’ve gained from ECEF has always exceeded expectations. It’s the only event that brings together association and media executives to network, debate, and exchange new business ideas and best practices.
Kerry C. Gumas
President & CEO, Questex Media Group, LLC.
ECEF provides a special focus in that it brings together executives from media companies and associations to exchange best practices.
Britton Jones
Chairman & CEO, NXT Events Media Group
ECEF has valuable content and useful take-aways in a variety of areas.
Peter Eelman
Vice President Exhibitions and Communications, The Association for Manufacturing Technology, AMT
ECEF is the most valuable education and networking event of the year. The ideas shared by speakers and participants helped us grow attendance and sales. There is no better opportunity to learn from the brightest in the industry.
