Exhibition & Convention Executives Forum Sold Out In 15Th Year
For the first time in the event’s history, the Exhibition & Convention Executives Forum has sold out several weeks before it is set to run June 1 in Washington, D.C.
“ECEF has a waiting list for the first time in 15 years,” said Sam Lippman, president of Lippman Connects, producer of ECEF.
“In recent years, ECEF has consistently sold out, but not anywhere as early as this year,” he added. “I talk to industry executives every day, and my impression is they are more aggressively reaching out for new business opportunities. And that includes attending ECEF for presentations by the leaders of CES, Emerald, Informa, dmg, PCMA, PwC, EXHIBITOR, Fast Track Events & Entertainment and others.”
He also credited this year’s attendance achievement to Lippman Connects’ marketing agency mdg.
Kimberly Hardcastle, president of mdg, said, “ECEF has long been recognized as the premier networking event for exhibition executives, but I have also found it to be a great source of new ideas. I took two pages of notes last year and found myself referencing them as inspiration for initiatives that we executed for several of our clients. Sam always seems to get the right mix of speakers, balancing visionaries from outside the events business with those who are blazing trails from within.”
ECEF will be celebrating its 15th anniversary with a full house of 200 CEOs, presidents, executive directors, vice presidents and other top-level executives at associations and independent event organizers.
Here are a few of the sessions on tap:
“New Event Realities” - Galen Poss, vice chairman, dmg events will invite Charles McCurdy, chairman and CEO, Informa Global Exhibitions, David Loechner, CEO, Emerald Expositions and Deborah Sexton, president & CEO, PCMA to share their vision of how the events business will have changed by new technologies, new competitors, and the pressure to experiment and innovate.
“Our Exhibitors Speak” - Randal Acker, president at EXHIBITOR Media Group and Diane Benson, Americas Exhibits Leader, GE Healthcare; Dominique Cook, trade show manager, Marvin Windows and Doors; and Dana L. Tilghman, senior trade show and events planner, Minitab, will discuss what is working and what needs to change to maximize their ROI from events.
Source: www.lippmanconnects.com
