In this special episode of the Trade Show Talk podcast, host Danica Tormo h len celebrates the achievements of the 2024 King's Glove Award recipient, Bruno Giaccio, CEO of Metro Multimedia. Recorded at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) Awards Luncheon at the Javits Center in New York, the episode features interviews with several industry leaders including Alan Steel, CEO of the Javits Center; Abby Nero, Regional VP for Map Your Show; Mike Fiorentino, President of Rev...
Nov 14, 2024•2 hr 40 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast Trade Show Talk Podcast Host Danica Tormohlen interviews Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group , at the IMEX America 2024 event in Las Vegas. They cover Bauer's career journey from her first IMEX Frankfurt show in 2003 to overcoming challenges like digital transformation and sustainability. They discuss empowering teams to stay ahead of trends by attending various events, experimenting with new technologies , and enhancing customer experiences with innovations like Blue Dot technology for Google Maps-...
Oct 17, 2024•42 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of Trade Show Talk, host Danica welcome d Chris Griffin, President and CEO of CREW XP , a company that has been providing trade show labor and event services since 1994. He sh ared his career journey—starting from his first job at Putnam Investments in college to becoming a sales executive at Skyline in Dallas and eventually a business owner. He talk ed about his company's specialization in turnkey exhibit solutions for other exhibit houses and experiential agencies, highlighting...
Sep 09, 2024•38 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast Gaby Appleton joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as Chief Digital Product Officer at RX , a public company that produces more than 400 events in 22 countries. In this newly created position that she’s now held for three years, Appleton and her team have been building and commercializing digital products that enhance the value of RX events, by connecting buyers and sellers across 43 different industry sectors. With more than 20 years of experience in product development, sales and mar...
Jul 25, 2024•39 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Bob Priest-Heck joined Trade Show Talk to share his experience as CEO of Freeman , a privately owned global events company that employs more than 4,500. As he prepares to step down from his role on June 28 after 15 years at Freeman and six years at the helm, Priest-Heck reflected on the risks and rewards of his career that spans more than 35 years in the events industry. We talked about the early days when he was on the show management side and had a front-row seat to launching and producing mas...
Jun 21, 2024•51 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Elli Riley joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as the VP, HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition, for Informa Markets. Riley joined the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in December 2002 and has more than 28 years of experience in the meetings industry. Last summer, the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition was acquired by public company Informa, and Riley joined the Informa team in September 2023. Today Riley is the business lead for the HIMSS Global C...
May 02, 2024•30 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Lindsay Arell joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as the CEO of Honeycomb Strategies , a consulting firm she launched in 2009 to provide innovative sustainable operational strategies for the hospitality, sports and events industry. Today some of her clients include: SoFi Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Informa, Emerald, Freeman and VISIT DENVER. In April 2024, she was also appointed chief sustainability officer of ASM Global , a venue management company that operates ...
Apr 18, 2024•44 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman joined Trade Show Talk to share his experience as the leading advocate for the $1.1 trillion U.S. travel and hospitality industry. In this role since September 2022, Freeman talked about recent lobbying wins, including the Congressional passage in March of $50 million in funding for the U.S. Department of State to reduce visitor visa interview wait times — welcome news for business events, with average wait times of 400 days for top markets...
Apr 04, 2024•44 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast Hillary Smith joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as a female entrepreneur in the event industry. In 2008, Hillary co-founded Koncept Events, a destination management company (DMC) that was named an INC 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in both 2018 and 2019. After building a client base that included Fortune 500 & 100 companies like McKinsey & Company, Bank of America, Proctor & Gamble and Nike, she sold the business in 2019 to PRA , a DMC powerhouse that was itself a...
Mar 21, 2024•50 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast Helen Sheppard joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as Sustainability Director of RX , a public company that produces 400 events annually in 22 countries across 42 industry sectors. She’s held the position since 2022, but she joined the parent company, RELX, in 2011. She talked about RX’s Net Zero Roadmap , which was published on Feb. 29 and outlines how the company will reach net zero no later than 2040. Under her leadership, RX completed energy and waste reporting for 56 venues cover...
Mar 07, 2024•45 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast Caitlyn Correia joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as President of BlueHive Group, a private, family-owned corporation that serves as the parent company for BlueHive Exhibits, Continental Woodcraft, Trigon Creative and Lime I&D Services. She’s held the position of president since 2021, but she got her start in the industry a number of years ago. She talked about growing up in the industry, as the third generation of a professional trade show family. Under her leadership, BlueHive is ...
Feb 22, 2024•36 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Champion joined Trade Show Talk to share his experience as CEO of Tahaluf , a joint venture between Informa PLC, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), and the Events Investment Fund (EIF) . As head of Informa's Saudi operations and Tahaluf, he has grown revenue from $2 million per annum to projected more than $125 million in four years. How? With two of the largest B2B events in history: Cityscape Global and LEAP . In November 2023, Cityscape Global debute...
Feb 08, 2024•39 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 48 – In Play: Toy Association EVP Global Market Events Kimberly Carcone The Toy Association EVP Global Market Events Kimberly Carcone joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience overseeing the association’s flagship event, Toy Fair . In 2023, the 118th Toy Fair returned last fall to New York City for the first time since 2020. Held at Javits Center, Toy Fair 2023 attracted about 20,000 attendees to see tens of thousands of products on display by 1,021 exhibiting companies, including nearl...
Jan 26, 2024•43 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast Last June, Nth Degree and its PE owners, MSouth Capital , bought Fern Expo . John Hense, who joined Nth Degree in 2018 as CFO and was elevated to CEO in late 2021, now serves as CEO over both companies. Hense brings 20 years in leadership roles in growth-oriented companies. His previous three leadership roles were technology-focused with logistics-intensive companies, including Flash Global Logistics, Diligent Delivery Systems and most recently Ship Supply. In this episode of Trade Show Talk, He...
Jan 11, 2024•42 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast After 11 years with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), Marsha Flanagan was promoted to president and CEO in November, and she officially took the helm on Dec. 1, during the move-in of the association’s largest event of the year. In this episode of Trade Show Talk, Flanagan shared her experience as a 25+ year association professional. She and Podcast Host Danica Tormohlen talked about the recent IAEE Expo! Expo! Annual Meeting & Exhibition, dubbed The Show for Shows. ...
Dec 14, 2023•34 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 45 – SEMA's Vice President of Events Tom Gattuso: In the Driver’s Seat With a 12-year track record at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), Tom Gattuso shared his experience as VP of Events for SEMA Show , the annual trade show for the automotive aftermarket industry. Held Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center — right before Formula 1 debuted on the Las Vegas Strip — SEMA Show attracted 2,200 exhibitors and more than 150,000 attendees — that’s more attendees than CES...
Nov 30, 2023•45 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 44 – RX Group Vice President Sarin Bachmann: Taking Luxe to the Next Level RX Group VP Sarin Bachmann shares her experience as a member of senior leadership team at RX , a public company that produces more than 400 events covering 43 sectors in 22 countries. She shines a light on the RX jewelry portfolio that she oversees — one of the few at RX that includes several events like JCK , Luxury and JIS, as well as digital and print media products for the JCK brand — JCKonline.com and JCK Magazin...
Nov 16, 2023•43 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast In an exclusive interview, we had the opportunity to talk with UFI President Michael Duck, who serves as executive vice president, commercial development of Informa Markets , and UFI CEO Kai Hattendorf, to get the inside scoop on the breaking news that UFI kicked off its first Global Congress in U.S. with the launch of a North America Regional Chapter. We talked about: Why the regional chapter was formed in North America and why now What UFI regional chapters do and how they support members Who ...
Nov 01, 2023•34 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast We had a conversation with Josh Rifkin, CEO of Flatworks Displays, about his experience leading a U.S. manufacturing company that sells a custom flatpack weight bearing trade show booth systems that assembles with no tools. With 25 years of experience, Josh knows what goes into preparing for trade shows. In fact, he was an exhibitor for more than a decade when he served as sales director for a major publishing company, exhibiting in dozens of shows a year. As an exhibitor, he found that renting ...
Oct 19, 2023•38 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we had a conversation with John Rozum about his experience producing the record-breaking The Utility Expo , fueled by federal funding from historic and transformative legislation passed in 2021. In fact, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is expected to increase federal spending on infrastructure by about $550 billion over the next decade, nearly all through grants to state and local governments, which own much of the nation’s infrastructure. The biennial trade sh...
Oct 05, 2023•44 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 40 – Leading the Pack: A Conversation with Jim Pittas, President & CEO, PMMI In this episode, we had a conversation with Jim Pittas about his experience leading PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies , an organization representing more than 1,000 manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, components and materials for the $10.2 billion packaging machinery industry in the U.S. After joining the exposition team in 2000, Pittas rose through the ranks at PMMI and has led t...
Sep 21, 2023•46 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we had a conversation with Gareth Bowhill about his experience leading CloserStill Media , a UK-based B2B media company that produces 80 exhibitions annually, as its CEO since 2020. After coming off a record year of revenues of $120 million in 2022 , he talked about how the company has closed three acquisitions so far this year (with more in the pipeline), growing to 600 employees globally. CloserStill’s expansion into the U.S. market began in 2017 with the organic launch of New...
Sep 07, 2023•44 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we had a conversation with Julie Kagy, director of operations for the Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) and Bill McGlade, president of epIQ Creative Group , about their experience in working together as partners on marketing. They shared advice and lessons learned after partnering now for more than one year. Kagy shared insight on what it was like to put together an RFP, evaluate vendors, hone in on the scope of the association’s needs, get buy-in on budgeting...
Aug 24, 2023•47 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we had a conversation with Chris Brown, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Global Connections and Events, for the National Association of Broadcasters . After 25 years with the association, Brown recently announced he’s leaving the organization following the 2024 NAB Show. Under Brown’s stewardship, the NAB Show portfolio has continually innovated to provide a superior event experience for broadcast, media and entertainment industry professionals. Brown talked about...
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we had a conversation with ANDMORE Chairman & CEO Bob Maricich, who was recently named as the 2023 Industry Icon Honoree by TSNN. He shared insight into the company he founded in 2011, built over the last 13 years and rebranded with a new name in 2023. Maricich talked about the transition of ownership from Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Management to Blackstone, which has supported the company’s expansion and acquisitions since 2017. Find out how and where the company is inves...
Jul 27, 2023•36 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast Jason Popp, President and CEO of Moss Inc. , shared insights about the unique services and accomplishments of the company during a recent interview. Moss specializes in providing specialist production services for the trade show industry, working with various stakeholders in the value chain such as general service contractors, design and build firms and event agencies. The company takes pride in being placemakers, focusing on creating three-dimensional environments and building structures for th...
Jul 13, 2023•44 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast What does it take to launch and build not one but two trade show businesses? Our guest on this episode is event producer, Jennifer Hoff, CEM, CEO, Taffy Event Strategies , LLC and President, Trifecta Collective LLC , who provides insight on how she started and now leads two trade show businesses. As part of her client roster at Taffy Event Strategies, her team recently produced Coverings 2023 that exceeded expectations with a 50% year-over-year increase in attendance. Nearly 27,000 eventgoers ga...
Jun 29, 2023•44 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast What’s trending among association and independent executives of exhibitions and conventions in Q2 2023? Our guest on this episode is event producer Sam Lippman, president of Lippman Connects , who provides an inside look at the 2023 Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF), held May 30-31 at the Grand Hyatt Washington. Lippman produced the 22nd edition of ECEF with record attendance in 2023. In this episode, he shared the origin story of ECEF when it launched in 2002. ECEF is one of nin...
Jun 15, 2023•42 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast We know the pandemic had a huge impact on the meetings and events industry. (We know this like we know we breathe air!) Our guest on this episode is an event organizer who gives us a really interesting viewpoint after having gone through the thick of it and come out the other side in an even better position. Jan Alessi has a passion for football (the soccer one, U.S. friends!), and has managed to merge his love of the sport with his love for brining people together all over the world. They have ...
Jun 05, 2023•39 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast One thread that's been pulled through the majority of episodes since we began this podcast is the need to acquire and keep (or bring back!) talented people in the industry. Our guest on this episode is a great marketer, she hires people who are -- or develop into -- great marketers, and she keeps them! Or they boomerang back. "There is something inherently sexy about an agency and working in the events business, so we have developed a lot of our interns, and we transform them into full time empl...
May 11, 2023•34 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast 
