Executive Conference Past Events Archive

What is your company sacrificing to the false god of busyness?  Once common habits of great leaders, uncommitted time and thought are now dwindling resources being pillaged by overbooked calendars and overflowing inboxes. The numbers tell the sad tale: Creativity scores in the U.S. have been in steady decline for 18 years and 71% of employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged.

WhiteSpace is improvised or scheduled time and thought for which we have no predetermined agenda or plan. It is open, uncommitted time during which our thoughts can be fluid, flexible, and free-form. It is the time during which strategic thinking occurs, creativity soars and focus returns.

If your teams are overworked, overloaded and OVER IT, they need some WhiteSpace!

Presented by Juliet Funt www.julietfunt.com
 

Large companies departmentalize and small companies specialize, so when we talk about being integrated media companies delivering an array of marketing solutions, how well are we really doing? How well you integrate will determine how well you deliver your customer the experience they need and when they need it. This panel will focus on how data is the key to driving integration and delivering experience.

Moderator: Sam Lippman, President, Lippman Connects
Panelists:  Edwin Gonzales, IT Director, Hanley Wood
Rhonda Wunderlin, VP, Lead Services, Penton Media
John French, CEO, Cygnus Business Media
 

Most show organizers have now experimented with show apps so let’s talk results.  How have these enhanced the attendee experience? Have they driven benefits to the exhibitor? These experts will review the results they’ve seen and discuss the next generation of creating customer experience through “gameification” using mobile apps.

Presented by: Jeff Davis, Director/Digital, Hanley Wood Exhibitions
Jo Dickson, Penton Media
 

Existing and prospective exhibitors for large events are looking to create unique experiences offsite and after hours. Often these are bellwether exhibitors and this undermines the traditional event system resulting in lost revenue opportunities.  Worst case, it become epidemic and you start losing your show. Listen to real solutions these organizers used to both meet their customer’s expectation and keep the money in the bank.

Moderator: Tom Mitchell, Messe Dusseldorf NA
Panelists:  Rob Mesirow, CTIA
 

Let's face it - when you run an event, no matter how well you plan, schedule, and organize, there is one thing you can't control - the interaction between the people your vendors employ and your customers. You did everything right, but that one bad experience the exhibitor had lost them forever. We have all been there. Learn how facilities and contractors are exploring bold new ways to ensure that we can all get along, but most importantly, that your customer’s experience is not lost by a temp!

Moderator:  George Jage, Director, World Tea Media
Panelists:  Aaron Bludworth, President & CEO, Fern Exposition & Event Services
David Audrain, President, Clarion Events North America
 

As we live and operate in a global economy, US shows often fall short on making international delegates welcome and international exhibitors successful.  Is your event internationally friendly or did you think because you learned how to say “nee-how”, you had it covered?  Our panel represents three strong markets that events wouldn’t survive if they didn’t welcome international visitors and we’ll learn how they create a truly welcoming experience for their truly international events.

Moderator: Cherif Moujabber, CEO, Creative Expos
Panelists:  Marco Giberti, President, Reed Latin America
Frank Thorwirth, Industry Expert, Germany
 

Companies with breakthrough event tech or amazing new business models will compete before a rapt audience of SISO executive level attendees, sharing the best new thinking on business models, technology and talent in SISO's new "Event Innovation Battlefield."

SISO will rev up the Event Innovation Battlefield with an abbreviated version of the competition at the 2013 meeting before taking it full-throttle at the Executive Conference in Atlantic City in 2014. This year, executives will experience industry innovations in a thrilling session where three vetted presenters attempt to impress with their concept, creativity and the benefits of their products. After a brief critique by a panel of experts, the audience will cast their vote for the product and presentation they found most impactful. Winners will be announced immediately.

The company that claims the coveted "Event Innovation Battlefield" title will have the unique and strategic opportunity to be mentored by SISO leaders and gain access to some of the largest companies in the event industry. Likewise, the winning presenters will enjoy a complete program of recognition through the SISO website and the event industry press. The prestige that accompanies this award is invaluable, especially for start-ups to gain a strong foothold in the marketplace. As the preeminent association in the event industry, SISO’s acknowledgement of the winning company as an influential thought leader substantiates their credibility, validates their ideas and differentiates them from their competition.

In 2014, the Executive Conference attendees will enjoy the Battlefield as a permanent feature for an entire afternoon of presentations, hard-hitting discussions, voting and an awards ceremony. Only those companies who have successfully outpaced the competition throughout the rigorous application process will showcase their innovations the Executive Conference in the categories of Event Technology, Event Business Models and Student Presentations.

Presented by: David Adler, CEO, Bizbash,
Marco Giberti, President, Reed Exhibitions Latin America
 

Networking is the #1 reason people attend live events so it is clearly one of the most critical components to deliver on your customers return on experience.  The value of the content and experience of networking is totally dependent on the value and experience of the individuals in attendance….so how the heck are you supposed to make sure everyone has a great experience? Carl Landau, “Grand Poobah” of Niche Media, will share with you the 12 secrets of super successful event networking to motivate your attendees, maximize attendee involvement, segment your audience to make it easy for attendees and sponsors to make those key connections, AND make it all super fun! You'll walk away with a road map for pre-conference, onsite and post-conference networking success!

Presented by:  Carl Landau, CEO, Niche Media
 

In the late 90's email revolutionized our event marketing campaigns and in recent years, social media has done the same. But unlike its predecessors of email, print and direct mail, social media often requires 24/7 engagement, puts control of the messaging in the hands of your staff and audience, and we are recruiting a new generation into the workforce to tackle the challenges. This session will discuss some of the best practices in managing the most powerful, most unruly, and most exponential marketing tool we have ever seen.

Moderator: Michael Kushner
Panelists:  Beth Mauro, Events Marketing Director, F+W Media, Inc.
Maria Palombini, Summit Business Media
 

We are in an age dominated by electronic communications, flex work schedules, remote offices, and far too little vacation time. Our workplace is changing and will continue to change even more rapidly in the years to come. What will our workplace experience look like?  How we recruit talent, manage workflow, and deliver a face to face experience in a technology driven world?  This session will pull together academia and the top HR person at the largest trade show company to explore the future workplace experience.

Moderator: Dennis Smith, VP Sales, Messe Frankfurt USA
Panelists:  Jeffrey D. Kudisch, Ph.D., Robert H. Smith School of Business - University of Maryland
Joann Bottoni Jepsen, Senior Vice President, HR, Reed Exhibitions