Trade Show Talk Podcast

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 intervie...

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,...

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...

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 indu...

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...

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 at...

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 Logis...

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 Tormoh...

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 — S...

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 an...

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 wa...

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 ma...

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...

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...

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...

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 togeth...

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 superi...

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 suppor...

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 b...

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 th...

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 20...

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...

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 e...

If you are in the meetings and events industry, you have heard of our guest on this episode. She can talk about ALL things in our space AND she is a key thought leader in the association world. KiKi L'Italien founded "Association Chat", which is one of the first Twitter chats EVER. She then evolved it into a live broadcast, and then a podcast. She knows her stuff, there's no question!  On this one...

Our guest on this one is front and center, representing us in DC and beyond. Most folks know we've had the Meetings Mean Business coalition since the events of 2008-2009, and now we also have the organization Tommy Goodwin represents, Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance, advocating for our industry. On this episode we talk about the challenge of getting Visas to enter the U.S. and the impact that h...