The Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Association and the Trade Show Exhibitors Association have now completely merged to create the Exhibit & Events Marketing Association (E2MA). The new E2MA organization, logo and brand were introduced on July 10 at the 2012 Red Diamond Congress at McCormick Place in Chicago.
“The mission of E2MA is to enhance the expertise of exhibit- and event-planner professionals in exhibit and event marketing and to raise the level of awareness and service excellence on the show floor,” said Jim Wurm, executive director of E2MA.
E2MA is comprised of more than 500 member companies representing more than 17,500 full-time tradeshow professionals and more than 45,000 part-time tradeshow and event workers.
The Red Diamond Congress opening address was given by Gary Slack, president of Slack & Company in Chicago. Slack is also the president of the Business Marketing Association (BMA) in Chicago. In 2007, only 10 percent of BMA members were corporate marketers. But, by including senior-level corporate marketers on the BMA board, that number has increased significantly. In 2012, 50 percent of BMA-Chicago members are corporate marketers.
“This senior-level person holds the purse strings for global events,” said Slack. “Dealing with the top of the food chain creates the greatest value to all who share their innovative results.”
Slack also shared the results from a recent International Data Corporation study. It pointed out that of all the ways companies can spend their marketing dollars, face-to-face events delivered the highest value. That is good news for the E2MA since it is positioned well to create networking opportunities where corporate leaders and event suppliers can share their experiences about effective marketing for the tradeshows they put together.
Slack also remarked that marketing leaders at BMA are proud of the successful events they have created and are willing to share their story, and E2MA members can do the same.
One of the sessions conducted at the Red Diamond Congress was to introduce an organization called the Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) Council. The E2MA announced it has partnered with the CMO Council to conduct a global event-marketing study.
“The CMO Council’s cooperative-thought leadership campaign, conducted in partnership with the E2MA, will be aimed at benchmarking the business value of tradeshows and events as well as identifying new tools, technologies and techniques for driving experiential marketing effectiveness,” said Bryan DeRose, VP of development for the CMO Council.
The CMO council presentation was intended to encourage E2MA members to join and support this group of marketing officers who are willing to share their success stories.
“Key to the mission of the Exhibit & Event Marketers Association is our effort to engage all levels within the corporate marketing management structure,” said Wurm. “Our partnership with the CMO Council, a global organization of 6,000 senior level marketers, and the establishment of an annual assessment of the event-marketing space can generate great value for corporate event marketers as well as the tradeshow and event industry.”
If this level of E2MA participation is achieved, the exposition and events segment of the marketing mix will take a big leap forward as a collective group of thought leaders support and grow the power of face-to-face marketing worldwide.
