by Danelle Dodds
It can be a challenge to find your rhythm in the world of exhibits and live events. For those under the weight of planning insecurity, navigating the significant responsibility you carry can feel like a knee-knocking solo audition. Without a backup band at your side, who can you turn to when you need a little harmony?
For over 30 years, EXHIBITORLIVE has been the backstage pass to success for tradeshow and event marketing professionals. The conference is considered the most comprehensive educational event in the industry. It provides the best practices, peer-to-peer networking, workshops, and stellar educational tracks that keep a 1.6 trillion-dollar industry humming.
This year’s event is one of the hottest yet, with a new crop of workshops and speakers taking center stage in a brand-new city. We look at some of the most eagerly anticipated moments of this year’s event.
Making Moves to Music City
After 30 years of events in Las Vegas, EXHIBITORLIVE moved to Louisville in 2023. Not content to rest on its laurels, the conference brought this year’s event, 2024, to Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
Nashville has been steadily climbing as a target, second-tier city for conventions. In a recent study by Cvent, Nashville placed second in North America’s Top 50 Meeting Destinations, beating out Las Vegas, Chicago, and Atlanta. With its small-town Southern charm that politely mixes with expanded offerings for meeting planners, Nashville sets the tone for a convention dedicated to advancing the tradeshow and event industry.
Experiential Exhibit Hall
How can you have an event focused on the exhibit and tradeshow industry without having an over-the-top exhibit hall? The examples of design that attendees will see on the show floor are unlike anything they may have seen before. It is an opportunity for planners to interface with every key provider in the tradeshow industry. Attendees can meet with nearly 200 exhibiting companies as they showcase the latest in customer engagement, technology, event innovation, and exceptional, experiential exhibits. RFPs are encouraged on the show floor for meaningful, real-time discussions.
Purposeful Partying
EXHBITIORLIVE’s line-up is full of engaging events that put the ‘fun’ in function. Each event encourages networking with a fellowship flow.
- EXHIBITORLIVE continues to bolster the spirit of the industry by celebrating those attending the conference for the first time. Newcomers flock to the First-Timer’s Reception, where the edge of networking is softened with peer-to-peer engagement.
- Kick off the conference with the Welcome Reception, where you’ll reconnect with colleagues, make new friends, and prepare for an exciting conference.
- The Peer-to-Peer Lunch allows face-to-face engagement for All-Access badge holders. Here, attendees and their peers can discuss their challenges in a judgment-free zone.
- The crescendo of the conference is the Awards Ceremony and Closing Party. This event celebrates the best of the best. EXHIBITOR magazine will anoint the Best of Show winners, recognize the most recent CTSM graduates, and the 2024 Find-It Top 40 recipients, followed by a night of music from local Nashville talent.
Illuminating Half-Day Workshops
The educational tracks of EXHIBITORLIVE are the driving percussion behind the conference. The 2024 line-up is as strong as ever, with 11 rewarding half-day workshops. A few notable topics include:
- Victor Torregroza’s workshop on Stretching Your Event Dollars to Do More with Less and Make a Purposeful Impact focuses on the baseline of all planner’s foundations: the budget. Torregroza is an events and experiences program manager with Intel Corporation. His “we eat with our eyes” mantra recognizes the significance of creating impactful events. Torregroza will tackle the challenges of delivering more impact with less budget during this half-day workshop.
- Sustainability remains one of the hottest subjects and trends in 2024. Given the events industry’s history of post-event waste and significant carbon footprint, it makes perfect sense that Sustainable Exhibitions and Events is a workshop subject. Glenn Hansen, CEO and founder of Reduce2 LLC, gives guidance on how to be a more sustainable exhibitor while reducing your exhibit’s carbon footprint.
- Did you know that an event’s impact is in the numbers? The Power of Seven – A Formula to Increase Event Impact takes attendees through the seven touch points that help the event’s marketing messaging land. Pioneered by Dianne Devitt, chief experience officer of Dianne Devitt LLC, guides guests through a step-by-step process to create memory-making moments.
- Booth traffic paves the road to exhibit success. Ten Strategies to Generate More Top-Quality Booth Traffic by Robyn Davis, CPTD, CEM, tradeshow specialist for Exhibitors WINH LLC, will educate attendees on strategies to attract the attendees you want in your booth.
Field Trips
One of a planner’s most valuable experiences is seeing something in person. Carrying on the tradition of field trips, EXHIBITORLIVE features three informative offsite adventures that will open attendees’ eyes.
- Site inspections are a powerful tool for executing a successful offsite event. Online dossiers only provide so much information. You must conduct a site inspection to ensure an offsite venue suits your audience. Join the Be There LIVE – Site Inspection Workshop and learn firsthand about preparing for and conducting a site evaluation. Get the basics on pre-site prep and identify critical questions to ask (and key areas to visit) on the site. This workshop also promises some illuminating info that vendors know, and you don’t.
- For those planning events in Nashville, Unique Venues – Four Exciting Nashville Venues That Will Dazzle Your Guests is a must-do field trip. This excursion will take guests on a four-venue site inspection showcasing some of the best event options in Music City.
- Speaking of Nashville, attendees can experience two significant music-themed museums during the Making Music: Lessons from Two Museum Experiences tour hosted by Jim Gilmore, co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP.
CTSM Sessions
One of the proudest feathers in the cap of EXHIBITORLIVE must be the Certified Trade Show Marketer (CSTM) program. As the industry’s only university-affiliated professional certification opportunity, the CTSM program has given the event-planning upper hand to more than 3,000 tradeshow and corporate event marketing professionals worldwide. Now recognized as corporate America’s leading event training and education source, the CTSM program produces industry professionals who average salaries 18% higher than their non-certified peers. During EXHIBITORLIVE, candidates can earn credits toward their certification during CTSM-required sessions.
With a jam-packed, four-day schedule, EXHIBITORLIVE 2024 promises a symphony of success in Music City. It is the must-attend event for those professionals looking to make beautiful music in the tradeshow and event industry.
This story originally appeared in the Q1 2024 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 48. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_q1_2024.
