The Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) Summer Educational Conference, which runs Sunday, June 28, through Wednesday, July 1, at Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Canada, moved into its first full day of education Monday, June 29, as speakers examined leadership, operational pressure, safety, industry data, technology, and the future of the exhibition and live events industry.
Cohen opens with leadership challenge
Monica Cohen, chief executive officer of the American Cider Association, opened Monday’s programming with a keynote focused on how industry leaders can move beyond daily execution and make time for bigger strategic thinking.
Cohen framed exhibitions as the “Super Bowl of business,” noting that major events depend on planning, teamwork, and hundreds of decisions that happen long before show day. However, she warned that companies cannot meet new challenges with old playbooks.
Her session pushed attendees to look at the habits, policies, and processes that helped their companies grow, but may now limit change. She encouraged leaders to create room for new ideas, small tests, and better decision-making at every level of an organization.
Cohen also challenged the room to think about what their companies need to stop, start, learn, and share. Artificial intelligence (AI), mentorship, knowledge transfer, and employee ownership all emerged as part of that discussion.
Rather than treating disruption as a crisis, Cohen urged attendees to treat it as part of leadership. Her message set the tone for a day built around adaptation, collaboration, and the need to prepare for what comes next.
Venue panel looks at convention center evolution
The venue discussion added a convention center perspective to Monday’s program, with leaders from major facilities and Freeman examining how venues are changing to meet new expectations.
Chris Schimek, chief operating officer of Freeman, moderated the panel with Larita Clark, chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority; Mark Tester, executive director of Orange County Convention Center; and Freddie Peterson, general manager of Miami Beach Convention Center.
The conversation focused on how convention centers are moving beyond square footage and room blocks. Panelists said venues now need to support broader event experiences, stronger technology, flexible spaces, food and beverage planning, sustainability, and more active partnerships with organizers and service partners.
Rising costs also shaped the discussion. Panelists said venues are under pressure to manage labor, operations, capital needs, and customer expectations while keeping events financially viable. That pressure has made early planning and closer collaboration more important.
Clark said venues, organizers, contractors, labor partners, and local stakeholders need to approach challenges with an industry mindset. Tester also pointed to the importance of local advocacy, especially as public funding decisions affect convention center operations, tourism, and destination business.
Peterson emphasized communication between venues and event partners, particularly as centers invest in technology, campus improvements, and new ways to activate space around the building.
The panel reinforced a theme that carried through the morning: venues cannot rely on the way events have always worked. Instead, they need to adapt before outside forces push the industry to change.
Ghafoori uses live polling to gauge industry pressure
Marc Ghafoori, senior vice president of client experience at Heritage, turned the room into a live data source during “The Pulse of the Room,” an interactive session built around anonymous phone polling.
The exercise asked attendees to assess where their organizations stand, what pressures are changing operations, and which assumptions no longer fit the industry. Responses pointed to familiar concerns, including labor, succession, speed, margin pressure, client expectations, and the pull between reacting to problems and planning for what comes next.
One theme was clear: many of the challenges facing ESCA members are not isolated company problems. Instead, they reflect broader pressure across the exhibition services sector. Ghafoori used the responses to push attendees to think about shared industry work, not just internal fixes.
The session also asked where companies create value that clients may not see. Responses pointed to pre-show logistics, design and planning, and installation work, much of which happens behind the curtain before an event opens.
As the session moved from problems to priorities, attendees identified the need for more flexibility, communication, collaboration, technology, and trust. In addition, workforce development, AI, advocacy, and cross-industry collaboration surfaced as areas where the industry may need to focus more energy over the next 24 months.
The session gave Monday’s program a practical midpoint. After Cohen’s keynote challenged leaders to rethink old playbooks, Ghafoori’s polling exercise showed that many attendees are already wrestling with the same pressures inside their own companies.
Safety message brings personal focus to Monday program
Monday’s program also included a personal safety conversation between Julie Kagy, executive director of ESCA, and Stephanie Flinn, board president of The Maverick Minute Foundation.
Flinn shared the story behind Take a Maverick Minute, a safety initiative created after her grandson, Maverick, and her mother, Nancy, died following a farm accident in 2025.
The message centers on a simple idea: pause before acting. Flinn described a “Maverick minute” as a short moment to slow down, assess risk, and think about how one decision could affect personal safety and the safety of others.
Kagy connected the message to the exhibition industry, where crews often work under tight deadlines, around heavy equipment, and inside fast-moving show environments. The discussion urged attendees to see safety not only as a checklist or compliance issue, but as a daily mindset.
ESCA plans to bring the Take a Maverick Minute message into the industry through signage, safety conversations, and member outreach beginning this year. The effort will encourage teams to pause before risky actions, whether on the show floor, in the workplace, or in daily life.
The session added an emotional reminder to Monday’s education program. After earlier sessions focused on leadership, data, and industry pressure, Flinn’s message brought the conversation back to people, risk, and the small decisions that can prevent harm.
Flanagan shares CEIR industry outlook
Marsha Flanagan, president and chief executive officer of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), closed Monday’s education program with research and market insights from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).
Flanagan pointed to continued recovery across business events and exhibitions, while also noting that the rebound remains uneven by sector. She said exhibitions are playing a key role in the broader business events economy, with tradeshows continuing to drive spending, hotel room nights, jobs, and business connections.
Her update included several CEIR findings tied to recovery, marketing spend, young professional engagement, and organizer benchmarks. According to Flanagan, exhibitions are nearing full recovery compared with 2019 levels, and Canada is tracking ahead of the United States in some business events recovery measures.
She also highlighted economic pressures that continue to affect the industry, including tariffs, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty. Even so, she said recent CEIR data shows stronger activity in 2025, especially in sectors such as building and construction, transportation, government, and industrial and heavy machinery.
Flanagan also discussed new CEIR research on marketing spend and attendee behavior. In-person exhibitions remain a leading channel in marketing budgets, and younger professionals continue to value networking, product discovery, and interactive show-floor experiences.
The session closed Monday’s program by tying the day’s themes together. Cohen challenged leaders to rethink old playbooks. Ghafoori showed that many companies face the same pressures. Flinn reminded attendees that safety starts with a pause. Then Flanagan put those conversations into a wider industry context, using research to show where exhibitions stand and where the industry still needs work.
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