The International Association of Exhibitions and Events Major American Trade Show Organizer Council has selected Kelly Kilga (at right), CEM as its 2017 Chairperson. Kilga is vice president of meetings and events for NPES & GASC (Graphic Arts Show Company, Inc.). Her goals for the coming year include continued growth and engagement in the MATSO community as IAEE members realize the benefits of education and networking focused on the needs of large show organizers.
“In an effort to find the best ways to address large show challenges, MATSO will continue to grow the City Working Groups and facilitate dialogue between venue and city officials and show organizers,” noted Kilga. “In addition, MATSO will continue to identify the challenges of large shows and organize forums for discussion and action. MATSO will be a voice for the organizers of large shows as well as a resource for their continued success.”
Kilga is joined by new MATSO Council members:
- Adam Andersen, Managing Director, Penton;
- Sacha Carey, CEM, Director Exhibition Sales & Operations, Water Environment Federation; and
- John Catalano, CEM, Senior Director FABTECH, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).
Continuing MATSO Council members include:
- Vice-Chairperson Justine McVaney, Senior Vice President, Event Planning & Operations, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB);
- Immediate Past Chairperson Angela Harar, CEM, Senior Director of Tradeshows, The Vision Council;
- Steve Pitt, Senior Vice President, Conventions & Expositions, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA);
- Jim Pittas, Senior Vice President, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI);
- Michelle Sanford, CEM, Director, Event Operations, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM);
- Camille Stern, Senior Vice President of Strategic Account Management, SPARGO Inc.; and
- IAEE Board Liaison Chris Nemchek, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Member Relations, Specialty Food Association, Inc.
Photo right: MATSO Council at Expo! Expo! IAEE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2016. Front row from left to right: Camille Stern; Kelly Kilga, CEM; Justine McVaney; and Michelle Sanford, CEM. Back row from left to right: Sacha Carey, CEM; IAEE Chairperson Ryan Strowger, CEM; Adam Andersen; and Chris Nemchek. Council members not in photo: John Catalano; Angela Harar, CEM; Steve Pitt; and Jim Pittas.
MATSO’s most recent program was the MATSO Experience at Expo! Expo! IAEE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2016, which included targeted programming for MATSO attendees at the event. Two main sessions addressed the use of analytics and its impact on strategy for large trade shows, as well as an in-depth look at the event organizer of the future. Additional sessions included five city working groups in which attendees received updates and shared their experiences about Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, New York and Anaheim.
MATSO is currently preparing for its 2017 MATSO Spring Program, which will be hosted by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) at its CONEXPO-CON/AGG event on 7-9 March 2017 in Las Vegas, Nev. The program’s agenda is by invitation only for organizers who produce shows with 200,000 NSF or more and will include:
- Tech Experience Tour on the show floor guided by AEM representatives;
- Thought leadership session facilitated by Derek Woodgate of The Futures Lab;
- Networking exchange and other group networking opportunities;
- Benchmarking/mapping ROI session facilitated by Joe Colangelo, CEO & Co-founder of Bear Analytics;
- Data integration discussion facilitated by Aleksander Levental, Co-founder & CEO at Feathr; and
- City working group reports.
Registration for the 2017 MATSO Spring Program is free but space is limited to 30 qualified attendees; register today!
