A Thoughtful, Updated Conversation about DEI with Experts, Melissa Majors and Greg DeShields
Release Date: 02/09/2022
Ep. 54—Honeycomb Strategies CEO Lindsay Arell: Pioneering Sustainability in Live Events
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Lindsay Arell joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as the CEO of , a consulting firm she launched in 2009 to provide innovative sustainable operational strategies for the hospitality, sports and events industry. Today some of her clients include: SoFi Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Informa, Emerald, Freeman and VISIT DENVER. In April 2024, she was also appointed chief sustainability officer of , a venue management company that operates more than 350 convention centers, arenas, stadiums and theaters around the globe. We talked about her ambitious plans to execute a...
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Ep. 53 - In Conversation with U.S. Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman
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 — welcome news for business events, with average wait times of 400 days for top markets like Mexico, Brazil, India and Columbia. We did a deep dive into the data from a that revealed international inbound travel and domestic business travel will continue to remain below pre-pandemic levels in 2024. Find out what he...
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Ep. 52 - Smith + Stone Founder Hillary Smith: Design Thinking Process for Events
Trade Show Talk Podcast
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, Proctor & Gamble and Nike, she sold the business in 2019 to , a DMC powerhouse that was itself acquired by PE-firm in March 2023. She talked about joining the PRA team for five years to establish a...
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Ep. 51 — RX Sustainability Director Helen Sheppard: Roadmap to Net Zero
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Helen Sheppard joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as Sustainability Director of , 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 , which was published on Feb. 29 and outlines how the company will reach net zero no later than 2040. Under her leadership, RX completed energy and waste reporting for 56 venues covering 141 events in 2023, and carbon footprints were completed for 10 events. Find out how she and the RX are...
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Ep. 50 – In Conversation with BlueHive Group President Caitlyn Correia
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Caitlyn Correia joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as President of 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 industry, as the third generation of a professional trade show family. Under her leadership, BlueHive is set to have its best year yet, serving 150 clients at 1,000 events across the globe in 2024. Last...
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Ep. 49 – In Conversation with Tahaluf CEO Mike Champion
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Mike Champion joined Trade Show Talk to share his experience as CEO of , . 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 largest B2B events in history: and . In November 2023, Cityscape Global debuted with 350 exhibitors, more than 10,000 international investors, an impressive lineup of more than 300 speakers and an astounding 160,000 visitors. After launching LEAP in 2022, the second edition of the annual tech event, dubbed the Digital Davos by Wired, took...
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Ep. 48: In Play: Toy Association EVP Global Market Events Kimberly Carcone
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Ep. 48 – In Play: Toy Association EVP Global Market Events Kimberly Carcone EVP Global Market Events Kimberly Carcone joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience overseeing the association’s flagship event, . 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 attendees to see tens of thousands of products on display by 1,021 exhibiting companies, including nearly 400 first-time exhibitors. The trade show brought buyers from nearly 100 countries together to shop, explore, and...
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Ep. 47 – CEO John Hense: Combining & Growing Nth Degree & Fern Expo
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Last June, and its PE owners, , bought . 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 Logistics, Diligent Delivery Systems and most recently Ship Supply. In this episode of Trade Show Talk, Hense shared his experience as a leader with PE-owned companies from outside the industry and how he’s putting those skills...
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Ep. 46 – Marsha Flanagan on Taking the Helm as IAEE President & CEO
Trade Show Talk Podcast
After 11 years with the (IAEE), 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 Tormohlen talked about the recent IAEE Expo! Expo! Annual Meeting & Exhibition, dubbed The Show for Shows. Held Dec. 5-7 at the , Expo!Expo! 2023 grew year over year, attracting 1,900+ industry professionals (pending verified audit), compared with 1,476 in...
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SEMA's Vice President of Events Tom Gattuso: In the Driver’s Seat
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Ep. 45 – SEMA's Vice President of Events Tom Gattuso: In the Driver’s Seat With a 12-year track record at the (SEMA), Tom Gattuso shared his experience as VP of Events for , 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 — SEMA Show attracted 2,200 exhibitors and more than 150,000 attendees — that’s more attendees than CES in January (115,000) or CONEXPO/CON-AGG in March (139,000+). We talked about: The size of market: $51.8 billion in 2022,...
info_outlineDid you know there are 19 different facets to diversity, equity, and inclusion? 19! It IS about ethnicity and race, but it really is about so much more.
Our guests on episode three wanted to have a conversation around where things are now within the meetings & events industry (and beyond). They didn’t want to revisit the same conversations, but to look at what’s most important NOW around DEI, and to set the stage for the change that is still to come.
Melissa Majors and Greg DeShields are the perfect combo to show us the progress, the insights, and the humanity around DEI. Oh, and there is a business case to be made around it. You do have to budget for it, but you can also create new revenue streams by doing it right.
It’s likely you’ll listen to this one more than once, and we highly recommend you share it!
EPIC insights.
Our Guests
“The Inclusive Leadership Expert”
As CEO of Melissa Majors Consulting, she’s an innovator and optimizer of education, inclusion, & leadership strategies. She has dedicated her career to maximizing the business impact associated with these areas of focus.
The team at Melissa Majors Consulting has extensive experience and a proven reputation for driving better business outcomes through innovative and inclusive strategic planning. They bring deep expertise in improving profitability and innovation, boosting organizational performance, and optimizing inclusion strategies. Melissa formally studied strategy and innovation at Harvard University.
Melissa Majors is a crowd-pleasing speaker who masters brain-friendly talks that engage her audiences and spark not just inspiration, but action as well.
Executive Director of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Greg is a Qualified Tourism Professional and Academic Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) proficient in developing and implementing plans, strategies, and initiatives to raise destinations' image for diverse travel.
Greg is also an Experienced Certified Diversity Executive (CDE), with demonstrated cultural competence, prepared to strategically position an organization to remove systemic barriers to inclusion, lead culture change, and transform brands.
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The "Trade Show Talk" podcast is publishing two episodes per month, focusing on a different theme each month. If you'd like to be a guest or you have a topic to suggest that we cover, please let us know by emailing [email protected].
Check out episode 3! And please take a minute to follow, rate, & review us on your podcast platform of choice & get each ep. when it drops!