Talent Retention in Events with Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes
Release Date: 05/11/2023
Ep. 55—Elli Riley, VP, HIMSS, for Informa Markets: From Association to Independent Organizer
Trade Show Talk Podcast
Elli Riley joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as the VP, HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition, for Informa Markets. Riley joined the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in December 2002 and has more than 28 years of experience in the meetings industry. Last summer, the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition was acquired by public company Informa, and Riley joined the Informa team in September 2023. Today Riley is the business lead for the HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition and oversees the marketing, sales, content and operations teams....
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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...
info_outlineOne thread that's been pulled through the majority of episodes since we began this podcast is the need to acquire and keep (or bring back!) talented people in the industry. Our guest on this episode is a great marketer, she hires people who are -- or develop into -- great marketers, and she keeps them! Or they boomerang back.
"There is something inherently sexy about an agency and working in the events business, so we have developed a lot of our interns, and we transform them into full time employees."
Without question, providing great services to clients is essential to maintain a successful business for so many years, and MDG and Kimberly's team have clearly done that. Through this conversation we get to learn how they manage to keep a robust and happy staff through times when that has been difficult for many organizations.
Happy employees make clients happy, and Kimberly shares the many ways she and her staff manage to do just that.
She shared some insightful research on "attendee sentiment" during the interview -- it turns out that is not published, but they shared a 2023 Q1 trends report, HERE.
We also have TSNN's Danica Tormohlen who shares some industry news.
Our guest
- Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes
As president and chief marketing strategist of mdg, the nation’s leading marketing and public relations agency specializing in audience acquisition, Hardcastle-Geddes and her team provide solutions that increase attendance and exhibitor participation for category-leading events such as CES, NAB Show, World of Concrete, the International Baking Industry Exposition, and many, many more.
Kimberly is an IAEE Krakoff Leaders Institute alumna, has a monthly column in PCMA’s Convene magazine, and frequently presents to industry groups on strategic marketing planning. She’s also a Navy wife, the mom of a TCU Horned Frog, an avid reader, and is equally as addicted to her Peloton bike as she is to junk food.
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The "Trade Show Talk" podcast is publishing two episodes per month, tackling the most important issues the meetings and events industry is facing. If you'd like to be a sponsor or a guest, or you have a topic to suggest, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. And we'd love it if you'd SHARE, rate, and review episode 31, & the show!