Events In America interviewed Dana Freker Doody, our VP of Corporate Communications at the IAEE Expo! Expo! show in Baltimore. You can click through to watch the interview or read the transcript below as she offers her perspective on how to acheive strategic objectives.
EAI: Who is The Expo Group?
Dana: So The Expo Group is a general service contractor serving the exhibitions and events industry, to create their trade shows and we also create exhibits for corporations and corporate events, which is a growing piece of our business.
EAI: Why choose The Expo Group?
Dana: You know the one thing that I want people to know about The Expo Group is that we are a partner in their success. We dig into how people want to be responded to. We dig into what their strategic objectives are so our team can work deliberately to achieve those. We offer a “Smart Creative”, kind of S.W.A.T. Team, is what I like to call it, to collaborate with our clients about what they are going to achieve, and how everything The Expo Group provides can help get them there.
EAI: What are some trends you are seeing in the industry?
Dana: A lot of the trends we see are making sure that every interaction, every touch point with a client, from the minute they come on to your website, to the minute they show up at a city, to the minute they show up at a convention center, is all tied into the strategic objective to that attendee journey that you want that you them to experience with your brand.
The more you can get people’s senses engaged in the experience they’re having at your trade show, the more memorable it is, the more closely they are tied into your community, and the more likely they are to remember that experience. And then you’re going to end up retaining those attendees and you are going to be getting the referral word of mouth to help you to break into new markets, and bring even more attendees to your show.
EAI: What's on the horizon for The Expo Group?
Dana: 2016 is looking really good for The Expo Group. We are doing some exciting things with our clients. We’re looking at Rethinking- Always. I’m sure you can see from our booth and our marketing materials, that we are encouraging our clients, and really anyone in this industry to Rethink how they’re doing business;
How they’re creating their trade shows? – What they look like? – What the timing is? – How the conference and exhibition work together? – What their graphics look like? and the signage? and all the way finding. Really designing an attendee journey that makes deliberate sense for their business and the strategic objectives.
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