A conversation with Chloe Richardson
We catch up with event data guru Chloe Richardson, vice president of corporate relations at Explori, ahead of her panel “The future of exhibits: Proving the value of your trade show strategy” on Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Inspiration Hub Insights Theater.
Q: In your session abstract, you mention that event costs are rising while budgets remain stagnant. Could you elaborate on the specific challenges marketers are facing in justifying their trade show strategy under these financial constraints?
According to our most recent research, undertaken in partnership with The Exhibitor Advocate, despite an overall feeling that exhibitions are a valued sales and marketing channel, three in four exhibitors still say they feel at least some pressure to cut exhibit-related costs.
From speaking to corporate exhibit managers daily, the fundamental issue lies with having the right data and language to justify budgets to senior leadership teams. If we can clearly demonstrate to internal stakeholders the critical impact trade shows have on organizations, then they’ll understand and appreciate the value and diminishing budgets will start to become less of a problem.
Q: Who will be joining you on stage?
I’ll be joined on-stage by two data-driven leaders in the trade show world: Josh Arnold, senior marketing manager of global trade shows and experiential events at Veeam, and Keegan Hooks, head of global events and EBC at Informatica. We’ve curated a discussion in which Josh and Keegan will share insight into their current challenges with exhibit marketing and steps they are taking to overcome them. We’ve also combined our expertise to create practical takeaways for corporate event organizers to be able to action as soon as they get back to their desks.
Q: Could you provide an insight into some of the takeaways IMEX attendees can expect from your session?
One piece of practical advice from the session is around the seven data pillars every exhibit marketer should be collecting to support the justification of their exhibit spend. We’ll be sharing details of these pillars with the audience so everyone in attendance has a data collection framework to use as soon as they return to their desk.