By Michael Doane, Marketing Manager with CadmiumCD
The two years prior to 2015, I had been fairly active with my IAEE membership online, chatting with other members through the IAEE MemberLink forum and taking advantage of all the great resources IAEE has to offer through the member portal. But I never had the opportunity to attendee Expo! Expo!.
In 2015, Expo! Expo! was hosted by my hometown, Baltimore, MD, and I HAD to go. I remember walking through the exhibit hall and seeing old friends everywhere, plus meeting colleagues face-to-face for the first time that I knew from online industry events like the weekly Twitter group, #Expochat. It felt like a reunion.
Let’s talk about education for a minute. The quality of education surrounding the CEM Learning Program and industry knowledge is fantastic. I walked away from every Expo! Expo! session with a better understanding of clients’ pain points and responsibilities. This is why Expo! Expo! exemplifies what it takes to make any event great: they facilitate the opportunity to make great connections face-to-face, and the chance to receive a quality education.
I’m excited to return to Expo! Expo! this year in Anaheim for the same reasons, but I have the added bonus of being involved with the conference on another level. This year I won’t just be an exhibitor and attendee, I will also be a speaker. I’ll be giving a presentation on Thursday, 8 December with Brittany Doyle from SPI called “Driving Attendee Engagement with Event Tech.” CadmiumCD’s co-founder, Michelle Wyatt, will also be talking about sponsorship with our good friend from Sponsorship Boost, Jennifer Kehrin.
This is what I love most about IAEE and Expo! Expo!. It feels like every year that you’re involved with the organization, the opportunity to contribute to the industry increases. I hope to see you this December in Anaheim!
