Alex d’Archangelo and Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes have been invited by IAEE to share MDG’s collective wisdom on the strategic use of social media for achieving event marketing and communication objectives. Their session, Power to the People: Improving Social Media ROI With One Basic Principle, will be presented on Thursday, December 6 from 11am to noon. The talk will focus on the not-so-distant future, where social media is no longer a function of the marketing department alone.  Many marketing-savvy organizations are already socially enabling all employees—not to mention customers and other stakeholders—as a way to increase the return on social. How can trade show professionals utilize decentralization to not only grow attendance, but to increase exhibitor participation, build buzz, strengthen loyalty, improve employee retention, enhance customer service and more? Kimberly and Alex are hoping to see lots of clients and friends at this engaging, interactive session where they’ll share how to soften the departmental silos and minimize the risk when (((gasp))) relinquishing control over the trade show brand.

Kimberly will also be presenting, New Insights on What Attendees Want from Trade Exhibitions with Nancy Drapeau and Dr. Jeff Tanner on Thursday at 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. In this session, participants will be among the first to learn key findings from the CEIR study What Attendees Want from Trade Exhibitions. This session will unveil new, up-to-date insights on why attendees come to exhibitions, what they aim to achieve and experience and how best to market to them. Insights will be shared on high profile digital media, how influential it is in attracting attendees and how they use it at events. Kimberly’s emphasis will be on how to translate trends into effective and compelling marketing campaigns and she will share ideas on how to enhance the attendee experience.