When the Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum kicks off May 27 in Washington, D.C., there will be 200 CEOs, executive directors, presidents, vice presidents and other C-level executives from associations and for-profit organizers taking in a full-day of six sessions with 12 presenters.

The event was founded and is run by Sam Lippman from Lippman Connects who said, “Executives from associations and independents look forward to ECEF for executive level networking and peer-to-peer information exchange.”

He added, “Many of them come back each year for fresh ideas from vetted speakers and current, actionable data available nowhere else.”

The opening keynote at this year’s event will be given by Scott Schenker, general manager, Events and Production Studios, Microsoft Marketing, shares “Seeing around Corners: How to Prepare for Changes in Technology, Society, and the Economy.”

Lori Anderson, president and CEO of the International Sign Association, will lead another session that will zero in on the realization that “a renewed focus on the business aspect of the [ISA International Sign Expo] was paramount for its continued growth and success.”

This led ISA to launch the kind of in-depth customer research usually reserved for big-budgeted Fortune 500 corporations.

“But spending millions on research was not an option,” Anderson said. So, she found an affordable alternative, beginning with studying the “personas” of its customers.

“By taking aggressive, pro-active measures to keep ISA Sign Expo relevant far into the future, Lori is providing the kind of leadership that points the way for many other organizers,” Lippman said.

Another session at the event will be led by Glenn Hansen, CEO and President, BPA Worldwide, who will lead a panel to discuss five of the biggest misconceptions about sustainable events.

“’Is Sustainability a Must in the Exhibition Industry?’ will give 200 exhibition and convention leaders the timely information on coming regulatory mandates and the changing expectations of customers and communities,” Lippman said. “Glenn has recruited an impressive panel of leading voices in the sustainable events movement.

Panelists include Kimberly Lewis, senior vice president, Community Advancement, Conference and Events, U.S. Green Build Council; Natasja O'Connor, events operations and services group director, UBM EMEA; and Alan Peterson, vice president Events Consulting Group, Scranton Gillette Communications.

“The No. 1 misconception is that sustainability is only for tree huggers,” Hansen said. “That leads to the conviction that exhibitors and attendees don’t care if our events are sustainable. And that’s a big mistake organizers are not going to be able to ignore much longer.”

Here are the other sessions:

·         Show Floor Synergy: Gene Sanders, SVP, Trade Shows at SPI, will moderate a panel with Marian Bossard, SVP Global Market Events, Toy Industry Association; Daniel Martinage, president and CEO of the IDSA; and Megan Tanel, VP Exhibitions & Events, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The panel will discuss how NPE 2015 creates exhibit and special interest areas via collaboration with other organizations. 

·         Attendee Acquisition and Exhibit Sales Success Strategies: Sam Lippman, president, Lippman Connects, will share best practices and trends in attendee acquisition, exhibit and sponsorship sales, and large shows. All data is from Exhibit Surveys research and Lippman Connects Roundtables.

·         Closing Keynote: Kerry Bodine is a customer experience consultant who has been published by the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, and USA Today. Kerry will deliver The ROI of Building a Better Customer Experience.

For more information or to register, please visit www.lippmanconnects.com.