EFECPREVIEW
Income, Innovation Dual Focus
of ECEF
BY SAM LIPPMAN
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the
2011 Exhibition & Convention Executives
Forum (ECEF) expects to attract 200 event
organizers for a one-day exploration of
the strategies that will drive business-to-business events forward.
This year’s forum, which takes place
on Wednesday, June 1, at the JW Marriott
in Washington, D.C., focuses on management strategies for boosting event
revenues and innovative methods for
increasing events’ relevance. The world’s
only forum exclusively for business media
and association executives, ECEF provides executives 10 hours of C-level content and networking.
Executives who participate consistently
praise ECEF’s unique and provocative
content, its emphasis on high-level strat-
egies, its candidness and its think-tank
atmosphere. Post-event surveys indicate
that 95 percent of participants rate ECEF
as “excellent” or “very good” and 100
percent “would recommend ECEF to col-
leagues.”
tific assembly and informatics for the
Radiological Society of North America,
organizer of the world’s largest medi-
cal meeting. He calls ECEF “astute and
insightful” and “an opportunity to stay
abreast of the latest issues and to hear
from the brightest and most experienced
in the exhibition and convention indus-
try.”
Every year after ECEF, Drew briefs his
directors on the topics covered. “I find
the economic forecasts useful for future
planning, and the experiences shared
by the presenters through case studies
always reassure me that ‘we’re all in this
together.’”
Because Drew’s meeting attracts more
than 10,000 international visitors, he par-
ticularly values the ECEF session devoted
annually to U.S. business travel.
‘Astute and Insightful’
One ECEF alumnus is Steve Drew,
assistant executive director for scien-
An Array of Experts
The following practitioners and thought leaders are scheduled to speak at ECEF 2011:
•;Paul Dimodica, CEO, Value Forward
Group, will deliver the opening keynote
address, sharing the results of research
he conducted in March that shows
event organizers how to penetrate the
C-suites of exhibiting companies, connect with their top executives, and
provide the justifications they need to
invest in events.
•;Helen Marano, director, office of travel
and tourism industries, U.S. Department of Commerce, and a director
from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, will report on the federal
government’s efforts to ease international travel restrictions. They also will
provide organizers actionable tips for
helping exhibitors and attendees gain
entrance into the country.
•;Mary Pat Heftman, executive vice
president, convention, National Restaurant Association, will reveal her
techniques for bolstering exhibit sales
during the recent downturn. Heftman’s
annual event grew 6 percent last year,
attracting more than 58,000 attendees.
•;Hal Vandiver, executive vice president,
business development, Material Handling Institute of America, will present
a case study that demonstrates simple
methods for predicting the financial
outcome of future events using business cycles and economic forecasts.
•;Adam Hartung, managing partner,
Sparks Partners, and author of Create
Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead
of the Competition, will deliver the closing
keynote address. Hartung will explain
why creating disruptions within an
organizer’s team will help keep an event
profitable and relevant.
More information about ECEF 2011
may be found at www.eceforum.com. The
deadline for applying is May 20.
Sam Lippman is producer of ECEF and president
of Integrated Show Management & Marketing. He
may be reached at (703) 979-4904 or slippman@
comcast.net.
