Industry Experts Thomas Kramer and Charles McCurdy Share Insights with the InGo Team
September 23 was the fall equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the official end of summer and for those who love long, warm days as much as I do, it was a day of mourning. It was also a day of reflection on the season past, which for those of us at InGo included not only the usual vacations and Wednesday lunches in the park, but also group of talented and energetic summer interns and a summer lecture series given by two of our board members.
Thomas Kramer, current CFO of Opower and Co-Founder of Cvent, joined the InGo team around the conference table for lunch in June to share a meal of smoked salmon, some insights on building an event start-up from zero to IPO, the elements of success, and some gems on being a Norwegian in America. Of the many wonderful points he made, his comments on the how everyone in a company is in the sales department were particularly salient. He walked through each group, from development to marketing and sale to finance, and highlighted the importance of their role winning customer confidence. It was great advice for companies large and small but particularly for start-ups.
In July, Charlie McCurdy, the Director and Chairman of the Board of the Society of Independent Show Organizers, having just been appointed CEO of Informa’s Global Exhibitions division, was unable to make the trip to DC, so he joined the InGo team via video conference. Charlie drew on his long experience in the exhibitions industry to speak to the team about trade shows as a business, covering not only why they exist, but what they do for customers, exhibitors and attendees and how they create shareholder value. Among his many informative points, Charlie spoke about how just as the advent of email dramatically changed the way events were marketed, the advent of social media is again bringing about a fundamental shift.
Hear more about what Charlie had to say about trends in trade show marketing as well as the growth of the trade show industry in these videos clips.