Event Marketer's Toolbox
Join hosts Chris Dunn and Caitlin Carey as they share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event industry.
Event Marketer’s Toolbox is the definitive playbook for corporate event professionals and trade show marketers.
From first-time marketers to seasoned planners, this show delivers practical solutions to make your events memorable and impactful.
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Event Marketer's Toolbox
EMT #17 with Danica Tormohlen - The Future of Trade Shows: Real Trends, Real Data, Real Talk
In this insightful episode of Event Marketer’s Toolbox, hosts Chris Dunn and Dana Esposito sit down with award-winning journalist and events industry insider Danica Tormohlen to dive into the real-time trends shaping the trade show and live event space in 2025.
With over 25 events already under her belt this year, Danica offers a ground-level view of how both exhibitors and attendees are evolving—from rising expectations to personalization, wellness, hybrid experiences, and the redefinition of value.
This is the episode to listen to if you're planning a trade show presence this year and want to stay ahead of what attendees actually want.
🔹 Younger Attendees Are Redefining the Show Floor
The surge of Gen Z and Millennial attendees is driving a shift toward more experiential, informal, and interactive booth activations. These audiences crave participation, not pitches.
🔹 Personalization Isn't Optional Anymore
Today’s attendees want freedom: to create their own agendas, explore quiet zones, and even customize their meal plans. The era of back-to-back programming is over—attendees need space to connect, decompress, and choose their own journey.
🔹 Exhibitors Are Missing Easy PR Wins
Danica notes too many brands ignore pre-show and on-site PR opportunities. At a minimum, brands should plan:
- A post-show press release
- Live booth content
- Social updates during set-up and on show days
🔹 Creative Networking Beats Traditional Happy Hours
From dirty soda bars to Harley-themed activations and sun salutation yoga, exhibitors and show organizers are pushing past the cocktail hour. Attendees want meaningful moments and healthier options that reflect their values.
🔹 Support for Women in Exhibitions Is Growing
Danica shares insights into the Women in Exhibitions Network – North America, offering education, mentorship, and real connection for women across the industry. Monthly meetups, high-level guests, and in-person events are creating real momentum.
🟧 “You can spend all this time building an amazing booth… but if no one knows you’re there, you’ve missed the opportunity.”
🟧 “Even the more experienced generation wants personalization. We expect what we enjoy as consumers to show up in our business lives too.”
🟧 “It's not about alcohol anymore—it’s about intentional, inclusive experiences. Attendees want options.”
🟧 “We need to talk to top exhibitors sooner and partner up—on keynotes, activations, and shared storytelling.”
Danica Tormohlen gave us a roadmap for where the industry is right now—and where it's heading fast. Whether you’re an exhibitor looking to upgrade your presence or a planner rethinking your strategy, the message is clear: make it personal, make it purposeful, and plan smarter
👉🏼 Join us for more insightful discussions like this by tuning into 'Event Marketer's Toolbox,' where industry leaders share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event world.
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Danica Tormohlen: [00:00:00] End it, but that's okay. Is like how? Hey everybody,
Chris Dunn: how are you? This is Chris Dunn. We're coming at you here with the Event Marketers Toolbox. We are live and in the studio today. We've got a great guest. Um, I'm gonna kick it over to my co-host, Dana Esposito and let her do the main part of the introduction.
Chris Dunn: But thank you very much for, uh, stopping by. We here at Event Marketers Toolbox are building a community of like-minded event professionals, whether you're on the trade show side, corporate event side, whatever the, whatever the case like. You are welcome in our community and please participate, ask questions, and get involved.
Chris Dunn: Hey, Dana,
Dana Esposito: you So, yeah, so, hi. I am the EVP of strategy. Um, basically I lead the creative team and corporate strategy here at BlueHive and at BlueHive we are a highly creative group of individuals who design, build, service, um, exhibits, events. We do I and d. So basically from soup to nuts, any environment that's a branded.
Dana Esposito: Uh, environment that [00:01:00] your clients need to learn something from is what we can do for you. Um, and today we're here with Danica. She is an award-winning journalist, speaker and chair of Women and Exhibitions Network, north America. So Danica, would you like to introduce yourself?
Danica Tormohlen: Sure. Hi, I am Danica Tour Molen.
Danica Tormohlen: Thank you both for having me. It's great to see you, Chris and Dana and, um, all of our LinkedIn live listeners. So, um, I I'm just gonna give you a quick little background about me. Um, I have a journalism degree from University of Missouri, so go Tigers, one of the best journalism schools in the country. Um, I'm actually doing what I got my degree in.
Danica Tormohlen: Uh. So I've reported on trade shows and events for the one year this summer will be, uh, and like most people in the industry, I fell into it. I was hired at a magazine expo and, um, and [00:02:00] events because they're essentially magazine on your brand life and.
Chris Dunn: I am having a little bit of trouble with, um, with Danica's Audio. I'm not sure if everybody else is as well, but
Dana Esposito: I am too, kind of breaking up a little bit.
Chris Dunn: So, okay.
Dana Esposito: Let's see if we can get past that. We'll get past this,
Chris Dunn: of
Dana Esposito: course. All of course. I'm gonna continue on. Hopefully it will just sort itself out. Well,
Chris Dunn: Dana, before you jump in and we have to, we have to give some props to our, uh, to our sponsors. So yes, BlueHive is one of our sponsors. Obviously Dana and I both work for this tremendous company.
Chris Dunn: We are, uh, located East Coast, west Coast. And as, as Dana mentioned. Extremely creative and we wrap our arms around all things, trade shows and events. Um, we're also sponsored by our friends over at Fist Bump. So Fist Bump is an agency group that has really helped, [00:03:00] uh, me kind of take my, um, my LinkedIn game to a, to another level.
Chris Dunn: That's where kind of how I started with the group. Uh, but, but even more so than that, they, uh, they. Are basically producing and putting on this podcast for us. So, uh, tried to get this thing off the ground, um, back in the summertime and it just was, it was a heavy lift and I, it was more than I could do.
Chris Dunn: And luckily I was able to partner or we were able to partner with fist bump and they step in, they pick up kind of all of the, all of the hard parts and pieces and really just. We show up and we have great conversations with, uh, with great guests like, like Danica, um, and Fist Bump does all of the hard work, but it's not just what you see here.
Chris Dunn: In addition to that, all the content is captured, and then myself as a salesperson and the sales team here, we benefit from. Being able to take that content, cut it up and push it out, and use that as part of our go-to-market strategy and, and attracting new clients and creating conversations. So anyways, um, great, great things from Fist Bump.
Chris Dunn: Thanks for the [00:04:00] team effort on that end. And now I will kick it back to you, Dana, as you have some great questions. Uh, I do to move forward with.
Dana Esposito: All right, so we're gonna start talking a little bit about what's changing, um, for exhibitors in 2025. So, Danica, what's the difference this year for brands on the show hall floor that you've noticed?
Danica Tormohlen: So I would say, hopefully you can hear me okay. I've got my backup ear AirPods, so hopefully so much for the nice mic. Um, I, the good news is that in-person event, um. In-person demand is strong. I mean, there are 73% of 18 to 35 year olds plan to attend live events in the next six months. So there is really, um, you know, since Covid IT events have just come roaring back and we continue to see that again in 2025.
Danica Tormohlen: So far. Um, this year. So those are some of the, um, [00:05:00] the good news to start it out. And, um, in terms of exhibitor trends, what we're seeing, I think it's it's building on trends that we've seen over the last few years. Um, more experiences at booths, um, and tied around events. So. Um, you know, whether that's things like, you know, making sense, um, in a booth, uh, making bracelets, things that are interactive that people can, um, do together.
Danica Tormohlen: And there's an activity involved. It's not so much of a sales, like a hard sales pitch. Right. Um, so it's activities, uh, in their booths. And I would also say one of the challenges that we're certainly seeing, which I know you've addressed in some of your previous, uh, podcast, is the cost. Increasing costs.
Danica Tormohlen: So we've definitely seen increasing costs this year. So sometimes that means I'm seeing, you know, more [00:06:00] fabric in booths, less things in a booth. But at the same time, we're also seeing more cool things like, you know, big LED walls and, and high tech, um, things that are used in the booth. So, um, those are some of the things that, that I've seen this year.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, one of the cool things that we've seen. Uh, is at, like, for instance at CES Delta did their keynote at the Spear. Google Next just had one at the Spear as well. So, you know, it is doing some different things. So that, that's kind of what we're seeing as new in 2025.
Chris Dunn: That's cool. I can, I just, I wanna just, uh, kind of expound upon that or ask a, a follow up question if I could before you hop back in there, Dana.
Chris Dunn: Um, so. Danika, you, I think you mentioned you started with a statistic that was really interesting, right? 73%? Was it 18 to 25 year olds? 35. So the next 18, 35. Okay, great. [00:07:00] Next gen. Okay, so basically millennials, gen Z are there, do, is it, is it that group of younger people kind of coming to the table and coming of age within the event world that's pushing us into these new areas and I, I don't wanna say new areas like we've been working on.
Chris Dunn: You know, creating experiences and experiential, um, events for quite a while. But I feel like this younger generation is demanding that that's how things look, right? So your, your grandfather's trade show or event from 20 years ago ain't cutting it anymore, right? People wanna be involved, they want to, they want to develop those experiences.
Chris Dunn: So, um, and, and that's interesting to see that they've moved the needle within this event world.
Danica Tormohlen: Yes, for sure. I would say it's driven by that, but it's also driven by a trend that. Has started a while back. You know, people, business people are consumers. So what we want in our consumer life we're driving to have in our business life as well.
Danica Tormohlen: So even [00:08:00] the older generation, even, you know, the more experienced generation, when I go to an event. I want more personalization, I want more experiences. So it's, it's, it's driven definitely by the younger generation, um, in terms of demanding it, you know, um, but it's a trend we've been seeing for a little while.
Chris Dunn: I, I like you, how reframe that as well from older to more experience, because I feel like collectively, uh, we talked about this earlier, but, uh, Danica got your start in 94 and myself and Dana both in 95. So. You know, there's a lot of years of experience. Experience there. Not age, but experience.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah. Oh, and there goes my camera. There you are. I see. I see. People are saying that there's a lag on the video, so I might just switch over to my camera on my device, so. Okay. Go ahead. Keep going. This is a live show. We just
Chris Dunn: roll with it. Right? Just like in the event world when when stuff goes sideways, you're like, okay, this happened.
Chris Dunn: Exactly. We, we deal with it [00:09:00] and figure it out. I have a
Danica Tormohlen: studio. I have a studio in my office where I don't typically ever have problems, but of course we're gonna have a problem during LinkedIn live. So. We're gonna regroup and see what we can do here, you
Chris Dunn: know, in, in True event. Uh, and
Danica Tormohlen: there you're,
Chris Dunn: is it true event?
Chris Dunn: There you go. Yeah, this looks good. Okay. Okay, now.
Danica Tormohlen: All right,
Dana Esposito: we're gonna try that. We have figured, we have
Chris Dunn: figured this out. We're making it happen.
Dana Esposito: Yeah. There you go. So, I know you were talking a lot about experiential and immersive and, um, events where people can like, make choices and it's really feeling very personalized.
Dana Esposito: So. That was stuff that was talked about over the last few years, and now it just seems rampant in the most positive way. Um, can you tell us, um, for what you've seen, do you feel like there are any things that exhibitors maybe bigger, like mistakes that maybe exhibitors are still making that you could, um, expound upon a little bit?
Danica Tormohlen: Sure, sure. So, I mean, one of the things that I noticed. Is that sometimes exhibitors don't take advantage of [00:10:00] the PR opportunities around a trade show. Some of the best exhibitors that I see are, you know, um, sending out announcements about their participation in a trade show. Um, but not all of them do. I, it, I feel like it's like low hanging fruit, especially from a journalist perspective.
Danica Tormohlen: It, you know, you can reach out to media and make appointments with them. They will come by your booth. I mean, there's so many people that don't do that, that, that it could be really easily, um, you know, you can maximize your PR from the event by, you know. Promoting your attendance at the event and the fact that you're gonna be there.
Danica Tormohlen: And then also, um, you know, sending appointments with media, putting up social every day on the event. You know, stop by my booth. This is what's happening. Um, you know, even when you're building the booth, what. What that looks like, generate excitement around it. Um, the other thing I will always say is a [00:11:00] continuing, um, issue is training for your booth staff, right?
Danica Tormohlen: Like you need to have, um, your booth staff needs to be trained and on what to expect. And we're seeing also more people are wanting subject matter experts, so. You wanna have the people in your booth who can answer, you know, the first people, the first line of defense, right? To qualify those leads and then get them off to the subject matter experts because you know, an or attendee is at the event to learn more about a particular product, right?
Danica Tormohlen: And they're gonna be comparing your product to. The other ones that are on the floor. And that's the beauty of being at a trade show. You can do all that in one space. So, and you know, you have to have your booth staffed with the right people.
Chris Dunn: Yeah, those are, those are really good points and they're easy to, to whistle past those and thinking about the, you know, big, shiny things.
Chris Dunn: But sometimes the, the gold is in, in the details. Right. Um, so, hey, uh, Jim, [00:12:00] uh, is a, is a frequent visitor to our show. He's asking some questions about the sphere, Danica, I. I'm positive that you've been there, um, for, uh, for a number of events, but also for concerts. I've yet to go into the structure. It, it looks amazing from the outside, but, um, so Jim's question is, um, with regards to the sphere in Vegas, um, has that become a venue for, for trade shows and, and what's your take on that?
Chris Dunn: I, it feels like brands are leveraging the sphere not having a show inside of it necessarily. But what's your thoughts?
Danica Tormohlen: So we're seeing keynotes at the sphere right now. Okay. Um, for instance, Google Next had one there a couple weeks ago. That's their corporate event. So they had a keynote there and, and had a big announcement about they're gonna be working with the sphere on a.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, an upcoming show. So they announced it there at CES, um, Delta, the CEO of Delta, ed Bastion, uh, did the keynote from in there. So I think from a event marketers lens, I would say, you know, [00:13:00] working with big companies like that. Um. To figure out how ways, you know, offering them Delta, not opportunity to, you know, ho host a keynote at the sphere.
Danica Tormohlen: It is definitely not an inexpensive option, but it makes a big splash and it's something that. You know, that keynote was with, for instance, the spear one with Delta. I mean, that was CES and Delta together, right? Yeah. So partnering with your exhibitors to, you know, have that next level conversation. What do you wanna accomplish?
Danica Tormohlen: You know, what kind of, um, impact do you wanna make at the event? And then, you know, riding off each other's coattails, right? To defray the cost. To promote the event. Um, and I have also been to, it's a great place to hold special events too. They have a nice, um, meeting area in there, which is also exciting for a lot of people.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, to have [00:14:00] the opportunity to go in there. Maybe when there's not an event going on, at least you're still having, um, I was at an event for IMEX and Louisville hosted a. Um, event there, and then we watch the movie afterwards. So there are a lot of opportunities. I don't think there's gonna be a trade show in there, but I do think that there's ways to utilize it for a trade show that makes a big splash.
Chris Dunn: Yeah. That's very cool. So I would imagine your Google, your Delta or CES, you're taking over not only the interior, but you're also getting to brand the exterior as well, right? You're, you're, you've got access or I'm sure there's price points along the way, right? It's like, Hey, we wanna use the big screen on the whole exterior.
Chris Dunn: Okay, great. Right. The big check. Um, but that's, that's very cool. Um, and. Certainly, whoever, you know, ideated and dreamed up this, this thing. I, I think that they were, they were imagining that all of these cross-selling opportunities with all of the events and everything that comes to town, it's, it's pretty amazing.
Danica Tormohlen: I've seen a lot of ads related to [00:15:00] exhibitors who are at the event. Maybe if they don't, aren't holding an event there, they're, they're running ads on the outside of this sphere. Okay. Which also I, I, I know takes like special programming. It's, it's not a inexpensive proposition, but Right. A very cool one to make a big statement.
Danica Tormohlen: Especially if you're, for instance, your events at Mandalay Bay, you can see it outside your window. You know, people who are in their rooms can see it and are walking by it when they come in the show. So. Right. There's a lot of opportunities there. I, one of the first times I
Chris Dunn: was in town, uh, I had an event at, uh, at the Venetian, which is, which is I think is the, actually is the closest, uh, convent.
Chris Dunn: Oh, convent Convention Center to, to the sphere. Right. But I mean, if you're high enough in Mandalay, you can see it for sure. Mm-hmm. Um, but, um, you got, you have to be careful and make sure that your blinds are really good. 'cause if that thing's running bright all night, like it, it literally will just flood your, your windows depending on where your room is.
Chris Dunn: That's pretty crazy.
Danica Tormohlen: Thank you for correcting me on that. I was, yes. Had Mandalay Bay on my head, in my head for some reason. So yes, it's not problem. [00:16:00] They have some great views of, of it in the sphere. I've ran around it, like, I'll, if I stay there, I'll, I'll run around it in the morning and.
Chris Dunn: Oh, F1 went right, went, went around it as well.
Chris Dunn: I mean, it's, it's worked. It's becoming part of the landscape in Vegas, uh, architectural landmark as it were, that's for sure.
Dana Esposito: Yeah.
Chris Dunn: Um, alright. I've got the next set of questions here, so keep 'em coming fast and furious. So, uh, attendee expectations are evolving and we've kind of hit on a few of these things already.
Chris Dunn: Um, but what types of events or activations are connecting the best based on kind of what you've seen, Dan, what's kind of moving the needle out there?
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah. So I would say, um, this, uh, this is particularly for, you know, our newer audiences that are coming in. I would say they're driving more personalization for their event experience.
Danica Tormohlen: They wanna do the event, how they wanna do the event, they want downtime, they want. To be able to check their email, they wanna be able to leave [00:17:00] the convention center. So, you know, the days of programming the event from, you know, 6:00 AM 10:00 PM are, yeah. Um, I think going to be going by the wayside. Um, and.
Danica Tormohlen: I we're seeing a lot more handholding of new attendees. You know, maybe they, they are going to events for the first time since the, since the, you know, pandemic, they're moving up in their job ranks and they're able to attend events. So, you know, they wanna show up in, you know, they wanna know what to wear.
Danica Tormohlen: They, you know, when you're doing your know, before you go, people are doing, for instance, look books, you know, they're doing theme events so people feel comfortable, um, about how they're showing up. Um, they also, I think that they're really preparing more for an event than they ever have before. You know, sometimes we'll just show up at a, at an event.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, [00:18:00] a lot of them, you know, it's important to set expectations and, and tell them what the experience is gonna be like. I've even heard of, you know, people sharing menus beforehand. Like, you know, they wanna decide what they wanna eat, like are they prepared to eat that? And, you know, maybe they wanna go out to lunch instead of eat that.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, things like that, um, are. Certainly things that we're, we're seeing. Um, I was at an event, our event, we had an event at Harley Davidson last year, for instance, in Milwaukee. And so the whole theme was Harley. So, you know, they showed people you know what to wear and then at the event they had Harley t-shirts, you could ride a motorcycle, things like that.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, to make it, uh, a little bit more of a, a personal experience. You know, you could go to different stations and do the ones that you wanted to do.
Chris Dunn: Yeah, that's really, really interesting. So, listen, I, I'm as, as Dana and I are from New England, if I showed up with like a lobster bib, you know, to the [00:19:00] event and I'm like gonna custom design my, my messy dining process, I wanna eat some lobster.
Chris Dunn: So, um, yeah, very, very interesting. I was gonna kind of follow through with that, like, okay, so what does personalization mean? But you did a really nice job of kind of mapping that out and I think one, one thing I wanted to come back to with the whole building in that downtime. And maybe this is, you know, again, showing my agent experience.
Chris Dunn: Um, but the, the events of old that just had you, going from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next, when we, in our youth went to an event, we were unplugged, right? We weren't connected to the world nearly as much as we are now. There was Bank of Payphones that you could go to where there was a beeper on your, on your belt or something, right?
Chris Dunn: Um, but in the very olden days, right before cell phones and, and wifi and connectivity and so forth, and now. People are able to kind of continue to work a, not a normal day necessarily, but with that downtime, I've got an opportunity to go check my emails, to check in, see what's going [00:20:00] on, to maybe do a little bit of work in between and, and I, and I'm wondering if maybe that's part of what's driving that desire or need for personalized, uh, you know, set of, uh, or a cadence where I can choose to take an hour here to myself because I need, I need that to get the things done.
Danica Tormohlen: They're having, I'm seeing some longer networking breaks at some events to deal with that. Right? So, um, you know, 45 minutes, let's say, so you can, you know, have time. I, I've seen lounges, sitting areas, quiet areas even where you can go and answer your emails, um, and make phone calls. And then also still have time for networking, um, at the event.
Danica Tormohlen: So. And, and even I've seen some with like grab and go lunches, like offering, you know, people a variety. You have, you have your standup lunches, but maybe, you know, ideally you want people to network during lunch, but maybe somebody needs to go up to their room and answer their emails so they can participate in the rest of the afternoon so they're [00:21:00] not on their phone and on their computer working during the sessions.
Chris Dunn: Right, right, right. Exactly. So, hey, um, you know, part of the great thing about doing the live show is you've got, we've got the comments, we've got a lot of people kind of weighing in with some commentary, which is great. So I'm gonna read Chris Mus Musgrave's question here. A lot more property adjacent events.
Chris Dunn: Piggybacking, sorry, piggybacking off of the trade show for more personalization and focused audience with stronger level of networking. So that's exactly the sphere and its location is exactly that, right? This the, but. There's a lot of other examples, you know, of that, uh, whether it be in Vegas or really kind of any other, any other location.
Chris Dunn: Is there anything in particular that comes to mind, like other, um, uh, events or, you know, obviously we've got Chicago, we know as a hotspot, Orlando or you know, that along with Vegas or the three biggest areas in the country. But certainly there's plenty of shows in a, in a Philly, in a Miami, in a San Francisco or San Diego.
Chris Dunn: Um, and there's. [00:22:00] There's all of these, you know, different, uh, event adjacent pieces, bars, restaurants, uh, event spaces and things like that, that, that fill that void.
Danica Tormohlen: Correct. I am seeing, you know, we'll see different activities definitely around the event, whether that would be. Um, like for instance, a run in the morning where there are different ways to network, so it's not all around alcohol.
Danica Tormohlen: That's another, you know, trend that we've seen is, you know, more sober, curious, more mocktails, more, you know, events. Not everybody wants. To, um, network at an alcohol fueled event. So whether that is, you know, I've, I've participated in like a charcuterie board making session where, you know, there was like 50 people and then you're, um.
Danica Tormohlen: You're grouped with like four people and then you get to know those four people really well and you're doing something that is not [00:23:00] all around. Um, alcohol. I've also seen tours are really popular walking tours, like whether, you know, behind the scenes tour of the event, we're seeing more and more of those, like the av, the production behind the scenes accessibility tours.
Danica Tormohlen: How does this work? Um, you know, obviously it can relate to a particular industry. If there's something that's around, um. The convention center that, you know, um, uh, office building architecture, things like that, you know, that gets people out of the convention center. It creates, again, memorable experiences and a different, um, networking environment.
Chris Dunn: Yeah. Yeah, those are, those are great. And it's interesting, so of, I think we're, uh, we we're in episode 17 or 18, I think the reduced amount of alcohol and the options that are opened up when you're not building something around a happy hour has been a conversation point at least five or six times. So that's.
Chris Dunn: So that's pretty, that's pretty cool. Um, in order to kind of keep things [00:24:00] moving along, uh, Dana, why don't you jump in with, uh, your next question?
Dana Esposito: Sure. So here at BlueHive, we've seen an uptick in some of our existing and new clients asking us for, you know, help and support with creative and structure and digital content creation.
Dana Esposito: For events, you know, not just their trade shows, but their events, which is what something that we can do. So my question for you is, um, what have you seen? So like highlight standout events that, that you've been to or know about the in 2025 so far? Yeah,
Danica Tormohlen: so I'll give you, I'll just share my experience on some of the events that I've attended this year.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, so I was at PCMA ear early on in the year, which some of your, um. Reader or listeners or watchers right now may have been to, but one thing cool thing they had, there was like a dirty soda bar. So dirty soda bars are hot. So having um, something like that that is sponsored and it's part of the [00:25:00] show and it's an experience during a networking break, but it's also something that is sponsored, um, at what is 30 soda.
Danica Tormohlen: So dirty soda is like, you mix like cream and like, uh, um, juices. They're, it's just a new, it's, I've seen 'em popping up all over the place now. Really? Um, they're really soda. Some of them are. It's so again, a non-alcoholic option. Yeah. So it sounds like a new
Dana Esposito: take on the old fashioned soda bar.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah, exactly.
Danica Tormohlen: Got it. So that's how they're kind of set up and people wanna try those. Right? And you're standing in line, you're talking to people, you're, you know, you got this pretty drink that you can take a picture of. Um, you pick out the one you want, the flavors you want. Uh, that's one thing that I've seen. Um, I was at Fence Tech, which is a.
Danica Tormohlen: Small B2B show for the fence industry, which I didn't, you know, know anything about before. But one of the things that they did that I thought was really cool was they had a beer garden on the show floor. [00:26:00] So, you know, instead of having people leave the show floor, right, they've, they've got in the center of the show floor with games like, you know, they had cornhole and um, different games like that where, and serving drinks right there on the show floor.
Danica Tormohlen: So people that wanna meet and there were lots of chairs and see, you know, high tops. Couches, et cetera, where, you know, you could bring your conversation over there, uh, without leaving the show floor. Um, at, I've seen connect, I've seen just to, to
Chris Dunn: jump in and add to that. I've seen several shows do a much better job with building.
Chris Dunn: Their engagements, their activations, their, their, their stage events, their breakout sessions and so forth into the show floor itself so that the folks aren't leaving, right. They're kind of creating this kind of captive, wrap your arms around the whole thing. Um, I was talking to one of my sales guys earlier, Alex, and I was relaying what I saw at, uh, HubSpot.
Chris Dunn: And HubSpot did a great job here in Boston. Um, and all of those sessions were right, you [00:27:00] know, in the, in the convention center. So the exhibitors never really lost. You know, uh, traffic, traffic was always kind of there. People were milling around and, um, and I've seen like Money 2020 does a nice job with that.
Chris Dunn: So there's a lot of shows that are kind of pushing in that direction, which I think is great. I.
Danica Tormohlen: I see Jim wrote a question up there. Did I hear it right? Danica? See shorter daily hours at a trade show. Um, I wouldn't say necessarily shorter hours. I would say more activities that keep people on the show floor.
Danica Tormohlen: Like you were just talking about, theaters, education, um, you know, a, a happy hour on the show. Floor beer, you know, like I said, beer that, that beer garden for instance. Um, you know. Keeping people on the show floor. But yes, as an overall trend, I would say shows are getting short. You know, the, the four day show is pretty much, I mean, they're, not very many people are doing that anymore.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, right. You know, the, the amount of days that people can commit to being out of the office, it's, it's, [00:28:00] it's just tough. So, you know, we are definitely seeing, you know, three day shows, um, and Right. And even one and two, even a half day shows. Yeah. Yeah, exactly right. Or mm-hmm.
Chris Dunn: Start with a. Happy hour timeframe, start at one night, and then basically you've got day, you know, full day one and day two and then wrap it up.
Dana Esposito: Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, on
Chris Dunn: that, on that end. Um, and, and just to kind of go along with the, uh, the, the reverting back to the commentary of the, um, beer garden. Uh, there are so many really good, uh, non-alcoholic beers and other. Car, you know, mocktail options that go along with that. I think when you, when you think of a traditional, you know, bar event or happy hour or something like that, it's, we're expanding.
Chris Dunn: Um. What that can mean, right. To, to your point from earlier with regards to like, this generation coming, coming forward is, is not necessarily interested in, in that alcohol, but, but they are interested in the networking and the conversations and so forth. So there's great [00:29:00] options now that are, you know, in existence for, for really kind of anybody's palate.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah, matcha, you can do matcha. That's also becoming pretty hot. And then, mm-hmm. Also, you know, those dirty sodas that I mentioned, I've seen some people bring in local drinks, like, you know, whether that's soda, et cetera, like a local spin, uh, you know, using, um, you know, fruits and vegetables from a particular area.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, I also wanna mention one thing, a couple other quick, quick hits that I think are, yeah, please. V is, um, a ception. We, um, we do that at our connect events where everybody comes and it's more of like a party atmosphere during registration is open during those couple hours and you go and get your badge.
Danica Tormohlen: And then we have stations set up where, um, sponsors are doing different activations in the registration area with a dj, you know, pass cocktails. It's more of like a party. Atmosphere to like get [00:30:00] the, um, excitement right away because, you know, your first impression of an event and that vibe that you're creating early on is, um, you know, a, a critical that welcome.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, and that's the experience, you know, that you can kind of control for your audience, right? Whether that's when they arrive at the hotel and there's like a welcome drink or a even just, you know, a, um. Uh, I've seen a lot of welcome drinks in, whether that's mocktails again or cocktails. Um. Right in the lobby with signage, welcoming people in the airport.
Danica Tormohlen: Um Oh really? Is another place that I've seen it too. Um, and I would be remiss if I didn't talk a little bit about the trends of wellness that we're seeing mm-hmm. At events, you know, more and more, like I said, a 5K. Um, I was recently, I've been at several events in the last year where we're doing, I was just at one and we [00:31:00] did a sun salutation.
Danica Tormohlen: Like a yoga on the lawn, you know, and it brought in some local culture. It was in Mexico, so they had some Mayan, um, related, you know, music playing and, and people dancing. I mean, you know, those are the kind of memorable experiences. And again, a different way to network with and, and have, have common interests with, you know, somebody else that you can create that connection.
Dana Esposito: Right. Those are, wellness and health is, are, are big things, especially for the generations that we're talking about. Um, you know, they're a higher priority than some of the previous generations. Not that didn't care. It just was like a, a lower priority. Um, uh, Chris you have a question for Dan? I could, talking about looking to, looking ahead.
Chris Dunn: I do, I do. So kind of events to watch for things that you're kind of seeing right? Where we're not halfway through the year at this point, but we've got some stuff that's kinda in the rear view mirror. What's coming up, um, for you and, and one of the [00:32:00] reasons that I, I love having Danica as a guest is because not only is she attending and commenting and giving us all of these great ideas and things she's seen, but she also works for.
Chris Dunn: Informa, which is literally the largest, you know, show organizer in the world. Right. So when you've got that hat on, I don't know, I, I'm asking too many questions at the same time, but kind of what do you see in front of us? And then at the same time as, as, uh, somebody who works for Informa and that large organization, what's, what's the company looking at?
Chris Dunn: And, and maybe some of the trends that they see from the organizational standpoint.
Danica Tormohlen: So I'll give you some insight into some of the events that are on my radar for the rest of the year and, and where I am planning to be at. So I try to go to most industry events, um, not only to hear what's trending, um, meet, make connections, and um, meet, you know, top level suppliers and, and other show [00:33:00] organizers in the industry.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, but also get ideas on what people are trying. At their events. I'm definitely always have an eye on what's happening from the attendee perspective, their, the journey from the attendee perspective, and then also the exhibitor experience. So, um, a few industry events that I have on my calendar for the rest of the year.
Danica Tormohlen: Next month I'll be going to. To ECEF, which is the Exhibition and Conventions executives forum, and that's in dc And so that's like high, each one of 'em kind of have a different spin, right? A little bit different of a, um, audience. So that's executive level on the. Association side and on the for-profit side.
Danica Tormohlen: So, um, that one is always a good lens to kind of find out what's happening at a high level. Um, I'll also be participating, I don't know if you'll be there, Chris, but legislative action day is the following day. Um, and so it's one of my favorite events. I've been [00:34:00] doing it for a few, few years now, where the industry goes onto Capitol Hill and has meetings set up.
Danica Tormohlen: They do a great job of. Um, training you on what to say. They have like a training session in the morning, tell you, you know, what to talk about, give you, um, sheets to give to your senators and representatives and talking points about the industry. 'cause it's really about before C-O-V-I-D-I would say we were not on the radar of many.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, you know, of course in Nevada they care and, and Florida and maybe Illinois, they understand. Stand the value of trade shows and exhibitions and events, whereas in some states they don't always do that. So you're armed with, you know, economic impact numbers and it's about creating awareness for our industry.
Danica Tormohlen: So when things like tariffs perhaps happen, we can come in and we've already had those established relationships and we can tell 'em about why, what the impact is to their particular [00:35:00] district. Um. And, and why we value it. So I highly recommend that event. And you really feel like, um, you are, uh, part of democracy.
Danica Tormohlen: It, it is really cool. I mean, to walk the halls. I mean, you're meeting, sometimes you're meeting with actual senators and um, and your congressional representatives. A lot of times it is the you. I also noticed. Um, the, you're meeting with a lot of younger, uh, staffers, so you realize that they really drive what is happening.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah. You know, they, they do all the background research and they give them the briefs, so they want talking points. They wanna understand why does it matter. To my constituents. Right? So that's always a great event. Um, also Esca. Yeah. And, and I do,
Chris Dunn: I do hope to attend that. So I I th thanks for bringing that up.
Chris Dunn: Um, Jim Panus had a, had a question. We'll come back to that. 'cause I, I don't wanna just, I don't, I don't want to move off of what we've got right now because I think it's so important. Um, but, uh. Now I completely lost my train of [00:36:00] thought, so That's
Danica Tormohlen: okay. That's okay. I was just talking about industry events I go to.
Danica Tormohlen: So Service Contractors Association, ESCA is coming up later this summer. Um, our Connect Marketplace is gonna be in Miami in August, which is, um, a great event. We have. I usually try to go to Destinations International to hear about what's happening on the city side and, and what that, how that will impact.
Danica Tormohlen: Events, you know, what's trending, you know, where are they building. Um, uh, CMA is another good one, which is corporate Event Marketers, um, associations see Predict, which is I a's event, which kind of looks forward. Um, they bring in a lot of outside speakers, um, to look at industry or economic forecast and try to kind of plan for the next year.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, I'm.
Danica Tormohlen: I next Vegas, um, is always one that I go to and the UFI Global [00:37:00] Congress. I believe I'll be going to, which is in Hong Kong. So if you wanna do international business at all, it's definitely the place to be for international business. And then round out the year with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, their expo.
Danica Tormohlen: Expo is in December and we host our trade show News network awards at that event.
Chris Dunn: Great.
Danica Tormohlen: Nice.
Chris Dunn: And part of your job, obviously as a journalist is you're going to these shows and then you're kind of writing articles, you're recapping kind of what you've seen. Where can people. Because you know, you, you're going to all these events and you're leveraging all, uh, these wonderful, um, experiences that you're having and reporting back.
Chris Dunn: Where can we all make sure and see that I.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah, so I, I'm pretty active on LinkedIn. I probably post about, about every day. Okay. Um, and with photos, typically from events, I try to show things that people, you know, who aren't able to be there can see whether, and, you know, I try to hone in on. Things that are [00:38:00] different, registration areas, um, you know, general sessions, things that, um, people can't see, um, if they're not there.
Danica Tormohlen: And I also report on them. Typically, we do a recap on each event. So, for instance, I did a recap on CISO was last, earlier this month, and like 21 takeaways from that event, or 23 takeaways from that event with photos to try to, um, you know. So people who aren't there can see what happened. And you know, I try to include key quotes, what I see trending, um, you know, new technology, things that are different so that hopefully people can pick up some ideas, um, from those.
Danica Tormohlen: So TSNN and Corporate Event News, and also my personal LinkedIn page. And we also share things. I I, I go through the news every morning, um, as a journalist. I go, I scour the news every morning for a trade show and conference and, uh, anything [00:39:00] related to our industry so I can make sure I don't miss anything.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, and I post that often on, on Twitter.
Chris Dunn: All right. Well God bless you in doing all that research and, and coming up with all of that information so that everyone else in the industry can, uh, leverage all of your findings. Um, I wanted to circle back to Jim's question 'cause he's been very patient with that, but Yeah.
Chris Dunn: So you mentioned, obviously we're talking trends in the industry. His specific question was with regards to, uh, apps, are they still being widely used? That's another way for the attendees to kind of connect with one another. What are you seeing in that, a arc. Our shows are organizations leveraging the technology?
Chris Dunn: Are they, where are we at with that?
Danica Tormohlen: I'm still seeing apps. I mean, I'm probably like the best attendee that you could want because I, I try to plan ahead, I download the apps, I try to make connections before I set up meetings with people I wanna see, I reach out on LinkedIn and try to connect with them beforehand.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, [00:40:00] so I mean, we are definitely still seeing app. Um. You people using apps, but a lot of people are also using things like, you know, AI on their, um, on their event websites to help build the, uh, you know, their program, what they wanna do, and have suggestions for, um, sessions and tracks that they wanna be at.
Danica Tormohlen: So I think it's a combination of, of those. But yes, I mean, I, I still think people are, are using event apps.
Chris Dunn: Awesome. Yeah, I, I think Liz Latham on one of our previous, uh, mentioned how AI is kind of really coming in, you know, Hey, you've registered for these two events. Let me build you an agenda based on what apparently I'm seeing as your, uh, as your interest level.
Chris Dunn: Um, you know, and, and just leveraging the technology so that people can, you know, let it, kind of, let it flow and, and make sure and hit all those things that might be [00:41:00] important to them.
Danica Tormohlen: I saw a cool thing. I just did a demo with someone last week on an ai, um, that's on their website. It was for a major tech event, and they use this technology and it learns as the person is putting in more and more information and it will answer pretty much.
Danica Tormohlen: I mean, I asked it a, a bunch of questions and. They, they pulled from just their website and so it was all, you know, there was no, for instance, hallucinations or other things that may be inappropriate from outside the web. They're just looking at your, you know, sessions, your event website and mm-hmm.
Danica Tormohlen: Information that you give it. And then, I mean, it was used at a major tech event with a lot of, um, uh, usage. So, and it was pretty cool.
Chris Dunn: Yeah. That, that sounds, that sounds great. So, hey, um, you know, here at the toolbox we do try to respect everybody's timeframe. We [00:42:00] try to keep it around, you know, 40, 45 minutes or so.
Chris Dunn: So we're getting towards the end. Um, but there's a couple of things we want to hit on. So, Dana, I know you and Danica were talking kind of prior to our recording, uh, in the Green Room about the, um, the women in. Uh, women in Exhibitions North America. So I want to give you guys a little space on that because that's such an important, uh, movement.
Chris Dunn: So,
Dana Esposito: yeah. So Danica, you know, we know that you're the chair of the Women in Exhibitions Network in North America. So is there, uh, what's happening with that group and how can professionals support or get involved? Yeah,
Danica Tormohlen: if you are a woman who works in the exhibitions industry, you can get involved. We are open to show organizers, suppliers, meaning cities, exhibiting companies, um.
Danica Tormohlen: Anybody who's in the industry, um, women in the industry, and it's very inexpensive. It's $99 for an annual membership to our North American chapter, and that gives you access to education and networking on a [00:43:00] monthly basis. We meet the third Thursday of every month at noon, and we have a, uh, speaker of some kind.
Danica Tormohlen: And one of the things that I find special about it is we do breakouts as well. So we'll have a speaker and then we'll talk amongst. To ourselves. So you kind of get that networking, you have to make a connection with another, uh, woman in the exhibition industry. And we've had some great speakers. We had, um, Janet Dell, who's the president of, um, Freeman earlier this year and next month we have, um, four female executives from Informa, Clarion.
Danica Tormohlen: Freeman and retail minded, and it's kind of like this format where you can ask what kind of, you know, it's your opportunity to have access to some high level industry, um, people and to be able to ask the questions that you're looking for. Um, and one more quick plug. We have in-person meetups. As well, which are my favorite part of the event.
Danica Tormohlen: Um, like for instance, we had an [00:44:00] amazing networking event at PCMA at the Four Seasons. We had about 50 people. Um, and, and we have a dinner coming up at ECF before the opening reception at Esca. We're having a meetup before the opening session. So, um, it is a way to make a connection with women before the event starts.
Danica Tormohlen: And be able to, you know, have that connection through the entire event. So, um, we're really about helping women build their networks.
Dana Esposito: That's awesome. So we're at that point in event Marketers Toolbox, where we get to ask our guests for a three, what they consider valuable takeaways for event marketers and trade show planners as they head into the second half of 2025.
Danica Tormohlen: Okay. All right. I will give you my, my three. I was thinking about this, um, yesterday. So one thing I would say is polish your PR strategy. At a minimum. [00:45:00] Have a post-show release ready to go have photos from the event. You will be shocked at how many people do not have that kind of information readily available.
Danica Tormohlen: And right after the show is when people are gonna report on it, whether that's general business media or industry media. Have that ready to go. You can pre-program a lot of that before the event even starts, right? You can have a rough outline and drop some things in and have some photos ready. Um, you know.
Danica Tormohlen: Interview exhibitors and attendees who stop by your booth to just get a quick snippet of some kind that you can throw into those press releases. So I would say, you know, I was saying earlier, that's kind of the low hanging fruit, right? You can, it's, it's hard to do when you're in the middle of things and it's, but if you make a strategy ahead of time, it's a really, you know, you'll, you may get picked up, um, even.
Danica Tormohlen: You know, all the big companies may do that, but a lot of the smaller [00:46:00] companies don't, and you can take advantage of that opportunity as well. Um, people are always looking for story ideas.
Chris Dunn: Great suggestion.
Danica Tormohlen: Okay. And okay. Number two, I would say personalize the experience for attendees. Um, whether that is a first timer orientation, um, I've seen a lot more of those where they're more like, you know, again, that know before you go right on site with all the other first timers, maybe some things to break the ice during the meeting, you know, uh, meet your, the person next to you and tell 'em what you do.
Danica Tormohlen: What are you trying to accomplish at the event? Um. That idea of, I told you before what to wear, what the menus are gonna be, um, and having those variety of, uh, networking options and then outline those, you know, tell 'em you've got, you can go to this happy hour, you can, you know, go to this dine around, or you can get up and do the 5K or, um, you know, you can participate in a [00:47:00] tour, a behind the scenes tour.
Danica Tormohlen: So, um, personalizing that experience, giving, you know, realizing that there's a variety of different types of attendees. Um, at your event. And so you wanna have the best experience for the extrovert, the introvert, um, the person who's new in the industry, who's been around for a while. So, right. That's tip number two.
Chris Dunn: Okay. And number three, we're putting a bow on this. These are, uh, these are little gold nuggets here, so everybody get your, uh, get your pens out.
Danica Tormohlen: So I would say the final one is push to have conversations at a higher level with some of your top exhibitors. And work with them on activations and experiences around your event that you can co-brand like those, um, keynotes at the sphere, you know?
Danica Tormohlen: Mm-hmm. They're, they are spending, sometimes exhibitors are doing their own thing that you can, um, work with them together to host. Something at the event. So it's kind of in and around the event, [00:48:00] but you're gonna have to have those conversations early on and with, you know, like a CMO or um, something like that.
Danica Tormohlen: So push, you know, to be a partner with your top exhibitors so that you can work with them to do unique experiences and activations.
Chris Dunn: Awesome. So that's obviously through the lens of a show organizer and if I'm an exhibitor, it's just the same message just flipped on its head. Right? It's like, reach out to the show and see what you can do to partner up with them and, and leverage, you know, that co-branding effort.
Danica Tormohlen: A lot of them are more than happy to do that. They are, you know, it, it just is, um, it, it is a phone call. It goes both ways. It has to happen from the show organizer side and, and from the exhibitor side.
Chris Dunn: Awesome. Awesome. All right, well this has been a fantastic episode. We could. I'm sure keep on talking and, and, uh, Danica could wow us with stories of all these events and so forth.
Chris Dunn: But we're gonna put a, put a wrapper on [00:49:00] this one here. So thank you very much for stopping by the toolbox. I hope that, uh, the information that we've, that you've heard today, uh, is really kind of striking a chord. Um, and you can consume this content, uh. Right here on LinkedIn, the, uh, the link will stay, uh, active so you can go back and watch us again.
Chris Dunn: Uh, we're also on YouTube. You can see the, the content and also we're gonna, within the next day or two, all of this, uh, audio will be available via a podcast on Spotify and Apple and all of your, uh, your favorite podcast area. So. I am Chris Dunn. I'm with BlueHive. I'm gonna sign off. I'm gonna let these two, I'm, I'm the thorn between, uh, two roses as it were, although I'm on the side.
Chris Dunn: Um, but, uh, I'm gonna let the ladies, uh, sign off as well. But thank you so much for, uh, for visiting with us and I hope you've gotten a lot from today's episode.
Dana Esposito: Thank you so much, Danica.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Chris and Dana, it's been my pleasure to hopefully shed some light on [00:50:00] some of the things that are trending, and I hope everyone will.
Danica Tormohlen: Also, I didn't get to finish talking about some of my, my technical issues. Um, please check out our Trade show, talk podcast and um, check our, we have Daily News on Trade Show, news Network, corporate Event News, and Biz Bash. So we scroll the
Chris Dunn: bottom of the screen.
Danica Tormohlen: Yeah, we, we share all kinds of, every, all, every idea I mentioned, I've written a story about this year or we've covered in some way.
Danica Tormohlen: So lots of ideas.
Chris Dunn: Awesome. Awesome. Alright, well this is awesome. Thank you so much everybody, and thank you Danica. Thank you Dana. Thanks to fist bump and Juana behind the scenes and everybody have a great rest of your week. We'll see you, uh, right here next week, 12 o'clock Eastern time every Thursday.
Chris Dunn: Thanks very much.
Danica Tormohlen: Thanks.
Chris Dunn: See ya.
