Aug 24, 2023
In this episode, we had a conversation with Julie Kagy, director of operations for the Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) and Bill McGlade, president of epIQ Creative Group, about their experience in working together as partners on marketing. They shared advice and lessons learned after partnering now for more than one year.
Kagy shared insight on what it was like to put together an RFP, evaluate vendors, hone in on the scope of the association’s needs, get buy-in on budgeting and execute the strategy with an outside partner.
McGlade talked about developing the strategy, prioritizing the client’s needs, rebranding an ESCA product, establishing benchmarks, sharing thought leadership, driving engagement and marketing business-to-person.
The results: Attendance at ESCA’s Summer Education Conference 2023 was up 13%, and social interactions increased 344% year over year.
Here are a few marketing samples:
Podcast host Danica Tormohlen also shared the top five new stories from Trade Show News Network, Exhibit News Now and Corporate Event News that were published in the first half of August 2023.
Our guests
ESCA’s Julie Kagy
After graduating from Purdue University Northwest, Kagy started her career at the Ritz-Carlton Four Seasons Chicago. The hotel was awarded Top North American Hotel by Conde Nast Traveler four times during her tenure. Taking these customer service skills, she began her career in the tradeshow industry with GES. During her 12-year tenure with GES, she held various roles, such as Exhibitor Services Manager, Director of Account Management and Vice President of National Account Management. She has been Director of Operations with the Exhibition Services and Contractors Association (ESCA) since 2015. It’s a role she truly loves as she gets to work on a vast scale with key industry leaders, working to shape the future of the trade show industry.
epIQ Creative Group’s Bill McGlade
McGlade is the co-owner and President of both epiQ Creative Group and Community Leaders Institute. He has spent 17 years embracing the ever-changing world of nonprofits, associations, events, community, marketing and sales. With a proven track record of successfully selling three companies and acquiring two more, he has a knack for transforming a lean team with a limited budget into a powerhouse that scales 5 to 10 times.
McGlade received the 2017 IAEE Young Professional of the Year award. He’s been a speaker and presenter at a number of events and conferences, including IMEX Frankfurt, IMEX America, IAEE, ASAE, PCMA, AMPS and more.
Thank you to our sponsor!
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