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23

Aug

2023

Swag Bags for Good

Author: Steve Moskal

A number of years ago, I published two blogs on event marketing and sustainability (part one and part two). Here we are, post-COVID, our industry is coming back and we are once again talking about the same idea - thinking green and saving some green.

 

Organizations are looking for ways to demonstrate they’re socially and environmentally responsible. A successful trade show program can “reuse and recycle”, so I’m going to make a suggestion and provide an opportunity.

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Number of views (807)

14

Dec

2021

Has It Really Been Almost Two Years?

Author: Steve Moskal

In college, I had a journalism instructor who said if you can think of anything that might seem of interest, to even one person, including yourself, you should write about it. 

 

That being said, my last blog was in February. It was never my intention to wait that long to post another one, but any of the thoughts, interests and experiences I tried to draw on, centered too much around dealing with the pandemic. It has always been my intent to engage, possibly entertain and have some fun writing these. The last ten months have offered very little inspiration that would not seem controversial or polarizing to at least someone. I just didn’t want to go there.

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Number of views (2679)

12

Feb

2021

Has It Really Been a Year?

Author: Steve Moskal

A year ago today, I was making final west coast travel plans to supervise set up of a client’s properties during the first week of March.

 

Two weeks later, I was informed the event cancelled due to concerns about spreading the newly discovered COVID virus. In addition to the exhibit floor, the focus of this annual show was education for public health department officials attending from all over the country.

 

Not too long after that, trade shows and other face-to-face marketing events started falling like oak leaves in the Fall. By the end of March, our warehouse was full to the brim with properties that either had returned early or prepped properties sitting idle with unused shipping labels attached.

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Number of views (4720)

6

Nov

2020

The Spring Cleaning That Moved Into Fall

Author: Steve Moskal

I was on a Zoom conference the other day where one of the attendees (an exhibit house employee) remarked that there was so much dust on the machines in their shop they couldn’t see how any more could possibly pile up.

 

Ouch!

 

A chilling realization for many in our industry that trade shows and face-to-face meetings remain, for the most part, at a grinding halt. By all indications, with a very few exceptions involving business-to-consumer or private events, the United States will not see events coming back until at least Q1, 2021. A few shows have already pushed back dates to July and August.

 

Simply put, one cannot sugarcoat anything about the physical and economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic to anyone or any organization in the hospitality, meeting and travel industries. Doing what you can to hold on until there is an effective treatment or vaccine, is of the highest priority. From what we have seen, that has taken many forms.

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Number of views (4531)

25

Sep

2020

Trying to Make Sense of All This, or Did the Exhibit Industry Have a Plan B?

Author: Steve Moskal

Crazy. Simply crazy times. Craziest time I have seen in our industry since Prairie opened our doors in June of 1994, or even earlier when I started in the trade show and event world in 1983.

 

Let me first say to anyone reading this, if you are affiliated with the trade show and event industries in any capacity, I hope you are healthy, staying safe and doing whatever it takes to keep your family and friends the same. The virus that shut the door on face-to-face marketing events in March continues to change the way we live, work, eat and play.

 

When Illinois started to quarantine on March 21, we all figured it would last just a month or two, cause a few delayed events and then be up and running again by Fall. Here we are in September and the only things up and running are online meetings and professional sports without spectators. I am tired of both.

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Number of views (5006)

12

Apr

2019

Taking a Break and Finding New Fears

Author: Steve Moskal

Shelley told me enough was enough. I needed to take a few days off to catch a breather from the last three months of trade show and event craziness. After all, she said, there never seems to be a good time and “you keep telling me the next two months will be just as busy”.

 

So what better way to relax and recharge for a few days than to continually expose myself to my two biggest fears: heights and being in confined spaces.

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Number of views (3022)

16

Oct

2018

Eyes on the Skies and Pass the Towels

Author: Steve Moskal

I have never been to a wedding with an outdoor ceremony.

 

The ones I’ve seen on television and in the movies, the weather is always perfect. The ceremony usually takes place on a tropical island or other sunny, weather-predictable location.

 

My niece and her fiancée decided to have an outdoor wedding in northern Michigan in October. The ceremony and reception were at a golf and ski resort. The setting was the top of the ski hill overlooking miles of fall colors in full force. They probably knew they were rolling the dice when it came to weather. I mean, it can snow up there this time of year.

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Number of views (2780)
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Categories: Events, Planning

Tags: Gaylord, MI, Weddings

19

Jul

2017

Accidents and Trade Shows - They Happen. Are You Ready?

Author: Steve Moskal

No one ever plans to get into a car accident. You also never know where and when you will need the advice and sage knowledge of an expert.

 

In almost 40 years of driving, I am fortunate to have been involved in only a few minor bumper taps. None involved an injury more significant than being shaken up a bit. This is a true blessing considering all the miles I’ve driven as a salesperson in the Midwest, covering Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan for many years.

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Number of views (9582)

28

Jan

2014

Team Prairie

Author: Steve Moskal

Twenty years is a long time, but when you are busy doing whatever it is you do, it can pass in the blink of an eye.

 

Hard to believe it was just 20 years ago (1994) when O.J. Simpson fled from Los Angeles police in the now iconic, low-speed chase in his white Ford Bronco. Major League Baseball could not finish their season because of a strike and the Dow Jones hit a record high of 3,978.36. The first national conference to discuss the growing Information Superhighway was presided over by Vice President, Al Gore.

 

President Bill Clinton called for major Health Care Reform in his first State of the Union Address and Harry Styles, member of One Direction, was born. Yikes!

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Number of views (2410)

19

Jul

2013

Can Event Marketing Be Truly Sustainable? Part Two

Author: Steve Moskal

A few weeks ago, Part One of this blog was published (see below).

 

I suggested that exhibitors and supplier partners have to do more to become eco-friendly and avoid needlessly wasting Earth’s natural resources. While face-to-face marketing isn’t ecologically sustainable now, our industry continues to move in the right direction.

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Number of views (2751)

19

Jun

2013

Can Event Marketing Be Truly Sustainable? Part One

Author: Steve Moskal

In an effort not to run on with a long blog, I’m going to divide this article into two parts. Check back in a week or so for part two.

 

According to GES’ recently published 2013 “Trend Tracker” when it comes to design, sustainability should be on the minds of exhibitors and how they relate to their customers. About sustainability, it reads:

 

“Having an eco-friendly event footprint might have been optional a few years ago. But now it’s often a must. Recycling has become a way of life for many of us, at home and on the job. The event industry is catching up - and customers are taking note of which brands are going green, which aren’t, and which say that they are going green but they’re not.”

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Number of views (2313)

24

Feb

2013

Winter Blues and Convertibles

Author: Steve Moskal

Every February in Chicago, when the winter doldrums start to really take hold and everyone is sick and tired of cloudy, gray days, the Chicago Auto Show moves into McCormick Place for a 10-day stay. The Chicago show is billed as the largest in the world and has been going on for over 100 years.

 

The 2013 version took over both the north and south McCormick buildings. For those of you who have never been to a consumer-attended auto show like this, it’s really quite a different experience from a traditional “business to business” event.

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Number of views (2426)

3

Jan

2013

An Open Letter

Author: Steve Moskal

Dear Marketing Managers, Vice Presidents, CFOs and anyone associated with hiring personnel to manage trade shows and marketing events,

 

I realize the importance of trade shows varies from company to company and organization to organization. For some, it is the lifeblood of their marketing program and the way they either gather prospects or spend quality time with existing customers. For others, it seems just to be a necessary evil where they “have to show up because everyone else does” or a last minute decision as to whether it is in the budget or not.

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Number of views (2115)
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