B-to-B Events

The 102-year-old Hallmark brand is a $4.1 billion business reminder that our e-society still values a meaningful message delivered in a physical form, be it a greeting card, plush toy or figurine. But like most (if not all) 21st century companies, Hallmark is busy forging a new path into the future, leveraging digital strategies to enhance the experiences consumers have with its products.

Every conversation in the event marketing industry eventually comes around to technology. You want to know what tools are out there to make your jobs easier, make your programs more successful and most crucially, make your target consumers love you the most. We have heard your clarion calls for help and now, with this monthly series, EM’s own Ken Briodagh will collect and codify the hottest, newest, most interesting, best (and sometimes worst) technological doohickeys available to you.

Event staffers today come in every stripe and skill set and it’s up to you to pick the right one for the job. Do you need them to tweet, post and Instagram from the fair, festival or trade show floor? And if so, how big should their personal social networks be? Do they need to talk product features and benefits like an expert, or do you actually need a real expert to talk to your attendees?

For cable and network television channels, April showers bring just one thing: upfront season. It's the time of year when the execs and sales people show off their new and continuing shows to advertisers, and try to get the bulk of the year's sales on the books. On April 11, IFC threw an Upfront party like these advertisers have never seen. It was dubbed the IFC Unexpectaganza, and boy, was it.

In the turf maintenance equipment world, three colors dominate the field. You’ve got green (John Deere), you’ve got red (Toro) and then you have orange—Jacobsen orange. To leave attendees of the annual Golf Industry Show in February with orange on the mind and more importantly, the Jacobsen name top of mind, the brand set out to paint the host-city of San Diego orange.