SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The 15th annual Trade Show Executive (TSE) Gold 100 Awards & Summit celebrated the largest trade shows of 2023 with a week in sunny Santa Barbara at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara.
Approximately 200 show organizers and suppliers spent time building connections, learning from other leaders at the Education Summit and enjoyed experiential activities, all while celebrating the Gold 100 honorees and Grand Award winners at the Gold 100 Gala.
Scenic Views, Golden Connections
In true Gold 100 fashion, attendees were welcomed to this year’s event in style with a variety of networking and experiential activities. The annual Gold 100 Chairman’s Dinner, hosted by TSE Chairman and United Service Companies President and CEO Rick Simon, took place at The Wine Collective featuring food from The Lark. Located in the heart of the Funk Zone District in Santa Barbara, the dinner served as a welcome to early arrivals.
Attendees could also take in the beauty of Santa Barbara with a trip to Vega Vineyard and Farm, where they enjoyed wine tastings, lunch with a view, farm-fresh shopping and hanging out with cute animals on the property. The GES and OnPeak-sponsored event also featured a wine sensory station with a blind tasting challenge.
More fun and friendly competition was on full display as the annual Gold 100 Golf Tourney took place at the iconic Sandpiper Golf Club. With mini-competitions within the scramble, like The Longest Drive, Hole-in-One and Closest to the Pin, golfers enjoyed a beautiful day on the course while connecting with past, current and potential business partners.
The official welcoming party, which kicked off with a California Wine Experience sponsored by Map Your Show, welcomed everyone to and showcased the gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Bacara property and ocean views.
The Opening Reception, sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, saw attendees mixing and mingling as the sun set over the water and cocktails and food were served.
Gold 100 Education Summit Takeaways
The TSE Education Summit kicked off with a strong start featuring a thorough economic update from Dr. Peter Rupert, who shared that indicators show strong output growth, a strong labor market, and that it’s unlikely the U.S. is experiencing a recession. Optimistically, Rupert said, inflation is inching closer to the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%, and the overall economy is strong.
Then industry experts and leaders Vinnie Polito, CEO of SISO, Eric Lisman, Senior Development Advisor for Informa, Chris Brown, Principal of Level Up Strategies and Kathleen Thomas, Managing Director at JEGI, took to the stage to discuss the M&A landscape of the trade show industry.
“There continues to be a little bit of a myth around M&A, particularly when people invoke private equity,” Thomas said. “People aren’t buying events and companies to tear them apart. They’re buying them for growth. We keep talking about this; they’re spending millions, 10s of millions, hundreds of millions, on companies because they want them to be worth two and three times that, and so the people who are driving those businesses are critical. They’re not looking to get rid of these people, change their roles or make them unhappy. They’re looking to write them a blank check or do whatever they need to do to support them to blow that growth up.”
The group also detailed the differences between buying a company compared to a singular event from an association, and they shared the importance of having a post-show plan for the systems and people that will be impacted by the deal.
Kimberly Hardcastle, President of mdg, and Kimberly Carcone, Executive Vice President, Global Market Events, Toy Association, then had a discussion about how Toy Fair was able to attract a significant number of first-time exhibitors and provide them with an excellent experience through the equation of environment (dedicated neighborhood) + education + engagement + exposure. Carcone emphasized the need for providing newcomers with additional support and handholding to help them capitalize on their time at an event to put them in optimal positions to grow their businesses, and Toy Fair did this through their Launch Pad neighborhood and newcomer education program.
Before breaking for lunch at the Gold 100 Education Summit, attendees got a sneak peek at the October 2024 Power Lunch with Emerald President, Connections Issa Jouaneh. Beth Cowperthwaite, Emerald’s Senior Vice President of Communications, and Jouaneh discussed his career journey and how Emerald is cultivating a culture that’s supportive of entrepreneurial talent. The two also talked about the sectors that Emerald views as high-growth industries, including one-to-one programs and crypto, as well as fostering young talent through purposeful hybrid environments for employees.
“Audience and technology are two opportunities that we have,” Jouaneh said. “We need to continue to refresh and
reenergize the audiences that are attending our events, and look at the diversity and the sort of long-term future of how our events will continue to evolve and continue to be relevant to those communities. From a tech perspective, I still think we’re lagging in a significant way, so looking at all elements of it, from registration to mobile apps to the on-site experience, those are all things that I think represent opportunities for us.”
In the afternoon, the Education Summit featured a case study from The Plastics Industry Association’s Arlene Davis, Director NPE Content and Experience, and Damaris Piraino, Senior Director of Trade Show Marketing, with Jack Macleod, President of 360 Live Media, as the moderator, on the comeback of the Plastic Industry Association’s NPE after a six-year hiatus, which saw record-breaking numbers in 2024.
The team behind the show revealed how they focused on making data-driven decisions to help generate revenue and attendance, and how a new marketing campaign, Made For You, was used to resonate with a wider audience. The introduction of an education program and close connection to the association helped to generate increased interest and value to attendees.
Then Korbi Carrison, Event Vice President of G2E at RX, and Courtney Muller, President, Manifest and Chief Corporate Development Officer, Connectiv, talked about how G2E (Global Gaming Expo) worked to attract and engage international participants, including exclusive tours and experiences for high-level buyers and a customer invitation program that generates about 70% of all attendees. By leveraging international partnerships with other organizations and events, G2E is successfully positioning itself as the can’t miss event for the global gaming industry and for continued future growth.
“It’s a little bit scary partnering with a trade show, because they produce a competitive event. What if we lose customers?” Carrison said of G2E’s partnering with a Latin American trade show. “It turns out that the opposite happened. The show in Latin America that we partner with has a very loyal audience that goes to everything, and they look to the show management of that show for guidance on what to do in the future. Now, when that management structure said, you guys got to be at G2E, the market listened, and they’re coming, and they do business at G2E as much as they do business at home, which is valuable and amazing.”
Closing out the day was a panel featuring some of this year’s TSE Women to Watch, Nicole Cho, Traci Hirst, Jannat Choudhury, CEM, and Renee Gravelle, and moderator CNTV President Carrie Ferenac, who discussed what younger professionals prioritize and want from their organizations. The panelists shared that flexibility and one-on-one meetings with teams and bosses were very important to them, and that it’s also important to keep an open mind and listen to all voices when making decisions to promote inclusivity.
And the Winners Are…
The celebratory energy from the Opening Reception continued to the last night of the event, when the 2024 Gold 100 Grand Awards were revealed, as sponsors took to the stage to announce the winners Oscars-style. Coveted categories like The Marketing Genius Award, Best New Launch and The Greatest Trade Show of 2023 highlighted innovations and forward-thinking approaches that set the standard for the industry’s incredible performance in 2023.
Both metric-based and qualitative award winners were recognized for their achievements in front of 200 industry peers, including CONEXPO-CON/AGG taking home The Largest Trade Show of 2023 and Slam Dunk Award: Best New Idea of 2023. MJBizCon picked up the award for Most Extreme Results from Social Media in 2023, and IAAPA Expo earned the title of Stickiest Show Floor in 2023. The Best New Launch in 2023 went to The Hospitality Show and LUXURY scooped up the award for Best Exhibitor ROI in 2023.
Two new categories were introduced in honor of the event’s 15th anniversary, The Overall Show with the Greatest Ascent, which went to ProMat® for rising 20 spots in the rankings, and The Annual Show with the Greatest Ascent, which RE+ and NRF: Retail’s Big Show tied for by jumping 17 spots.
ISC West picked up The Greatest Trade Show of 2023, with its impressive performance last year — including a 52.6% increase in attendance and an 89.6% surge in participation in its SIA Education Program. The show also saw satisfaction from attendees and exhibitors reaching an all-time high with an elevated show floor look and feel and enhanced customer experience across the event.
TSE also honored Member of the Board and Former CEO of Freeman Bob Priest-Heck with the Gold Standard of Excellence Award. Priest-Heck was recognized for his many contributions, disruptions and innovations in the trade show industry over the course of his career, including the leading role he played in forming Go LIVE Together during the COVID-19 pandemic, his involvement in launching the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, and his progressive leadership at Freeman which saw the company ranked the No. 4 Best Employer for Women by Forbes.
Read Bob Priest-Heck’s Power Lunch in the September edition of TSE magazine.
Gold 100 Awards & Summit 2025
Mark your calendars for the 2025 TSE Gold 100 Awards & Summit, which will take place at The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, Calif., Oct. 14-17, and honor and recognize the biggest and brightest shows of 2024.
Interested in sponsorships or want to know more about TSE’s event portfolio? Contact April Walsh, TSE’s Vice President of Sponsorship and Engagement, at awalsh@tradeshowexecutive.com.
