CHICAGO — This year’s Trade Show Executive (TSE) Trailblazers are a group of innovative, impactful industry professionals, who are making significant contributions to their organizations. TSE caught up with Joe Kowalsky, Event Director at CloserStill Media, to learn more about his career journey, lessons he’s learned and what he’s looking forward to for the trade show industry.
Q: How did you get your start in the trade show industry?
Randomly applying to jobs on LinkedIn. I knew I wanted to be a part of advertising in some way, just never realized that way would be through live events. The event director on the first show I was hired to liked how I approached sales and gave me my shot as an account executive with the team. Like most people in our industry, it feels like it was just random but could not have been a more perfect fit.
Q: What appealed most to you then, and what appeals most to you now about your work?
I feel like it’s the thing that every 20-something says when they join the events industry, travel. I wanted to get around, go to events, visit clients, see a bit of the country, maybe the world. And I can honestly say it has provided me with that opportunity beyond my wildest dreams. Never did I think I would go to places like Oman or Malaysia but, because of this industry I’ve been able to.
And travel is still a big part of it, I love it BUT, now it’s become so much more about those advertising dreams that drove me here in the first place. We’ve had to develop our thinking a bit beyond booth space and approach sponsorships and activations with creativity and purpose. That has always been what really gets me going, finding opportunities for the creative theater kid side to come out to play! Now, our industry has more willingness to bend the box a bit and find unique ways to connect with and inspire attendees and, that’s the best part to me.
Q: What has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned in your career?
Failure happens and it is okay to fail if you still did everything you could to make success happen. You can have a perfect picture in your head and put that plan to paper but, for lack of better words, shit happens. Something that seemed like a slam dunk before may have 15 new challenges that popped up, that you didn’t see coming whatsoever! I used to let my fear of failure prevent me from trying something new or sharing a crazy idea. I’ve learned from my failures the hard way (a couple of times) and, it has led to success down the road or other lessons learned. Just don’t fail the same way twice!
Related. Meet the 2024 TSE Trailblazers: Adam Horne
Q: What or who inspires you to strive for excellence?
My crushing fear of disappointing people is probably my most honest answer here. The people I work with become my family and I just don’t want to let them down. I want all of us to win, I want all of us to succeed. I’ve known losing, I hate losing, and we can always do that by aiming to be the best.
Q: What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
So far, the proudest moment of my career was being named a Next Generation Leader in 2022. I was given the opportunity, alongside my fellow NGL’s, to share our thoughts on what must be done to create a dynamic talent narrative for the events industry. I was able to travel around the world, receive other speaking opportunities and have my voice and ideas heard and embraced. And in case you were wondering, the way we create a dynamic talent narrative is to rebrand our industry to…The Community Building Industry.
Q: How do you define success?
To me success is educated trying. If you do your homework, are open to new ideas, don’t think you have all the answers and can clearly articulate your vision to a group that will back you up and give it a shot, you have success. Not everything will always be a traditional “success” but, it’s what knowledge and understanding can be taken away to put yourself in a position to win in the future.
Q: What are some things about the future of this industry that excite you? Why?
Activations and Experience! I feel like when I began in the events industry, I was a real estate agent and nothing more, only as good as the space I had left to sell. Over the past couple of years, there has been more of a willingness by show organizers themselves to invest in the experience of attendees. And not just from a perspective of reg systems and flow through an event to the floor. I feel like there has been a more conscientious effort to create spectacle and memories as you would automatically find at a B2C event. I’m not saying these things never happened before but, I don’t feel like the organizers owned the responsibility as theirs before, it was put onto the exhibitors and sponsors to produce or enable.
This change in thinking excites me because it opens our teams up to be the creative trendsetters of our industries. I never wanted to be a real estate agent, I’ve always wanted to be the playful visionary and the opportunities to do that within our industry are becoming more and more plentiful!
Q: Advice for other up-and-comers?
Don’t be afraid to share your voice and your opinions but, be humble enough to know you don’t have all the answers. When you can have genuine real conversations with people you can do amazing things together!
Nominator Quote: “What truly sets Joe apart is his boundless energy and eternal optimism. He approaches every task with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude that is infectious. His positivity is a driving force within his teams, motivating them to push boundaries and achieve their fullest potential. They are currently pacing double digits ahead in sponsorships and exhibit space for their 2024 events,” Yancy Weinrich, President, North America at CloserStill, said. “His creativity knows no bounds, and he consistently brings fresh and innovative ideas for sponsorships, activations and experience for his customers.”
Find out more about all the Trailblazers in the June edition of TSE.
