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This Just In

New Event Consultants Offer Clients Lasting Impact

HIL ANDERSON, SENIOR EDITOR

Fairfax, VA – A team of exhibitions industry veterans joined by a professional educator have launched a consulting firm aimed at increasing the revenues and the knowledge base of trade show organizers.

Event Advisory Group LLC (EAG) launched this Winter in suburban Washington. The original partnership of Mike Muldoon, Ray Luca and Courtney Nazareno was quickly joined by Karen Vogel and Rick Dobson. “Adding new partners Karen Vogel and Rick Dobson to the team rounded out the extensive event experience of the group, which includes event and revenue growth strategies, branding, marketing, sales, operations, and technologies,” said Muldoon.

Muldoon, a former vice president at Naylor Event Solutions and the Food Marketing Institute and Founder of Convention Management Group, said EAG was formed not just to fine-tune clients’ show planning and execution. “We recognized a significant gap in support provided to organizations that are struggling with their events, including uncertainty about strategic direction, lack of staff resources and knowledge to implement new initiatives or technologies,” he said.

The leadership of EAG brings to the table about 120 years of combined experience in the trade show industry:

  • Ray Luca has managerial experience with Worldwide Food Expo, Pack Expo, Society of Toxicology Expo, as well as AFCEA’s military technology events.
  • Rick Dobson has consulted for several major shows and has worked in the past with Naylor.
  • Karen Vogel spent five years with Reed Exhibitions and helped stat-up companies through her firm Start It Up, LLC.

Nazareno travelled a different career path to EAG. She is a career educator who specializes in professional development in group settings and in on-to-one mentoring settings. She has worked with corporate teams and with the school districts in San Francisco and Fairfax, VA.

Despite a lack of hands-on experience in show management, Nazareno plays a key role in ensuring that the recommendations EAG brings to a client are implemented successfully and are not stacked on a desk and forgotten. “Once we deliver our assessment and recommendations, it is up to the client to implement them,” she said. “But, in many cases, staff lacks the experience, or even the self-confidence, to do so.  EAG can provide the guidance and support to ensure the successful implementation of our recommendations.”

EAG’s follow-up with clients includes a “mentorship model” that blends group training sessions and one-on-one coaching with key staff members, Nazareno said. “Just like the old proverb: ‘Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he’ll never go hungry,’” she said. “Our focus is on lasting education. Our clients will not only be able to overcome current challenges; they will also be positioned to deal with any new challenges they may encounter down the road.”

Reach Mike Muldoon at (703) 272-8544 or mike@eagteam.com; Courtney Nazareno at (703) 272-8544 or courtney@eagteam.com

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