PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The stars were shining bright in Palm Springs this year for Trade Show Executive’s (TSE) annual Gold 100 Awards & Summit.
Held Oct. 14-17 at the Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage and spotlighting the 100 largest shows of 2024 in the U.S., the Gold 100 brought together more than 200 show organizers and vendors to celebrate the successes of the last year and get updates about today’s hottest industry topics.
And the Winners Are…
The TSE Gold 100 Awards & Summit culminated at the Awards Gala, where the coveted Grand Award winners were revealed. This year’s winners represent the biggest and brightest shows that set the gold standard of excellence in a variety of categories.
Some highlights from the Awards Gala included CES® being named the largest show of 2024, DISTRIBUTECH International earning The Stickiest Show Floor in 2024 award, IMTS – International Manufacturing Technology Expo winning The Marketing Genius Award, and Equip Exposition taking home the title of The Greatest Trade Show of 2024.
You can view the full list of winners here.
TSE Education Summit Highlights Hot Topics
Navigating Economic and Political Headwinds
Trade show superstars took the stage at the 2025 Gold 100 Educational Summit, sharing invaluable knowledge with attendees.
First, Rick Simon, CEO of United Service Companies and Chairman of TSE Media Group, welcomed participants and set the stage for a day of impactful learning.
“You’re all leaders in the industry, representing not just the largest shows in the country, but shows that set a gold standard in a variety of categories and ones that drive massive economic impact across the U.S.,” Simon said. “We can all agree, we’re in the business of building business and driving economies. What’s going on in the world impacts us and our ability to do that. With the uncertainty surrounding the economic and political landscape making short and long-term decisions a little muddy and the rise of AI and other advanced technologies increasing expectations for personalized experiences, to help keep you on the cutting edge and continue creating great shows and driving the industry you serve forward, we put together an impressive panel of speakers today.”
Then, Peter Rupert, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, provided an analysis of the current economic landscape — and predicted what’s around the corner in 2026. He shared that the economy is doing much better, and is much more strong, than most people think and — like the trade show industry — is continuing to grow.
“I have one recommendation: Stop listening to the news,” Rupert explained. “The economy is a lot stronger than you’ve probably heard.”
Next, Tommy Goodwin, Executive Vice President, Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA), described the progress that ECA has made so far this year and what issues should be on your radar.
There have been some key wins, such as the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which helped ECA advance its pro-growth, pro-investment, pro-impact and pro-workforce development goals, but tariffs, travel issues and the government shutdown are causing headaches.
“Now is a good time to have this conversation, because as we go into 2026, politics and policy, and what happens in Washington, D.C. and in state houses and city halls around the country, and indeed around the world, are going to have tremendous and still outsized impact on the future of your events,” Goodwin said. “As the ongoing government shutdown shows, it’s fair to say that uncertainty is going to be the name of the game, at least in the near term. ECA is keeping an eye on all of these [issues] and making sure that you all have the information you need.”
AI and a TSE Rock Star
After attendees enjoyed a networking break, Tommy Goodwin continued to rock the stage, moderating a discussion with Amy Allen, Chief of Staff, North America, Informa Markets, Kinsey Fabrizio, President, Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and Liz Irving, CEO, Clarion Events North America, about how they use AI as a business strategy.
Clarion has used AI to enhance its entire organization and even help its sales pipeline move faster and hit six figure deals.
Informa has used AI to improve sales and marketing, save time in various departments and even launch a new event.
CTA is leveraging AI for enhanced marketing personalization, increased customer insights and a greater understanding of CES as a whole.
Metrics for success shared by these leaders include employee satisfaction and ease of use, security and impact.
Allen added that hands-on education can help employees become more comfortable with AI and Informa is having a contest to encourage employees to leverage its tools.
“Not letting AI tell us what the right thing to do is — that’s the important thing here,” Allen said. “AI is a great tool for giving you data, but you have to have human insight to make those decisions.”
Also, Maddy Ryley, TSE’s Managing Editor, sat down with Aaron Pederson, President & CEO, All Baby & Child Corp. — which produces ABC Kids Expo — and TSE’s October cover star.
ABC Kids Expo took home TSE’s Rock Star Award at this year’s Fastest 50 Awards & Summit.
From listening to their audience to right-sizing the event to engaging food activations on the show floor, Pederson described how he and his team took the show to the next level.
While the show had impressive growth rates in 2024, Trump’s tariffs threatened to derail its 2025 edition. Though things seemed turbulent in the leadup to the show, with exhibitors expressing nerves, the numbers remained relatively steady due to the ABC team’s hard work. They sent a letter to the industry to assuage panic and replaced canceled exhibitors with those on the show’s wait list.
“Everybody held on, it happened and I’m really proud of my team for how they handled a situation that was completely out of their control,” Pederson said.
Best Practices and Women to Watch
After a lunch break, Moderator Kelly Helfman, Host, Speaker, Coach + Mentor, connected with Sarah Domzalski, Marketing Director, Clarion Events North America, Samantha Grimaldi, Group Marketing Director, Clarion Events North America and Tanzil Uddin, Senior Vice President, Content & Partnerships at Manifest, to talk all things audience acquisition.
Domzalski shared that FDIC International introduced an all-inclusive education pass, simplifying registration costs, that led to a 6% increase year-over-year in conversions.
Uddin added that Manifest uses a highly-curated, targeted approach with itself and its partners, with a consistent message.
According to Grimaldi, Coffee Fest leans into its community with collaborative social media posts to grow its audience and the sharing of user-generated content, leading to every Coffee Fest having about 50% new attendees.
“One of our pillars is customer obsession,” Grimaldi said. “We really leaned into using the Freeman XLNC model to define our customer objectives. We heard loud and clear at Coffee Fest that people are coming to the show to learn, and obviously that can be on or off the show floor, but in our education program, we’ve been really deliberate about how we showcase that.”
Then, some of TSE’s past Women to Watch took the stage.
Moderator Carrie Ferenac, President, CNTV, spoke with Desiree Hanson, President, Energy North America, Clarion Events North America; Edwina Kulego, Vice President of International Business Development and Menswear, Informa Markets; and Sarah Wilson, Vice President of the Program Management Office, Connections, Emerald.
They shared updates from their careers, how things have changed for women in the industry and where it can still improve, as well as learning experiences and burnout-prevention methods.
When asked about the industry’s future, these icons shared the following predictions:
Desiree: “It’s scaling personalization, using AI as a strategy … delivering content based on their behaviors … [and bringing] those communities together all year round, because that’s what our customers are craving.”
Sarah: “Success comes from both community and overall experience. Technology is very exciting and it’s something that we should absolutely be using, but we need to be very mindful of not letting human connection be replaced. There’s a huge challenge and opportunity for leaders who can use technology to amplify the way that we serve our communities and make sure that we’re still staying true to ourselves and making sure that events have empathy and networking connectivity.”
Edwina: “It’s all about connections. Customer service is top of mind at Informa — that’s all we talk about. We’re constantly looking at the event experience for our attendees and our exhibitors, what they are met with when they arrive at the show, what education we’re offering on the show floor, really the whole journey is something we’re looking at really closely … We are also making sure that we have touch points throughout the year where our community can come together.”
To get more takeaways from this session, sign up for TSE’s free Young Professionals Newsletter.
Finally, Moderator Marianne Szczech, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Services, GES, looked at how Michelle Edmondson, Vice President – Exhibitions, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology; John Mlynczak, President and CEO, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) and Kevin Thornton, Senior Vice President of Infrastructure and Construction, Informa Markets, have leveraged influencer partnerships for event success.
Starting in 2022, on site at IMTS, AMT held on-site interviews that were hosted by influencers. Edmonson shared that results were measured by social media impressions, which were up 23% from the show before.
The NAMM team invested in bringing in influencers to create ROI for exhibitors, leveraging their B2C reach. They built community and trust, listened and adapted, and leveraged influencer competition. To gauge success, they measured views of content; 2023 had 9.5 million, 2024 had 20.6 million and 2025 had 39.4 million.
Thornton described the launch of Build Show LIVE, an influencer-driven, content-led experience. For its 2024 launch, they had more than 2.2 million views and 135,000 interactions. Also, they had higher attendee engagement and spend per attendee, and over 90% exhibitor retention, as well as industry-leading NPS scores.
“Not only were we super excited, but what it did for us is that it kind of changed our influencer strategy for our traditional events within our portfolio,” Thornton said. “Now we have a much stronger focus on trying to identify the key influencers and find a way to build authentic relationships.”
To get the top ten takeaways from this summit, subscribe to TSE’s free e-newsletter on LinkedIn or through your email.
Connection-Building Reigns Supreme
With the Gold 100 Awards & Summit taking place in scenic Palm Springs, TSE planned a variety of networking events that took advantage of the beautiful backdrop.
Kicking off the event for early arrivals was the annual Chairman’s Dinner, which took place at Copley’s on Palm Canyon. TSE’s Chairman, Rick Simon, CEO of United Service Companies, welcomed attendees to this year’s event on the iconic Palm Canyon Drive and set the tone for a week full of information-sharing and celebration.
Another event highlight was the Gold 100 Golf Tourney, sponsored by United Service Companies, which took place at the Desert Willow Golf Resort this year. With Mini Verde Bermudagrass greens, plenty of bunkers and impressive desert views, the course was one to remember, and the competition was steep. The winners of this year’s tournament were:
Winning Team: Jerry Gildea, Bob Caldwell and Joe Bocherer
Closest to the Pin (Men’s): Jose Lopez
Closest to the Pin (Women’s): Danielle Foisy
Longest Drive (Men’s): Kemer Poteete
Longest Drive (Women’s): Danielle Foisy
And, while some attendees took to the greens, others participated in a wellness-focused day, with a morning meditation and a guided hike through the Andreas and Murray Canyons. The GES- and OnPeak-sponsored event took attendees through rock formations, waterfalls and palm oases, ending with a private lunch nestled in the palms of the desert.
In true California style, Map Your Show sponsored a wine-tasting experience for Gold 100 attendees, featuring hand-selected, top of the line wines poured by master sommeliers. Attendees shared toasts and cheers to their shows’ performance and partnerships as the sun set over the desert.
The Welcome Reception, sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, kicked the event off on a high note, with a local three-piece band, Avenida Trio, and a roaming cannoli-making station, along with dinner overlooking Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto Mountain Range.
TSE also brought a representative from Aziz Farm, located in the Coachella Valley, to give attendees a look at the local area’s growing history and the production process of dates in the region. Premium takeaways of Medjool dates were available to attendees through this community-focused activation.
Future Dates
The next TSE event will be the 2026 Fastest 50 Awards & Summit, taking place April 22-24 at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor.
Submit your entries to the Fastest 50 program here. The deadline to submit is Dec. 31, 2025.
The next Gold 100 Awards & Summit will take place Sept. 21-24, 2026, at the Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, Calif.
Entries for the Gold 100 rankings are open until Dec. 31, 2025. Enter your show’s 2025 edition here.
