The Trade Show Exhibitors Association’s (TSEA) Red Diamond Congress, in Orlando this July 31 – August 3, will gather hundreds of the nation’s largest exhibitors to explore the most important topics in face-to-face marketing today.

Unlike other gatherings, Red Diamond Congress will provide a unique and innovative learning context.  Participants will discover the thinking, tools and techniques they need to increase their ROI in face-to-face:

• New means to reform trade show industry practices and improve the value of shows
• New avenues to align corporate objectives with trade show strategies and tactics
• New ways to integrate trade shows into multichannel marketing efforts
• New methods to evaluate their substantial investments in trade show marketing   

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: Make the leap from logistics to strategy

TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress combines advocacy and advanced education to give exhibit marketers the tools they need.  Attendees get a B-school education in marketing strategy and tactics, plus the opportunity to drive change in the trade show industry.

Our faculty includes expert practitioners, thought-leaders and professors from some of the nation’s leading universities.  They’ll show you how to:

• Increase the value you receive from trade shows
• Align corporate objectives with strategies and tactics
• Integrate trade shows with other marketing efforts
• Define meaningful trade show metrics and
• Communicate value-based outcomes to senior management

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: Grad-school for exhibit managers

By attending TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress, you’ll receive a grad school-level education in marketing strategy and tactics, plus a deeper understanding of your role as a change agent within the trade show industry.   

The event features “classroom” learning geared to meet the needs of advanced and senior-level exhibit marketers.  Choose from 45 seminars led by many of the nation’s leading exhibit marketing experts and practitioners, as well as university professors from several prominent business schools. 

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: 45 seminars in 3 tracks

TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress will feature 45 seminars in three tracks, Advocacy, Strategy and Implementation. 

Seminar topics were chosen by TSEA’s education committee for their relevance, practicality and urgency to today’s exhibit marketers.  Instructors were recruited for their ability to deliver a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge effectively. 

Seminars will cover Strategic Planning, Multichannel Marketing, Marketing Integration, Brand Marketing, Media Relations, Shareholder Value & ROI, Value Chain Management, Negotiation Skills, Project Management, Show & Space Selection, Logistics, Labor Management, Staff Training & Selection, Lead Generation & Management, CRM Integration, Analytics and Virtual Events.

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: Fresh voices and viewpoints

TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress gives you access to a highly informed and diverse group of experts—most of whom have never been brought together before. 

• Charles Yuska, president and CEO, Packaging Machinery and Manufacturers Association, will provide the opening keynote.  The producer of PACK EXPO, he is known throughout the trade show industry for having assumed the role of general contractor for his own event.
•  Tom Bowman, president, Bowman Design Group, will examine how green exhibiting can enhance a company’s brand. 
•  Jeffrey Masters, senior manager, global event marketing group, Philips Healthcare, will explain the use of predictive modeling to shorten sales cycles. 
•  Jeff Tanner, associate dean, Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, will explore the fundamentals of integrated multichannel marketing. 
•  Patricia Whitaker, exhibits manager, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, will engage you in a candid discussion of the issues surrounding trade shows today, including the lack of cost transparency among organizers and suppliers, the absence of show audits, and archaic rules and regulations.

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: Early-bird discounts available

Attendees will save $100 by registering early for TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress.

Through 45 classroom-style workshops, Red Diamond Congress will immerse exhibit marketers in grad school-level learning.  The workshops will be led by senior practitioners, exhibit marketing experts and university professors from several prominent business schools.

Supplementing the classrooms, topic-specific “applied learning centers” and informal “learning lounges” will guarantee participants can connect workshop content with their immediate educational needs.  In the applied learning centers, faculty members will join sponsors’ subject matter experts to amplify the workshops through small-group and one-to-one discussions.

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: Maverick keynote speaker

TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress will help close the critical gap between exhibit managers and trade show organizers.  The 3-day event features 45 seminars and general sessions devoted to today’s most urgent issues in exhibit marketing.  Instructors include many of the nation’s leading exhibit marketing experts and practitioners, as well as university professors from several prominent business schools.

The keynote session will feature Charles Yuska, president and CEO of the Arlington, VA-based Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute, and producer of PACK EXPO, the nation’s second largest trade show.  Mr. Yuska is well known for having assumed the role of general contractor for his own event, in order to reduce exhibitors’ costs.  He will be interviewed by Sam Lippman, president of Arlington, VA-based Integrated Show Marketing & Management (ISM), and a leading consultant to trade show organizers.  Before founding ISM, he organized the trade shows PRINT, GRAPH EXPO and International CES.

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

Red Diamond Congress 2011: 3 intensive days—100% devoted to exhibit marketing

To guide attendees in their choice of seminars, TSEA’s Red Diamond Congress will be organized in three tracks, Advocacy, Strategy and Implementation.

The Advocacy track includes seminars addressing the issues that surround the skyrocketing costs of trade show labor and drayage; the lack of cost transparency among trade show organizers and suppliers; the absence of reliable attendee audits; unfriendly housing policies and procedures; and archaic exhibitor rules and regulations.

The Strategy track includes seminars on strategic planning; multichannel and integrated marketing; branding and messaging; analytics; and producing and presenting value-based outcomes.  The topics were selected by TSEA’s education committee and will be of interest to exhibit managers who wishes to increase their value to their employers.

The Implementation track includes seminars on project management; special event planning; experiential marketing; show and space selection; budget development and tracking; outsourcing; and contract negotiation.

RDC 2011 also features Applied Learning Centers, to ensure attendees can “connect the dots” between seminar content and their immediate needs.  In the Applied Learning Centers, instructors will join subject matter experts from the leading suppliers to the exhibit marketing industry to amplify the seminars through small-group and one-to-one discussions.

To register or learn more, go to www.RDC2011.com

* Thanks to Bob James for providing this entry.  In full disclosure, the TSEA and its Red Diamond Congress are clients of mine.

I am in the midst of trying to organize my notes and materials for the upcoming CEM class on Floor Plans Development I’ll be teaching in Dallas the day before the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting. For those not familiar with the program, CEM stands for Certified in Exhibitions Management and the program is offered by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE). I earned my CEM designation in 2005 and became a member of thier faculty later that year. I have found the CEM designation has been quite helpful to me when I was dealing with Exhibit Managers or Service Contractors in that it gave me the confidence to work with these folks.

IAEE has been in the process of revising the curiculum for the past two years, updating the course materials and working some topics such as Project Management, International Meetings, and Green Meetings into every course module.  The first two revised courses are being unveiled at this year’s PCMA Annual Meeting and all 12 newly revised courses will be rolled out during the year.

A participant in the CEM program will need to complete 9 of the following 12 classes:

• Conference and Meeting Management Principles
• Event Marketing
• Event Operations
• Exhibition & Event Sales Fundamentals
• Facilities and Site Selection
• Finance, Budgeting and Contracts
• Floor Plan Development
• Registration, Housing, and Travel Management
• Selecting Service Contractors
• Strategic Planning and Management
• Security, Risk and Crisis Management

Classes can be taken in any order.  Those who hold the Certified Meetings Professional (CMP) designation do not need to take the first class listed and are given credit for it, so only 8 classes for those individuals.  Classes can be taken on-site for six hours or online over a four week period.  I’ve done both formats, and found that I learned the material better online, but the interaction with my fellow students on-site offered more benefits in the long term.  After completing the class, students take a 40 question exam and need to pass with 75% correctly answered.  Once the first class is completed, students have three years to complete the program.  Once the CEM designation has been  earned, it is good for three years before the student needs to recertify by taking another CEM exam (no exam is needed, however) or a variety of other options.

For those interested in more information on the CEM program, please check out the CEM website at http://www.iaee.com/cem/.  I hope to see you in one of the classes I facilitate one day.