Event Marketing: Redefined
Welcome to the go-to resource for event marketers. With each episode, we dive deep into the world of event marketing, bringing in industry leaders to discuss trends, strategies, and success stories. We're not just talking about creating trade show booths; we're exploring how to craft success stories that drive tangible results.
We believe trade shows and events are not just a cost of doing business but an essential sales and marketing strategy, and have the potential to propel your brand growth and significantly impact your bottom line.
We understand the industry can be complex, with challenges around under-resourced staff, budget allocation, and much more. That's why we're here—to provide guidance and expertise so you can do better, be better, and expand your career.
Join us on this journey to get results, grow your brand, and experience the revolution of event marketing!
“Event Marketing: Redefined'' is hosted by trade show and event marketing expert, Matt Kleinrock, CEO of Rockway Exhibits + Events.
Episodes
202 episodes
EP 183 | Bespoke Events: How to Build VIP Experiences That Actually Move Deals Forward
A great dinner or VIP experience means nothing if it doesn’t lead to a meaningful conversation. In this episode, Stephanie Hunicke (Director of Global Marketing Events at Aderant) breaks down how to design bespoke events that prior...
EP 182 | Why Your Trade Show Booth Isn’t Working — And How to Fix It (Guest Appearance on Behind the Experience Podcast)
Most trade show booths fail for one simple reason: they’re built to be seen, not experienced. In this conversation, Matt breaks down why the old playbook no longer works and what actually drives pipeline today.Learn:✅ Why “show ...
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EP 181 | RFPs for Event Agencies: How to Ask Better Questions and Choose Better Partners
How do you know if the event agency you hired is actually a strategic partner? Or just a middleman? Choosing the right agency partner can shape the success of an entire event program, yet many teams still rely on RFP processes that...
EP 180 | Micro-Events as Closers: The Playbook Behind 15,000% ROI
Most event programs are built around visibility: booths, sponsorships, brand presenceFor years, that approach was considered the safest way to drive pipeline. But what if the deals you care about aren’t won on crowded show floors? And y...
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EP 179 | Why Most Event Strategies Never Make It to Revenue
Most event teams are doing everything they’re supposed to do: booking the booth, training staff, showing up with the right materials.And yet, the results rarely match the effort.The issue usually isn’t poor execution. It’s that ...
EP 178 | How a 10×10 Booth Booked 116 Meetings (And Why Pre-Show Is Everything)
The event didn’t start on the show floor.By the time Accelevents showed up with a 10×10 booth, much of the pre-show groundwork was already in motion—accounts targeted, meetings scheduled, and conversations planned. The result? 116 meeti...
EP 177 | Inside Lenovo’s Event Strategy: Partnerships, Scale, and Standing Out
Have you ever looked at a big brand’s event partnerships and wondered what actually makes them work... beyond the logos and budgets?In this episode, Matt is joined again by Jon Wolff and Mandy Glenwright to take you inside how Lenovo th...
EP 176 | Integrating Events Into Sales & Marketing Without Treating Them as One-Offs
Events are one of the few channels where sales and marketing can show up together, face-to-face, and create real trust.And yet, many event programs are still planned and measured like isolated moments. So it’s no surprise they struggle ...
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EP 175 | How to Turn Complex Products into Tangible Event Experiences
Some products are easy to show on a show floor. AI isn’t one of them.When your product is abstract, powerful, and sometimes intimidating, the challenge isn’t just explaining what it does—it’s helping people feel why it matters. That’s w...
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EP 174 | What 2025 Taught Event Marketers (And How to Win 2026)
2025 was a loud year for event marketers—big wins, tough lessons, shifting expectations, and an industry that moved faster than anyone planned. So before we step into 2026, we’re slowing down to make sense of what actually mattered this year.
EP 173 | The Core Principles of Strategic Event Marketing: Measurement, Ownership, and Pipeline Impact
Event marketers have spent years being asked to execute flawlessly—booths built, shows staffed, leads scanned.But the conversations Matt Kleinrock and Coty Adams keep having tell a different story: execution alone is no longer enough. S...
EP 172 | 5 Event Marketing Shifts For 2025: From Cost Center To Catalyst, Story Over Sameness, And The 41% Problem (Best of Matt & Pablo)
Last year’s “best of” episode became the most downloaded in the history of the show for one reason: it gave event marketers a framework that actually changed how they worked.2025 took that conversation further.This special compi...
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EP 171 | Best of 2025: Insights That Redefined Event Marketing
Event marketers spent 2025 juggling pressure from every angle—proving impact, planning smarter, and building experiences grounded in what audiences actually want.With time shrinking, expectations rising, and noise everywhere, it became ...
EP 170 | Strategy Over Spectacle: How Event Marketers Drive Revenue Now
If you’ve ever been handed a booth brief with zero strategy … or chased down sales to follow up on hundreds of “leads” … or been asked to “do more shows next year” with the same budget, you know the pain.That old model? It’s broken....
EP 169 | EXHIBITORLIVE 2025: The Shifts That Will Define Event Marketing Next
The future of event marketing feels noisy—AI headlines, shifting attendee behavior, sustainability pressure, and a role that keeps expanding faster than the job description.Most event pros are expected to keep up, even as expectations r...
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EP 168 | EXHIBITORLIVE 2025: Advice Event Marketers Wish They’d Known Sooner
Every event marketer has a moment they’d go back and redo — a decision, a mindset, a chance to think bigger.At EXHIBITORLIVE 2025, Coty Adams and Mollie Stahl hit the floor to ask one powerful question: “What advice would you give your ...
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EP 167 | The Coolest, Smartest Event Ideas We’ve Seen (and Why They Worked)
Every brand wants the next big experiential idea. But too often, what gets delivered is safe, predictable, and easy to forget.Audiences are craving creativity. They want experiences that surprise them, move them, make them pause. And be...
EP 166 | Beyond the RFP: How Smart Venue Sourcing Drives Better Events
Venue sourcing takes an enormous amount of time and most event marketers have even less of it than ever before.Between skyrocketing pricing, surprise fees, and increased pressure to deliver inclusive and sustainable experiences, venue so...
EP 165 | On the Brink of Burnout? Build Capacity to Thrive in Event Marketing
Event marketers are some of the most capable professionals out there. They juggle strategy, logistics, leadership expectations, and ROI goals all at once.But the truth is, there’s only so much they can control. Leadership decisions, las...
EP 164 | EXHIBITORLIVE 2025: The Real Challenges Facing Event Marketers
Every year at EXHIBITORLIVE, the conversations go deeper than booth design and swag trends. This year, the question that stopped people in their tracks was simple: “What’s the biggest challenge event marketers are facing right now?”And ...
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EP 163 | Event Cost Breakdown
Most exhibitors spend nearly half their budget just getting to the show floor—booth space, travel, shipping, services. By the time the event starts, there’s almost nothing left for strategy or measurement.That’s how event marketing gets...
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EP 162 | Laws of Events
Events don’t work like they used to.Back then, great speakers and flashy venues were enough. Today? Audiences expect connection, conversation, and clarity of purpose. But most event strategies still haven’t caught up.That’s why ...
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EP 161 | Personalization at Events: How the Best Event Marketers Do It
Event marketers talk about personalization a lot. We slap a name on a badge, segment an email list, and call it a day.But attendees want more than that. They want to feel seen: from the first invite, to the way a session is designed, to...
EP 160 | How to Rethink Giveaways and Design Experiences That Actually Stick
Most giveaways end up in the hotel trash. Most booths blur together.Brian Burkhardt thinks it’s time to change that.In this conversation, the Co-Founder of Oliver Patch Project shows how to turn event swag and booth design into some...
EP 159 | Design Smarter Experiences That Actually Move People
You can have the biggest booth, flashiest tech, and sleekest design. But if your audience doesn’t feel something, you’ve missed the mark.And right now, too many brands are still playing it safe, checking boxes, or overdesigning without ...
