Emenee Marketing 'n' Events

09/04/2024

Can't believe we've been together 20years this month & baby girl will give us another reason to celebrate in April!

01/02/2024

I've been a bit quiet on social media, but we're busy around here! Counting the days until spring, but at least it's a sunny for lunch on the patio with Ares!

August-December I traveled quite a bit with clients, event partners, friends & family. My team and I worked on 9 recent event projects and excited for the rest of 2024. B2B teams are eager to cut through the noise and show up at the most aligned events effectively!

January flew by of course, but I'm glad to catch a breath of fresh air for a warm day for February.

11/01/2024

Wow, this was status was regarding starting my Penn State Senior internship! I've redefined success over the years and although I'm still working in my dream industry of events, my roles and opportunities have evolved far beyond what I ever expected.

I'm constantly thanking my younger self and reminisce all the stepping stones along the way. I felt "lucky" at 21, but now in my 30s I feel fulfilled resulting from much more than luck over the years!

29/04/2023

Until next time Las Vegas! Recap and photo dump of Event Tech Live coming soon!

08/03/2023

Motivation, along with some expert advice is just what you need in starting or building the business of your dreams.

Debra Eckerling's , invited Wanda Allen Follow-Up Sales Expert, Franchise Expert Phyllis Pieri, and me to chat about Building Your Business and Business Goals. Sharing our thoughts on:
🖊️ What you need to get started
❓How to make your business stand out
📌 Tips to reach your business goals

Check out these links for more:
Link to Video: https://bit.ly/3PHPImc
Recap: https://bit.ly/3LMzFjJ

16/02/2023

The pandemic may have shakened up the event industry, but event trends have emerged because of it!

Let's make virtual events a platform for networking and relationship-building. Listen for the full podcast here | https://spoti.fi/3QSIsVd and know more about these 3 talking points:
💻 The 6 foundations of a successful ROI-generating event
📱 Why a strategic partnership pitch is more important than a sales pitch in today’s world of events
📢 The one thing events will always have over Facebook or LinkedIn advertising

14/02/2023

My "Forever Jersey". The Eagles may have lost the Superbowl this year, Donovan McNabb retired a decade ago, and we moved from the Philadelphia area 5 years ago, but "McNabb" is now my forever jersey. Together since 2004 - Married 2017, so here's a cliché Valentine's Day picture post, but sprinkled with a storytime, significance of personal branding, and explanation why I include my middle name professionally.

It was an intentional decision to start introducing myself professionally with my full name when we got married. Going from "Guidotti" to "McNabb" was the difference of only 4 people showing up on Google with my shared name to 100+ Michelle McNabbs - if not more!

Only ONE Michelle Nicole McNabb shows up across platforms, google, and unintentional organic SEO helps to cut through the noise. This has been crucial as I've put effort into building content, a personal brand, and reliable reputation and positioning in business events.

Inside secret, I still use my childhood nickname ShellyG as an alias, sign-ups, and even as a clone for event support and back-office admin work, but I digress.

Emenee Marketing 'n'​ Events is a DBA of Michelle Nicole Enterprises, LLC and all the branding revolves around M.N.E - hence the "Emenee" (phonetically M.N.E)! Various segments and campaigns follow the MNE brand: etc...

Names are forgettable, and many of us are guilty of this even with our best intentions. As someone who works events in sectors that thrive in face-to-face, top of mind referrals, relationship based, international markets, and long sales cycles, my name is part of my brand.

I answer to Michelle of course, but family still calls me Shelly, ShellyG, Shell, Shelly-Belly, and Shell-Bell, and sometimes accidentally my sister's name Danielle. Nicknames are fun, but to minimize confusion, now you know why I'm introduced and keep consistent with the online presence of Michelle Nicole McNabb.

27/01/2023

There's a lot of chatter around AI and specifically Chat GPT across the workplace, so I was glad when Claire Hoffman of BizBash (one of the most reputable global Event Publications) reached out to me to share my thoughts and any insights specific to the event industry on the topic!

Check out the article and I'm curious how other professions and industries are using AI and Chat GPT.

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence is having an impact on the event industry. We asked some event professionals how they're using it in their day-to-day roles.

05/01/2023

This is an oldie, but still possibly my favorite work meme of all time! It's especially relatable on the Thursday after the holidays and New Year's.

22/12/2022

Thank you BizBash and Claire Hoffman for including my quote in this feature: "What we Learned About the Event Industry in 2022" | http://bit.ly/3WfE44M

16/12/2022

Sometimes, letting the conversation flow makes you dive deeper and cover a lot of topic at once.

Thank you Gatherly for the invitation to chat together about these topics:
📝 How to craft event messaging to address what your event sponsors want without alienating your attendees
🎀 How to design an event so that sponsors are in the right place at the right time to make meaningful connections with target attendees who, in turn, actually want to engage
🧳 Skillset you should consider sending to events
👩‍💼 Techniques used to encourage participants to engage with sponsors

To know more about these, watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/3ROGo0O

06/12/2022

Five Ways to Categorize Participants at Events
Knowing who you're talking to, with your intention, is going to help you best understand and optimize your time spent within a conversation, accelerate the process, and either steer them over or get off the fence.

This is a system we've implemented years ago and still update our CRM accordingly and suggest for our clients how to segment participants beyond only prospects:
1) Need more information - either they need more info, they have no idea what they need, or they don't even bother with a pitch. Create a sequence to better qualify and determine if there's alignment.

2) Leads & Prospects- Cold, Warm, or Hot: they have some sort of level of interest and you're guiding them through the customer journey to convert the conversation into an opportunity. Take note of the touchpoints they've experienced before, during, and after an event - similar how you would with other channels and platforms.

3) Clients & Existing Pipeline- you're not pitching an initial scope of work with people you're already working with, but this is a great opportunity to strengthen relationships, generate content, testimonials, collaborate on a case-study, revise scope of work, upsell or cross sell deliverables, and leverage each other's networks with people you already know, like, and trust.

4) Strategic Partners, General Network, and Suppliers - These are not necessarily connections that are in need of your services, so a pitch or sales sequence wouldn't be appropriate for these relationships. Help them help you get in front of mutual clients, trusted services, ways to stay top of mind, and collaboration opportunities - they don't need to hear your elevator pitch.

5) People that you can learn from and Industry Leaders - these could be speakers and mentors in your industry that you're intrigued to hear more and what they have to say. The opportunity to be in the same room, roundtable conversation or meeting them is a much different approach than your sales pipeline contacts or supplier network.

Tactical Next Steps:
Step 1: Identify your segments
Step 2: Define criteria and system to categorize accordingly
Step 3: Draft sequence and touch points with appropriate tactics, messaging, and platforms
Step 4: Set up and document a CRM (contact relationship management) infrastructure

02/12/2022

2023 is fast approaching. One month left and we will welcome another year!

I enjoyed our conversation with Evan Babins of Diamond Marketing Group on Event Mender's podcast hosted by Merijn van Buuren. We talked about event planning trends to watch out for in 2023 .

Here's a sneak peek of the topics we talked about during the episode:
Trends in the event industry, specifically in event management
Bringing your event vision to life
The distinction between marketing and promotion
Meeting your participants and audience where they are

Watch the full episode on Youtube | http://bit.ly/3F0ULem
Listen on your favorite podcast platforms | http://bit.ly/3EYHiUh

01/12/2022

"Event planning is not just a verb that we're doing. It is part of the process so we can plan, manage and execute what comes before, during, and after the event." - Michelle Nicole McNabb

Rather than "niching down" by vertical, consider differentiating yourself by other factors:
Ask yourself what skill sets do you enjoy - there is enough to be collaborative and work alongside with different people in the industry.
Know what format, what style, what type of flow, and what skill sets among the event industry really resonates and where you can shine best.
Keep collaborating, networking, and aligning with people and brands that resonate.

Check out the full episode on the Event Mender's podcast!

Watch the full episode on Youtube | http://bit.ly/3F0ULem
Listen on your favorite podcast platforms | http://bit.ly/3EYHiUh

25/11/2022

I was asked on a podcast "what is endurance".
Catch the full episode on your favorite social media platforms:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/534229507/videos/646882843654281/
YT: https://youtu.be/lZCrqZOMfdE
LI Post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/endurance-brian-fishbach-seth-goldstein-michelle-nicole-eckerling
IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck_4kSbvxCu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

24/11/2022

Technology has allowed us to expand beyond our geographical territories and connect globally, but it's a deceiver from authenticity. Authenticity is now a buzz word too, but this is also why I'll continue to believe in the power of on-site events for longevity and sustainability for business.

23/11/2022

Vlogging and BTS has been the #1 way I've showcased and communicate visually how we serve our event clients. Our event consulting leads to production and "management 'n' events". This is one of three main offerings we focus on for companies that allocate $30k-$1M annually hosting or contributing in events for business: Management 'n' Events, Marketing 'n' Events, and MasterClass 'n' Events. I have permission from the photos taken from each person to post, but need review of the BTS videos before I can share publicly.

22/11/2022

We can't deny that live events suffered due to the sudden pandemic. No one was prepared, and everyone was taken aback by it.

On Micro Famous with Matt Johnson, we talked about what the developments of 2020 mean for speakers, authors, coaches and consultants.

Let's go back, reminisce, and learn the relevance of these topics in this present time:
💻 The 6 foundations of a successful ROI-generating event
📱 Why a strategic partnership pitch is equally important as an elevator pitch
📢 The one thing events will always have over Facebook, LinkedIn and digital advertising

Check the full podcast here | https://spoti.fi/3QSIsVd

31/10/2022

Earlier this month Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) hosted their annual education conference CBExchange. Ares (our doberman) couldn't join "mom" on-site in Florida, but he's rocking this outfit for Halloween today!

Ares actually loves footballs, so it's perfect. Although he normally doesn't dress up he took it like a champ!

This year's theme was "CBE It's a Game-Changer" and as an extension of the team for 3 years to direct the run-of-show and event tech they hooked me up with the swag.

C-BEN knows how to throw an intentional conference that goes beyond education & connection.

In addition to incorporating the theme, they went a step further and included a local high school band, cheer team, and color guard for a mid-conference "half-time performance". The turf, tunnel, and centerpieces were all donated to their team and in time for their homecoming game to debut their tunnel (made to their actual school colors)!

It was incredible to witness the higher-education professionals connect and engage with the up and coming generation that this conference advocates for. All in all, I could go on to share dozens of reasons I enjoy working with this conference - this one is definitely a treat!

Happy Halloween!

Cvent Encore BizBash

11/10/2022

I usually don't repost "gated" content, but this was well worth the download! Because it's Freeman's white paper I can't share the direct piece, but when I come across actual value-driven content that cuts through the noise - I highly encourage others to take a peek.

"The secret to trade show exhibit engagement...spoiler: it's not always about the biggest booth or budget" - Freeman

See for yourself how this ultimate guide to exhibit engagement can help you in your next exhibit by downloading this resource: https://bit.ly/3RbQ84k

20/09/2022

As we approach the end of Q3 and map out our final stretch for Q4 and into 2023, here are some insightful metrics when considering how to leverage events.

"​​If you’re looking for the most comprehensive list of event marketing, event management, and event planning statistics, you’ve come to the right place." - Bizzabo

Check this research | https://bit.ly/3KleINO by Bizzabo to get to know more about "The Events Industry’s Top Marketing Statistics, Trends, and Data". They segment the findings into event format:
Virtual Event Statistics
In-Person Event Statistics
Hybrid Event Statistics
B2B Event Industry Statistics
Commercial and Professional Services Event Statistics
Media Event Statistics
Event Marketing Budget Statistics

19/08/2022

It's been few years since we started where we feature different resources to share with our network!

As a recap, here is a compilation of some of our favorite topics and resources we shared through campaign | https://bit.ly/3cdvTEl

Did you ever catch on why we call it ? MNE represents our brand of our DBA Emenee and the subdivisions of Marketing 'n' Events, Management 'n' Events, and MasterClass 'n' Events. It's also the parent company name Michelle Nicole Enterprises, LLC. The 819 refers to 8 resources and 19 takeaways and was inspired from my birthday... August 19! Now you know.

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11/08/2022

Bridging the gap with event professionals and field marketers and executive teams are crucial for innovation, retention, and ideal contributors that serve the event attendees.

This isn't something profound or new, but these stakeholders are important to the event eco-system. Often I see published content, white papers and talks about attendee engagement, content is king (geared towards attendees), how to get sponsors and how to serve our attendees.

I prefer to use the term "participants" because it includes not only ticket holders, but all contributors. Event management isn't only for the event hosts, but serving the eco-system which we are striving to serve. A customer journey isn't only for our ticket holders, but supporting our contributors.

Especially when it comes to event technology, the messaging has been how to support event planners and organizers. I believe there's a huge disconnect and the ones that will sustain and cut through the noise take into account the ease and evangelism from the contributors.

Truth Bomb: Our clients that sponsor and exhibit and eager to select ideal events don't recognize the different event tech providers. They don't necessarily care if it's Hubilo, Cvent, InEvent, Gevme, Hopin, EventMobi, Map Your Show, ExpoPlatform Vii, 42Chat, or the 800+ solutions. (I love my event tech relationships, but they don't know you from the next - that's my role).

Working with our clients as we short list ideal events, they want:
✅️ clear communication
✅️ connections
✅️ integrations to their existing tech stack
✅️ ease of compliance and logistics
✅️ segmented and targeting campaigns
✅️ easy navigation
✅️ integrated experiences
✅️ distribution of content
✅️ reach new markets and build credibility
✅️ clear call for papers process and expectations
✅️ how to justify ROI and how to get the most out of the event
✅️ commerce capabilities

What steps are you taking to understand your contributors' Q4 & 2023 event goals?

Apply to the MasterClass 'n' Events Framework Program: https://bit.ly/3uZHBWE~~~~~~~~~Emenee Marketing 'n' Events is not your typical marketing agency, event...

11/07/2022

Optimize your next event participating through these 3 tips:

🤝 Take the opportunity to get to know other people in your industry, gain testimonials, and credibility from other peers. Accelerate the client acquisition process by making the vetting process easy on your prospects.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Take time prior to the event, and show floor hours to introduce yourself to other exhibitors and sponsors in the room. Ask who they are looking forward to connecting with and find alignment how you can leverage each other's connections together.

📌 Within the event, target people and companies with intention - not everybody that you meet is a prospect. Determine how you'll follow up based on different segments on intention and buyer journey. Personalization goes beyond the first name.

Thank you Wesleyne for the invite to be featured on the Snack Sized Sales podcast last December 2020, talking about monetizing your next event. Almost a year passed by, but these three tips are still on demand and something you should look forward into doing,

To know more about these three tips here is the link for the full podcast: https://bit.ly/3vAhpW4

29/06/2022

If you're visiting Washington DC for an upcoming business event, then take a look at BizBash Connect Spring Edition 2022 - Checking In and some of their recommended locations.

The Banneker - Kimpton's newest D.C. hotel, just six blocks from The White House at the site of the former Kimpton Rouge.

The Darcy - Logan Circle hotel expanded its event space, deputing a $2.4 million courtyard pavilion addition.

Lyle Washington DC - The 196-room opened in the former Kimpton Carlyle Hotel and offers 3,000 square feet of event space with six dedicated rooms.

Archer Hotel Tysons - Added a new property with the opening of 178-room, located near the McLean Silver Line Metro Station and minutes away from Tysons Corner Center.

Hilton Washington D.C. Capitol Hill - The 16 story, former Washington Court Hotel, located steps away from the U.S. Capitol, Union Station and the National Mall.

Cambria Hotel Washington D.C. Capitol Riverfront - Cambria Hotels opened its fifth property in the D.C. area.

DoubleTree by Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg - announced the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation.

Know more about these hotels by clicking this link | https://bit.ly/3vE27yy

# .C.CapitolHill .C.CapitolRiverfront /Gaithersburg

28/06/2022

Another month wrapping up already?! Before we end this month, here's the last set of takeaways for June's !

Close & Community: A.C.D.C | T.N.T
https://bit.ly/39WYa0z

Check out the full blog to get a sneak peek of all the 8 resources and 19 takeaways: https://bit.ly/3zl43iK

17/06/2022

It's time for this week's - Deliver!

Here are this week's takeaways:

Deliver: A.C.D.C | T.N.T
https://bit.ly/3wndsDj

Check out the full blog to get a sneak peek of all the 8 resources and 19 takeaways: https://bit.ly/3zl43iK

15/06/2022

Host your next meal-focused event in one of these new restaruants by different accalimed chefs.

These new restaurants featured in recently are ideal if you're visiting the Washington D.C area (the closest city to me) for business and events:

Moon Rabbit - Acclaimed chef kevin tien opened at the Inter-Continental Hotel at the Wharf, a modern Vietnamese restaurant inspired by Tien's childhood growing up as a first-generation Asian-American.

Imperfecto - menu riffs on Mediterranean and Latin-American traditions, and the serene restaurant in the West End combines warm wood and stark white with ocean-blue accents.

Spanish Diner - The aptly serves comfort food like eggs fried in olive oil served atop crispy potatoes, a Madrid specialty.

Giving you bits and pieces of BizBash Connect Spring Edition 2022 - All in Good Taste!
Check out the whole article here | https://bit.ly/396YJo8

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