mdg | Event Marketing Agency for Trade Shows and Associations

Tariffs, government downsizing, regulation changes and shifts in international relations are impacting industries worldwide — and prompting event organizers to rethink their approach to attendee and exhibitor acquisition.

Keeping up with social media news is like watching tennis — you could strain your neck with all the back-and-forth. One minute, TikTok is banned; the next, it’s back.

Converting registrations into actual attendance remains a persistent challenge for industry events, particularly those with free or low-cost entry where the commitment barrier is minimal. As event organizers, it’s our job to bridge the gap between “signed up” and “showed up”

CES® 2025, held Jan. 7-10, drew more than 141,000 attendees and 4,500 exhibitors, an increase of 4 percent for each. Forty percent of attendees were international, hailing from 150+ countries.

Transforming an idea into a successful new event requires more than just creativity and a clear vision. Last August, mdg and New Hope Network (Informa Markets) worked together to introduce Newtopia Now, a natural, organic and conscious products industry expo.

The only thing bigger than Cynthia Erivo’s riff at the end of “Defying Gravity” is the marketing blitz that catapulted “Wicked: Part One” into the stratosphere as the highest grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time.

mdg president and chief strategist Kimberly Hardcastle shared “How to Unleash the Power of an Event Brand to Increase Attendance” at the next Attendee Acquisition Roundtable.

For the twelfth year in a row, mdgers performed Random Acts of Kindness to start the new year off on a charitable note.

Marketers have embraced data-driven personalization, automation and the growing power of influencers, among other key trends. And soon, a new year will bring even more new tools, tactics and technologies that will enable us to better reach and communicate with the audiences that participate in our trade shows and conferences.

Seven mdg clients were named as finalists for the 2024 Trade Show News Network (TSNN) awards, which recognize trade show excellence and innovation.