Denise Fest

Denise Fest

Senior Director, Corporate Events, Visa
CEMA Board Member

Happy Spring! I am so excited to be one of the newest members to the CEMA Board of Directors and to be joining one of the best associations in our industry.

Spring is my favorite time of the year—the days are longer and I’m more energized and focused on my professional development goals for the year. Staying relevant and up-to-date on the latest trends in our ever-changing business takes time and commitment. Like many of you, I’m constantly thinking about how our team can improve upon our events through new technologies, new venues, new ways to engage attendees, new and unique experiences—the list goes on. What are you doing this year to increase your professional development and stay relevant?

personally always look forward to the annual CEMA Summit to hear thought-provoking content, network with my peers, and get inspired. Yet CEMA is much more than just Summit. This year, CEMA is offering more exciting programs than ever before so make sure to check out the Events Calendar. From the coolest study tours and road trips to informative lunch & learns and workshops– there are so many interesting sessions to help you stay on top of the latest trends and gain new perspectives and ideas.

So take the opportunity to invest in yourself this year. There is no better way to stay relevant than to network and learn from the brightest minds in our industry.

I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!

MEMBER OF THE MONTH

Billi Little

Billi Little

Sr. Manager, Marketing Events
Symantec

As the Sr. Manager, Marketing Events at Symantec, Billi Little drives the strategy and management of the global event program. She is lucky to manage a great team of event professionals that help create the largest event experiences for Symantec. Billi is an almost a 26 year veteran in the event world (July 1993 is when she received her first event position) and is still loving the chaos of the event industry. She has spent most of her career working in the software industry and she enjoys the challenge of trying to incorporate give back opportunities at the event she manages.

Billi has a couple of great passions in life and they include traveling, hanging out with friends and drinking beer. She manages to connect those three passions many times in the event career path. She was raised in a small town in Montana and has now lived in Denver, Colorado for 26 years. She loves the outdoor life that living in Denver offers and you can find her playing volleyball, watching sporting events or attending concerts in her down time. She is a life-long Broncos fan and still believes in the team, despite their poor performance the last couple of years!

Billi has been an active member of CEMA for about 15 years and is a former CEMA board member. She truly believes the you can improve your event programs by working with and learning from the outstanding professionals that are part of the CEMA community. Symantec was a proud to sponsor a CEMA pop-up at RSA this year and Billi hopes they can do that again in the future. She loves meeting and sharing ideas with other CEMA members so she looks forward to meeting you at the next CEMA event.

CEMA Executive Profile ProGlobalEvents

Billi Little

Jody Tatro

CEO of ProGlobalEvents and ProExhibits

As co-founder and CEO of two women-owned companies, ProExhibits and ProGlobalEvents, Jody has been instrumental in the firms’ overall management including sales, corporate strategy and personnel functions. In particular, she has set the outstanding client service standards for which the account management teams are noted. Currently she is excited about ProGlobalEvents, which focuses on experiential events, and she is constantly on the hunt to hire new talent for this growing enterprise.

With Jody at the helm, ProExhibits has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Owned Businesses in Silicon Valley. In addition, Jody is a recipient of the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award, the Junior League Community Volunteer Award and is listed in Who’s Who of Women in Business. Following her graduation from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a BS in Economics, Jody had been involved in sales in the technology industry prior to joining ProExhibits.

Brought to You By…
CEMA Platinum Member ProGlobalEvents Sponsors CEMA e-Newsletter

ProGlobalEvents

Thank you to CEMA Platinum Member ProGlobalEvents, sponsor of our e-newsletter. To acknowledge their contribution, we’re providing information here about their organization and their brilliant leader.

ProGlobalEvents is a full-service event management firm that develops, designs and produces extraordinary corporate events that ensure our clients’ success. A premier Silicon Valley company, ProGlobalEvents works with both emerging and established brands to produce world class experiential events by utilizing a highly skilled and creative team augmented with a broad range of resources and alliances.

In Loving Memory of Scott Stubbs

Scott Stubs

We lost a wonderful man on March 20, 2019. Scott Stubbs was a long time member, Board member and huge supporter of CEMA. He was one of the first people I met when I joined CEMA back in 1997. He was a gentleman with a huge heart and a way of always making you feel welcome. He was also a man who could quote from many of his favorite movies verbatim, Caddyshack being a particular favorite. Taken from us way too soon you will be missed my friend but never forgotten. Thank you for being you.

– Kim Gishler
CEMA, CEO/President


Ooops

We apologize. In the March newsletter, the live link to CEMA Gold Member 2019 InVision was incorrect.
See Their Site >>
In addition, please note that Barb Ward, is the VP Travel & Events, at One10.
See the Newsletter >>


Case Studies, White Papers Highlighted for CEMA Members

Want to learn super important lessons from industry leaders? CEMA members share the latest:

Be sure also to check out the latest Blogs on the CEMA website:

  • Leading From the Front
  • Platinum Member George P. Johnson Promotes Fiona Bruder to Executive Vice President, Client Success
  • How event professionals can help support biodiversity

Expert Advice from CEMA Professionals

CEMA members have access to an exclusive benefit called ASK CEMA? Members are able to request guidance from fellow CEMA members who provide thoughtful, experienced advice to their fellow members in the event marketing world.

To access this benefit, log in as a member and ask your question. CEMA members will answer your question. Begin the conversation here:

ASK CEMA

Ask CEMA Question:

My company is finally trying to have our own user conferences and I need some insight from the CEMA family.

For a company looking to start their first user conference what would an average range of cost be for 100 attendees, 2 day conference? Just looking for a typical range to budget. We are in the beginning stages of looking into this and I was thinking of asking for an investment of $500,000.”

Ask CEMA Answers from the Experts #1:

In response to the first event budget for a user conference and regarding AV and IT (hands on training), it depends on the number of breakouts, General Session POP as well as the educational format. If it has hands on labs with laptops or desktops, the per person cost raises about $200/pp.

I would enjoy talking with this “new” user conference coordinator if appropriate and warranted. User Conference are an expertise of our group (from infant to DreamForce!).

Last June, Intuit hosted its first global marketing conference in Los Angeles for our 450 internal marketers. It was two day conference with the usual: high production staging, room block, one evening event, all meals, guest speakers, give aways. Our attendees charged back to their departments all lodging, flight and travel arrangements so it did not hit our overall event cost of $1.7M. So basically, the $1.7M does not include lodging, flights or travel (rental car, taxi, UBER). We didn’t have any kind of expo or sponshorship component to our event.

$1.7M/450 people = $3,777 per attendee. So asking for $500,000 to cover a 100 conference should be fine.

ASK CEMA Answer #2:

A budget of $500,000 for a 2-day conference attended by 100 sounds very generous. Will she be offsetting costs by charging attendees a fee and getting sponsorships? That makes a big difference. Sponsorships are a great way to drive attendance and cement her company’s place in the market. Best of luck!

There’s no easy answer. SF is most expensive city right now, followed by NYC, Chicago, Boston and San Diego. Orlando is economical, as are tier 2 cities like Phoenix, Austin, Nashville, etc.

  • Production/Creative (staging, AV, Crew, etc.) – 180-200K (minimum)
  • Labor/Electrical – for signage, any kind of furniture sets, any kind of demo set up – 20K
  • Creative development – free if in house or about 20K
  • Logistics agency (to manage f&b, housing, registration, etc.) – free if in house or about 25K
  • Food/Beverage (Breakfast/Lunch and breaks for 2 days) = 15K
  • Reception (Beer, Wine, Appetizers) = 15K or 20K if you add in any kind of entertainment, furniture rentals, etc. per reception
  • Room rentals – General Session and 4 breakouts + staff office (3-5 days of rental) = approx. 11K
  • Internet – 10K
  • Registration – depends on vendor, but 15K ish or free if you use EventBrite
  • Marcom/Signage/Creative (email templates, web banners, onsite): 10-35K
  • Security – 3-5K
  • Floral/Décor, etc. 10-30K

Basic formulas to go by:

Meeting space with sleeping rooms and food and beverage included in signed contract, they will charge minimum fee OR waive altogether if you spend is high enough.

  • General Session – waived – $1500 per day
  • Breakouts – waived – $800 per day
  • Staff office – waived to $800 per day
  • Meeting space only
  • General Session – $3000- $5000 per day
  • Breakouts $800 – $1500 per day
  • Staff office – $800 – $1500 per day
  • Food and Beverage – $150 per person per day (Breakfast, Lunch and Breaks)

Your Event Calendar is now FILLED

If you weren’t sure what your plans were for the next few months, now’s the time to fill up your calendar with upcoming CEMA events including:

CEMA @ Rejuvination of a Classic
Napa Valley in Napa, CA
April 25, 2019

Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour exemplifying the exciting growth of Napa Valley with a focus on wine pairing, marketing the destination to a diverse and younger audience, and, of course, the beauty of Napa Valley.
This event is Sold Out.

CEMA @ Salesforce’s World Tour
New Your City, NY
May 5-6th, 2019

CEMA is offering a very exclusive, two day behind-the-scenes personal tour of Salesforce’s World Tour in New York City on May 5th -6th. Experience this ”hands-on” Case Study and learn firsthand about managing a hugely successful proprietary event. A panel of Salesforce event experts will share insights into what makes Salesforce unique in the industry, focusing on Innovation and Personalization. You will not want to miss this unique educational forum.
Register Here >>

Save the Date: CEMA @ Google Grove, May 29, 2019. The New Normal in Event Marketing

Save the Date: CEMA @ CMA Festival, Nashville, TN, June 5-7, 2019

Best Jobs in the World

CEMA members have access to both provide fabulous new job opportunities to fellow members, and also to explore exciting new opportunities. Please send your new job opportunities to stacey@cemaonline.com. Include a detailed description of the position, all contact information, as well as the location of the position. CEMA will post the job opportunity until the position is filled. Visit CEMA Careers for current job postings.

CEMA Members in the News

CEMA members have updated their company names. Plantronics has changed their name to Poly and ITN International, Inc is now Aventri.

Welcome to Our New CEMA Members

We had a fantastic Spring of new CEMA members signing on over the past month. Please join us in welcoming: Hellena O’Dell, Toni Palmieri, Carley Faircloth of Freeman; Jessica Lee of Intapp; Avi Izaguirre of DocUSign; Stephanie Tranquille of Amazon Web Services; Cindy Pladson of Eventcore; Stacey Hayashi, Ashley Lowe, Lisa Laskey, Peder Baukol of Caesars Entertainment; Joe Michaud of Siemens; Diane Elliott of Mckesson; Jennifer Luu of The Vanguard Group; Ailynn Seah of Marina Bay Sands Singapore; Brooke Jones of Silicon Valley Bank; Crissy Cerullo of Westin Boston Waterfront; Amanda Young of GE; Matt Wittek of Cupanion; Amy Flock of GES; Greg Williams of MKTG; Megan Haddock of Universal Orlando; Jessica Stark of Poly; Anthony Moreschi of Wynn Boston Harbor; Ben Feder of Giants Enterprises; Chris Keegan of ProExhibits; Jamie Raymond of Cisco; Curtis Robison of Gaylord Properties and Pam Sette of InVision.