What if some of the most valuable things at a trade show are the materials we throw away when it's over?

Every event professional knows what happens when a show closes. The booths come down, the flooring gets rolled up, the graphics are removed, and dumpsters start filling up. But how much of that material actually belongs in the trash?

In Episode 70 of The Event Marketer’s Toolbox, hosts Chris Dunn and Dana Esposito welcome Brandie Townsend, sustainability and waste management expert at Brumark, for a conversation about waste, recycling, and the practical side of making events more sustainable.

With a background in architecture, green building, and deconstruction, Brandie brings a different perspective to the trade show industry. Instead of seeing discarded materials as garbage, she sees resources that might have another purpose.

And her message is refreshingly straightforward: sustainability needs to work for people, profit, and the planet.

One of the strongest messages from this episode is that sustainability doesn't have to begin with a massive initiative or a complete redesign of how your company operates.

It can start with a question.

Can we reuse this? Is there somewhere else this material could go? Does the venue have a recycling option? What happens to our flooring after dismantle?

Those questions create opportunities to make better decisions, one material and one event at a time.

Brandie's perspective is a reminder that sustainability isn't just about producing less waste. It's about recognizing the value of what we already have and respecting the people and resources involved in creating it.

And sometimes, the simplest solutions are the ones worth exploring first.

👉🏼 Join us for more insightful discussions like this by tuning into 'Event Marketer's Toolbox,' where industry leaders share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event world.

This Show is sponsored by Blue Hive

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A packed event doesn’t mean much if the right people aren’t in the room—or if your team doesn’t know how to turn those interactions into meaningful conversations.

In Episode 69 of The Event Marketer’s Toolbox, Chris Dunn and first-time co-host Zaadia Spencer sit down with Joe Fontana to talk about sales and marketing alignment, human connection, AI, and where events really fit into the buyer journey.

Joe makes the case for getting back to some basic fundamentals: ask questions, understand the buyer’s pain, listen before you pitch, and focus on relationships rather than volume.

The conversation explores why badge scans and attendance numbers don’t tell the whole story, why an event can’t magically shorten a complex nine-month sales cycle, and how SDRs and BDRs can help start conversations that sales teams continue after the show.

They also dig into AI and automation. Joe isn’t against the technology—far from it—but he believes it should make people better at their jobs rather than replace the human work behind them. As he puts it, “AI is a delegation tool and not an abdication tool.”

The big takeaway? Technology will keep changing, but the fundamentals of selling haven’t disappeared. Get the right people in the room, understand what matters to them, and create conversations worth continuing.

👉🏼 Join us for more insightful discussions like this by tuning into 'Event Marketer's Toolbox,' where industry leaders share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event world.

This Show is sponsored by Blue Hive

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Interactive screens, games, digital content, and new technology can attract attention on the trade show floor—but attention alone isn’t the goal.

In Episode 68 of The Event Marketer’s Toolbox, Chris Dunn and Brendon Hamlin sit down with Zaadia Spencer to talk about creating interactive event experiences with a purpose.

Zaadia shares why event marketers should start with the objective before choosing the technology. Is the goal to educate attendees, generate leads, increase booth traffic, start better conversations, or understand what prospects are actually interested in? Once that is clear, the experience can be designed around it.

The conversation explores gamification and interactive experiences, including how they can reduce friction and give attendees a more natural way to engage with a brand. But as Zaadia points out, even the best activation needs to make sense for the brand, the audience, and the message.

They also discuss the opportunity to extend engagement beyond the show floor through digital media kits and trackable content. Instead of handing someone a brochure and hoping they read it, digital tools can provide insight into what content a prospect viewed, what caught their attention, and what they returned to after the event. That information can give sales teams valuable context for more relevant follow-up conversations.

The episode also tackles ROI and return on experience, why the attendee journey shouldn’t end when the show closes, and the importance of bringing technology and event partners into the planning process early.

The takeaway is simple: Don’t add technology just to say you have technology. Start with the problem you’re trying to solve, create an experience that makes sense, and think about how that interaction will continue after the event.

👉🏼 Join us for more insightful discussions like this by tuning into 'Event Marketer's Toolbox,' where industry leaders share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event world.

This Show is sponsored by Blue Hive

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