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 harder to know which strategies genuinely mattered and which ones were just… loud.

This special Best-Of 2025 compilation brings together the episode moments that delivered clarity, direction, and results. These are the insights that resonated the most with event pros throughout the year.

You’ll learn:

✅ The planning and measurement mindset that separates reactive execution from strategic leadership (Ep 157)

✅ How to build event programs around human behavior, not checklists, so engagement feels natural and earned (Ep 158)

✅ A pre-show tactics playbook that boosts attendance and relevance, even in crowded markets—with AI supporting (not replacing) human judgment (Ep 131)

Press play for the perspective and strategy you’ll want in your pocket heading into 2026.

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Episode Links

EP 131 | AI & Events: The Playbook for Pre-Show Tactics & Better Engagement: https://emr.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/16692463

EP 158 | From Event Planning to Event Marketing That Drives Growth: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17817006

EP 157 | Plan to Win: How Top Event Marketers Get Ahead for 2026: https://emr.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17780613

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Connect with Matt Kleinrock
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/
Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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.

But the fix isn’t a bigger booth or a cooler activation. It’s a shift — away from chasing attention and toward driving revenue.

In this episode, Justin Keys (Sr. Manager, Brand Marketing at Georgia-Pacific) joins Matt to break down how event marketers take back their seat at the table with a strategy that aligns sales, qualifies the right audience faster, and turns follow-up into real pipeline.

Here’s how to make that shift stick:

✅ Move from “builder and executor” to strategic revenue partner (and earn that seat early)

✅ Create on-site moments that quickly separate real buyers from booth tourists

✅ Audit your show calendar so you invest only where it pays off

Tune in if you’re done putting on a show and ready to drive the business.

This is your new event strategy.

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Connect with Justin Keys
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinakeys/

Connect with Matt Kleinrock
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/
Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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 rise and clarity doesn’t. Is AI a threat or a tool? Are hybrid experiences still relevant? What skills matter now? And how do marketers prepare when the answers keep changing?

In another EXHIBITORLIVE 2025 compilation, Coty Adams and Mollie Stahl ask industry leaders what the future really looks like. Their answers reveal the shifts worth paying attention to—and the ones that matter far less than the hype.

Learn:

✅ How the modern event marketer is becoming a data-driven strategist, not just an executor

✅ Why sustainability is back with urgency, and how cost-effective choices are leading the way

✅ How AI will support capacity and efficiency without replacing human insight or relationships

Listen in for the clarity, perspective, and grounded advice every event marketer needs heading into what’s next.

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Connect With Us

Matt Kleinrock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/

Coty Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/

Mollie Stahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molliestahl/

Our Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show here: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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 younger event-marketing self?”

The answers were raw, funny, and surprisingly universal. From learning to breathe through chaos to embracing bold ideas, every story captured what it really takes to build a career in this industry and a life that thrives beyond it.

You’ll hear:

✅ Why thinking big-picture (not just event-by-event) turns survival mode into strategy

✅ How taking risks and asking questions early can fast-track your growth

✅ Why calm, connection, and community matter more than perfection

Tune in for real talk from pros who’ve been there… because sometimes the best education happens in the aisles between booths.

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Connect With Us

Matt Kleinrock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/

Coty Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/

Mollie Stahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molliestahl/

Our Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show here: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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 behind every “cool idea” that actually worked is a deeper story—why it mattered, how it connected, and what made it resonate long after the lights went down.

But what if you’ve never walked through SXSW or experienced Cannes in person? What if you don’t have easy access to the creative executions that make people stop and pay attention?

Matt Kleinrock brought the inspiration straight to you in this episode featuring Joe Rivers (Manager, Global Experiential Marketing at Dolby) and Eva Phelan (Senior Creative Producer at Heaps + Stacks).

They brought the examples. You get the insights:

✅ The activations that grabbed their attention as consumers, not just marketers

✅ What big brands are doing to capture attention and connect face-to-face

✅ The stories and impact behind the ideas that actually worked

If you’re hungry for creative inspiration and want to know what’s actually working in experiential right now, this is your refresh.

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Connect with Them
Joe Rivers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-rivers/
Eva Phelan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-phelan/

Connect with Matt Kleinrock
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/
Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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 sourcing is more complex than it’s ever been. Yet event pros are still expected to “just figure it out” on their own.

In this episode, Michael Hudson shares 30+ years of sourcing expertise—debunking the biggest myths in venue sourcing and showing what to watch for, how to negotiate, and how to choose partners that protect both your budget and your attendee experience.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

✅ How to see total value—not just room rate—by evaluating concessions, flexibility, and hidden fees

✅ When it’s worth outsourcing sourcing (and how to stay in control when you do)

✅ How sustainability and accessibility are now core sourcing requirements, not box-checking

If you’re anxious about making venue decisions, this episode can save you time, money, and a whole lot of stress.

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Connect with Michael Hudson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hudson-b1420a7/

Connect with Matt Kleinrock
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/
Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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, last-minute changes, and competing metrics often leave them reacting instead of leading. And that constant pressure? It’s what pushes even the best to the edge of burnout.

In this episode, Princess Castleberry, CEO of Castleberry Global and creator of the Live, Lead, and Build Leverage™ Framework, joins Coty Adams to help event marketers reclaim their clarity and capacity. Princess breaks down how to identify your triggers, manage stress before it manages you, and lead with more confidence—even when you can’t control every variable.

Learn how to:

✅ Recognize the triggers draining your capacity and turn them into data that drives better decisions

✅ Build discipline and self-alignment when demands feel nonstop

✅ Protect your energy and clarity so you can lead teams (and yourself) through high-pressure cycles

Join us live to learn how to stop running on fumes and start leading with leverage.

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Connect with Princess Castleberry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/princesscastleberry/

Connect with us

Coty Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/

Matt Kleinrock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/

Our Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined

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 the answers said a lot.

Event pros from every corner of the industry opened up about the real pressures behind the scenes. From proving ROI and fighting for executive buy-in, to balancing endless stakeholder opinions, to adapting to a new generation of attendees who expect authenticity, purpose, and sustainability in everything they experience.

Hosted by Coty Adams (VP of Sales & Marketing) and Mollie Stahl (Senior Account Executive) from Rockway Exhibits + Events, this compilation captures honest, unfiltered insights straight from the show floor.

You’ll hear how marketers are:

✅ Redefining ROI and KPIs to finally earn a seat at the table with leadership

✅ Navigating stakeholder overload while staying grounded in strategy that actually works

✅ Tackling sustainability and generational shifts with creative, practical solutions

Listen in for a pulse check on where event marketing really stands in 2025—and what today’s challenges say about where it’s headed next.

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Connect With Us

Matt Kleinrock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/

Coty Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/

Mollie Stahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molliestahl/

Our Company: https://rockwayexhibits.com/

🚨 Register for the show here: https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined