Some products are easy to show on a show floor. AI isn’t one of them.

When your product is abstract, powerful, and sometimes intimidating, the challenge isn’t just explaining what it does—it’s helping people feel why it matters. That’s where this conversation goes.

In this episode, Matt sits down with Chelsea Sparrow, Go-To-Market Manager at Microsoft, to unpack how her team brings AI tools like Copilot to life at events where demos alone fall flat and trust has to be earned.

Instead of defaulting to laptops and feature walkthroughs, Chelsea shares how Microsoft designs experiences around audience mindset, cultural context, and emotion.

Learn about:

✅ Designing experiences based on who the audience is and what they care about, not a one-size-fits-all playbook

✅ Why story, trust, and cultural relevance matter more than polished demos—especially for AI

✅ How brand partnerships and community voices help tech brands show up without feeling tone-deaf or salesy

If you’re responsible for marketing complex products in a world where skepticism is high, this episode will change how you think about experience design.

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Connect with Chelsea Sparrow
LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-sparrow/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-sparrow/)

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

 🚨 Register for the show: [https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined](https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined)   

2025 was a loud year for event marketers—big wins, tough lessons, shifting expectations, and an industry that moved faster than anyone planned. So before we step into 2026, we’re slowing down to make sense of what actually mattered this year.

In this year-end live show, Matt Kleinrock and Coty Adams look back at the themes, pressure points, and breakthroughs that kept resurfacing in conversations all year long.

You’ll get a mix of reflection, clarity, and forward momentum, including:

🎁 The core lessons 2025 made impossible to ignore (and why they’ll shape every smart event marketer’s 2026 playbook)

🎁 A grounded look at the state of B2B events

🎁 The validation and perspective event pros rarely get

If you want a thoughtful wrap-up to the year—and a strategic head start on 2026—this is the one to show up for.

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Connect With Us:

Matt Kleinrock: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/)

Coty Adams: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/)

Our Company: [https://rockwayexhibits.com/](https://rockwayexhibits.com/) 

🚨 Register for the show here: [https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined](https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined) 

Event marketers have spent years being asked to execute flawlessly—booths built, shows staffed, leads scanned.

But the conversations Matt Kleinrock and Coty Adams keep having tell a different story: execution alone is no longer enough. Strategy exists… it’s just not being consistently applied.

This special compilation brings together the most defining moments from Matt and Coty’s conversations this year, centered on what actually moves events from a cost of doing business to a business-driving channel.

You’ll hear perspective on:

✅ Why event portfolio design and success metrics matter more than how many shows you attend

✅ How measurement, not attribution perfection, creates credibility with leadership

✅ What real sales alignment and follow-up ownership look like when events are treated as business events

Listen with a pen in hand. This one isn’t about inspiration, it’s about how event marketers level up when execution stops being the end goal.

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Episode Links

EP 153 | Stop Wasting Events: Strategic Takeaways from CEMA Summit 2025
[https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17614073](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17614073) 

EP 142 | The Current State of Events: Data, Strategy & Smarter Spend
[https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17196667](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17196667) 

EP 155 | Fixing the Sales Handoff: How Event Marketers Can Drive Follow-Through and Results[https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17703581](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035112/episodes/17703581) 

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Connect With Us

Matt Kleinrock: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-kleinrock-9613b22b/) 

Coty Adams: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cotykadams/) 

Our Company: [https://rockwayexhibits.com/](https://rockwayexhibits.com/)  

🚨 Register for the show here: [https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined](https://tinyurl.com/EventMarketingRedefined) 

Last year’s “best of” episode became the most downloaded in the history of the show for one reason: it gave event marketers a framework that actually changed how they worked.

2025 took that conversation further.

This special compilation pulls together the ideas Matt and Pablo hammered on all year—the ones that challenged how events are positioned inside organizations, how experiences are executed on the show floor, and why so many teams feel boxed in by budgets that don’t leave room for strategy.

You’ll hear five shifts that defined event marketing in 2025, including:

✅ Why events belong inside go-to-market strategy, not on the sidelines and how that changes how leaders see your work

✅ How story, standards, and execution are becoming the real differentiators in a sea of sameness

✅ The reality of the 41% problem: what it means for budgets, expectations, and how sophisticated teams engineer around it

If you’re tired of fighting the same battles year after year, this episode is your next step forward.

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Connect with Pablo Gonzalez
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablotheconnector/  

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 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