Planning an event in a city—or country—you've never visited can feel like being handed a six-figure puzzle with no picture on the box.

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down how to confidently source venues, AV, catering, staffing, photography, printing, swag, and shipping without ever stepping into the space yourself. From live video walkthroughs and itemized proposals to navigating international customs, language barriers, and vendor red flags, Amy shares the system that replaces blind trust with real proof.

You'll learn her Vendor Vet Framework (Why, Ask, and Proof)—a practical approach to defining your scope, comparing vendors fairly, and verifying they can deliver before you sign a contract. Amy also explains how venue and production needs change for groups of 50, 100, or 200 people, and why vague requests—not distance—are often the biggest risk to a successful event.

If you're planning an event from afar and want plug-and-play templates to make the process easier, Amy also introduces the Book It Blind Toolkit—a practical resource filled with vendor vetting worksheets, sourcing templates, budget builders, run-of-show documents, gifting strategy tools, and more to help you confidently plan events anywhere in the world.

Because you don't need a passport, a miracle, or a friend who happens to live in Lyon.

You need a system.

I just worked three trade shows on two continents — my biggest US show yet in Milwaukee, then Intertraffic and Parkex across the UK and EU. Different languages, different lanyard colors, same exact human being walking the floor.

In this episode: the real psychology behind why attendees decide to walk into your booth in under three seconds (and why that's biology, not shallowness), the "guess the number" stat that stopped me cold on the flight home — only 10-20% of everyone who steps into your booth is actually a qualified lead — and the framework I'm calling The Bait and The Switch: how to earn the stop and actually vet the right people once they're standing in front of you. This one holds up in Milwaukee, Manchester, and Amsterdam. I checked.

Plus: two sponsors who took great care of me on this trip, a challenge for your next show floor, and an open invite to send me your booth problems — I've got a growing global network and I'm not shy about making an introduction.

Most lunch and learns aren't memorable.

People show up, eat, sit through a presentation, grab a giveaway, and leave. By the next morning, they've forgotten almost everything.

So what separates the lunch and learns people actually talk about from the ones they can't remember attending?

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, we're breaking down the psychology behind creating a lunch and learn that captures attention, sparks conversation, and drives meaningful business outcomes—not just attendance.

We cover:🥪 How to design an experience instead of just serving lunch🧠 The biggest mistakes companies make when planning educational events🎯 How to keep attendees engaged from the first five minutes to the final conversation🤝 Ways to create networking that feels natural, not forced📈 How to turn a lunch and learn into a business development opportunity

If you're responsible for client events, educational seminars, customer engagement, or B2B marketing, this episode will change how you think about one of the most overlooked event formats.

Because a memorable lunch and learn isn't about the food.

It's about giving people a reason to stay engaged long after lunch is over.

🎙️ Listen now and let me know:
What's the best—or worst—lunch and learn you've ever attended, and what made it memorable?

You spent six figures on the booth. The branding looks incredible. The traffic was strong. Leadership is happy with the badge scans.

So why aren't those conversations turning into revenue?

In this episode of Wake Up Trade Shows, Amy Mourey sits down with event sales strategist and Event Reps founder Jeff Coppola to unpack one of the biggest—and most overlooked—failures in event marketing: what happens after someone walks away from your booth.

Together, they dive into:

• Why booth staffing is often the weakest link in event ROI
• The difference between a trained event rep and someone just "working the booth"
• The one question every booth rep should be asking prospects
• Why most companies lose momentum within days of an event
• The truth behind the "we still hit our numbers" mindset
• How a structured 72-hour follow-up strategy can dramatically increase conversions
• The systems top-performing teams use to turn conversations into pipeline

If you've ever wondered why your trade show leads go cold, why event ROI feels impossible to prove, or how sales and marketing can work together more effectively, this episode is for you.

Stop treating your booth like a billboard. Start treating it like a pipeline engine.

🎙️ Guest: Jeff Coppola, Founder of EventReps

⁠⁠🎧 Hosted by: Amy Mourey, Event Strategist & Host of Wake Up Trade Shows

TikTok: @amyeventstrategist

A happy hour is not a strategy just because there are cocktails in the room.

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down why so many B2B happy hours fall flat — and how to design them with more intention. From guest strategy and venue choice to conversation design, hosting, atmosphere, follow-up, and measurable outcomes, this episode challenges brands to stop treating happy hours like casual add-ons and start using them as relationship-building experiences.

Because the goal is not just to get people in the room. It is to create the right conversations, with the right people, in a setting that makes the next step easier.

Before you book the bar, ask one question: if we removed the alcohol, would this event still have a reason to exist?

A cute booth idea is not automatically a strategy.

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down the difference between an attention grabber that actually supports the business and a gimmick that just creates noise. From prize wheels and coffee bars to photo moments, giveaways, games, and “Instagrammable” activations, Amy explains why attraction only works when it pulls in the right people, creates a meaningful conversation, and supports a measurable next step.

This episode challenges brands to stop confusing crowds with conversion and start giving every creative idea a real job. Because fun is not the enemy. Lazy attraction is.

Before you approve the next shiny booth idea, ask one question: what is this activation actually designed to do?

A beautiful booth does not matter if nobody wants to walk into it.

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down what actually makes a booth feel inviting, useful, and worth an attendee’s time. From entry points and floor flow to signage, demos, seating, food and beverage, swag, and staff energy, this episode challenges brands to stop designing booths that only look good in renderings and start building spaces that work on the actual show floor.

Amy also shares the Booth Walk-In Test, a simple way to audit whether your booth creates clarity, comfort, curiosity, and conversation before the show begins. Because the goal is not just to have a booth people admire from the aisle. The goal is to build a booth people actually want to walk into.

Every event marketer knows the question is coming: “Was it worth it?”

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey tackles the C-suite question that makes event teams sweat—and why proving ROI cannot start after the booth comes down. From vague goals and fluffy recaps to badge scans with no context, Amy breaks down how to plan for proof before the event even happens.

This episode covers how to define success early, connect creative ideas to business outcomes, collect the right information on-site, and build a post-event recap that tells a real story. Because “great energy” is not a metric, your recap needs a spine, and the answer your leadership wants is not hiding in the swag catalog.

Your booth is not a billboard, and it is definitely not a very expensive place to park your logo.

In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down why passive booths fail and how brands can turn booth space into something that actually works: an experience, a conversation starter, and a lead engine. From layout and messaging to staff energy, attraction points, conversation design, and measurement, this episode challenges brands to stop decorating space and start designing for movement, curiosity, trust, and ROI.

Because if people walk past your booth and still have no idea why they should care, the problem is not the show floor. It is the strategy.

A great event is not built on vibes alone. In this episode of Wake Up Tradeshows, Amy Mourey breaks down her signature Event Triangle framework: Precision, People, and Programming.

This episode is all about diagnosing whether your event has an actual strategy, or just a very expensive calendar invite. Amy walks through how to clarify why you’re showing up, align the humans responsible for making it work, and create programming that gives people a real reason to stop, stay, engage, and remember you.

From booth strategy and audience targeting to staff energy, happy hours, activations, lead capture, and post-show proof, this episode gives event marketers and brand builders a simple way to audit what’s working, what’s missing, and where to fix the strategy before spending more money.

Because your booth, happy hour, or brand activation should not just exist. It should pull people in, create momentum, and prove it was worth it.