Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist The Third Horizon Letting go of urgency and embracing spontaneity. After years of applying the McKinsey Three Horizons framework to articulate a business growth strategy, I find myself considering my own career — my own life — in these terms. I’ve enjoyed 35+ years serving the events industry, always trying to manage resources and find the right balance […] Written by BPH July 11, 2024July 11, 2024
Posts You Won't Want to Miss Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Dumpster diving? Sometimes “sustainable” simply means “worth saving.” If you happen to be walking out of a convention center after a major trade show and discover Elizabeth Fretheim dumpster diving, don’t be surprised. To be fair, she calls it research. Elizabeth leads the Freeman Sustainability and Strategy team and she says you can learn a lot about […] Written by BPH June 21, 2024June 21, 2024
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Embracing Weird I’m planning for what’s next. It’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t trying to cram more action — work, play, socialization, learning — into every fleeting minute of my life. It’s a habit I developed early in life and frankly, I thrive on being busy. I don’t think I’m a workaholic. But I […] Written by BPH May 23, 2024May 23, 2024
Lessons In Leadership The Big Ask Should event organizers provide curated connections? The significance of the latest Freeman Trends Report is that it gives trade show organizers insight into how to help exhibitors realize more value for their investment while elevating their own. In a recent post, we considered how to optimize the exhibitor experience by providing a prix fixe menu […] Written by BPH May 9, 2024November 6, 2025
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Optimizing the Exhibitor Experience It’s time to offer all exhibitors white-glove treatment. In a previous post, I talked about the results of the Freeman 2024 Exhibitor Trends Report and the implied mandate for the events industry to switch its focus from Return on Investment (ROI) to Return on Objectives (ROO). There’s a common misconception that exhibitors attend events primarily […] Written by BPH April 25, 2024April 25, 2024
Lessons In Leadership The Calculus of Event Experience You can chase ROI, or you can lead with ROO. I am a huge proponent of data-based business management. And for the most part, that boils down to ROI — analyzing the return in value for the resources invested. This is a useful selling tool for many marketing channels, where a simple formula delivers the […] Written by BPH April 11, 2024April 11, 2024
