Are you heading into fall events the same way you did last year? Same booth, same playbook, same hope that something sticks?

Most event marketers aren't lazy. They're just busy. And busy has a way of turning strategy into autopilot. That gap between teams who show up and teams who show up READY starts forming right now, in summer.

As part of The Summer Circuit, we're dropping a special compilation episode where host Matt Kleinrock shares the unfiltered advice he'd give any event marketer preparing for the back half of the year.

(Yes, Matt filmed this from a kiddie pool. The advice is still dead serious.)

Here's what you'll walk away with:

✅ Why chasing a perfect ROI calculation before you have any measurement at all is the fastest way to measure nothing

✅ How a real event theme works and what it has to be rooted in to actually move through your entire execution

✅ When to stop order-taking from internal stakeholders and start asking the questions that get to the why

Fall is coming faster than most strategies are ready for. Give this one a listen.

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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

Your booth traffic looked good. Badge scans were high. Leadership wants ROI numbers. But none of that fully explains whether your event actually moved deals forward.

In this episode, Matt talks with Cynthia Montalvo (Regional Field Marketing Manager at Steno) about the growing gap between event metrics and actual event influence.

Cynthia, an event strategist known for pushing teams beyond surface-level reporting, explains why signals like stakeholder expansion, deeper conversations, follow-up meetings, and peer validation can tell a far richer story than lead volume alone.

Together, they explore how event teams can become more intentional about designing experiences that create momentum across the customer journey—especially in complex B2B sales environments.

Learn:

✅ Why conversation quality often matters more than booth traffic

✅ The signals that reveal trust, deal acceleration, and buying intent

✅ How to design events around influence instead of activity metrics

Listen in for a practical conversation on how modern event teams can better understand what’s really happening at their events and how to prove the value of it.

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Connect with Cynthia Montalvo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-montalvo/

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

Most event teams are still measuring trade shows by booth traffic, badge scans, and “good vibes.”

But when budgets tighten and leadership wants answers, those metrics stop meaning much.

Bethany Gustafson leads events at ACTIVE Network, where her team manages everything from small pop-up trade shows to large-scale flagship exhibits across multiple markets and products.

In this episode, she joins Matt Kleinrock to break down what it actually takes to run a high-volume event program strategically—not just operationally. They get into the pressure event marketers face to prove impact, why clean attribution is harder than executives think, and how strong teams build scorecards, feedback loops, and sales alignment around real business outcomes.

Learn:

✅ How Bethany structures Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 event strategies across 75–100 shows a year

✅ The leading indicators she watches before ROI is fully visible months later

✅ Why operational systems and sales alignment matter more than flashy booths

If you’re being asked to prove the value of your trade shows while managing more events with fewer resources, this episode will probably feel very familiar.

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Connect with Bethany Gustafson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethany-gustafson/

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