CMEE Turns 35 This Year. How’d They Do It? Sponsorship Helped.

The Canadian Meetings + Events Expo has a strong track record of being at the center of the events world. Numerous factors have kept it front and center in the meetings world, most notably its embrace of reinvention and a willingness to identify growth areas during the show.

Another important factor? Its sponsors, more than 90% of which have stuck around for five years or longer, says Shawn Shapiro, the event’s show manager.

“It is something where the sponsor is getting not just what they were promised, but even more,” he says. “We wanna make sure they have that value.”

Shapiro says that he’s witnessed a number of changes since taking on the role in 2022. Notably, he pointed to an evolution from what he called “signage-heavy” sponsorship strategies in the post-pandemic era to something more up-close.

“As things came on and people feel more comfortable, you started seeing a shift back to people wanting that face-to-face,” he says. “So more like stage time, more talking versus showing.”

More recently, that has taken a move towards the experiential, with an eye towards more intentional spending.

“I think we see that everywhere in the industry where it’s something that is a little bit more innovative, something that really connects them to people in a different way,” he says.

At the foundation of this approach is a strong backing of relationships.

“I just know that how our team really tries to run sponsorships is people first, relationships first,” he says. “We wanna make sure that we’re always putting the human aspect first.”

Curious to learn more about CMEE’s track record of success? Check out Shapiro’s post on the EventMobi blog.