February 2005
5-minute interview: Courtney Muller

Courtney Muller, Industry Vice President, Reed Exhibitions, has made a number of changes to G2E since the show launched in 2001. Among them, revamping the seminar portion of the show, resulting in a 75 percent increase in seminar attendance. She’s also paid special attention to customer service at the event, even moving a staff member to Las Vegas to provide service to exhibitors directly and more efficiently. Here’s how she has improved educational sessions, customer service and attendance.

EXPO: How did you revamp the educational sessions for G2E? What do you think are the most critical factors to consider when developing conference content?
Muller: We added five new tracks that focus on the most timely and most relevant issues to the industry. For example, new tracks in 2004 included: food and beverage, marketing, tribal government issues, design and décor, and international. In addition, G2E seminars are now developed with the help of an advisory board of 25 leaders from all industry segments. We also have two full-time consultants to assist with conference programming. When developing seminars, we focus on content that will keep industry members informed of key issues and trends that are affecting their industry and their business. For example, we present a State of the Industry presentation where Larry King acts as a moderator, and we invite industry leaders to be on the panel to discuss industry developments and trends. Additionally, we focus on getting industry leaders to share their successes and best practices, which help attendees learn new ways of doing business and staying competitive. Perhaps most importantly, strong conference content is good for the perception of the show. In the case of G2E, it positions us as a valuable industry resource and a place to come for answers to business challenges.

EXPO: What tips do you have for using seminar sessions to increase attendance?
Muller: At G2E, we highlight key speaker names and hot-button topics in all promotions. We ask our speakers to mention that they’ll be speaking at G2E to their customers and prospects in their conversations and marketing materials, especially if the press is interviewing them. We advise them that it helps promote their sessions and creates a buzz for G2E. We also conduct our own research, inviting the industry to take part, and present it at our Signature Series sessions. It’s called our Future Watch Series. This year, the topic was casino design. 

EXPO: Everyone says they provide great customer service, but your show has a reputation for providing outstanding service to your exhibitors. What’s the difference between good customer service, and exceptional customer service?  
Muller:  The difference comes from knowing our customers, what their current needs are and then evolving our events to meet those needs. For us, excellent customer service means having team representatives call customers with new ideas on how they can be successful at the G2E event.  We also insist that G2E team members not only respond to customer complaints, but also do so by offering a solution to the problem. For example, as a result of following up with our exhibitor customers last year, we revamped our badge-ordering process. G2E exhibitors can now log onto their own password-protected Web page to order their exhibitor badges and key in the names themselves to avoid mistakes and typos. We also offered the original option of sending us a list, and we would register their employees. Either way, we offered an alternative based on what they told us would be easier for them.