Visit Raleigh team members Stephen Jackson, CMP, and Loretta Yingling, CMP Fellow, traveled to Calif., Aug. 9-12, 2025, to represent the destination at the 2025 American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting & Exposition. Alongside Stephen and Loretta, industry partners from the Raleigh area attended—including Joshua Grapentin, director of sales and marketing at the Hilton Raleigh North Hills; Ashley Auman, director of sales for the Raleigh Convention Center; Lauren Miller, national sales manager for the Raleigh Convention Center; Kevin Johnson, director of sales and marketing for the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel; and Keri Pluchino, sales manager for the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley.

Behind the scenes, the team worked collaboratively for months beforehand to prepare for ASAE. Visit Raleigh coordinated logistics, signage, apparel and shipping—all leading up to the debut of Visit Raleigh's new 10' x 20' destination booth.

Visit Raleigh design manager Amber Harmon began work on the booth in Jan. 2024, starting the process by evaluating pitches from three potential vendors. All three companies produced quality renderings using a set batch of basic creative assets, but STAR (a company located in North Carolina) ultimately pushed the design forward beyond the original creative brief while staying within budget. Their thoughtful design incorporated a variety of depths and textures along the back wall, amplified by a wood pergola and lighting elements that created a palpable sense of place representing Raleigh, N.C.

The next step was fine-tuning the creative assets to incorporate Visit Raleigh’s "Nobody Out-Nerds Raleigh" campaign. STAR suggested a large LED light with the campaign slogan and an interactive touchscreen kiosk. The kiosk featured content from the Official Meeting Planners Guide, putting important meeting space details at the fingertips of booth partners.

Amber states that her favorite aspect of the booth is its flexibility. “For ASAE, the team prioritized counterspace; for its next iteration at IMEX, a larger meeting table with power adapters will be featured. The design team is also exploring how to incorporate cold storage into the closet area for promo items,” she explains.

Another highlight of the event was the in-booth activation. John Pugh from House of Swank Clothing Company screen-printed over 100 T-shirts for attendees during the three-day event. Loretta and Stephen said people were lining up for them all weekend long, which brought an abundance of attention to Raleigh, N.C.

Overall, the booth received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Attendees loved the technology, the interactive kiosk and the shirt giveaway. The booth's location—near the food station—also helped draw traffic.

Where will the booth be next? Check out the booth in-person at IMEX America 2025, Oct. 6-9, in Las Vegas, Nev.