GRCVB convention sales team members Stephen Jackson, CMP, and Loretta Yingling, CMP Fellow, traveled to Calif., Aug. 9-12, 2025, to represent our destination at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Alongside Stephen and Loretta, industry partners from the Raleigh area attended—including Ashley Auman, CEM-AP, director of sales for the Raleigh Convention Center; Joshua Grapentin, director of sales and marketing at the Hilton Raleigh North Hills; 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. GRCVB coordinated logistics, signage, apparel and shipping—all leading up to the debut of GRCVB's new 10' x 20' destination booth.

GRCVB 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 N.C.) 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 GRCVB’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 counter space; 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 edible promo items,” she explains.

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

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. Now the booth staffers will continue to build sales relationships with attendees they met, in aiming to convert these association prospects/past clients into planners who can book more convention business here.

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