We wanted to find out more about the team behind Drone World Expo – what makes them tick, what motivates them and what are the secrets behind the success of the event. We will be interviewing several of the Advisory Board members over the coming months, but first we start out with the Event Director herself, Joelle Coretti.
Joelle has been with JD Events since 2002 and has developed and managed all marketing and media relations for JD Events’ portfolio of conferences and trade shows. Currently, Joelle is focused on audience development, strategic partnerships and conference programming for JD Events’ newest launch, Drone World Expo.
Joelle is also responsible for the online presence of JD Events’ brands and has launched various web tools, mobile and social media initiatives for each event. Joelle has been in event marketing management in the trade show/media business for nearly 20 years, previously with PROMO Magazine, the New Haven Coliseum, Primedia, and Imark Communications.
It seems that the first show has just finished and there you are already working on the second one. There must be an awful lot of behind the scenes work that the visitors just don’t see…?
We actually got to work on Drone World Expo 2016 before the 2015 event concluded. We learned a tremendous amount from our attendees and exhibitors at the show as to how to improve upon their experience, what topics and issues are important to them, who our exhibitors are most interested in meeting… We bring all of the data back to the office and begin the strategic plans for the next show, expanding on what worked well, fixing what didn’t and developing new ideas and show features.
We have a lot of momentum from such a successful event and we didn’t waste any time. We began by rounding out our already stellar Board with even more expert advisors representing the end-user markets we serve. We held our first meeting in February to set the goals and scope for the conference program. Dozens of our advisors participated and have been brainstorming in follow-up meetings ever since. We’ve been re-confirming and adding to our tremendous media and association partnerships, working with our exhibitors to secure prime space and maximize their branding opportunities, and our comprehensive PR campaign continues to draw media attention as we regularly announce new developments.
Right now, we’re in the throes of developing the conference program, placing exhibitors on the floor and deciding on the networking functions we will offer.
What for you were the highlights of Drone World Expo 1…?
First and foremost, the turnout exceeded our expectations. We attracted 2,120 people, from all 50 states, 29 countries, had 75 exhibiting companies, incredible media coverage and a world class faculty of speakers and advisors. We opened the event with a UTM (UAS Traffic Management) panel discussion featuring Marke “Hoot” Gibson of the FAA, Parimal PK Kopardekar of NASA, Dave Famolari of Verizon Ventures and Dave Vos of Google. Our second day began with a presentation by John Petersen of the Lindbergh Foundation who discussed their Air Shepherd program and the incredible impact drones are having on illegal poaching of elephants and rhinos. Many of our panel discussions and case studies focused on using drones for good – humanitarian and conservation applications as well as ways that drones can accomplish tasks that take people out of harm’s way (i.e. utility and pipeline inspections, wildland firefighting, etc.).
The exhibit floor was crowded for both days with commercial end-user attendees eager to meet with all the vendors and solutions providers. During the social functions and networking opportunities, it was exciting to see cinematographers and utility companies talking with farmers, construction professionals talking with conservation organizations, police officers and fire chiefs talking with realtors… the sharing of best practices across all of the vertical industries we serve provided extraordinary value to all of our participants and we’re looking forward to continuing those thousands of conversations in November.
You are holding this year’s event at the same venue again. Does that mean that the choice of Silicon Valley works for you…?
Yes, making a home for Drone World Expo in Silicon Valley has been extremely valuable to us and more importantly, to the participants in the event. Being in the Bay Area, in the heart of tech development and innovation, attendees can make the most of their travel time by setting meetings and conducting other business while they are in town. And it allows easy access for many attendees and exhibitors to get to the event without having to travel very far. We’re also accessible for major media outlets with offices in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. Conveniently, the state of California has the most Section 333 exemptions from the FAA, but our attendees came from all 50 states and from 29 countries around the world.
Are there any new features for this year’s show that you can reveal at this stage…?
We’re once again offering complimentary full conference passes to qualified end-users to attend as well as complimentary expo passes for non-end-user professionals. We’ve recently announced industry partnerships with AIAA, ATCA, and the American Farm Bureau Federation and renewed our partnership with MAPPS to further our mission of welcoming all stakeholders in the commercial drone ecosystem to Drone World Expo. We’re expanding on some of our most popular features from the 2015 event, so we’ll have even more great case studies to present, double the number of exhibits (including a new Geospatial Pavilion), more Tech Talks and demonstrations in the exhibit hall, more networking opportunities among Women of Commercial Drones and expanded content for and from the investment community. We’re gearing up for many more exciting announcements in the coming months that I’m not at liberty to reveal just yet so stay tuned to www.droneworldexpo.com.
What makes Drone World Expo different from the other events in the US that are planned this year…?
First of all, our location, in the heart of Silicon Valley, places Drone World Expo at the epicenter of this burgeoning industry and within easy access for more commercial end users than any other event. But more importantly, DWE is the only purely commercial event that attracts end users across all vertical market categories. Other events claim to be commercial but also market to consumers and hobbyists, or don’t reach all of the end-user market sectors that DWE attracts.
Drone World Expo has quickly established itself as the thought-leadership event. Our speakers, partners and extraordinary Advisory Board are proactively involved in bringing the latest expertise to our attendees. This event is essentially created for the industry, by the industry.
Above all else, Drone World Expo has an unmatched focus on the end-users of UAS. Farmers, construction professionals, cinematographers, law enforcement, fire, search and rescue, and utility company professionals, realtors, conservationists, and humanitarian organizations make up the majority of our high-caliber audience. We’re investing heavily in our audience by qualifying end-users to attend at no charge and we can’t wait to welcome them back to our 2016 event.