11th Annual B2B Expo a Huge Success!
The 11th Annual B2B Expo, New Mexico’s largest Strategic Networking event & Business-to-Business Expo, was a huge success last week with a packed house of 920 in attendance. This year we used Addmi’s new Technology App, making it easy to track attendance and attendee preferences. The event broke previous attendance records with 836 attendees and 138 exhibitors representing more than 46 industries. Additionally, over 132 people attended educational round tables prior to the Expo’s kick off!
“Given our record numbers, it is obvious business people are looking for an opportunity to network, learn and make important connections,” said DJ Heckes, founder of the Expo and CEO of EXHIB-IT! “There are many industry trade shows, but nothing dedicated solely to business. We have already secured the date for next year’s event – Tuesday April 23, 2019 with many returning Sponsors already committed.”
The event started with the Educational Roundtables with 12 Award Winning Presenters:
- Mark Herman, CEO of Dion’s
- Andy Lim, Owner of Addmi, Inc.
- Sandra M. Bustamante, Payment Solutions Market Manager with U.S. Bank
- Diane Villegas, Owner of Big Picture Marketing
- Ryan Cangiolosi, Director of Economic and Community Development of UNM Health Sciences Center
- Annemarie Henton, Director of Communications and Marketing with AED
- Dale R. Dekker, Founder of Dekker/Perich/Sabitini
- Chris Moore, Strategic Director/Partner of 3 Advertising
- Chris Schroeder, Chief Operating Officer of Real Time Solutions
- Ernie C’deBaca, CEO of Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce
- Kristelle Siarza, CEO of Siarza Social Digital
- Mark “Pardo” Gonzales, Owner of Mark Pardo SalonSpa
Next was the Main Event that started off with a VIP Meet & Greet with 41 Candidates in this year’s election. The Candidates were available to meet with all attendees throughout the evening.
| 1 | Libertarian | A. Blair Dunn | Attorney General |
| 2 | Republican | Michael Hendricks | Attorney General |
| 3 | Democrat | Jeff Apodaca | Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 4 | Democrat | Joe Cervantes | Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 5 | Democrat | Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Campaign Rep. | Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 6 | Republican | Steve Pearce’s Campaign Manager | Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 7 | Republican | Michelle Garcia Holmes | Lieutenant Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 8 | Democrat | Billy Garrett | Lieutenant Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 9 | Democrat | Rick Miera | Lieutenant Gubernatorial Candidate |
| 10 | Republican | Janice Arnold-Jones | Congress (CD 1) |
| 11 | Democrat | Pat Davis | Congress (CD 1) |
| 12 | Democrat | Deb Haaland | Congress (CD 1) |
| 13 | Democrat | Dr. Jesse Heitner | Congress (CD 1) |
| 14 | Democrat | Damian Lara | Congress (CD 1) |
| 15 | Democrat | Damon P. Martinez | Congress (CD 1) |
| 16 | Democrat | Paul Moya | Congress (CD 1) |
| 17 | Libertarian | Lloyd Princeton | Congress (CD 1) |
| 18 | Democrat | Antoinette Sedillo Lopez | Congress (CD 1) |
| 19 | Republican | Dr. Gavin Clarkston | Congress (CD-2) |
| 20 | Republican | Jerald Steve McFall | Congress (CD-3) |
| 21 | Libertarian | Chris Manning | Congress (CD-3) |
| 22 | Libertarian | Aubrey Dunn’s Campaign Rep. | U.S. Senate |
| 23 | Democrat | Martin Heinrich’s Campaign Rep. | U.S. Senate |
| 24 | Republican | Mick Rich | U.S. Senate |
| 25 | Republican | JoHanna Cox | Secretary of State |
| 26 | Libertarian | Sandra D. Jeff | Secretary of State |
| 27 | Republican | Wayne Johnson | State Auditor |
| 28 | Republican | Arthur L. Castillo | State Treasurer |
| 29 | Democrat | Tim Eichenberg | State Treasurer |
| 30 | Democrat | Garrett VeneKlasen | Land Commissioner |
| 31 | Democrat | Day Hochman-Vigil | State Rep. D-15 |
| 32 | Republican | Jim Dines | State Rep. D-20 |
| 33 | Democrat | Melanie Stansbury | State Rep. D-28 |
| 34 | Republican | Jimmie Hall | State rep D-28 |
| 35 | Republican | John L. Jones | State Rep. D-30 |
| 36 | Libertarian | William Wiley | State Rep. D-31 |
| 37 | Republican | Monica Youngblood | State Rep. D-68 |
| 38 | Republican | Natasha Hadrych-Rosier | County Commissioner D-5 (Bernalillo County) |
| 39 | Republican | Lou Golson | County Sheriff (Bernalillo County) |
| 40 | Democrat | Sylvester Stanley | County Sheriff (Bernalillo County) |
| 41 | Democrat | Brianna Zamora | Candidate for the NM Court of Appeals |
Best Local Brand Winners were announced after LIVE Voting ended at 6:30 PM at the event. New Mexico Piñon Coffee won first place in our Commercial Category, and LifeRoots took first in our Nonprofit Category. Each of our winners took home $6,825 in marketing Prizes!
Best Local Brand Commercial Winner: New Mexico Piñon Coffee
Best Local Brand Nonprofit Winner: LifeRoots
The event was full of strategic networking with attendees and exhibitors throughout the event. You could feel the excitement in the air while walking the event and see people truly interacting.
See below for some of our more recent Testimonials provided from Survey Responses, which we plan to ask each one to recap in a video in the near future.
Top 5 Comments:
- “The event was a great adventure where I gained information about different products and services that are out in the market place and met just a whole group of nice and educated people.”
- “I was able to make a very important business connection by attending a roundtable discussion being conducted by my prospect. Thank You”
- “[The roundtable sessions were] very informative and a great way to get in front of potential clients.”
- “I was able to make connections with companies I didn’t think I would have relations with.”
- “If you are business minded, this is the place to be. The conversations I had with everyone were absolutely amazing experiences!!!”
