By Mary Tucker | Senior Communications and Content Manager | IAEE
As a dedicated Board member of IAEE’s Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, Christen Tye, CEM has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing the chapter’s mission. Her passion for education has transformed the chapter’s learning offerings, significantly elevating both quality and accessibility. Under her guidance, these educational programs have evolved over several years, creating a lasting impact while ensuring content qualifies for valuable CEM hours for attendees.
Christen’s contributions extend far beyond education. She skillfully manages chapter operations while actively supporting initiatives like the Donuts and Dish events, where she regularly hosts and moderates virtual meetings. Her creative approach to member engagement includes personal outreach efforts and innovative social media strategies that have successfully connected both new and existing members.
As Content Manager for the World Pet Association, Christen has also been an influential advocate for IAEE at Informa Markets, representing the chapter during divisional town halls, securing financial support for registrations and facilitating company roster updates. Her vision extends to building industry bridges, as evidenced by her pivotal role in developing a partnership with a local university’s hospitality program to connect students with exhibitions and events professionals. This promising initiative, still in development, has energized the Board thanks to Christen’s enthusiastic support and leadership.
Christen’s commitment to educational excellence and member engagement earned her the 2024 IAEE Chapter Merit Award, for which she was recognized this past December at Expo! Expo! IAEE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Los Angeles, California.
Here, Christen shares insights on revitalizing educational programming, fostering meaningful member connections, advocating for association involvement within corporate environments, and her vision for bridging the gap between academia and the exhibitions industry through innovative partnerships.
Your work elevating the chapter’s educational offerings has been remarkable. What specific challenges did you face in reimagining these programs, and what strategy proved most effective in ensuring they delivered lasting value to members?
Christen: Our chapter audience reaches both organizers and suppliers. Finding the happy medium of education that delivers relevant education for both audiences is always a challenge. As a chapter, we have adapted “out of the box” collaborative education formats that gets us out of what seems like a standard classroom lecture and learning format.
We focus on education that fosters working together and brainstorming to advance our industry while helping each other not have to recreate the wheel. We also attempt at finding fun and different venues. Some of our most successful events have been at production studios, breweries and coffee shops. Breaking out of the ideals of traditional education has been our greatest success and most valuable for our members.
The integration of CEM-qualifying content into chapter programming represents a significant benefit for attendees. How do you balance creating educational experiences that are both engaging and meet the rigorous standards required for the CEM designation?
Christen: Balancing engaging educational experiences with the rigorous standards of the CEM designation requires a thoughtful blend of instructional design, industry relevance, and interactivity. Several of our Board members have the CEM designation and understand the importance of having this designation. From there, we work closely with industry experts and partners to ensure the material is accurate, timely, and applicable to real-world challenges in the exhibitions and events industry.
To maintain engaging content, we incorporate interactive elements and diverse learning formats. Regular feedback from participants helps fine-tune the balance between depth and accessibility, ensuring we meet CEM standards while keeping attendees invested and inspired.
Your colleagues describe you as exceptionally effective at member engagement. What approach do you take when reaching out to new or disconnected members, and what have you learned about building community within a professional organization?
Christen: I don’t think that I necessarily have a strategy. I feel like people feed off of your energy and personal testimonies. I love to share how much I love IAEE and how much it has benefited me personally and professionally with anyone that will listen! Living my personal testimony of the benefit of IAEE is the greatest persuasion to connect with the professional organizations.
As an advocate for IAEE within the organizations you have worked with, how have you successfully communicated the value of association involvement to leadership, and what advice would you give to others trying to build similar bridges?
Christen: It goes back to people feeding off your excitement and engagement. In any organization that I am part of, I am the squeaky wheel of why involvement in IAEE is important. I would like to think that they can see my professional and personal growth and realize that their support is worth it.
Looking toward the future, what excites you most about the developing partnership with the local university’s hospitality program, and how do you envision this initiative transforming both education and the industry?
Christen: I wish that I had exposure to the possibility of a career in the trade show industry when I was in college. Our Board members with the DFW Chapter share the same sentiment and we felt it was important to create the partnership with the local university. Recently, the students pitched their idea of a trade show as their final class assignment and to see their new ideas, it was refreshing and exciting.
It is important to support and help cultivate the future of our industry and that is what this partnership does. As seasoned professionals, we sometimes get ourselves into silos and tunnel vision of thinking. These emerging professionals help bring a new styles of learning, out of the box thinking and fresh content. I am excited for the continued and hopefully expanding partnership with the university.
