Samantha Forehand

Samantha Forehand didn’t always know that she would become a trade show professional but she was always passionate about working with people, “working with people is inspiring to me. I enjoy finding strategic ways to connect with people and motivate them on different levels,” Samantha told me. Samantha is now a veritable trade show veteran working for six years with Realityworks, Inc. as their Events and Tradeshow Coordinator. Realityworks is an international company that specializes in experiential learning through simulation technology. They developed the world's first infant simulator and other interactive technology for career preparation, health promotion and life skills training.

Before Samantha joined Realityworks, Samantha was a student at University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire majoring in Mass Communications with a Public Relations emphasis. While in school, Samantha interned at a couple of different organization working on major events. As she told us, “Events are thrilling, I love the set-up and I love the take down.”

While Samantha came to Realityworks with major event experience, she knew very little about trade shows, “During my interview [at Realityworks] I was asked if I knew what drayage was. I guessed the draping you had around your booth. I really had very little knowledge of this huge world of trade shows.” But what Samantha lacked in knowledge she more than made up for in enthusiasm as she told me,“I was very excited to learn about this world [of tradeshows].”

Samantha’s repertoire has greatly expanded in the last six years. She started out coordinating eleven national education shows a year, but now she does over 60 national, regional, and state shows a year. As Samantha told me, “I like the challenge of working in a smaller space and still making a huge impact in the exhibit hall.”

Throughout her tenure at Realityworks, Samantha has grown a passion for trade shows, “What I truly love about trade shows is working on the strategy months ahead of time, building on the goals through promotion before and at the shows, seeing it all come together and watching the impact your work has made. With trade shows, you can actually see what you have done and accomplished over time.”

Samantha joined TSEA in 2009 and is a member of the TSEA Education Committee. Samantha knows that she can count on TSEA to provide her with relevant, up-to-date information about the trade show industry. When we asked her why she joined TSEA and what she has gained from her membership she told us, “I joined because I felt I needed to learn more and connect with people in the industry. I have attended webinars and read articles and I always learn something new. I truly love to hear about new ideas for measurement, integrated marketing and industry trends.”

Samantha has enjoyed her time on the Education Committee because, “I have been impressed by the knowledge from other committee members,” Samantha continues, “Everybody in this industry -senior or juniors- can always learn more about the tradeshows industry and I feel TSEA promotes furthering yourself here.”

Samantha Adler is an Education Intern
Trade Show Exhibitors Association