New York, NY (March 26, 2024) – Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) (“Emerald” or the “Company”) today announced it has acquired Hotel Interactive (HI), a diversified B2B digital media platform renowned for producing premier hosted-buyer events in the hospitality and senior living sectors. HI is joining Emerald’s Connecting Point Marketing Group (CPMG) to create an expanded portfolio of industry-leading hosted buyer events, driving engaging one-to-one executive connections within strategic vertical market segments.
“The partnership between CMPG and HI represents a significant step forward in Emerald’s portfolio optimization strategy, enabling us to enhance our leading hosted buyer platform. Together, the two companies represent a portfolio of 29 annual wholesale buying events that are unmatched in serving their target markets within selected segments of the hospitality, restaurant, healthcare, retail, and grocery industries,” said Hervé Sedky, President and CEO of Emerald. “Our shared goal is to leverage best practices, innovative technology, and strategic investments to deliver unparalleled value to both new and existing events and accelerate our growth opportunities.”
All HI employees have joined the Emerald team, with Rich Viola, HI’s President, continuing to lead HI’s portfolio events and B2B digital media offerings, including their Business Interactive Trade Alliances & Conferences (BITAC), Healthtac trade shows, and FSM Summit, as well as high profile digital newsletters and websites through Hotelinteractive.com and SeniorLivingNews.com.
“Because HI and CPMG serve many of the same industries, we will now significantly expand both the scope and scale of our business, focusing on making our two brands the undisputed leaders of these specialized business segments,” said Rich Viola, Hotel Interactive President. “We also promise to deliver an even higher level of client satisfaction, as our combined event portfolio will offer unmatched benefits and value to our customers.”
“While the hosted buyer model is not unique to Emerald, what is unique is our white glove approach with our guests and the robust technology used to facilitate impactful peer-to-peer executive-level connections,” said Brian Pagel, Executive Vice President, Emerald. “The addition of HI will allow us to go deeper into the markets we currently serve and capitalize on new emerging market opportunities.”
About Emerald
Emerald’s talented and experienced team grows our customers’ businesses 365 days a year through connections, content, and commerce. We expand connections that drive new business opportunities, product discovery, and relationships with over 140 annual events, matchmaking, and lead-gen services. We create content to ensure that our customers are on the cutting edge of their industries and are continually developing their skills. And we power commerce through efficient year-round buying and selling. We do all this by seamlessly integrating in-person and digital platforms and channels. Emerald is immersed in the industries we serve and committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. As true partners, we create experiences that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. For more information, please visit www.emeraldx.com
About CPMG
Connecting Point Marketing Group (CPMG) creates trade events that connect people and inspire innovation. Designed and tailored for executives in the retail, restaurant, healthcare, and hotel industries, each event is conducted in a business-intensive format that facilitates connections while optimizing strategic interaction. Attendees experience the most time-efficient and cost-effective way to do business when participating in a CPMG event with benefits that flow directly through to their bottom line.
About Hotel Interactive
Hotel Interactive (HI) is a premier conference and leading multi-channel hosted buyer business that has built an impressive portfolio of 15 in-person annual events serving various segments of the hospitality and senior living industry sectors. These events are delivered through their Business Interactive Trade Alliances & Conferences (BITAC), including BITAC (Hospitality, Hotel, Multifamily/Multi-unit), HealthTac (Senior and Assisted Living) and FSM (Food Service). HI also produces high-profile digital newsletters and resources, including Hotelinteractive.com and SeniorLivingNews.com.
Media Contact:
Beth Cowperthwaite
Emerald SVP, Communications