Podcasts

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen welcomes back Narisa Wild, Chief Digital Officer at Clarion Events North America. With more than 26 years building digital products across media, events, and technology, including senior roles at Scripps Networks, Penton, and Informa, Narisa takes us inside how AI is actually showing up at Clarion today. She unpacks Converge+, the AI-powered leads intelligence platform that turns a simple badge scan into a stream of buyer signals spanning pre-event outreach, show-floor conversations, media campaigns, and post-event content. Narisa also shares how Clarion chose to partner rather than build or buy under private equity ownership, why the platform had to be profitable in year one without adding headcount, and what it takes to move a sales organization from selling square footage to selling data as a solution. B2B Events, Event Data Monetization, AI in Events, Lead Intelligence, Data as a Solution, First-Party Data, Private Equity, Build Buy Partner, AI Partnerships, Sales Transformation, Change Management, Digital transformation, Revenue Growth

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Aditi Sinha, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Technology & Operations at MarketCast. Drawing on more than 15 years leading operations and transformation at NielsenIQ, Nielsen, Kantar, and DHL Express, Aditi explains why the companies that actually get paid for AI treat it as an operating model decision, not a product decision. She walks through the data rebuild behind MarketCast's Total Effect, which tracks creative and media contribution daily so brands can course-correct while campaigns are still live, and shares how a patented AI receipt-reading solution at NielsenIQ cut panelist effort from 20 minutes to under three and helped triple revenue. AI in Media, Digital transformation, Data Strategy, Operating Model, Productized Insights, Pricing Strategy, Marketing Measurement, Responsible AI, Change Management, CEO Strategy, B2B Media, Revenue Growth

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Patrick Garrigan, Co-Founder and CEO of Tenning, the advisory and events firm he launched with Kris Coratti Kelly (formerly Chief Communications Officer at The Washington Post and EVP of Global Communications at CNN). After two decades building commercial engines at The Atlantic, POLITICO, Bloomberg — where he launched the Qatar Economic Forum as Global Head of Bloomberg Live — and Condé Nast, where he created Vogue World and led Vogue Business and WIRED Consulting, Patrick bet that judgment itself is a sellable, scalable product. He shares what musical theater taught him about running a room, why most business events "don't have to stink," and the one question every event organizer should ask before launching a media business. , , Events Revenue, Experiential Marketing, Audience Development, Media and Events, Event Programming, Sales Leadership, Relationship Selling, CEO Strategy, Revenue Growth, Sponsorship Strategy, Legacy Media Reinvention, Media Business Models, Leadership Lessons, Entrepreneurship

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen welcomes back Matt Yorke, CEO of The Channel Company (parent of CRN and the leading platform for the global IT channel), for his third appearance on the show. Since his standout session at RevvedUP, Matt has accelerated The Channel Company's AI transformation from a handful of pilots to 27 deployed agents, a governance-first operating model, and a public mandate to become an AI-native company within two years. Matt shares candidly what's worked, what flopped, and how he's now leveraging nearly 50 years of proprietary data—awards entries, behavioral data, campaign data, and 61 annual research studies—to execute a "once-in-a-lifetime pivot" into a predictive growth platform for the channel.

After more than three decades building specialized media brands serving the life sciences industry, from drug discovery through commercial manufacturing, Jon took on private equity backing from Latticework Capital Management in late 2024 and hasn't slowed down since: building a powerhouse board with operators like Doug Emslie, Sean Griffey, and Don Hawk, and closing two acquisitions in roughly 30 days, including Life Science Networks (PharmaSource, CDMO Live, External Manufacturing Leaders) and the Precision Medicine World Conference. Jon shares his "first do no harm" integration philosophy, why he acquires founders rather than just products, and how a 30-year "follow your reader" discipline became the foundation for a purchase-intent data strategy in the AI era.

A customer spends $100,000 this year and $100,000 next year. Most event businesses call that retention. Indiya Okam calls it a question worth asking. In this episode of The Revenue Room™, Heather Holst-Knudsen speaks with Indiya Okam, Group Vice President of Sales at RX USA, about what happens when a commercial leader trained in mathematics and engineering brings healthcare-grade operating rigor into a relationship-driven events business.

Terrapinn COO Sharon Roessen achieved £470,000 in SaaS savings and launched thirteen Claude skills in five weeks—but those results began months before the tools were deployed. By building a strong foundation of company knowledge, historical records, functional context, and live data connections, Terrapinn turned AI experimentation into measurable business value. This article presents a practical management framework for executives looking to replace redundant software, transform static documents into living systems, strengthen accountability, and make AI fluency part of their hiring strategy.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way companies operate, but many leaders are making the same mistake: investing heavily in AI tools while neglecting the people expected to use them. In this episode of The Revenue Room™, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Jay Lauf, Co-Founder of Charter, to explore why successful AI transformation depends more on organizational design, leadership, and training than on software itself.

In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Billy Carney, Co-Founder of RocaNews, to explore how a next-generation media company built for Gen Z turned social attention into owned revenue and profitability.

Why the next competitive advantage for B2B media companies is not producing more content, but helping their audience make faster, better decisions.

Enterprises do not suffer from a lack of data. They suffer from a lack of monetization. This conversation outlines how leaders can turn passive data lakes into active revenue engines by reframing data as a customer strategy, delivering value in 100-day cycles, prioritizing real-time behavioral signals, separating governance from commercialization, and preparing for the rise of AI-driven agent operating models tied directly to performance.

In this episode of The Revenue Room, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Jacob Donnelly, founder of A Media Operator (AMO). They discuss why media business models built on algorithmic traffic are operating on borrowed time, and why anyone dependent on it is simply "done for". Between the threat of AI replicating "average" content and a shifting M&A landscape heavily influenced by Private Equity, the old publishing playbook is broken. Jacob reveals how the smartest CEOs are future-proofing their businesses by abandoning the mass-reach illusion and building a durable "three-legged stool": Media, Events, and Data.

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with visionary media and advertising executive, President and Founder of Monarch Advisory Collective, Laura Molen. With a career spanning MTV Networks, Paramount, Univision, and NBCUniversal, Laura has had a front-row seat to every major shift in media over the last two decades. Laura shares her incredible journey of navigating constant industry disruption—from the days when cable challenged broadcast television, to the rise of social media fandoms, to the streaming revolution. She offers an inside look at how she spearheaded NBCUniversal’s "One Platform" cross-channel strategy, successfully led the high-stakes launch of Peacock's ad-supported streaming business, and ultimately made the brave personal decision to step away from the C-suite to focus on her family and advisory work.

Over two decades, Metter has grown regional food festivals into nationally recognized economic drivers. Her thesis is simple: live experiences are not cost centers. They are revenue platforms capable of compounding value across multiple stakeholders.

In this episode, host Heather Holst-Knudsen is joined by industry titan Doug Emslie (Chairman, Cuil Bay Capital & Raccoon Media Group; former CEO, Tarsus Group). With a career spanning "nearly a third of a century"—from negotiating multi-million pound deals in his 20s to guiding Tarsus to a billion-dollar exit—Doug offers a masterclass on the tension between financial efficiency and creative soul.

In this engaging conversation, Taylor Kessel-Salomonsson, Chief Growth Officer at Naylor Association Solutions, shares her unconventional career journey from marketing to revenue leadership. She emphasizes the importance of storytelling in sales, the need for organizational alignment, and the significance of understanding the buyer journey. Taylor introduces the bow tie model as a new approach to viewing the customer lifecycle and discusses key metrics for revenue success. She also highlights the role of content as a growth engine and the differences between PE-backed and VC-backed companies. Throughout the discussion, Taylor provides valuable insights for CEOs and revenue leaders on becoming more data-driven and building strong relationships with C-suite stakeholders.

Most event businesses grew by adding more. More shows. More cities. More noise. Mark Shashoua did the opposite. In this episode, the Hyve Group CEO explains why scale without focus breaks under pressure, how he turned events into category-defining growth engines, and what happens when you replace chance-based networking with engineered outcomes.

As AI accelerates content creation and deepfakes blur reality, trust and experience are emerging as the most defensible drivers of revenue growth. In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Philip Thomas, Chief Creative Officer at Informa and Chairman of Cannes Lions, explains why creativity must operate at the executive level, how live experiences compound brand value, and why governance and authenticity are becoming competitive advantages in an automated world.

In a recent episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather sat down with Christine Shaw, two-time CEO, data evangelist, and Executive Advisory Board Member of Revenue Room™ CXO, to explore what it truly takes to lead through disruption in today’s AI-driven landscape. Drawing on her experiences across Penwell, Future PLC, InvestmentNews, and now Naylor Association Solutions, Christine shares how data creates “calm in the storm,” why associations must reinvent themselves for the next generation, and how leaders can navigate complexity without losing their edge. This conversation reveals a blueprint for executives looking to transform with purpose and stay relevant in the most accelerated era our industry has ever faced.

A strategic look at why leadership networks have become essential infrastructure for modern CEOs and how the right rooms accelerate growth.

In this episode of The Revenue Room™, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Sean Griffey, co-founder and former CEO of Industry Dive, one of the biggest B2B media success stories of the past decade. Sean shares the real playbook behind scaling Industry Dive from five scrappy newsletters into a multi-vertical powerhouse that reached millions of executives, generated $100M+ in revenue, and ultimately sold to Informa for over $500M. Heather and Sean unpack what made the model work—from niche-audience obsession, to portfolio-wide sales strategy, to operational discipline most media companies still struggle to adopt. Sean also reflects on intent data, first-party strategies, sales org structure, account penetration, AI’s impact on search and audience behavior, and the evolving relationship between digital media and events. This is a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most respected operators in B2B media built a modern, high-margin, high-value company by focusing on what really matters: audience, product, and customer outcomes.

This episode of the Revenue Room Podcast features Allison Markert (Future B2B) and Jaime Schultheis (Bombora) discussing how their partnership uses enriched first-party data and intent signals to unify audiences across Future’s portfolio, helping advertisers reach in-market accounts beyond single-site assumptions. They explain shifting B2B sales from brand-led to audience-led solutions, the importance of educating both sales teams and buyers, and how full-funnel activation plus measurement now must prove account movement and pipeline impact—not just clicks. The conversation also covers AI’s dual role as disruption and advantage, emphasizing trusted journalism and smart AI productization, and closes with leadership lessons on navigating constant change through clarity, communication, and human-first resilience.

This conversation with Amanda Landsaw revealed how EndeavorB2B has shifted from a legacy media identity to a modern intelligence and marketing solutions company. We explored how enterprise selling strengthens revenue, why marketing must be data driven, how AI is reshaping skill sets, and why privacy by design creates advantage. EndeavorB2B’s evolution offers a blueprint for every executive leading change inside a media, events, or information business.

In this episode of *Revenue Room™, Samantha Skey, CEO of She Media, shares her bold, human-centered take on leadership, AI disruption, and the future of digital publishing. From reframing imposter syndrome as a systemic issue to building a diversified media model grounded in authenticity, Samantha offers a masterclass in leading with courage, clarity, and purpose in a time of massive change. Key Topics Discussed: -How Samantha approaches leadership with a focus on ethics, empathy, and long-term impact—not just short-term performance. -The tension between AI as an operational asset vs. existential threat to publishers. -Her prediction of a new industry for authenticity verification in content. -Samantha redefined imposter syndrome as a systemic issue, not a personal flaw. -A call to redesign environments to be more inclusive of non-traditional leaders. -She Media’s three-pronged business model: owned brands, creator monetization, and immersive brand partnerships. -The importance of leveraging both quantitative and qualitative inputs to drive business decisions. About Samantha Skey Samantha Skey is CEO of SHE Media, a top 10 media company reaching 80 million monthly unique visitors through brands like SheKnows, Flow Space, StyleCaster, Soaps, and TVLine. Acquired by Penske Media Corporation in 2018, SHE Media also operates one of the largest networks of independent lifestyle publishers and creators in the U.S. via the SHE Media Collective, which Skey launched in 2016 to support underrepresented voices. The Collective contributes millions in revenue annually to women- and minority-led publishers. In 2021, Skey launched Meaningful Marketplaces (MMP), enabling advertisers to scale media buys across the Collective while directly supporting premium independent media. That commitment to equity continued with the 2023 launch of Flow Space, a digital and live media platform focused on women’s health, which won both Anthem and Viddy Gold Awards. Skey also led the debut of the SHE Media Co-Lab Whole Life Health at SXSW, earning accolades from Fierce Pharma and the Anthem Awards. With over 25 years in digital media and tech, Skey previously held leadership roles at CNET, Disney, and RecycleBank, and joined SheKnows in 2013. She’s been recognized with numerous industry honors, including Ad Age’s “Women to Watch,” Folio’s “Corporate Visionary Award,” and DM News’ “Hall of Femme.” Skey serves on the boards of The Ad Council, World Surf League, and Acast, and is an advisor to Digital Ascendant and Let’s Talk Menopause. She lives in Princeton with her husband and two children and coaches girls’ lacrosse on weekends.

Join Heather Holst-Knudsen, CEO of H2K Labs & Reveue Room™ Connect, as she interviews Anne Lafère, Group CEO of Easyfairs, about her journey from initially not liking trade shows to becoming a visionary leader in the events industry. In this insightful conversation, Anne shares how Easyfairs has built a data-driven business model that enhances both exhibitor and visitor experiences. Key topics covered: Anne's 26-year career growth at Easyfairs - The transition from family-owned to private equity partnership - Their innovative co-CEO leadership model with Matt Benyon - Data-driven strategies including AI-powered recommendations and predictive analytics - Creating 365 community engagement beyond physical events - Talent management through data visualization and heatmapping Discover how Easyfairs has positioned itself for global growth while maintaining operational excellence and a people-first approach to technology. #EventTech #DataDrivenBusiness #TradeShows #RevenuePodcast #EventManagement #LeadershipInsights

In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen speaks with Orson Francescone, Managing Director of FT Live, the global events business of the Financial Times. With 20 years of industry experience, Orson shares how FT Live achieved record-breaking success in 2024 — producing 240 events, hosting 3,500 speakers, and welcoming 86,000 attendees worldwide. This conversation explores the strategies behind their hybrid event model, the role of full-funnel marketing in driving engagement, and the transformative impact of AI on the events industry. Orson also explains how FT Live uses data to shape business decisions and maintain its position as one of the world’s leading media brands.

In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen speaks with Narisa Wild, Chief Digital Officer at Clarion Events North America. Narisa shares her journey from the media and entertainment sector into the events industry, and how she now drives digital transformation across Clarion’s portfolio. The conversation explores how data fuels decision-making, the importance of cross-team collaboration, and the evolving role of technology in creating meaningful event experiences. Narisa also discusses leadership approaches, aligning marketing strategies with business goals, and the future of hybrid event formats. From using analytics to shape content to fostering organizational agility, Narisa offers actionable insights for leaders navigating change in the information and events economy.