ES. Give us a brief overview of your background and your role in the company.
Joseph Kowalsky. I’ve been in the events industry for over 8 years, organizing large scale events as well as intimate conferences and experiences. At the start of 2023 I started a new role with CloserStill Media as Event Director for the US Vet portfolio encompassing events in Chicago, Reno, and NYC. The best way I can describe my position is to be the guy keeping the train on the tracks. That and to be a crazy eccentric “What If” person asking questions to tease out people’s creativity.
Events are a fun gig and are only successful when we’re having fun with it! It helps to come on to an amazingly talented team that also shares that same mentality, it genuinely excites me.
We need to position our industry in a different manner
ES. How did you land up here? What milestones did you reach on your way to the top which stands out as the most significant?
Joseph Kowalsky. Like most people in our industry, I fell into it. I was applying for sales positions all over LinkedIn and, I landed an interview selling booth space and sponsorships for the Photo Division of Emerald. I had no idea what it was but, it seemed interesting and the sales director of the time liked my big sale victory dance. For the next 8 years I was with the Photo team first as a member of the sales team and, eventually progressing to the role of show director in 2020. Taking over during Covid was challenging to say the least but, also let our team try some new ways of working with clients, creating experiences, and developing our community.
Then in 2022, my boss of the time, Johanna Morse, told me I should apply for the UFI Next Generation Leadership Award and, to my great surprise I was one of the six people selected for the program to develop a new dynamic talent narrative for our industry. In doing so, we actually rebranded the industry, if you haven’t heard, we’re the community building industry now (check it out from the UFI World Congress).
Having the opportunity to work with other great minds with passion for the events industry was eye opening for me and, really changed my perspective on how I wanted to be a part of our industry. Now, because of the NGL Award, I’m being asked to speak and moderate at events for events people around the world! It’s a great feeling to be a part and see our own community of people.
ES. Managing a team while leading a project can be challenging. How do you deal with this?
Joseph Kowalsky. Open lines of communication and giving project ownership so team members hold one another accountable. I am a person that overcommunicates. Some people may hate it but, I feel the only times things go wrong are when people aren’t communicating and don’t know what other members of their team are doing. The right hand needs to know what the left is doing, otherwise it’s a bucket of stress for everyone involved. As long as people are talking and everyone feels they have a stake in what is going on, management of the team on a project becomes the least stressful part of it.
ES. Enlighten us with your upcoming plans for 2023. What are the prominent shows that we might look forward to in near future?
Joseph Kowalsky. I’m extremely excited for our upcoming event, Chicago Vet, taking place May 18 – 19 at the Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. This will be my first Vet show as part of the CloserStill Media team and I can’t wait to get out there and start meeting the members of my new community. With a few new tricks in store, Chicago Vet, is going to definitely be a memorable one.
Additionally, we’ll have two other events this year, Wild West Vet (Reno) and NY Vet. Each event we host provides the necessary continued education Veterinarians need to stay up to date with best practices, techniques, and advancements. I could not think of a better thing to do with my time than make sure Veterinarians have the education they need so pets like my big adorable dumb dog Freddy can live happy healthy lives.
ES. What have been your biggest takeaways from the industry?
Joseph Kowalsky. My biggest takeaway would have to be what my fellow NGL’s and I talked about during our UFI World Congress presentation this past November in Oman. We have an image problem. We do not position our industry in a way that shows people the vastness of the opportunity in front of them. We are the industry made up of every other industry. To quote a phrase I’ve heard a few times now, we’re the billion dollar industry no one is talking about. And that’s our own fault. We need to embrace the totality of what we do as an industry and realize we’re more than just events. WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. We are the community building industry, we’re the place where business is done and connections are made. Let’s talk about ourselves that way and start bringing more people into our industry so we can evolve and grow for the future.
ES. Managing a show needs a big deal of zeal to ease up the show flow? What inspires you to maintain the hustle and attempt the job with same amount of energy every time?
Joseph Kowalsky. I’m insane, that’s how! No but really, I am genuinely a happy guy. I feed off talking to people. I love being around someone and hearing their stories or telling one of mine, making the inappropriate joke here and there and call it a day.
People say do what makes you happy and you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m doing what makes me happy and that makes it pretty easy to come in each day with a good attitude.
