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When Erica Rosendahl began her studies in marketing at the University of St. Thomas in 2009, she didn’t predict that fifteen years later, she would be a managing director at Skyline Exhibits. She now leads and manages a sales team of 12 account executives, developing sales strategies and driving revenue growth. Like many, her entry into the events world was a happy accident. “I stumbled into this industry when I was looking for an internship in college. I had grown up around hospitality, so it felt natural to explore the corporate side of the events industry.” She believes it is a great business for women and understands why it’s an environment in which they excel. “The events industry provides many opportunities for women to showcase their talents in both creativity and leadership.”
There is little doubt that the events industry is dominated by women. While women represented 56.2% of the college-educated labor force in the United States in 2020,[1] it’s estimated that they represent nearly 78% of the events industry.[2] The industry is young, with 36% of its population falling between the ages of30 and 40, and 24% between the ages of 20 and 30. And it is lucrative. Although the Meetings & Conventions 2018 Salary Survey revealed female meeting planners earned 89 cents on the male dollar, there are signs that this gap is narrowing.[3] A 2022 estimate reported that women earned 101% of what men earned.[4] In comparison, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned in 2020 in the US.
Wendy Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer at Skyline, suggests that the appeal of events to early career women is multi-faceted. “It's a great industry for women because we are the majority, not the minority. It's a great place for younger women because there are so many entry-level positions available from which you can build a career and so many different paths available. You can start in an associate position as a marketer, an event producer, or a myriad of other positions. From these roles, you can become a producer, branch into creative, or become the activation person. You can do strategy. You can do marketing. You have countless opportunities to grow and gain experience. Women flourish up through C-suite roles. There’s much more fluidity than, for instance, the tech and the financial services industries.”
Mindy Feih, Skyline’s Vice President of Sales, adds, “Whether you're on the exhibit side, or the general contractor side, there's a ton of opportunity for growth, and for women coming out of school who are go-getters, there's so much potential.” She points to Rosendahl as a perfect example. Rosendahl’s eight-year professional ascendency was swift and steady, from project manager to account executive, senior account executive, sales manager, senior sales manager, and now managing director. Her successive promotions at Skyline buck the conclusions drawn in the most recent McKinsey “Women in the Workplace” report.
In 2021, women made up 47.4% of the workforce but only 31.7% of top executive roles.[5] The 'Drop to the Top', referring to the decline of women in C-suite and senior leadership roles[6], is not due to a “glass ceiling,” as many believe. McKinsey reports that it actually occurs much earlier, when fewer women are promoted from entry-level to manager level. This “broken rung” is, in fact, “the greatest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership.”[7] Rosendahl, fortunately, did not encounter a “broken rung.”
Despite the challenges many women in corporate America still face, there is good news. The latest data reveals that the number of women in the C-suite has increased from 17% to 28% since 2015, and the representation of women at the vice president and senior vice president levels has also improved (significantly, women of color still struggle to achieve parity at all levels).[8]
Increasingly, high-profile industry events and organizations are nurturing women’s growth by creating opportunities for professionals at all levels. The Experiential Marketing Summit (EMS) 2023 connected with industry women through its “Women In Events” track.[9] Last May, the Summit held a sold-out evening networking event for brand-side marketers as well as a prominent primetime panel that repeated EMS’ yearly tradition of recognizing outstanding women in events. Their far-ranging discussion included “career growth to invisible work to negotiations to leading events in this new era.” PCMA’s Convening Leader’s conference in January 2024 featured a session exploring strategies for advancing women into business event leadership roles.[10] Meeting Professionals International offers MPI Women, a community of industry professionals whose members have access to online communities, various educational benefits, and most significantly, community meet-ups and other social activities. The International Association of Exhibitions and Events’ Women’s Leadership Initiative provides a variety of opportunities for women at every level in the exhibitions and events arena to develop leadership skills.[11]
Gibson understands the power these groups have in connecting women with each other. “Not only do you need to share valuable information when you build a successful event or experience, you’ve got to make sure you've built a community or a series of small communities where people are comfortable and can connect.” Science agrees. A 2020 study by Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences found that the most successful women have not only a broad network but also a small network of women with whom they are close.[12] Women excel in an environment of close connections and collaborations. In studies conducted in 2010, Organizational Psychologist Anita Williams Woolley, Ph.D., determined that team collaboration is greatly improved by the presence of women in a group,[13] an effect primarily explained by women’s benefits to group processes.[14]
According to Vipula Gandhi, managing partner and global head of enterprise business at Gallup, “Gallup has studied wellbeing, and the data are clear that we need connections to have a life well-lived. And feeling cared for is a big part of engagement and wellbeing.” In a robust study she conducted with colleagues, it was apparent that women’s lives are improved personally and professionally through networks:[15] “...having role models and sharing experiences by building communities matters so much. It gives women leaders a chance to share, exchange, and learn they're not alone. You get confidence from learning you're not alone; confidence gives you conviction, and conviction leads to success.”
There are many untapped opportunities among event industry organizations and events groups to provide opportunities for women to convene, connect, and collaborate. But Rosendahl is a firsthand testament to the power that even informal networks of women in the events industry have to offer support, as they have for her these past ten years. “Luckily, I’ve had many mentors and sponsors. I feel that women in leadership are eager to bring up more women into successful leadership roles.”
[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
[2] Gender pay gap remained stable over past 20 years in US | Pew Research Center
[3] Narrowing the Gender Pay Gap in Events
[4] Event Planner demographics and statistics in the US
[5] States With the Highest Percentage of Female Top Executives
[6] What ‘The Drop To The Top’ Means For Women In Leadership
[7] What ‘The Drop To The Top’ Means For Women In Leadership
[8] Women in the Workplace 2023 report | McKinsey
[9] Experiential Marketing Summit 2023
[10] PCMA Convening Leaders 2024
[11] Women's Leadership Home - IAEE
[12] A network’s gender composition and communication pattern predict women’s leadership success | PNAS
[13] Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups
[14] Women leaders make work better. Here’s the science behind how to promote them
[15] Women Improving Their Lives Through Networks: A Conversation
