Don Knox

Founded a turnkey event marketing and communications agency delivering high-ROI campaigns for exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees of global B2B conferences and trade shows. ☑️𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆: Launched the business with a lifelong partner, combining over 50 years of industry experience to fill a strategic gap in event lifecycle marketing. ☑️𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Drives the full sales function and campaign delivery process, tailoring messaging and engagement to maximize event value across pre-, onsite, and post-event stages. ☑️𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Built long-term relationships with leading conference decorators, delivering scalable content and marketing services for their extended client base.

Leads strategic business development for Zenus.ai’s ethical facial analysis technology, focused on expanding adoption across the event and conference organizer landscape in North America and global markets. ☑️𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Recruited to build and scale revenue functions, aligning go-to-market initiatives with long-standing industry relationships to secure high-value enterprise accounts. ☑️𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 & 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Implemented a targeted outbound program—25–50 cold contacts and 2–5 demos weekly—driving impactful revenue. ☑️𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Manages end-to-end client relationships across event production, conference organizing, and event tech agencies, serving as a strategic lead.

Oversaw strategic growth, operational scale, and new business development for a communications and PR agency with specialization in events and content marketing. ☑️𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: Recruited to build an events/speaking/awards business unit, generating $600K in the first year and scaling to $930K by year two. ☑️𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Launched a first-of-its-kind speaker’s bureau, diversifying offerings and creating new value streams. ☑️𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Promoted to Managing Partner with P&L oversight of $5.5M, managing a 18-person team including four direct reports and eight freelance writers/editors.

Retained as a consultant to analyze all aspects for pre-acquisition of IRCE (Internet Retailer Conference) serving the e-retail, mobile commerce and web design markets. Developed business plans, budgets and strategies for growth and direction, including sales, marketing, branding, content and operations. Retained post-acquisition to continue building expansion efforts. ☑️Consulting efforts resulted in a successful 30M acquisition serving the e-commerce and mobile-commerce markets. ☑️Analyzed event P&L's and completed due diligence in order to create comprehensive SWOT analysis. ☑️Crafted various business plans to position event for growth and expansion strategy. ☑️Created a complete content strategy for refining event conference program. ☑️Created a complete co-location event strategy with the goal of delivering new revenue streams to existing GLM shows. ☑️GLM, including all IRCE events acquired by Emerald Expositions in December 2013.

Directed global operations and innovation for ad:tech, the leading digital marketing conference series, expanding its presence across three continents and driving exponential growth. ☑️𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Oversaw sales and marketing strategy, launching five new events across key cities including New York, Beijing, Sydney, London, and Paris—resulting in 4X revenue growth ($4.6M to $18M). ☑️𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Created one of the first iPhone apps for event engagement and launched MobileMix, a mobile-focused conference that broke records in vendor participation and attendee interest. ☑️𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 & 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Negotiated 50+ partnerships with media brands like Forbes and Wired, resulting in $1M+ in value; earned 11 industry awards and Trade Show Week’s “Fastest 50” recognition. ☑️𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Led a 39-person cross-functional team across marketing, production, and creative services. Improved profit margins from 35% to 60% through strategic process refinement.

Led high-profile custom publishing and event initiatives, accelerating revenue and modernizing the firm’s media approach across multiple technology verticals. ☑️𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 & 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: Rose through four promotions to lead a team of five, delivering $5M in revenue over two years with 64% gross profit margins. ☑️𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Championed the company’s shift from traditional print to digital marketing, influencing content and partnership strategies. ☑️𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Produced custom events and campaigns for Microsoft, Cisco, and Dell, while driving partner strategy across hardware, software, and security-focused B2B media outlets.

Director of Sales for California Lawyer Magazine and The Daily Journal newspapers.