So much for summer being a slightly slower time for the meetings industry—three big business deals took place in one week in late July.
First, the global trade-show, exhibit, and event company Freeman acquired experiential marketing agency Sparks in order to secure a bigger foothold in the corporate-event segment. Based in Philadelphia, Sparks has provided exhibit and event experiences for various Fortune 1000 brands, including Google, Salesforce, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and T-Mobile.
According to a Freeman press release, the deal allows Sparks “to focus on the corporate market while leveraging Freeman’s industry expertise and operational excellence.”
“Our combination with Sparks creates a unique opportunity to accelerate Freeman’s vision to become a leader in the corporate space,” added Freeman CEO Bob Priest-Heck.
Over the past few years, Sparks has been in growth mode itself. In 2019, it purchased Big City Moms, a content and event producer for young parents, followed by the purchase of Group Delphi in 2020. Presently, the company has about 1,000 employees.
After the deal was announced, Sparks posted this message to its website: “We will gradually integrate relevant personnel, locations, and clients from Freeman’s agency and custom-exhibit business into our operations, creating an exciting new growth platform that holds immense potential for us and our customers.”
The Hybrid-Event Landscape Gets Stronger
Another industry deal that happened: Event-management software provider EventMobi bought Run the World, a virtual-meetings platform.
Bob Vaez, founder and CEO of EventMobi, said in a release that “we’re doubling down on our ability to deliver diverse event formats and expand our reach. We’re thrilled to welcome Run the World and immerse them in the full value of hybrid events.”
Founded in 2019, Run the World grew an international customer base during the Covid pandemic, including Forbes, Meta, Amazon, United Nations Development Programme, and Harvard University. The platform hosted over 50,000 virtual events between early 2020 and late 2022. “We couldn’t have anticipated the explosive interest Run the World would generate,” says Xiaoyin Qu, founder and CEO. “As the world settles back to in-person events, we’re thrilled to join forces with EventMobi.”
Vaez noted that “the future of events will blend in-person and virtual experiences to foster and engage communities. We are committed to enabling our customers to choose the best format to allow their attendees to learn, connect, and exchange ideas year-round.”
Run the World customers will be able to join EventMobi over the coming months with the help of EventMobi support staff.
An Early Virtual-Events Leader Offloads Products
Hopin, a virtual-meetings firm founded in 2019 that had a meteoric rise when the Covid pandemic struck, has seen its business fade such that, in late July, it sold its Events and Session business units to RingCentral. Events was Hopin’s platform for producing virtual meetings; Session manages interactive engagement during online events. These products have been added to RingCentral’s video-solutions business and are now known as RingCentral Events and RingCentral Sessions.
Hopin will continue to offer products such as StreamYard for livestreaming, Streamable for video hosting, and Superwave for community building.
