They say you can’t buy experience. That may be true, but you can hire it. And that’s what MGME, the New York City-based meeting management company, did when it brought in its new head of creative, Dave Muraca.
Muraca (right) has a decade of experience as a creative director, delivering experiential, digital, broadcast, and print campaigns for high-profile organizations such as the NFL, Mastercard, ATT, YouTube, and the U.S. Army. At MGME, his role will include overseeing clients’ pre-, during-, and post-event communications and developing campaigns to promote the company’s full-service offerings.
MeetingsNet caught up with Muraca to ask him about transferring his experience to the meeting and convention space.
MeetingsNet: There's an opportunity for creativity in many aspects of the meeting-planning process, including communications, event design, and participant engagement. What part of the process gets you most excited and why?
Dave Muraca: Great question. I spent many years as an integrated creative, and I learned the value of a core message and how it can resonate with the audience. Fine-tuning and crafting that message gets me excited since it’s the foundation for every attendee touchpoint moving forward. If executed at a high level, that message pulled through all three event-planning phases will become the key takeaway for all in attendance, be it a live or hybrid event.
MeetingsNet: How is building a team of creatives for a meeting-management company different from other organizations?
Muraca: Communications in live events pose unique challenges, requiring a distinct set of skills. With numerous touchpoints, each interaction can lead to one of three outcomes: either the brand's perception is diminished, its affinity is maintained, or the ultimate goal is achieved—the brand is elevated.
The skills required for a broadcast producer are vastly different from those of an event producer; there are so many potential points of failure that are innate to live events. During a commercial shoot, if things don’t go as planned, the creatives can yell, “Cut!” In the live event space, we can’t stop the action and reset from the top, so we need to plan down to the very last detail, and it’s that attention to the minutiae that makes MGME unique.
MeetingsNet: What might someone be surprised to learn about you?
Muraca: I presented to senior leadership of the Army on a secure line to the Pentagon. It was an unplanned meeting, and I was wearing an inappropriate T-shirt.
