B2B influencer marketing chat series Mariska Kesteloo | WORD of MICE

In April and May, Mariska Kesteloo travelled around Poland in her camper. Agnieszka Ciesielska recorded a podcast with Mariskain in Poznan. Agnieszka is an eventprof and blogger from Poland. You can visit Agnieszka`s blog here Eventova Blogerka.

Agnieszka and Mariska talk are endless, especially as they are skimming around the discussion about the approach to the new reality, survival, and development in the coming months. After a few moments, the two ladies feel that they have found a common understanding. Their MICE market perception is similar, although the places where they live and work seem distant…

We invite you to an interview recorded by Agnieszka Ciesielska with Mariska Kesteloo from World of MICE.

The conversation covers several important aspects, some of them still relevant:

Agnieszka asks about #MariskaJourney -  Mariska’s trip to Poland in her camper, plans for the subsequent visits to other cities, and what she went through a year ago in her private life. It is a touching story of a woman who has lost the closest love of her life in an unequal struggle with the disease.
Another Agnieszka`s question is about her observations on the constantly flowing refugees from Ukraine and how to continue to support them. The topic is already getting not very popular… our national optimism died out at the beginning of May. At that time, when we were recording our conversation, Polish people had a massive record of energy supporting our neighbours from Ukraine.
Behind us is not an easy business time, pandemic, downtime, and no orders. Whether Poland or the Netherlands, where Mariska lives. Our reality has hit our businesses very hard. The impact on the meeting and event industry was huge at that time. Conflict escalation in Ukraine forced people to flee their homes, seeking safety, protection, and assistance. In the first five weeks, four million refugees from Ukraine crossed borders into neighbouring countries and most of them to Poland. How can the event industry be reborn in such a dynamic situation? What is Mariska’s advice? How to keep doing what we love continuously? How to find a golden means for life in such brutal pandemic or geopolitical times?
At the beginning of pandemia Aga started providing online events on online avatar-based platforms avatarland.eu. Mariska company: Word of MICE is the first and only global influencer community for the MICE industry. How do our businesses change at different times of the year? What can we advise our colleagues in the MICE industry for the future?
In the post-pandemic world, we can hear about a trend to redesign marketing strategies and information shared with tourism as new possibilities for Event Managers: new destinations, experiences, and services positively influence our clients? Are we ready to define it from the begging?

We invite you to listen to the talk of two evenfprof Ladies and to post your comments.

Antti Lumiainen is an event enthusiast with over 10 years of industry experience and a strong believer of face to face and the power of events. Having a diverse background in associations, exhibitions and event management, Antti is now working with Helsinki Marketing, promoting Helsinki as a meetings and events destination. He has been active for several years in the local chapter of Meeting Professionals International and currently holds the position of President Elect. He is passionate about giving back to the industry that has created so many possibilities for his career.

Nadja Rubtsova has more than 10 years of experience in the meetings industry. Before starting her own business in 2020, Nadia has worked in 4 different countries as well on the suppliers’ side as from the client’s side. Nadia specialises in business development, sales and negotiations.

During this episode we will cover the following topics together with Nadja Rubtsova and Antti Lumiainen:


Why has Helsinki chosen to put influencer marketing for the meetings & events industry on their agenda?
How do you select the right influencer for your city?
Based on which criteria did Helsinki choose for Nadia to work together?
How do you create a relevant content calendar in these challenging times for our industry?
What are the tasks of the influencer during the campaign?

Carina Bauer began her career in retail and catering, before entering the meetings industry in 2002 as the Marketing and Operations Director for IMEX in Frankfurt, as part of the original launch team for the exhibition. Following the expansion of the IMEX brand into America in 2009, Carina was appointed CEO of the IMEX Group. In her role, Carina is responsible for all aspects of the business.

We are all sad that the IMEX 2021 edition in Frankfurt is cancelled, what will happen? The following topics will be covered with Carina Bauer:


We will talk about how IMEX adapts to the current changes. More details about the decision-making process will be shared in our conversation
IMEX has a strong community and loyal visitors who come every year to Frankfurt and/or Las Vegas. We will talk about how F2F communities were fragmented by Covid and what that means for IMEX and for others
Marketing & social media. IMEX always has been very active on social media and Carina will share insights about the tools and strategies they have used

Robert Szulc is the CEO of Boomerang, an incentive company based in Warsaw, Poland. The company has specialised in travel for corporate clients for 20 years. Experience, passion and creativity are their three main strengths. They organise incentive and corporate trips abroad, like motivational company trips, conferences, congresses and fairs.

The aim of all projects is to strive for excellence in providing participants with unforgettable experiences. A network of contractors around the world and travel experiences allow them to create unique and unconventional incentive programmes. They are avid travelers with great knowledge of the countries they travel to.

During our chat episode with Robert Szulc live from Ecuador we will cover the following topics:


How you can create a community on Social Media by sharing your passion and personal ideas
How his community contributed to the growth of his incentive company
Sharing his dream journey that he started in January 2021 and will visit 4 continents in 4 months #worldinstages_4continents
Latest news about the new normal in travel and incentives – airlines, airports, hotels, MICE industry and destinations in Europe and South America

Maris Kuklis is a curious, adventurous and enthusiastic relationship marketing team player who is always keen to learn, develop and share knowledge. Result-driven, passionate and creative guy with solid business acumen and a comprehensive skill-set underpinned by extensive experience in hospitality, events, airline and destination sales as well as marketing.

Within Etihad Airways, Maris is responsible for developing the MICE market for Etihad’s global network, long-term value and profitability.

During the episode with Maris we will cover the following topics:


What were the most important steps that Etihad Airways has taken on the level of safety and security of the passengers?
What has Etihad Airways done to remain in touch with its clients?
The future of Etihad Airways; new initiatives and what are the plans for 2021 and beyond

Helen Moon founded Event Wellbeing Week and EventWell Ltd in 2017, the event industry’s first charitable social enterprise and resource dedicated solely to offering wellbeing advice, knowledge and support to event professionals to keep them well.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the world of marketing and events and she believes passionately in the value of live events and the power of the communications that all marketers create and deliver. She loves what she does, and believes that every individual should be given the freedom and opportunity to find their passion in life.

During the episode with Helen Moon we will cover the following topics:


The role of wellbeing in the MICE industry
How Helen Moon got passionate about wellbeing and started her company Eventwell in 2017?
The role of marketing for her company; sharing best practices from Eventwell
Sharing practical tips on how to disconnect for eventprofs (especially going offline) in a very connected world