A Year of Growth and Transition: Q&A with Travis Tucker

Team GTR • November 7, 2022

Pandemic recovery, the robust return to in-person events, a renewed focus on technology, a new platform release…and then an acquisition. If 2021 was all about honing the craft, 2022 has been about building upon that strong foundation.

Fresh off a merger with Personify, Inc., we sat down with Travis Tucker, the newly crowned Head of Event Business Strategy. We got his thoughts on what the future holds for GTR, and discussed his new role with Personify.

What are you looking forward to accomplishing in your new role?

Travis: Such exciting times at GTR! As the new Head of Event Business Strategy, I’m focused on more than the strategy at GTR. Now I have the opportunity to participate in the discussion for Personify’s overall event vision and move the combined organization further into growth via data-driven, smart events.

How will Personify’s community engagement technology improve the event management experience for event planners who know and love the GTR platform?

Travis: Existing GTR clients now have the full event technology stack in one location. Personify allows our clients to add an event app, 365 days’ worth of engagement, financial management, exhibit management, and so much more. Leveraging all of the best-of-class products provides our clients with a single source provider and actionable data.

That actionable intelligence means we can assist them in planning and executing even better events. Those data insights can help clients determine ‘premium booths’ or drive marketing decisions. We’ll be moving from strength to strength together.

A2Z Events from Personify helps with floor plans, booth sales, and sponsorships. How does this build upon GTR technology?

Travis: For GTR clients with an exhibitor floor plan, A2Z Events now offers them the opportunity to sell booth space and sponsorship and manage the entire process in one suite. Once integrated, exhibitors will be able to manage their booth, purchase lead retrieval, manage booth staff registration, and execute the event from a single dashboard. For show organizers, this consolidation of data will allow you to grow revenue, increase efficiency and articulate ROI.

ePly Reg is aimed toward small organizations providing intuitive, simple event promotion, registration, payments, and evaluations. How will GTR Register™ assist those who previously used Personify?

Travis: I am really looking forward to current ePly customers seeing GTR Register. Those organizations will really benefit from the flexibility provided by GTR Register. The highly customizable nature, coupled with its ease of use, will make switching easy. We built GTR Register to be simple yet powerful enough for the most complex of events.

What does team integration look like now that Personify and GTR are joining forces?

Travis: Personify is a remote-first organization. As such, the GTR team will be able to work from wherever they are currently. Integration plans are well underway to integrate GTR first with A2Z but quickly with all of the Personify products as our offering, which is modular in nature, has a solution for everyone. Whether it is allowing events to sell lead retrieval, track attendance, or provide an onsite, kiosk-based badge experience. Events are now simpler, smarter, and more efficient with GTR. I cannot wait for Personify customers to experience the GTR product line!

In your 2021 year-end wrap-up, you said goodbye to what we thought of as normal. Now that we’re well into 2022, what does the new normal look like for you?

Travis: I have nothing but compassion for event organizers in this current climate. Looking at the data, we see an entirely new attendee persona developing. Attendees are far later to register than ever before, which makes planning so difficult. Additionally, budgets are constrained, event staffing is still at 50% of pre-pandemic levels, and exhibitors are eager to see quick ROI with increased opportunities for relationship building at in-person events.

Event organizers are trying to be more nimble with fewer resources, and vendors are still recovering from the pandemic. All of this is driving the ‘single source provider’ model where organizers are demanding to work with as few partners as possible.

That’s why the merger of GTR with A2Z Events and Personify is such a game-changer. We can now offer an end-to-end solution for event planners and full-service solutions, too.

What can Personify and GTR customers look forward to as we begin to plan for the 2023 event season?

Travis: First, they can rest assured that they will continue to receive the same best-in-class products and services they have grown accustomed to. We have always been obsessed with ensuring event planners are supported and that they receive the outstanding experience they expect from our platforms.

The vision at Personify is for a deeply integrated solution. As we have always done, we will continue to look for new, cutting-edge solutions to our industry’s emerging issues. I have been a part of some really exciting meetings and know there are some solutions to industry issues that Personify is serious about solving. I could not be more thrilled to be a part of the combined entity and am fired up about what is coming!