Lee Ali

Lee Ali is the founder of Expo Stars Interactive, an award-winning global trade show performance agency based in UK. Lee and his team now support exhibitors in over 100 cities across 53 countries to optimize their exhibition engagement and achieve measurable results through the provision of strategic consultancy, booth staff training and professional booth staff.

Lee is also a mentor and coach for SME business owners, business psychologist, sales strategist, and an international speaker at industry conferences and exhibitions.

PRESENTATION |

Han Leenhouts & Lee Ali

Module 3: Beyond the Brief

Session Overview

Every exhibition project starts with a brief, but exceptional projects begin by questioning it. Han Leenhouts and Lee Ali combine contractor and exhibitor perspectives to demonstrate how asking better questions improves client briefs, uncovers hidden objectives, reduces costly revisions and elevates contractors into trusted advisors. Participants practise consultative questioning techniques using real exhibition scenarios while also discovering why questioning is becoming one of the defining human skills in the AI era.

Key Takeaways

Improve discovery • Build authority • Better briefs • Stronger relationships • Better AI prompts.

Agnieszka Garboś, CTSM

Agnieszka has spent the last 13+ years on trade show floors all over Europe, as an exhibitor, an organizer, and a stand builder. Not many people can say they’ve done all three, which is part of why she earned the CTSM (Certified Trade Show Marketer) credential.

Early on, she worked as a trade show organizer and ran 3 international shows in Poland. That hands-on start still shapes how she thinks about things today. She’s seen the business from every side of the booth. These days she runs trade show and conference strategy for Impact Clean Power Technology, covering their presence across the e-mobility and renewable energy world, everything from market research and booth design to running the show on-site and reporting what it actually delivered. Before that, she managed international projects for industrial and government clients, putting together more than 200 stands and pavilions across Europe. Along the way, she’s also trained a lot of exhibitors on how to get real results from trade shows.

PRESENTATION |

Agnieszka Garboś

Module 1: Speak Exhibitor

Session Overview

A practical, hands-on session that flips the traditional supplier perspective. Agnieszka explores why exhibition briefs often fail to capture the client’s real business objectives and demonstrates how suppliers can become strategic partners rather than order takers. Using practical examples and interactive exercises, delegates learn to identify weak briefs, challenge assumptions constructively, design around visitor outcomes instead of aesthetics, use exhibition performance data to influence client decisions, and embed follow-up into the project from day one. The emphasis throughout is on practical tools that can be applied immediately on the next client project.

Key Takeaways

Spot weak briefs • Design for outcomes • Become a strategic advisor • Use data with confidence • Build follow-up into every project.

Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, founder of TubeFest and Festival of AI, with 25+ years helping organisations adopt technology.

practicalai.co.uk/room

PRESENTATION |

Han Leenhouts & Lee Ali

Module 4: AI Productivity Lab

Session Overview

This immersive 2.5-hour workshop moves beyond AI theory into practical application. Guided by Matt Hughes, delegates bring their own laptops and build a real AI-powered business tool that solves a genuine workplace challenge. Through live demonstrations, guided exercises and expert coaching, participants learn prompting, workflow design, responsible AI usage and practical productivity techniques—without writing a single line of code. Everyone leaves with a working tool they can use immediately.

Key Takeaways

Build your own AI tool • Practical workflows • Responsible AI • Prompt engineering • Personal AI toolkit.

Han Leenhouts

Keynote Speaker & Exhibition Expert

Professional Summary
Han Leenhouts, founder of Sales & Pepper, is a distinguished international keynote speaker and trainer specialized in exhibition performance, sales training, and live communication. With over 30 years of hands-on industry experience, including more than a decade in stand building, Han has personally guided thousands of companies globally towards measurable exhibition success.

Key Expertise

• Exhibition and trade show performance training
• Visitor engagement and exhibitor strategies
• Storytelling and presentation skills
• Pitch development and execution
• Mindset selling and value-based sales

PRESENTATION |

Han Leenhouts & Lee Ali

Module 3: Beyond the Brief

Session Overview

Every exhibition project starts with a brief, but exceptional projects begin by questioning it. Han Leenhouts and Lee Ali combine contractor and exhibitor perspectives to demonstrate how asking better questions improves client briefs, uncovers hidden objectives, reduces costly revisions and elevates contractors into trusted advisors. Participants practise consultative questioning techniques using real exhibition scenarios while also discovering why questioning is becoming one of the defining human skills in the AI era.

Key Takeaways

Improve discovery • Build authority • Better briefs • Stronger relationships • Better AI prompts.

Agnieszka Maruda

Agnieszka Maruda is a keynote speaker, author, Tedx speaker and specialises in resilience, emotional regulation and sustainable high performance.

PRESENTATION |

Agnieszka Maruda

Module 2: Future-Proof Under Pressure

Session Overview

High-pressure event environments demand more than technical competence—they require emotional regulation and resilience. This interactive workshop introduces a practical framework for understanding tension, practising on-demand relief techniques, proactively managing team energy, recognising generational differences, and maintaining performance when the stakes are highest. Delegates leave with practical habits that compound throughout a career.

Key Takeaways

Regulate pressure • Improve resilience • Manage energy • Lead calmly • Immediate workplace tools.

Aliya Rajah

Aliya Rajah is an Executive Presence and Public Speaking Coach who works with senior leaders and teams to communicate with confidence, clarity, and impact. She helps ambitious professionals strengthen their presence, influence, and ability to command the room. Recognised as one of the UAE’s leading leadership coaches, Aliya has worked with CEOs,
entrepreneurs, legal and healthcare professionals, educators, and public figures across multiple sectors.

PRESENTATION |

Aliya Rajah

Module 5: Building Executive Presence

Executive presence is more than confidence or charisma. It is the ability to communicate with clarity, credibility and authority while building trust and influence with others.

This interactive workshop is designed to help future leaders strengthen their presence, communicate with greater impact and navigate high-stakes conversations with confidence.

Through practical exercises, coaching and reflection, participants will develop the mindset, communication skills and leadership presence needed to engage stakeholders, inspire confidence and represent themselves and their organisation more effectively.

The session will delve into the three pillars of executive presence and explore how leaders can elevate their visibility, communicate strategically, manage pressure and show up with authenticity and confidence in meetings, presentations and everyday interactions.

Key Takeaways

By the end of this workshop, participants will learn how to:

• Build a more confident mindset.
• Develop a stronger executive and leadership presence.
• Communicate with greater confidence, credibility and authority.
• Build trust and influence through verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Leave with practical tools and techniques that can be applied immediately in the workplace.

Jörg Zeissig

Joerg Zeissig has been the CEO of Holtmann+ since 2019, transforming the company into an Experiential Marketing Agency and leading provider of exhibition construction and live communication. Before joining Holtmann+, he held various international management positions, including many years at Leipziger Messe, where he contributed significantly to the internationalization of several business areas starting in 1997. He later headed the company’s Asian subsidiary in Singapore, expanding its global network and strengthening its presence in key markets. Following his work in the trade fair sector, Joerg took on senior roles in the event and exhibition services industry, including positions at Expotechnik (today ET Global) and as managing director of two companies specializing in event and media technology. Since 2025, he has also served as President of the international industry association IFES, where he supports the global development of exhibition and event services. With more than 25 years of experience, he advocates for sustainable, innovative, and future-oriented concepts in the event industry in numerous councils.

PRESENTATION |

Moderated by Jörg Zeissig, President of IFES. Panel members to be confirmed.

Futureproof Your Career

Session Overview

The Masterclass concludes with an inspiring moderated panel exploring what it really takes to build a successful international career in the exhibition industry. Through candid discussion, delegates hear about defining moments, failures, leadership lessons, future skills and career advice from senior industry leaders before participating in an interactive Q&A.

Key Takeaways

Leadership lessons • Future skills • Networks • Mentoring • Career roadmap.