Chris Moody, CEM
Senior Show Operations Manager, Society of Manufacturing Engineers
cmoody@sme.org
Number of events in 2025: 6
Types of Events: Manufacturing technology
Average number of attendees in 2025: 5,000-40,000
What is your role associated with meetings and events?
I lead the operational functions for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) event portfolios. This includes serving as the primary contact for selected venues and major vendor partners and playing a lead role in developing onsite event execution plans.
What skills do you think are essential for planning successful meetings and events?
Besides project management skills I’ve developed over the years, I have also been performing, teaching, and promoting improv for the past 20 years. Improv improves my communication, confidence, creativity, and mental well-being. Improv also improved my listening skills in my professional life.
What is your philosophy or approach to challenges and unexpected issues?
I try to be as proactive as possible in everything I do, which frees up time and energy to react to unexpected challenges. Before I travel to the event show site, I try to have all loose ends tied up. Also, I believe there are never problems—only challenges that allow me to showcase my abilities.
How do you keep up with industry trends, changes, and cutting-edge developments?
I attend industry events, such as IAEE Expo! Expo!, IMEX, and many others. These events highlight the latest trends and developments within the trade-show planning industry. I also read manufacturing and trade-show industry publications. These magazines are circulated throughout the events department, and we discuss various articles and topics in our weekly meetings.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy the collaboration between our show management team and our service providers. While we hold some events in the same locations each year, others rotate to new and exciting locations. This rotation allows me to create original plans each year. I also love to be able to perform improv in all the cities where I travel. Improv communities are some of the most welcoming places.
How would you describe your biggest professional success?
SME produced FABTECH during a hurricane in Orlando in 2024. Our priority has been and always will be the safety of our exhibitors, attendees, and staff. The hurricane passed over Orlando during the last week of move-in and caused us to close the facility for two days. With constant communication between all parties, including state and local resources, exhibitors, attendees, and organizational leaders, we were able to open the show on time and reduce the impact of the hurricane to produce our first FABTECH event at Orange County Convention Center.
Please share an anecdote about a unique or unusual event that you organized.
Coming together as a team during the challenges of the FABTECH event just after the hurricane in Orlando was incredibly fulfilling. This experience helped us create contingency plans for future events. It also created some lasting memories that we can look back upon years from now.
What is the best professional advice you ever received, and what advice would you offer others in the industry?
“People know what they like and they like what they know.” Although it was in the context of DJing during my time as cruise director for Celebrity Cruises, it applies to event planning as well.
My advice for others in the industry is to avoid “copy and paste” planning. Every event is different and should be created from a blank canvas.
What do you hope to achieve or look forward to as you plan events in 2026?
I am looking forward to rekindling past relationships and establishing new ones with our service providers as we prepare for our 2026 FABTECH event to return to a destination we’ve not visited in 10 years (due to the pandemic in 2020 and venue challenges in 2024). We hope to build on the success of the recent FABTECH shows in Orlando, Atlanta, and Chicago over the past 10 years and continue to make FABTECH a rewarding experience for attendees, exhibitors, and our host destination.
