CloserStill Media taps industry veteran as president to lead US expansion

Global events business CloserStill Media has appointed exhibition industry leader Yancy Weinrich in the newly created position of president of North America. She will be charged with spearheading major expansion and high-growth acquisitions across multiple industry portfolios as part of CloserStill Media’s plans to deliver aggressive growth during the next two years.

Weinrich, a 17+ year veteran at RX (formerly Reed Exhibitions), served as the chief growth officer since 2019 where she led the organisation in growth strategy, marketing, content, digital and activations for 25+ B2B events across a multitude of sectors.

Prior to 2019, Weinrich had been in senior leadership roles, and has received many industry honours including  the American Gem Society’s Triple Zero Award. Before Weinrich’s tenure at RX, she held business development and finance roles at leading membership industry trade associations and has a continued commitment to serving in the non-profit sector as a board member with several organisations.

Gareth Bowhill, CEO of CloserStill Media, said: “Yancy Weinrich is not only an experienced, forward-thinking leader in the exhibition industry, she also has an incredible track record of driving growth and innovation through organic business development, launching new events, and acquisition. CloserStill Media is looking forward to expanding our global business by twice its pre-Covid size in the next 24 months. Under Yancy’s leadership and vision in the US market, we will continue our customer-centric approach in leading and dynamically growing market sectors.” 

CloserStill Media has over 400 employees and delivers events across a range of dynamically growing industry verticals including corporate learning and HR, enterprise technologies, eCommerce, healthcare and veterinary. The group has experienced substantial growth since entering the US market in 2017 through the launch of New York Vet (+ 3 regional shows), as well as the acquisition of FocusZone in 2018 which established the group as the biggest provider of corporate learning and learning technology events in the US.

Most recently CloserStill Media acquired a majority investment in the Influence Group, which provides hosted leadership retreats of C-level executives.

“I have always been driven by businesses in fast growing development and building phases,” said Weinrich. “I am excited to join this highly motivated and brilliant worldwide team, and to help uncover pivotal new opportunities in the US market that will add to and magnify the existing tech, healthcare and innovation sectors that CloserStill Media has a keen focus on by showcasing CloserStill’s broader capabilities to new partners and customers.”

CloserStill is owned by Providence Equity Partners who have previously backed high growth investments in the exhibition space through Clarion Events (subsequently acquired by Blackstone) and George Little Management (subsequently acquired by Emerald Expositions).

CloserStill Media is seeking individuals to join the team in growing market sectors. Professionals are encouraged to apply at https://careers.closerstillmedia.com. For more information about CloserStill Media, visit https://www.closerstillmedia.com/.