2x the sponsorship and 41% more exhibit revenue for WTUI’s 35th.
Western Turbine Users brings the people who run and service GE aeroderivative gas turbines together each spring to compare notes. CTC took on the conference in 2025. Two years in, the 35th anniversary meeting in Long Beach drew more than twice the sponsorship revenue and 41% more exhibit revenue than the year before CTC.
Western Turbine Users Inc.Energy & Power GenerationAnnual conference and exhibition2025 – 2026Long Beach, CA
2x
Sponsorship revenue against 2024, the year before CTC
+41%
Exhibit revenue against 2024
-23%
Cost of the signature night reception against 2024
01 – The brief
Grow the conference’s income, and keep its costs in view.
The association’s annual meeting is four days of technical sessions, an exhibit hall, tournaments and receptions for gas turbine operators and the service providers who support them. When CTC came on in 2025, the brief was to:
- Strengthen the conference’s finances, with more sponsor and exhibitor investment
- Keep venue, food and beverage and production costs in check as prices rose
- Keep the exhibit hall at the center of the event for users and exhibitors alike
- Mark the 35th anniversary with an evening attendees would remember
- Run a four-day program, two tournaments and two receptions on schedule
02 – What we did
Run every moving part, and price every one of them.
CTC manages the conference end to end: venue and housing, registration and the event app, the exhibit hall, sponsorship, programming and audio visual, food and beverage, the receptions and the golf and axe-throwing tournaments. Four things did most of the work.
Give sponsors more to put their name on. Sessions and both tournaments carried sponsors, so sponsorship grew with the program instead of competing with it.
Sell the floor, then sell next year. The exhibit hall was planned around how attendees move through it, and exhibitors could book their booth for the following conference before they left Long Beach.
Hold the big night to a budget. The signature reception, a pirate-themed 35th anniversary party with a ship set, performers and a photo booth, came in 23% under its 2024 cost.
Compare every cost, every year. Each major line, from food and beverage to audio visual and security, is tracked against the two previous years, so the board can see rising costs coming and plan for them.
03 – The results
More investment from the industry, two years running.
Sponsorship revenue against 2024, the year before CTC:
| Year | Sponsorship revenue vs 2024 |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Baseline |
| 2025 | +63% |
| 2026 | +111% |
Exhibit revenue followed the same line: up 20% in 2025 and 41% in 2026, both against 2024.
- Sponsorship revenue more than doubled, against 2024, and up 30% on 2025
- Exhibit revenue up 41%, against 2024
- Registrations up 6%, on 2025, for the 35th anniversary meeting
- Signature reception 23% under its 2024 cost
- Next year’s booths sold onsite before exhibitors left Long Beach
04 – Services
What CTC delivered.
- Onsite Management
- Registration
- Mobile App
- Housing & Room Blocks
- Sponsorship Coordination
- Venue Management
- Food & Beverage
- Audio Visual Management
- Event Branding
- Event Signage
- Speaker Management
- Financial Management
- Post Event Report
05 – More case studies
Attendance doubled, and engagement up 92%
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A festival that beat its attendance target, on a tight budget
West Basin's 2024 Water Harvest Community Festival beat its attendance target with 92% of the crowd from the local service area, 10% growth from outside it, and strong program sign-ups - on a tight budget.
Brought in with twelve weeks to go. Attendance nearly doubled.
Brought in as a consultant with three months to go, CTC took over onsite delivery of a three-day film industry conference in Los Angeles. Attendance finished 98% up on the previous year, within budget.
06 – Start here
Tell us the date and the budget.
We will tell you what is possible.
Year-two growth like this starts with one conversation about where a conference’s money comes from, and where it goes.