Where Branding Becomes the Experience: Inside metroConnections’ Creative Evolution

The Creative Services team at metroConnections has spent decades shaping environments, elevating messages, and building branded experiences that resonate long after an event ends. Their evolution didn’t come from a sudden shift—it grew from years of hands-on problem-solving, late‑night debates over substrates, and countless brainstorms where digital, physical, and experiential ideas collided. Over time, one truth became undeniable: branding wasn’t just supporting the experience. It was the experience. 

As client expectations expanded toward more immersive, high-tech, and highly detailed environments, the team’s work grew in scale and complexity. metroConnections had long delivered branding as a core part of its creative offering, but the volume, sophistication, and strategic importance of that work made one thing clear: it was time to give branding its own dedicated leadership and structure so the discipline could grow to its next chapter. 

That momentum aligned with the advancement of Tom Hays, now Vice President of Creative Services. Tom’s journey, from junior video editor to creative leader, reflects the depth and breadth of the team’s capabilities. Over the years, he developed a rare blend of digital fluency and production intelligence, recognizing early on that branding was a strategic tool capable of shaping environments, reinforcing messages, and extending the life of an event far beyond the ballroom. 

“We had a couple of major programs that really pushed us — one with an enormous surge in animation and another that required an incredible level of precision across every branded detail.” says Tom Hays, VP of Creative Services. “Those moments didn’t just stretch our team; they showed us what we’re capable of when we treat branding as a core discipline instead of something that gets added at the end.” 

As the work grew more complex, the need for a dedicated branding team became undeniable. metroConnections’ unique position as both a creative agency and a production company meant the team already understood materials, environmental applications, and the realities of installation. What they needed was a structure that matched the scale of the work. And so, the Creative Services team expanded its offerings with Branding & Experiential — not as a new offering, but as a natural evolution of the team’s expertise. 

At the center of this new chapter is Allison Lundeen, now Manager of Branding Services. Allison’s path from event coordinator to branding leader reflects her natural eye for detail, her curiosity for materials and fabrication, and her instinct for how branded environments shape the attendee experience. Her focus on custom activations, material intelligence, and streamlined processes has already strengthened the consistency and creativity of branded work across metroConnections’ partners. 

“What I love about this work is how closely we get to understand what our clients want — not just the look, but the intention behind it. Every program is different, and our team is built to adapt. We can shape our process around their needs, stay aligned with their priorities, and make sure every branded detail feels purposeful and consistent.” Allison Lundeen, Manager, Branding Services 

Together, Tom and Allison represent two sides of the same evolution: the long arc of creative leadership and the spark of reinvention. Under their guidance, the Creative Services team has become a unified ecosystem where branding, digital, fabrication, and strategy operate in constant conversation. Ideas aren’t just creative — they’re achievable. Materials aren’t just chosen — they’re understood. Digital content isn’t just designed — it’s engineered for the realities of live events, where presentations change, and timelines shift.  

The team’s production intelligence sets them apart in an industry where many vendors still rely on Pinterest‑style concepts that haven’t been tested against real‑world conditions. Because they understand the constraints of each environment — from rigging limitations and fire codes to sightlines, power access, and load‑in paths — they design with the actual venue in mind, not an idealized version of it. Their hands-on experience across hundreds of spaces means they can instantly see how a concept will look and function on site, long before the first piece is built.  

The result is a Creative Services team that feels more like a creative engine: agile, technically fluent, and deeply invested in elevating every branded moment. The formalization of the Branding Department isn’t just an internal milestone—it’s a signal of where the industry is headed and how metroConnections continues to lead it. Branding is no longer the backdrop. It’s the experience. And this leadership team and their talented team members are ready to build it. 

About metroConnections

Founded in 1984, metroConnections produces large-scale conferences, corporate meetings, and branded event experiences for organizations across the United States and internationally. From program strategy and creative concepting to stage production, meeting planning, attendee registration, social events and transportation coordination, metroConnections manages the full scope of a conference or large scale event. We produce programs of varying sizes for in-person, hybrid, and virtual programs.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, metroConnections is known for delivering complex, high-stakes events with disciplined planning and seamless on-site execution. As a 100% employee-owned company, the planners, producers, and program managers behind each event have a personal stake in delivering exceptional results. For more information, visit www.metroconnections.com.

Dakota Ratcliffe

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