Speaking of Events

Kate Cardoso is the Director, Strategic Events at HMI Performance Incentives. She is passionate about events and wants to make sure that attendees of events can better connect with the host, venue and everything else. Kate joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about event planning and shares some of her tips for success.       Takeaways   There are major staffing shortages right now and supply chain vendor issues, which leads to complications in event planning. It’s important to be patient during these times.  Availability of hotels during COVID has also made event planning difficult, since the options are limited and rates have gone back up. You want to think through your best practices and think of things differently. There are more options of unique solutions now with covid guidelines coming down. Make sure that you are prepared as best as you can. Sometimes things go wrong but you need to be ready in case they do.  A good speaker will insist on talking to the client to understand what their target group is. The pandemic was a good time to reframe and rethink your business and make sure you are doing everything right. Site inspections are Kate’s favorite part about the event planning process.    Quote of the Show   8:17 “Strategy is really just trying to find the best way forward” Links   Twitter: https://twitter.com/katecardoso1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katecardoso/ Website: https://hmiaward.com/ Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/_V47gaaOllU

Bob Bejan is the Corporate Vice President: Global Events, Production Studios and Marketing Community at Microsoft. He is passionate about event planning and finds the entire process to be cool and exciting. Bob joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about strategic events and his tips on how to make them run smoothly.       Takeaways   A lot of work goes into event planning in the corporate world but it can be very entertaining to plan it and put it together.  Human resilience is important when it comes to corporate event planning. When COVID hit, it was tough on the industry and resilience and bounce back of the industry became very important. Being a leader in the event industry means that you need to have patience and be understanding of your employees, but also be strong at the same time.  Don’t be afraid to be a well rounded individual and listen to what others have to say to you. It can make you a better leader.  Inspiring speakers is something that can’t be understated. You want the speaker to feel comfortable and relaxed so they can give a good presentation.  Always plan for something to go. You should always have a backup plan in case technology fails you. Being a performer is about interpretation of work, and that translates into event planning as you can interpret an event to a client's liking.   Quote of the Show   4:41 What makes [events] cool and incredibly compelling is the fact that when you're doing events in the corporate world, the reason the event is happening is because something incredibly important at the company it's happening…The most senior people in the company are always involved, and so it makes it so like you're kind of in the center of everything.” Links   Twitter: https://twitter.com/bbejan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbejan/ Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/?ql=2 Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/T3YIaIW_e20

Steve Brown is an event professional. He’s worked his way up from being a paid actor as the energy police in England, wearing a big pink fuzzy hat and handing out magnets to people,all the way to being a full blown event professional. Steve joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about some of the tips he’s learned for professional event planning and how to make everything run smoothly.     Takeaways   It’s not as incredibly easy to put on events and make them appear seamless and effortless.  You want to have the right kind of menu for your event and make sure that works with the theme of the event.  When planning an event, keeping aesthetics in mind is important. You want to make sure that the colors for decorations and the setup all go with the event and make sense.  Sometimes a career break is the best decision you can make. Mentally we can be tasked with too much work over the years so taking a break for a bit is a good idea. There can be a bit of a language barrier in terms of international events, so make sure you understand who you are working with and try to communicate with them. Steve likes being on site and running around getting everything ready for an event to go live.  Focusing on your mental health is something that can be very beneficial to you personally and professionally.    Quote of the Show   11:53 “It's great to see events come back. I think at one point it was like, where is our industry, what's happening to it? It was almost mourning it, the way I felt and it was like, wow, is that ever going to be the same again? And you know, we are taking some huge positives out of those digital events.” Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-brown-12a251a/ Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/q9UonbxIljw

Liam Martin is the Director of Running Remote Conference. He is also the author of the book “Running Remote”. His business has been fully remote since it was first launched and he sees the advantage to having remote teams. Liam joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about remote work and event planning.      Takeaways   Events are easier to start up now than in the past. You can start them up in a similar way to how tech startups get going.  Pareto’s Principle says that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of the consequences comes from 20% of the cause.  When looking at running a business, you want to look at what assumptions you are making from your conclusions. Remote work has become normalized during the pandemic, and some of the largest companies are all remote.  With remote first organizations, every employee in theory should have the same informational advantage as the CEO. It creates a culture of transparency. When planning an event, it’s easier to think about the people that shouldn’t be at the event and then you can figure out the kind of people that should be at the event from there. You need to prepare for things to go wrong at an event. Assume that things are going to go wrong and be ready to fill any gaps.   Quote of the Show   33:03 “If you are not in that category, I would highly suggest you actually get some speaker training. Even in just your tonality, the speed at which you speak, you're speaking too quickly, or are you speaking not fast enough, are you pausing in the right moments? This is kind of the thing that takes an okay talk, that's just factual, to something that everyone will remember.” Links   Twitter: https://twitter.com/liamremote LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liammcivormartin/ Website: https://runningremote.com/ Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Running-Remote-Successful-Remote-Work-Pioneers/dp/1400232147 Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/2hWdU8-TJHY

Susan Chebookjian is an Event Professional. Her and Kerri go back all the way to the days of Kerri helping her with a Christmas play. Susan has a passion for theater and event planning, which shows throughout her conversation. She joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about some of the tips she has when it comes to event planning.      Takeaways   Events are not like planning a birthday party. It is complex and there are tight deadlines that can not be pushed back. Some elements are the same from one event to another, but there are so many different things to consider as well, such as the audience and the kind of content you deliver.  Theater and event planning are a little similar. In both of them you are putting on a production and there is a lot of planning, preparation and rehearsals that go into both. When planning for an event, you want to plan for a year ahead at minimum. It gives you more time to get everything into place.  Transitioning from in person events to virtual events can be difficult. You need to have contingency plans and strong communication with all members of your team. There is a difference between the speaker point of view and the speaker trainer point of view.  In a hybrid event, it creates a decoupled audience where you are bringing together two different audiences.   Quote of the Show   4:19 “It's not like planning a birthday party. It's far more complex. Um, and we are timeline driven and those timelines can't be pushed out like any other project. It is what it is. And you have to stick to your timelines.” Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schebookjian/ Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/Lda6O9mJaF0

Jeff Kalpak is the President of Americas at FIRST. His passion for events and public speaking is evident by the beautiful work that he does all the time. He uses the 10 principles of storytelling to influence his event planning style and it creates a lasting impression on guests. Jeff joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about all things event planning and what advice he might have for others.      Takeaways   Events have an incredible shelf life. If an event is done well, it stays with you for a long time. It’s something that happens once but can live on in the way it makes you feel. There are 10 principles of storytelling and the first one is to think about where you want to end up. With the audience, you want to build backwards from there. Speaking to clients often and giving them advice can help save them from potential disaster situations.  People don’t always understand the amount of preparation that goes into planning an event. You need to plan for backup plans in case something goes wrong. Event planning can be done in the hybrid environment. The skills to deliver the event are different when it is remote but it still can be done. You want to lead with empathy. It helps to create better events when you step into the shoes of those who will be at the event. Take the time to talk to people and see where they are coming from. You want to make people feel comfortable and you need to be flexible with people now.   Quote of the Show   16:26 “I think leading with empathy is the key and I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. Um, it helps us create better events when we really step into the shoes of. Our audience, our clients, our stakeholders in the event to really understand where they're coming from, what they're doing, but the landscape is, it's a big, it's a big deal.” Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkalpak/ Website: https://firstagency.com/ Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - ​​https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/OtG7Kgwn54s

Here we are with Kevin Cobb! This week we’re here to discuss how much time can really go into an event and how any event is so much more than just a one day ordeal. There’s plenty of work that goes into making sure your event is perfect both before and after it even starts and that is what Kevin is here with us to discuss! .     What do you wish more people knew about events: :   An event takes place before, during and after anyone arrives. Takeaways   An event isn’t just a one day ordeal. Your event should have a strategy that everyone who is involved in it should know about. Use the time after the event is over to reflect on how it went. Being able to pick out what worked and what didn’t work only helps you even more for your net event. Hone in on what an event can excel at and amplify it even more.  Allow your audience to supply you with their own feedback.     Quote of the Show:   “Your event should be pouring gasoline on what your strategy is the whole rest of the year.” - Kevin Cobb Links   Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinjcobb LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kevinjcobb Website: embarq.com

Planning an event isn’t just planning a party, there are whole entire teams of people all working together to put on a great event that will help make brand new connections. After starting those new connections, that's where you can start to see the value of your event, and Lisa Lundeen is here to give you all the information you could ask for when it comes to it!      What do you wish more people knew about events:   Real business gets done at events, deals are made and pipelines are moving forward. Takeaways    Real business is done at several events that even pushes the global economy forward. There is a lot more work that goes into putting on an event than someone may originally think with a whole team of people working together to make it happen. Having time to debrief after your event is finished lets your team communicate about what did and didn’t work. Stop and think about how your industry can engage anyone attending your event. A hybrid event is important, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always the best option even if it does include in person and virtual aspects.  A hybrid event should give someone multiple options on how to connect at that event. Since a virtual event is very different from an in person event, you shouldn’t focus on connecting the two groups but instead giving them the tools to connect in a way that works for them.      Quote of the Show:   “And they really don't understand that these events true businesses getting done.That pipelines are moving forward. Deals are getting closed. Companies are doing real business. That result has an impact on the global economy. We're not throwing parties where we are doing real business” - Lisa Lundeen Links   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-lundeen-0514817 Website: freemanco.com