In today’s world, Leadership is no easy task. As leaders in the events industry we have all had our leadership style analyzed, our strengths and weaknesses identified, and have taken a barrage of courses on how to work with different generations, cultures, and to deal with diversity in the workplace.
As Event Leaders we are trained to drill down to the minutia and details that are going to make a difference in the outcome of our events. Treat your resolutions the same way.
Managing your stress and anxiety leading up to and during the holiday season can be challenging. Take a proactive approach to managing your stress and anxiety by using many of your skills you use every day in your role as an event leader:
Planning a corporate holiday party? Here are five risk management tips to keep the “Bah Humbug” out of your holiday event.
Retreats are a great way for industry boards to plan the upcoming year, but how do you ensure that they are an effective use of time? Here are two key ingredients!
In this week’s Tech Thursday, Michael Granek, President & COO of ELI, and Kevin from Clark’s AV answer the question “What is a camera riser?”. Kevin shares what the difference is between a regular riser or stage deck vs. a camera riser, and why you need one when having a camera at your event.
In this week’s Tech Thursday, Michael Granek, President & COO of ELI, and Kevin from Clark’s AV answer the question “what is a snake?”. Kevin shares what snakes are used for, the cost benefits of using snakes, and more.
The Event Leadership Institute and Clark’s AV have teamed up to bring you Tech Thursdays, short, micro-lessons about AV equipment and event technology. In this week’s video, ELI’s President & COO, Michael Granek, and Kevin Rowe from Clark’s AV answer the question “What are lumens?”
One of the latest technologies that you’ll start to see more of over the next few years is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). You may have even heard of this type of tech before, but maybe you’re not quite sure what to do with it. To help you decide if RFID technology is right for your next event, we’re going to dive into what exactly Radio Frequency Identification is, what problems it solve, and additional benefits it can provide.
Serving on the International Live Events Association (ILEA) Rhode Island Board for six years in a row, being a finalist in the BizBash Event Style Awards and now, serving as President of her ILEA chapter, it’s no doubt Kimberly Doell, CMP, has made her mark on the events industry.
A common challenge that teachers face is developing lesson activities that provide engaging learning opportunities, but that are also memorable enough that students will retain key points long after the course or program. When I was teaching a course in risk management and law in an event management diploma program, I was faced with this same challenge.
The special event world is demanding and stressful, but can also be very rewarding. The glowing smile of an event guest can’t be overstated. It gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you’ve put your own personal imprint on that attendee’s experience. Crafting these special memories is a tall order, and constantly pushing the boundaries is difficult.
When Carleigh Dworetzky first began her career in the hospitality industry, she had no idea her career would undergo such an impressive transformation, taking her…
I’ve heard so many event business owners talk about how they can’t stand accounting or say that they “have an accountant for that”. If you’re one of those people, then this article is for you! It’s easy to pass off the elements of your business that you don’t understand (or don’t want to understand), but the challenge is, how do you know that it is being done correctly? The simple answer is, you don’t.
Jennifer Davidson is the Founder and Managing Director of Sleek Events, a boutique events agency with an impressive roster of clients including Amazon Business, Looker…
When Courtney began her journey towards a career in events, the most relevant degree she could achieve was in Recreation & Leisure Services Administration with an emphasis in Special Events from The Florida State University. Since then, the events world has changed dramatically, many leading universities offer event programs and education, and the industry as a whole has drastically shifted, too. With nearly 20 years of experience in the world of events, Courtney has seen many of those changes first-hand.
Today, Event Leadership Institute alum, Siri Brudevold, is an Event Planner at Charles Koch Institute, but her journey towards a career in events didn’t begin there. Knowing she needed to fill gaps in her experience, skills and knowledge in order to better succeed in her industry, Siri enrolled in the 10-week Event & Meeting Management Fundamentals Certificate online course at ELI.
Event Leadership Institute and Montclair State University alum, MarrLa Merritt, has had quite the prosperous career in events. How did MarrLa get her start in the industry and where is she today?
Planning an event requires more than ordering supplies and securing a guest list. Beyond the basics, you need to ensure that your message is not only reaching the right audience, but also eliciting the right feedback. Event audience engagement can reflect how effective your methods are and influence future events in positive ways. Here’s how to measure (and increase) audience engagement at your event.
Caroline Kay is a conference and event planning mastermind with boundless creativity and more than 15 years of business and event management experience. She’s recognized for thoroughly understanding the business needs of her clients and producing events that meet those demands. Her globe-spanning events are meticulously managed and engineered with ingenuity, with a constant eye to ROI for her clients.
Untraditional venues break the mold and can help you deliver an unparalleled attendee experience. Untraditional venues are spaces that were typically not created for events as their main purpose. Airplane hangars, warehouse spaces, breweries, wineries, bowling allies, art galleries, zoos, museums, aquariums, or even parking lots could all make great untraditional venues for conferences, workshops, fundraisers, galas, or other business-related events.
To most outsiders (not us planners), the event start is usually the time the ballroom doors open. To us, it starts at the first drop of creative materials. That said, it’s important that we make a splash, a statement and an everlasting impression as soon as the save-the-date or invitation hit a prospective attendee’s mailbox. Creative materials are what sets up event themes and guest expectations and, most important, what sets us apart from our competitors.
Corinne Kessel, CSEP has more than a decade of experience designing and managing event décor installations in Western Canada. Her hands-on approach, attention to detail, and dedicated team have earned Greenscape Design & Décor a reputation for producing high quality specialty event décor. Her undeniable passion and dedication to the events industry, and the people within it, has positioned her as an industry leader and valued collaborator. Corinne supports those around her, gives back to her community and donates her time to industry associations. Corinne is also a published author, an accomplished musician and most importantly, a tired mom of 2 energetic toddlers!
Kate Bullard is an Events Manager at Baker McKenzie and has over 7 years events management experience in the legal sector. Kate manages a varied programme of events ranging from conferences, roundtables, drinks receptions and other corporate hospitality events. Kate is the co-founder of Eventprofslive, a networking group for corporate event managers based in London and the surrounding home counties.
Looking for an exciting new role? Check out our May event jobs list with over 150 opportunities available in the event and meetings industry right now!
A Senior Event Manager with a passion for delivering amazing, out of the box, creative and inspiring events with a high attention to detail. Michelle is the co-founder of Eventprofslive, a networking group for London & Surrey Event managers. Michelle loves to work with up and coming talent in the industry to help them love being an event manager as much as she does.
Event marketing is an essential step in pulling off a fantastic event. Not only can it help spread awareness about the event, but it can also help you engage attendees before arrival, disseminate important information, and more! And yet, many event planners leave social media as an afterthought when it should really be at the forefront of an event management and marketing strategy.
Communication is key to establishing a life-long donor. For fundraising events, it is so much more than generating one-night revenue (although that is important). The data we can collect before and during an event can translate into a much larger campaign that drives greater value.
One of the main reasons event professionals learn with us is to hone the skills needed to advance their event planning careers, and many of…
Helen Moon, is a CIM qualified events and marketing director with an eclectic mix of experience in the events industry that spans 21 years and includes event production, venue operations, proactive sales and digital marketing. Helen is known for her role as CEO and Founder of EWL Club, Editor of the Diary of an #Eventprof blog, and now Managing Director of EventWell Ltd and co-founder of #EventWell17 and UK Event Wellbeing Week.
Today’s event marketers are tech savvy and data driven. They understand the importance of engaging attendees long before and after the event itself. Delivering personalized experiences isn’t a “nice to have” anymore. Customers expect seamless experiences, interactions and personalization.
Since 1986 Annette Naif, CEO & Creative Director of Naif Productions, has been designing and producing custom events. Helping clients create their unique signature style that translates into a memorable experience has been Annette’s passion from the beginning. The drive to provide a distinctive role for superior personalized service in the event planning industry inspired Annette to launch her own event design company in 2010.
Christy is the founder and CEO of Strategic Meetings & Events, an international, multimillion dollar, award-winning planning firm. A lifelong learner, entrepreneur, teacher, intellectual philanthropist, writer and master strategist, Christy taught strategic planning at the college level for 10 years which inspired her upcoming strategic planning textbook. Her marketing and business acumen was showcases in AMEX OPEN and UPS Store videos, and she has been recognized for her entrepreneurial skills, leadership acumen and contributions to the meetings industry.
Are you looking for a new job? Do you want to launch a career in the events industry? Check out our March list of exciting career opportunities available right now!
After five years in venue management for the iconic Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in NYC, since 2013, I have had the honor of serving as a full-time event planner for The Juilliard School, one of the world’s leading arts conservatories. Each year, I directly plan or help my team coordinate over 80 special events. My background is deeply ingrained in the performing arts: I am known to be a kick-ass SM, with a deep reservoir of live event management across all areas (corporate, non-profit, artistic/creative performances, meetings and conferences). You name it, I’ve done it.
So your client (or company) is in the middle of planning their signature event or company meeting, and they’re turning to you to come up with ideas on who the speaker should be that will inspire the crowd, while also not costing a fortune. If you’re anything like me, you know that speaker vetting can be, at best, a time-consuming process and, at worst, a frantic, soul-crushing search for someone who is going to both deliver AND make your client or boss happy. While I can’t help you meet your next best speaker, below is the tried and true process I use with all my clients, that often yield them better results than pricy search firms and mass press releases.
You’ve sent out invitations. You’ve secured sponsors. Months of planning. Endless phone calls, meetings and details. So what are you missing? It might just be capitalizing on social media to take your event to the next level. But event planners often find social media marketing near the bottom of their to-do list.
Are you looking for a new job? Do you want to launch a career in the events industry? Check out our February list of over 190 exciting career opportunities!
Armed with over 20 years of experience in the industry, Christina Taylor is the President and Owner of TaylorMade Experience (TME), a full-service consultancy that specializes in event management, business management, fundraising, and more.
From a career in project management to interning at the White House, Brandi Carson has had her fair share of dynamic and challenging experiences. Today, Brandi is a successful business owner with a thriving wedding planning company.
As event planners, we handle it all—what time the tables are being delivered, what time the entertainment goes on stage, what meals are being served—don’t forget the lady at table 10 who requested a vegetarian meal. She’s already emailed three times about it! Our minds are constantly moving from one thing to the next—no wonder it’s easy to get distracted by shiny things.
When Will Curran began to DJ in high school, he had no idea his fun gig would end up transforming into a wildly successful production business, Endless Events. Today, Endless boasts an impressive roster of clients, from Uber and Emerald City Comicon to Bud Light and Amazon.com.
One of the main reasons event professionals learn with us is to hone the skills needed to advance their event planning careers, and many of them ask us about job openings. Likewise, many industry employers reach out to us looking for good candidates to fill a variety of job positions, knowing that we strive to help event pros raise the caliber of their work to the best possible industry standards. Here, then, is our effort to help bring these two parties together.
If you’re planning to become a wedding designer, it’s important that you know how to communicate your value to potential clients. You should easily be able to convey the key differences between a wedding planner and wedding designer, the dynamic skills wedding designers have, and how you will help take their wedding to the next level.
Gone are the days of the stuffy black-tie fundraising gala: an event built on a five-course meal and lengthy live program featuring speakers touting organizational accomplishments.
Today’s eventgoers demand a more…
One of the greatest challenges event planners face is how to minimize attrition while maximizing attendance and engagement. Making sure guests attend the event and have an amazing time is vital—but how do you ensure that everyone who RSVPs will actually show?
Whether you’re just starting out in the event and meetings industry or you’re looking to take your current career to the next level, these tips can help you elevate your career!
As a result, a creative block can be a blow to an event planner’s productivity and ability to do their job. While creative blocks are at times unavoidable, they can be overcome. We’ve put together some sound strategies for overcoming your next creative block when it strikes.
Event planners are notorious for their attention to detail, perfected timelines, relationships with vendors, venues and clients, and overall not-messing-around standards of excellence. They’re also known for their ability to adapt and flawlessly execute their Plan B, C or even D as naturally as if it were Plan A.
Want to upgrade your event tech and AV skills? Sign up for our Open House webinar to learn more about taking our Technical Meeting & Event Production course and hear from the instructor, Brandt Krueger!
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