GIANNA'S GEM: How We Pulled Off a User Conference in Brazil with 60 Days sans Site Visit

Why the Best Events Aren't Built on Perfect Plans—They're Built on Trust and Team

Here's a story about what happens when you cancel a user conference, get acquired by a company, and then decide to plan a last-minute event in said company’s first market, Brazil, with barely two months of runway. Spoiler: it taught me more about what truly matters in event planning than a decade of perfectly executed programs ever could.

The Challenge That Changed Everything

Picture this: Windsurf gets acquired by Cognition AI. We cancel Windsurf's planned user conference slated for San Francisco, November 2025. Then, in a plot twist worthy of a telenovela, we decide to host a user conference in São Paulo with a planning timeline so compressed it would make even seasoned planners break out in hives (not that I did, but may have sprung a few gray hairs along the way). Two months. In Brazil. A country we'd never worked in before that takes no less than two days of plane travel (each way) from San Francisco.

The math was brutal: as flights take two days each way, a traditional site visit would consume a full week of our already impossible timeline. We had to launch registration immediately, which meant committing to a venue we'd never physically seen and locking it in within a week of kicking off a search (!). Every event planner reading this just felt their stomach drop—I know, because mine did too.

Why This Story Matters: The Success Formula Nobody Talks About

We pulled it off. Not just pulled it off—we exceeded our attendance goals, delivered an experience that had attendees showing up in custom Cognition-branded polo jerseys they'd competed for against Devin in a math game activation onsite, and created the most engaged user conference audience I've seen in my entire career. One attendee even brought his wife to teach her about AI agents. When was the last time that happened at your conference?

But here's what made it work, and it wasn't perfect planning or unlimited budgets or even divine intervention (though I'll admit to some heavy manifesting). It was four things that matter more than any venue or vendor contract:

• A United Team

• Unwavering Positive Attitude

• Seamless Collaboration

• A Trusted Agency Partner

Let me break down why these four elements transformed what could have been a disaster into one of the most memorable events I’ve planned recently:

The Power of Partnership: Why a Decade of Trust Made the Impossible Possible

I've worked with my production agency for over a decade (message me if you need an intro!). That relationship became the bedrock of this entire production. When we couldn't do a site visit, they activated their local agency partner in São Paulo—boots on the ground who knew the market, spoke the language, and understood the cultural nuances we couldn't possibly grasp from California.

But here's the critical learning: even trusted partners can't replace your own eyes on complex venues. We thought we had it figured out remotely. We booked what looked like a perfect historic venue—the Jockey Society—with a second floor perfect for an executive track. Then one of our team members traveled to Brazil for work a month before the event and discovered that second floor wasn't up to our standards.

Crisis? No. This is where trust and collaboration turn problems into solutions. We pivoted fast—launched a new venue search, moved the executive track to a different venue and different day. Did it create extra work? Absolutely. But our agency partnership and team unity meant we could adapt without panic. And pivot we did! Within just a few days, we’d locked in the Rosewood on an even more optimal date (day before F1) and had a contract signed in less than a week before someone else could swoop in and challenge it.

Learning #1: Build relationships with agencies, and any partners before you need them. 

When you're planning an event in an unfamiliar market with an impossible timeline, decade-long partnerships become your insurance policy. I also had my favorite photographer I’ve worked with for close to two decades onsite. I didn’t have to micromanage him - every time I wanted a shot captured, he’d already taken it. That’s the power of working with trusted team members and building relationships that last decades and through many companies and clients. You learn each other's preferences and can start working even more seamlessly anticipating each other's needs.

The Brazil Reality Check: What They Don't Tell You in Planning Guides

Let's talk about what working in Brazil actually means for event planners:

The Response Time Reality

Brazilians operate on a different timeline. Vendor responses that take hours in the US can take days in Brazil. There's a language barrier, yes, but there's also a cultural approach to efficiency and quality standards that differs from what we're accustomed to. This isn't good or bad—it's just different, and you need to plan for it. I didn’t get our menus for the event until the week prior, but I relaxed and trusted that this was normal and low and behold, food/beverage was one of the highest rated aspects of the experience.

The Buffer Principle

We built substantial buffer time into every deadline, and we needed every minute of it. For two days straight, we worked around the clock—literally overnight shifts—to deliver the exceptional experience we'd promised. Would I recommend working 48 hours straight? No. But I would recommend building in twice the buffer time you think you need when working internationally. Not to mention, Government shutdown in the US caused half of our team’s flights (including my own) to be severely delayed or canceled, so definitely leave yourself and speakers buffer as well. We had to rejigger a few speakers and staff members as a result, but luckily it still worked out seamlessly.

The Load-In Reality

Load-in in Brazil requires significantly more time than comparable US events. The infrastructure, processes, and logistics simply move differently. Budget extra time, extra hands, and extra patience.

Learning #2: International events require international-sized buffers. Triple your timeline estimates. Double your team. And accept that "normal" doesn't translate across borders.

Why Unique Venues and Exceptional Food Still Matter—Maybe More Than Ever

Despite the compressed timeline and logistical challenges, we didn't compromise on two things: a unique and venue that paid homage to local culture, and food quality. And these small details matter.

The Venue Choice

We chose the Jockey Society—historic, distinctive, and completely unlike any convention center or hotel ballroom. Open-air terraces overlooked the horse track with sweeping views of São Paulo - it’s cool and classy (like our Cognition brand!). During keynotes and meals, attendees could step outside, feel the breeze, and remember they were in this beautiful, vibrant city. The venue wasn't just a backdrop—it was part of the experience.

The Food Philosophy

We curated a diverse, healthy menu that honored local favorites: great wines, caipirinhas, fresh coconuts you could drink from straws, and authentic Brazilian cuisine alongside international options. We treated our attendees like royalty, and they noticed and were so happy, we had virtually no attrition.

Learning #3: People remember how you made them feel, and nothing makes people feel valued like exceptional food and hospitality or a friendly greeting in a memorable setting. Don't cut corners here, even when timelines and budgets are tight. We had translation and the most exceptionally talented (and might I say gorgeous) brand ambassadors supporting the experience onsite. They truly went above and beyond and having staff that actually cares and is helpful and informative is a major signal of hospitality and also of how your company treats its customers and community.

The Audience That Changed My Perspective on Engagement

Here's what stunned me most: the Brazilian audience repaid our investment with the highest level of engagement I've ever witnessed at a user conference.

Minimal attrition throughout the entire day—from morning keynotes through afternoon breakouts, hands-on labs, demos, and evening networking. Every seat filled in the keynotes. Every breakout full. People actually showed up to absorb the experience, not just check the boxes, or grab the swag and part of the session and jet.

In the US, we're accustomed to networking-focused conferences where learning sometimes takes a back seat to deal-making and socializing. In Brazil, attendees came to learn. They wanted to understand our products, see real use cases, test features hands-on. They asked questions. They stayed for every session. They wore those Cognition jerseys with genuine pride, not ironic detachment. They did our “man on the street” video interviews, stood and kindly practiced their English when I asked them what we could do better (see my blog on why I love feedback), and one of them even asked if I was going to be sending out an event survey!

Learning #4: Different markets have different motivations. Understanding what your audience truly values—and delivering on that—creates engagement that no marketing budget can buy.

The Real Lessons: What Two Months Leading up to in Brazil Taught Me About What Matters

After a decade of planning events, here's what this compressed, chaotic, completely imperfect Brazil conference planning sprint clarified for me:

Trust Beats Timelines: A trusted agency partner with local expertise is worth more than a perfect project plan. When things go sideways (and they will), relationships are what save you.

Team Unity Is Your Superpower: A collaborative team that can pivot gracefully when the unexpected happens will outperform a larger team with perfect processes every time. Our team stayed positive, adapted constantly, and supported each other through two days of round-the-clock work—that attitude made everything possible, and might I say FUN?

Cultural Intelligence Trumps Assumptions: What works in San Francisco or New York doesn't automatically translate to São Paulo. Respect the local market, work with people who understand it, and be humble enough to learn from what surprises you.

Excellence Is Universal: Despite language barriers and cultural differences, people everywhere recognize and appreciate when you've invested in creating an exceptional experience. The food, the venue, the care we took—it all communicated respect, and our attendees responded with enthusiasm and engagement.

Buffer Time Is Event Insurance: When working internationally, especially in markets with different operational rhythms, build in buffer time you think is excessive. Then add more. You'll use it, and you'll be grateful you have it.

The Bottom Line: What Actually Delivers Unforgettable Events

Perfect planning is overrated. Perfect partnerships are priceless. You can have the most detailed project plan in the world, but if you don't have a team that trusts each other, maintains positive attitudes under pressure, and can collaborate through chaos, your event will suffer. And if you don't have agency partners who know you, understand your standards, and have local expertise you can rely on, you're flying blind.

The Brazil conference succeeded not because we had more time or resources (we had less of both), but because we had the right people in the right relationships approaching challenges with the right mindset - which was, we would succeed (if humbly) at all costs with determination and grit and a bit of humor and levity too.

For Planners Considering International Events:

• Build agency partnerships before you need them

• Invest in local expertise—you can't Google (Or Claude/GPT) your way through cultural nuances

• Budget significantly more time and expense for travel and logistics

• Don't compromise on venue uniqueness and food quality—they're worth the investment and try to focus on what’s important locally even if it’s different from what you’re used to

• Understand that your audience's motivations may differ from your domestic expectations

• Assemble a team that values collaboration and maintains positivity under pressure

• Accept that some things won't go as planned, and that's okay—flexibility is a feature, not a bug

The Brazil Bottom Line:

Would I do it again with two months' notice? Honestly? Probably not—the overnight shifts and stress took years off my life. But would I encourage planners to take calculated risks on international events with the right team and partners? Absolutely.

Because sometimes the events that push you furthest outside your comfort zone teach you the most valuable lessons. And sometimes—when you have trust, team unity, and a little bit of samba in your soul—the impossible becomes not just possible, but extraordinary.

Ready to discuss how the right partnerships and team can transform your next event from logistically challenging to genuinely unforgettable? Always happy to chat. 

What international event challenges have pushed you to grow as a planner? I'd love to hear your stories—drop me a note and let's compare notes on what we've learned in the field.

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini

Let me guide your team 👉https://www.giannagaudini.com/learn-from-me

Gianna Gaudini is an event strategist, advisor, and author of the Amazon bestselling book "The Art of Event Planning." She's held leadership roles at Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Airtable, creating unforgettable experiences that drive business results.

Gianna’s Gem: Stop Running Events. Start Building A Portfolio That Moves The Needle.

Hi there,

If you're reading this in Q4, you're in the perfect position to get ahead of the curve. While most event teams are scrambling to close out this year's calendar and reactively filling next year's dates, the truly strategic organizations are using this window to step back and build an intentional portfolio for the year ahead. 

This is exactly why Q4 is my favorite time to work with clients—there's still time to influence budgets, challenge assumptions, and architect a portfolio that's tied to business priorities before you're locked into legacy commitments and resourcing pressures. The difference between organizations that plan their portfolios in Q4 versus those that piece them together in Q1? About six months of strategic advantage, clearer ROI stories, better sponsorship opportunities and pricing, and the confidence that comes from knowing every event on your calendar has a defensible reason for existing. Let's talk about why that matters and how to make it happen

The Business of Events vs. The Events Business: Why Strategic Portfolio Planning Is Your Competitive Edge

Here's something that I’m thinking a lot about lately: the difference between just running events and strategically deploying a portfolio of experiences that moves the business needle. After years of leading events at Google, Airtable, AWS, and now consulting with AI, VC and tech companies of all sizes, I've seen too many organizations treat their event calendar like a random collection of activities rather than what it should be—an integrated, purposeful channel designed to guide audiences through every stage of their relationship with your brand.

Let me tell you why this matters more than ever, and how to get it right.

The Fundamental Shift: Speaking Business Language, Not Just Event Language

Most event teams are stuck in what I call "the events business"—focused on logistics, budgets, task lists, and execution. Yes, those things matter. But they're table stakes. The transformational leap happens when you shift to "the business of events," where strategy leads, outcomes drive decisions, and every single experience is purposefully designed to achieve specific business results.

This isn't semantic wordplay. It's the difference between being seen as a cost center and being recognized as a revenue and relationship driver. When you speak in business language—pipeline acceleration, customer lifetime value, market penetration, brand equity—now you’re driving real outcomes for your company, not just executing someone else's vision. I’ll never forget at my very first agency role, my CEO, Dave Mana, told me “Never be an order taker”. 22 years later, I have never forgotten that and help my clients and agencies also think more strategically rather than tactically.

Your Event Portfolio Is Not Just A Calendar—It's An Integrated Ecosystem

Let’s clear up a misconception: An event portfolio isn't a calendar of things happening. It's an integrated series of events, specifically selected and engineered to motivate audiences to act at each stage of their relationship with your company.

Think about that. Every event should have a strategic reason for existing based on where your audience is in their journey with you. The customer journey has fundamentally changed, and we're now responsible for the entire lifecycle—pre-sale and post-sale, acquisition through expansion, awareness through advocacy.

Your flagship customer conference? It's phenomenal for deepening relationships with existing customers, building community, and driving adoption. But it's actually one of the least effective ways to reach new prospects. That reality should fundamentally shape how you allocate resources, when you plan hosted conferences during your sales cycle and the split between your brand and business goals and how you’ll achieve them with each type of events.

Regional roadshows? They're your secret weapon for prospect acquisition. Go to where your customers and prospects are instead of expecting them to travel to you.

Third-party industry conferences? Fish where the big fish are. They’re powerful for brand awareness, thought leadership, meeting new customers and nurturing your executive prospects and also  reassuring existing customers that you're still relevant in the market. Plus, there’s an opportunity cost of NOT showing up to these when your competitors are there in a big way.

The Portfolio Planning Process: Three Strategic Steps

After conducting countless portfolio assessments with different size organizations, I've refined this into a systematic approach that actually works. To distill it down into a high level overview:

Step 1: Current State Assessment—Know Where You Stand and What Else is Happening in the World

This is where brutal honesty meets strategic opportunity. You need two critical inputs:

The Macro Environment: What are the industry trends? What are competitors doing with their event strategies—where are they exhibiting and at what level? What's their hosted event approach? What geographical and event marketing trends are shaping the landscape?

The Internal Assessment: Your current event strategy, goals, and actual results. The reality of your portfolio by event type and customer journey stage. Your spend distribution between owned and third-party events, and within sponsorships, your ratio of booth investment to activation investment.

The intersection point between these two assessments is where your event strategy should be built. Complete an honest portfolio assessment for your current mix. Are you too heavily invested in one area? How does your current distribution compare to your overall marketing objectives?

This moment of clarity is gold. I've watched organizations realize they're spending 70% of their budget on customer-focused events while their biggest business challenge is new logo acquisition. That's a strategic misalignment that no amount of execution excellence can overcome.

Step 2: Develop Clear Portfolio Objectives—Connect Events To Business Strategy

This is where you get rigorous about prioritization and allocation. The key question isn't "What events should we do?" It's "Given our business priorities, where should we concentrate our investment?"

Pick your priorities. Choose two primary dimensions from: Product, Objective, Industry, Audience Type, Geography, or Department. You cannot be all things to all people. The companies that try to evenly distribute their event investment across all dimensions end up creating mediocre impact everywhere instead of market-moving momentum somewhere specific.

Ask yourself the hard questions (or have someone like me guide you through them):

• What's the right balance of objectives? (Awareness vs. lead generation vs. pipeline acceleration vs. customer adoption vs. brand awareness, vs. loyalty and advocacy)

• Who are our priority audiences?

• What are our priority industries and geographies?

• Which press and/or analysts matter most? Which partners and competitors?

• Which products or solutions are most important right now?

• What about pure brand plays?

• What other marketing campaigns are we planning for the year that events can feed into?

Once you have clarity on prioritization, establish your recommended distribution. I typically see effective portfolios allocating investment between owned and third-party events based on their acquisition vs. retention goals, then layering in spend by marketing objective to ensure balance. 

Gianna’s Gem: A general rule of thumb is that earlier stage companies typically spend 60% of their budget on third party hosted events and 40% on owned events, whereas more mature companies switch to 60% budget spend on owned events vs. 40% spend on third party events.

Step 3: Select Appropriate Events—Format Matters More Than You Think

Now comes the tactical execution of your strategy. Three critical steps here:

Select the correct event formats based on what you're trying to achieve. Roadshows for prospect acquisition. Customer conferences for community building and expansion. Third-party conferences for awareness and ecosystem alignment. Digital events or field marketing training days for scalable education.

Invest time and budget in activating accordingly. A strategic portfolio with poor execution is just an expensive plan. Your activation approach should be as thoughtfully designed as your strategy.

Establish consistent evaluation criteria so you're comparing events against objective standards rather than gut feelings or political pressure. Every event should be measured against the same framework aligned to your portfolio objectives. 

Gianna’s Gem: There is NO BAD DATA, so no matter what, measure what happens at your events and you will walk away learning something - marketing gold!

Why This Matters: The Value Proposition of Strategic Portfolio Planning

When you approach your event program as a strategic portfolio rather than a collection of activities, everything changes:

• Your investment decisions become defensible because they're tied to business priorities

• Your team can communicate impact in language executives actually care about

• You can identify gaps and redundancies that are draining resources

• You create a framework for saying no to events that don't serve your strategy

• You shift from reactive to proactive, from tactical to strategic, from cost center to growth driver

The organizations I work with that embrace portfolio planning don't just run better events—they fundamentally transform how their companies view and value the event function. They earn seats at the strategy table because they speak strategy language and deliver measurable business outcomes.

The Bottom Line: Strategy + Execution = Sustainable Event Excellence

Strategic portfolio planning isn't about making your event calendar more complex. It's about making it more intentional and repeatable. It's about having the clarity and conviction to invest heavily in the experiences that will genuinely move your business forward, and the discipline to divest from those that won't and optimize along the way based on what you learn.

This is the work that separates good event programs from truly exceptional ones. This is how you build sustainable excellence rather than scrambling event to event, quarter to quarter, wondering if your events are really achieving the results you desire and are worth the investment.

Some strategies are worth the investment in getting right. This is one of them.

What I'm Loving This Week: And for all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey

I love playing tennis… but that’s not what drew me to this book. The Inner Game of Tennis revolutionized my understanding of performance under pressure, and it's become one of the most influential books in my approach to both events and strategic planning. Gallwey's central insight is that your biggest opponent isn't external—it's the interference you create in your own mind.

He introduces the concept of Self 1 (the conscious, telling self) and Self 2 (the unconscious, doing self). Self 1 is the voice that judges, criticizes, tries to control every detail, and creates performance anxiety. Self 2 is your natural ability, trained reflexes, and intuitive capacity to execute at a high level when you get out of your own way.

Why I loved it: This framework completely transformed how I approach high-stakes planning and execution. The best event strategists I know have learned to quiet Self 1's anxiety and trust their trained judgment. They've done the work (the portfolio assessment, the stakeholder interviews, the data analysis), and then they trust themselves to synthesize that into clear strategic direction without overthinking it into mediocrity.

They know that peak performance comes from relaxed concentration rather than tight control. That's the mindset shift that allows you to present bold portfolio recommendations to executives without hedging, to make tough prioritization calls and to execute with conviction.

For anyone managing complex strategic initiatives, this book offers a mental framework that reduces interference and amplifies your natural strategic capability. It's taught me that confidence isn't the absence of doubt; it's the ability to act decisively despite it. Read it. Trust yourself. Execute brilliantly.

Ready to assess your current portfolio and build a strategic roadmap that connects your events to business impact? Let's discuss how portfolio planning can transform your program from successful to indispensable.

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini

Let me guide your team 👉https://www.giannagaudini.com/learn-from-me

Gianna Gaudini is an event strategist, advisor, and author of the Amazon bestselling book "The Art of Event Planning." She's held leadership roles at Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Airtable, creating unforgettable experiences that drive business results.

Gianna's Sexy Property Spotlight: Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort

Chic, Thoughtful Design Meets Hawaiian Paradise

I've stayed at countless Hawaiian hotels in my life (it was a favorite family vacation spot growing up and also a favorite incentive trip for companies I’ve worked for), and the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort isn't just another beachfront property—it sets a gold standard in how a modern resort should think about the entire guest experience and is a 10/10 for the overall experience and value. Whether you're planning a corporate event, milestone birthday or wedding, or personal escape, this renovated gem delivers on every level and for relatively reasonable cost.

Why This Property is a Standout: The Details Matter

Let's talk about the things that make or break a hotel stay. You know what's annoying? Arriving before your room is ready with nowhere to go. The Andaz Maui gets it. Their arrival Lounge features showers, a microwave, cold beverages, and a comfortable “living room” like lounge to decompress—because your vacation (or work trip) shouldn't start with sitting awkwardly in the lobby for three hours.

And can we discuss the room amenities? Every guest receives a beach bag and two reusable water bottles. Forgot yours at home? No problem. They've thought of it. The rooms themselves are intelligently designed to maximize every square foot—think carved-out storage under the bed for shoes, extra wall-rack right by the door for hanging towels and wet swimsuits and complimentary Hawaiian snacks and beverages you need stocked and replenished throughout your stay… the water stations and ice on every other floor and “spa water” infused with citrus at every pool…It's this kind of smart space planning and thoughtfulness about what guests want and need that makes you wonder why other hotels haven't figured this out yet.

But here's where they really won me over: premium Nespresso pods (not generic coffee) and DryBar hairdryers in every room. As someone who has suffered through countless bad hotel coffees and hairdryers that turn my hair into a frizz disaster, these were welcome surprises I don't even find at supposedly "luxury" properties. The little things? They're actually the big things. Case in Point: I’ll never forget this past year I was planning a Milestone Birthday for a dear client at a luxury hotel in Napa, and she showed up to the final evening event (where I had scheduled a photographer to take professional photos of the couple and their guests), with WET HAIR! When she told me it was because the hotel’s hairdryer was so bad it wouldn’t dry her hair, I was appalled. So hotels - don’t do this to your guests! They deserve better.

Sophisticated, Smart, Timeless Design 

The Andaz Maui has done an A+ job on maintaining classic Hawaiian traditions and aesthetics and upgrading them to be fresh, modern, chic and versatile. The aesthetic is clean, natural, and unmistakably Hawaiian—but in a sophisticated fashion that uses clean neutrals, wood, fres, neutral-toned carpet (with a delicate, light pattern) with pops of color introduced only via art and Hawaiian orchids. The traditional “welcome moment” as you arrive and approach the breathtaking Lobby still boasts a welcome with Hawaiian Lei and specialty fruit juice, and sweeping open-aired views of the ocean, with a fun upgrade which is a sand-feature that groups can use to “draw” a welcome message to guests. Clever, subtle, and understated natural without needing print signage to obstruct the view - so smart! Everything about this property feels intentional, from the materials to the layout. It's the kind of design that makes you feel relaxed the moment you walk in.

The Rooms: Where Smart Design Meets Comfort

Every room at the Andaz Maui is thoughtfully designed to maximize space and comfort. In the room I stayed in, the dual tub/shower combo and under-bed shoe storage were brilliant touches that make life easier. The large soaking tubs in every bathroom in the villa I toured are perfect for unwinding after a day of meetings or beach time—there's nothing quite like a good soak while looking out at Hawaiian views.

The Suites: Next-Level Luxury

But if you really want to experience something special, the villas are where it's at. Let me tell you about what made me fall in love with them:

The Stunning Glass-Bottom Dipping Pool
The Ilikai Penthouse Villa I toured feature an outdoor dipping pool with a see-through bottom—yes, you read that right. It's the kind of feature that makes you do a double-take and then immediately post about it. It's sexy, it's unique, and it's perfect for those sunset cocktail moments with friends (or colleagues if you dare).

Built for Entertaining
These villas come with large kitchens and outdoor Viking grills, making them ideal for entertaining. Whether you're hosting your executive team for a private dinner or traveling with family and want to cook a few meals in (or have one of their recommended private chefs cook for you), the setup is perfect. It's rare to find accommodations that actually make self-catering feel luxurious rather than like a compromise.

Perfect for Groups
The multi-bedroom configurations make these villas ideal for families or corporate groups who want communal space but still need privacy. The 'Ilikai Three Bedroom Garden View King, Queen, Queen/Queen offers plenty of space for larger groups, while the 'Ilikai Penthouse Villa takes luxury to another level entirely.

Stunner Event Spaces That Embrace Hawaii’s Natural Beauty

The Andaz Maui doesn’t take away from the most beautiful part of the property - the stunning views of the ocean. It embraces this as a natural backdrop for group events with several different lawns all overlooking the water—which can be transformed with tenting and an array of configurations. But here's the smart part: they also have indoor backup space featuring a Solarium that floods the room with natural light, so you never feel like you've been relegated to a windowless conference dungeon if weather doesn't cooperate.

One of the coolest features? The Studio kitchen in the indoor event space. Use it for catering service, live cooking demonstrations, or even team-building competitions. It's this kind of thoughtful, flexible design that makes planners' lives easier and events more memorable.

The property also features a Luau (The Feast at Mokapu) 3 nights a week. While dining alfresco at the property’s Morimoto restaurant, I was fortunate to get a taste of the performance and it was delightful to be able to hear the music and sneak peaks of the dancers while dining alfresco.

The Attendee Journey, Perfected

What I loved most is how they've thought through the entire attendee journey—not just the meeting itself. From that Ohana Lounge for early arrivals to the seamless flow between event spaces and resort amenities, they understand that corporate travelers are still human beings who want to enjoy their surroundings. Which leads me to something every resort needs and why the Andaz does it better

The Pools: A Multi-Tiered Paradise for every guest

The pool situation here is next-level. Three infinity-edged pools cascade down the front of the property like a waterfall, offering stunning ocean views. The pools offer the same sweeping views as the lobby and you can swim to the infinity edge and feel completely at peace looking off into the horizon.

Below these infinity pools, there is a large kids' wading pool for families, and—bless them—in a completely different wing of the property with no kids in sight (or sound), a serenity pool for adults only, ideally located right near the gym and spa, but with a full lunch/service menu available.

At every pool, you'll find spa water infused with citrus (a refreshing touch), and the lunch service features high-quality, fresh local flavors. That’s right - chicken that actually tastes flavorful and a variety of healthy and indulgent treats. This isn't your typical poolside burger-and-fries situation—the food is genuinely delicious, fresh, and locally sourced with friendly service the cherry on top of the lava flow.

Culinary Excellence

Ka'Ana Kitchen

I loved Ka'Ana Kitchen so much I ate there twice on my visit. The restaurant showcases local Hawaiian fare with skill and creativity, and they even offer a Chef's Table experience for those who want something extra special (I hope to try this next time). The flavors are authentically Hawaiian comfort food inspired but elevated through fresh ingredients, preparation and service with a chic, welcoming atmosphere that overlooks the stunning property and setting sun. 

Morimoto Maui

Morimoto, a favorite of mine both in Napa and here, doesn’t have the views of Ka’Ana, but has its own stunning location, bordering the lower level pool and offers its own magic. I had dinner there and was treated to views of the setting sun while the sounds of the resort's Lu'au drifted into the restaurant. It was one of those unplanned perfect moments that make a trip memorable. Morimoto boasts a Japanese menu that delights guests both for lunch and dinner, a nice enhancement to the local flavors of Ka’Ana with an upscale yet approachable environment for groups, families and couples, and a lively bar as well.

The Spa: A Sanctuary

The spa is gorgeous and thoughtfully designed, featuring a full steam room, plunge pool and sauna. The boutique is beautifully curated (dangerous for your wallet, delightful for your senses), and the service menu is impressive. One detail I loved: they offer vitamin C after-sun lotion as a massage option instead of traditional oils—perfect for a day spent soaking up Hawaiian sunshine.

Location, Location, Location

The Andaz Maui is ideally situated with direct beach access and a long jogging/walking path that I took advantage of every morning. Whether you're a runner, walker, or just someone who likes to start the day with ocean views, this path is a gem because it offers not only stunning views of the coast, but a long enough path to create a solid hour-long run without having to detour to the street - an underlooked highlight when wanting to stay fit in Hawaii while enjoying the natural ambiance.

If outdoor running isn’t your jam, the fitness center is state of the art, clean, and airconditioned, with has brand-new equipment (and more peloton bikes than I’ve seen in any resort gym), yoga mats, and weight equipment. The also offer fitness classes and yoga overlooking the water. No excuses here—you can maintain your routine with ease.

The Service

Great service is invisible until you need it, and then it's everything. The Andaz Maui team strikes that perfect balance of being attentive without hovering, knowledgeable without being stuffy, and genuinely warm in a way that feels authentically Hawaiian. Text service is available and anecdotally, I was texted one day to notify me that my “do not disturb sign” was up and inquired if I wanted my room cleaned. There’s nothing like returning to your room only to find it wasn’t serviced to sour the mood, so I appreciated this small attention to guest satisfaction and preference. At one point, something I had delivered to me was hard for me to locate, and the general manager himself hand-delivered it to me since I was told the bellmen were all tied up. A+ for going above and beyond to solve a guest’s request!

And the thoughtfulness doesn’t end there. I was asked in advance what my preferences were for their profile, and as I entered my room, there was a bouquet of pink roses (my favorite color and flower), healthy snacks, champagne and bottled Fiji water. That’s right - all the way down to the water brand I prefer. That, paired with a thoughtful tour of the property and a handwritten welcome note made me feel welcome and comfortable from the very first hour on the property. Thank you Andaz for your hospitality!

The Bottom Line

The Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort gets it right in ways that matter. It’s not obnoxious, it’s understated but chic. It’s fresh and modern while honoring Hawaiian traditions that people expect and love. From the thoughtful amenities (those water bottles! the coffee! that hairdryer!) to the stunning event spaces, world-class dining, and prime location, this property delivers an experience that works for personal travel, corporate groups, and everything in between.

It's the kind of place where the details are so well-executed that you don't have to think about what might go wrong—you can just enjoy what's going right. And in the hotel world, that's exactly what makes a property a true gem.

Would I return? Absolutely. Hope to do so before long and also plan a corporate event here.

Would I recommend it for your next event or personal getaway? Without hesitation. I observed a social event, a corporate event and a wedding while on property and all were having a blast and so well executed, I took photos for my own notes.

Rating: 10/10

For more information about Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort and to be put in touch with their Allstar sales team, contact me for a direct intro and to discuss how this property could be perfect for your next corporate or social event, wedding, or incentive program.

Want your property to be featured in  Property Spotlight? We’d love to visit and feature your property - there are limited spaces left for 2026, inquire at gianna@gaudini.com.

Gianna Gaudini is an event strategist, advisor, and author of the Amazon bestselling book "The Art of Event Planning." She's held leadership roles at Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Airtable, creating unforgettable experiences that drive business results.

Want your property to be featured in  Property Spotlight? We’d love to visit and feature your property - there are limited spaces left for 2026, inquire at gianna@gaudini.com.

Gianna's Gem: The Feedback Paradox: Why The Best Use it as an Advantage

Hi there,

This week's Gianna's Gem tackles something I see play out repeatedly in the events industry and in business in general: the fascinating divide between how top performers and struggling performers approach feedback. 

Spoiler alert—the difference isn't about talent or intelligence. It's about growth mindset, and it's one of the clearest predictors of who will rise to the top and who will sink or plateau at best.

Gianna's Gem: The best performers don't just tolerate feedback—they actively hunt for it. They know that feedback is the breakfast of champions, and they're hungry.

Let me share a couple of stories that crystallized this principle for me based on my own career.

Example 1: The Executive Who Changed How I Think About Feedback Forever

I was planning an inaugural and very high profileCEO/Investor Summit, and like most planners, I'd carefully crafted our post-event survey with the usual questions: "What did you enjoy most?" "How would you rate the overall experience?" "What was your favorite session?" You know the drill—questions designed to generate positive testimonials and high NPS scores that we could proudly present to leadership to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of our event.

While onsite, literally the day before the event started, my executive sponsor reviewed the survey draft. He handed it back with a simple but game-changing note: "Redo this. I want you to focus exclusively on critical feedback. Ask attendees what we could improve, what fell short, what frustrated them, what we missed. We already know this event is going to be good—we hired you and invested properly. What I need to know is: where are our blind spots? What can we learn? How can we make the next event three times better"

My initial reaction? Panic. What if people only focus on negative despite all the good I knew would come from the event? What if it looks like we didn’t have a positive ROI? And then, my own ego - who doesn’t like a pat on the back?

But here's what happened: We restructured the survey to ask things like "What's one thing we could have done better?" and "If you could change one aspect of this event, what would it be?" and "What prevented this from being a perfect 10 experience?" And then of course, open response format so people could share anything else” along with the standard NPS score because afterall, that was one of our KPI measurement criteria.

The results? Our NPS still hit it out of the park—people loved the event. But more importantly, we got incredibly actionable intelligence. Events are pure gold for collecting valuable attendee data in that regard.

That executive taught me something profound: top performers (and companies in this case) don't ask for feedback to stroke their ego—they ask for it to find their edge.

And that mindset difference? It separates the legends from the merely good.

Example 2: When No One's Evaluating You, Evaluate Yourself

Years later, I experienced the power of proactive feedback-seeking firsthand in an unexpected way while running my own business where nobody is giving me performance reviews.

I was consulting as a fractional Head of Events for a startup—a fast-growing company where I was leading their entire events strategy on a six-month contract. The work was exciting, the team was talented, and I was fully immersed in building their events program from the ground up.

Three months in—halfway through my contract—I realized something: No one had checked in on my performance. Not once.  

This wasn't neglect. It was startup reality. They were a young company that hadn't yet built out formal HR processes, and performance reviews simply weren't part of their culture yet. Everyone was moving too fast, heads down, building.

But here's the thing: I needed to know how I was doing.

Not because I was insecure. Not because I needed validation. But because I genuinely wanted to know if there were blind spots I was missing, areas where I could deliver more value, or ways I could better align with their evolving needs.

So I did something that might sound unusual: I created my own performance review.

I drafted a comprehensive self-assessment that included:

• What I'd accomplished in the first three months

• Key metrics and outcomes from processes I’d established, value I’d added, contracts negotiated, events I'd led, etc.

• Areas where I felt I'd excelled and honest request for feedback on where I could improve

• Suggestions for how I could add even more value in the remaining three months

I sent it to my main point of contact with a simple note: "I know formal reviews aren't part of your process yet, but I'd love your candid feedback on how I'm doing and where I can improve to better serve the company's goals."

The result?

Not only did I receive incredibly valuable feedback that helped me recalibrate my approach for the second half of the contract, but something unexpected happened: I was offered a substantial raise—immediately—and my contract was extended for another six months before the original contract had even expired.

Why? Because proactively seeking feedback demonstrated something they valued even more than the work itself: ownership, self-awareness, and a genuine commitment to excellence.

They told me later that my initiative in creating that review showed them I was treating this fractional role like it was my own company—because that's exactly how top performers think.

Now, contrast that with a completely different story.

I have a colleague—let's call him Mark—who likes to joke that he "doesn't believe in performance reviews." He's talented, technically strong, and has years of experience. But when it came time for annual reviews, he'd purposely ignore them and joke that he didn’t need to do them.

"It's all just corporate theater," he'd say with a laugh. "I know I'm doing fine."

Until the day he wasn't.

Mark was blindsided when his manager informed him he was being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Suddenly, all those reviews he'd dismissed as meaningless became very meaningful—because he had no documentation, no record of feedback received or addressed, no paper trail showing his contributions or growth.

When he tried to argue against the PIP, pointing to projects he'd worked on and value he'd delivered, he had nothing concrete to reference. No feedback sessions. No documented wins. No evidence of continuous improvement. Just his word against a mounting file of concerns his manager had been documenting all along.

The irony? If Mark had been proactively seeking feedback throughout those years—asking "how am I doing?" and "what could I improve?"—he would have seen the warning signs long before they became a PIP. He would have had opportunities to course-correct. He would have built a track record of responsiveness and growth.

Instead, his avoidance of feedback cost him not just the PIP, but ultimately his job.

Two people. Two opposite approaches to feedback. Two radically different outcomes.

I got a raise and extended contract by creating feedback opportunities that didn't even exist.

Mark lost his job by avoiding feedback opportunities that were handed to him.

Gianna's Gem: When you avoid feedback, you're not protecting yourself—you're blindfolding yourself. And you can't dodge bullets you never see coming.

This is the heart of why top performers hunger for feedback while average performers avoid it. It's not about being criticized or praised. It's about having the clearest possible picture of reality so you can navigate it successfully.

And that mindset difference? It's often the single biggest predictor of long-term success.

And you can do this for your personal life as well. I not only ask my clients for reviews, I also take inventory every New Year on what goals I’m setting for the year and I revisit them every week to see how I’m tracking and to hold myself accountable. Why do this only once a year and hope for the best - it’s better to be consistent and ultimately leads to really awesome end of year self reflection as opposed to another year of misalignment on your priorities.

The Psychology Behind the Feedback Divide

Let's talk about why top performers seek feedback while struggling performers avoid it.

Why Top Performers Actively Seek Feedback:

Growth Mindset Over Fixed Mindset Top performers believe their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Feedback isn't a judgment of their worth—it's data they can use to get better. They see themselves as perpetual works in progress, which makes feedback feel like fuel rather than criticism.

Confidence Rooted in Self-Awareness Counterintuitively, the best performers are often more confident AND more willing to hear hard truths. Why? Because their confidence isn't fragile—it's not based on being perfect but on their ability to learn and adapt. They know one piece of critical feedback doesn't negate their overall competence.

Competitive Advantage Through Intelligence Gathering Top performers understand that feedback is insider information about their performance that others might not see. It's like having a coach reviewing game tape—you can't improve what you can't see. They treat feedback as competitive intelligence.

Relationship Building Seeking feedback signals respect, humility, and a genuine desire to improve. It actually strengthens relationships because it shows you value the other person's perspective and are invested in delivering value to them.

Future-Focused Rather Than Past-Defensive High performers are more interested in "how can I be better tomorrow?" than "was I good enough yesterday?" This forward orientation makes feedback feel productive rather than threatening.

Why Low Performers Avoid Feedback:

Fear of Exposure When performance is already shaky, feedback feels like a spotlight on inadequacy. There's often a hope that if they avoid feedback, weaknesses won't be "officially" noticed or documented.

Fixed Mindset Low performers often believe talent is fixed—you either have it or you don't. From that perspective, negative feedback confirms their worst fear: that they're simply not cut out for this. It feels like an identity threat rather than a development opportunity.

Fragile Ego Protection When self-worth is tied to being seen as competent, any criticism threatens the entire identity. Avoiding feedback becomes a defense mechanism to protect a fragile sense of self.

Lack of Agency Struggling performers often feel powerless to change their circumstances. If you believe you can't improve anyway, why seek painful feedback? This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Short-Term Comfort Over Long-Term Growth Avoiding feedback feels better in the moment, even though it guarantees stagnation. It's the professional equivalent of avoiding the scale when you know you've gained weight.

Gianna's Gem: The irony is —the people who most need feedback are the most resistant to it, while those who least need it can't get enough. Breaking this pattern is how average performers become exceptional.

How to Ask for Feedback Like a Top Performer

Asking for feedback is an art. Done poorly, you'll get vague platitudes. Done well, you'll get gold. Here's how the best do it:

Make It Specific and Actionable: Instead of: "How did I do?" or "Any feedback?"

Try:

• "What's one thing I could have done differently in that presentation to make it more compelling?"

• "If you were planning this event again, what's the first thing you'd change?"

• "What's one skill you think I should focus on developing in the next quarter?"

• "Was there a moment in that meeting where I could have been more effective?"

Specificity gives people permission to be honest and makes it easier for them to give you something useful.

Ask in the Moment (or Soon After): The best feedback is fresh feedback. Don't wait six months to ask about a project from January.

Right after an event, presentation, or project: "Hey, do you have five minutes? I'd love to hear your thoughts on what worked and what I could improve while it's still fresh."

Strike while the iron is hot and details are memorable.

Create Psychological Safety for the Feedback Giver: Make it easy and safe for people to be honest with you.

Strategies:

• Normalize imperfection: "I know I have blind spots, and I'd rather hear about them from you than be blindsided later."

• Show genuine curiosity: "I'm really trying to level up in [specific area], and your perspective would be invaluable."

• Thank them in advance: "I really appreciate you taking time to help me improve."

• Respond with gratitude, not defensiveness: "That's so helpful—I hadn't considered that angle."

Pro tip: If someone gives you critical feedback and your immediate response is defensive, you've just trained them never to be honest with you again. Bite your tongue, say thank you, and process your feelings later.

Ask Different People for Different Perspectives: Each perspective gives you a different lens on your performance.

• Your manager: Career trajectory, leadership presence, strategic thinking 

• Your peers: Collaboration, communication, team dynamics

• Your direct reports (if applicable): Leadership style, clarity, support 

• Your clients/partners/vendors: Value delivery, experience, pain points, communication

• Your mentors: Big-picture patterns, industry positioning

Follow Up on Feedback You've Received: This is where most people fail. Asking for feedback is step one. Acting on it and closing the loop is what separates real growth from performative curiosity.

After implementing feedback: "Remember when you mentioned I should improve my presentation openings? I've been working on that—here's what I tried in yesterday's meeting. I'd love to know if you think it landed better."

This shows you actually listened, value their input, and are committed to growth. It also makes people more willing to give you feedback in the future.

Don't Ask Questions You Don't Want Answers To

If you're going to ask for feedback, be prepared to hear things that sting. Don't ask if you're just fishing for compliments. People can smell inauthenticity, and fake feedback requests damage trust.

Gianna's Gem: The quality of feedback you receive is directly proportional to how safe you make it for people to tell you the truth. Create that safety, and watch the insights flow.

How to Use Feedback to Strengthen Performance and Relationships

Getting feedback is useless if you don't do anything with it. Here's how to transform feedback into fuel:

• Listen Without Defending: Your only job when receiving feedback is to understand it, not debate it. 

• Instead of: "Well, actually, the reason I did it that way was because..."

• Try: "Tell me more about that. Can you give me an example?" or "What would you have wanted to see instead?"

• Curiosity > defensiveness, always.

• Look for Patterns, Not Isolated Comments

• One person's feedback might be their unique perspective. Three people saying the same thing? That's a pattern worth addressing.

• Keep a feedback journal. When multiple sources mention the same theme, prioritize it.

• Separate Facts from Feelings

• Sometimes feedback is factual ("You were 10 minutes late to the meeting"). Sometimes it's interpretive ("You seemed disengaged"). 

• For factual feedback, acknowledge and commit to change.

• For interpretive feedback, seek to understand the perception while recognizing it may not be the full picture. "I appreciate you sharing that I seemed disengaged. That wasn't my intention—I was processing complex information. How can I better signal I'm actively listening in future meetings?"

• Create an Action Plan

• After receiving feedback, ask yourself:

• What's the core truth here, even if delivery was imperfect?

• What's one specific behavior I can change?

• What support or resources do I need?

• How will I measure improvement?

• Who can hold me accountable?

• Use Feedback to Deepen Relationships

• Here's something most people miss: asking for and acting on feedback doesn't weaken relationships—it strengthens them.

• When you ask someone for their honest input and then visibly improve because of it, you're telling them: "Your opinion matters. You made me better." That's powerful relationship currency.

• After acting on someone's feedback, circle back: "I took your advice about [specific thing] and applied it to [situation]. The results were so much better. Thank you for pushing me to improve."

This creates a virtuous cycle where people become invested in your success.

Creating a Feedback Culture: The Ripple Effect

Here's the beautiful thing about embracing feedback: it's contagious.

When you consistently ask for feedback, receive it graciously, act on it visibly, and give feedback thoughtfully, you create an environment where:

• People feel psychologically safe to speak up

• Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities, not career enders

• Excellence becomes the norm because everyone is constantly improving

• Relationships deepen because people feel heard and valued

• Innovation flourishes because people aren't afraid to experiment and refine

I've seen this play out in my own teams. Once feedback became normalized—not something to fear but something to seek—performance skyrocketed. People started proactively asking, "What could I have done better?" after projects. Team members gave each other real-time feedback without it feeling like an attack. And guess what? Employee satisfaction went up, not down.

Why? Because people want to grow. They want to know they're improving. They want to feel like their work matters enough for someone to invest in making them better.

I do this with my husband and son as well about once a quarter. We all tactfully share what we love about each other and areas for feedback. This not only demonstrates to my son that it’s not just him that needs to improve (yes, we still catch him eating with his hands and he’s eight!), but teaches him that everyone can improve at any age with a growth mindset.

Your Feedback Action Plan

Ready to join the ranks of top performers who actively seek and leverage feedback? Here's your game plan:

This Week:

1. Identify three people whose perspective you value (manager, peer, client, mentor, family member, etc.) and ask each one a specific feedback question about a recent project or interaction.

2. When you receive feedback, resist the urge to defend or explain. Just listen, ask clarifying questions, and say thank you.

3. Pick one piece of feedback and create a concrete action plan for how you'll apply it.

This Month:

1. Follow up with at least one person who gave you feedback and share what you've done with their input.

2. Give thoughtful feedback to someone else—both a top performer (helping them level up) and someone who's struggling (with clarity and support).

3. Reflect on patterns. Are there themes emerging across different people's feedback? Those are your highest-leverage growth areas.

This Quarter:

1. Make feedback a habit, not an event. Build it into your regular rhythms—after every event, presentation, or major milestone.

2. Measure your progress. Are you seeing improvement in the areas people flagged? Are relationships stronger because of these conversations?

Remember: The gap between top performers and everyone else often comes down to this: top performers treat feedback like rocket fuel, while average performers treat it like kryptonite.

But here's the good news: seeking feedback is a skill, and like any skill, you can develop it. You don't need to be naturally thick-skinned or supremely confident. You just need to decide that growth matters more than comfort.

Gianna's Gem: Every piece of feedback is a gift. Some gifts are beautifully wrapped, and some come in ugly packaging. But if you're willing to unwrap them all, you'll find the insights that transform good into legendary.

So go ahead. Ask the hard questions. Seek the critical feedback. Act on what you learn. And watch yourself grow in ways you didn't think possible.

That's the secret of the top performers. And now, it's yours too.

What I'm Loving This Week:

For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Book Recommendation: Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. This book completely changed how I think about feedback—not as something to endure but as a skill to master.

Need some feedback or mentorship? 

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini

Let me guide your team 👉https://www.giannagaudini.com/learn-from-me

Gianna Gaudini is an event strategist, advisor, and author of the Amazon bestselling book "The Art of Event Planning." She's held leadership roles at Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Airtable, creating unforgettable experiences that drive business results.

Gianna’s Gems: Color Psychology - A Strategic Approach to Design

Hi there,

The changing season has me obsessed with color. Color has such an important psychological impact on us both personally and also for our brands. For event professionals, it impacts your attendees' emotions, decisions, and memories from the moment they receive your invitation—yet most planners treat it as an afterthought. I planned one major private event this past year for a couple (the wife being from Holland) and her only thematic direction to me when conducting my client intake was “lots of orange!” as a homage to her homeland. I ended up creating a beautiful experience across three days that all tied back to this one color (more on that below) and you can view photos of the event here.

Color isn't just aesthetic window dressing. It's psychology. It's strategy. It's the invisible force that can make someone feel energized or calm, trusting or skeptical, hungry or creative—often without them even realizing why. True story - I find heart-warming pink so calming that when planning my own wedding 14 years ago, every time I felt stressed,  my husband would just say “think pink” and I instantly remembered my why (love) and it took the stress level down ten notches.

After years of planning events for Google and Amazon, private clients, Ai companies and startups, VC’s and their portfolio companies, I've learned that understanding color psychology is like having a secret superpower. You're not just choosing pretty palettes—you're architecting emotional experiences that align perfectly with your event goals.

Gianna's Gem: When you master color psychology, you don't just decorate spaces—you design feelings. And feelings drive actions, which is ultimately what makes events successful.

Let's dive into how to wield this power intentionally.

Understanding the Emotional Language of Color

Every color speaks. The question is: are you saying what you actually mean through your brand and event palette? Below are some examples of what your color choice inspires emptionally:

Red: The Activator

What it means: Passion, energy, urgency, excitement, appetite, power

When to use it: Product launches that need buzz or are making groundbreaking announcements, events where you want high energy or to drive urgent action, networking events where you want to break the ice quickly, food-focused events (red stimulates appetite—there's a reason so many restaurants use it)

Pro tip: Red is powerful but can overwhelm and excite rather than calm and connect. Use it as an accent—think red napkins on white tablecloths, red uplighting on one statement wall, or red signature cocktails. At one Google product launch, we used red only in the product display area to draw eyes and create excitement around the reveal. When not to use it: Greenrooms (speakers are amp’d up enough), wellness retreats, any event that is intended to create a relaxing vibe where people can let their guard down and connect.

Blue: The Trust Builder

What it means: Trust, calm, professionalism, stability, intelligence, communication

When to use it: Corporate conferences, financial services events, healthcare summits, technology showcases, any event where credibility matters more than excitement. I also see blue as a very durable signal so when you want to build a brand, or relationships  for the long term, it’s a solid choice.

Pro tip: Blue is corporate America's favorite for a reason—it builds instant trust. But don't make everything blue or risk appearing cold or overly corporate. I love pairing navy or shades of cerulean or turquoise with warm metallics like copper, gold and dark wood accents to maintain professionalism while adding warmth, depth and balance. At a healthcare conference I designed, we used varying shades of blue—from sky to navy—to create depth and hint at longevity while maintaining that trustworthy, healing vibe.

Green: The Harmonizer

What it means: Growth, health, harmony, nature, sustainability, renewal, balance, tranquility

When to use it: Wellness retreats, sustainability summits, organic product launches, team-building offsites, anything eco-conscious or growth-oriented. I also like using it for women’s summits as an accent to pink to reduce the “overuse of feminine palettes” while adding calm for connection and community. And the obvious reason why a green room used to literally be painted green to relax speakers before getting on stage.

Pro tip: Green bridges the gap between warm and cool colors beautifully. It's calming without being sedating. For a tech company's Executive Event, we used living walls (actual greenery) as backdrops and sage green linens—it encouraged our most prized customers and prospects to let their guard down and connect with us and our brand and feel taken care of in a world full of compressed scheduling. Bring the outdoors in whenever possible with real plants, not just green décor.

Yellow: The Energizer

What it means: Optimism, creativity, happiness, clarity, innovation, warmth, positivity

When to use it: Creative brainstorms, innovation workshops, festivals, celebrations, morning keynotes where you want to energize

Pro tip: Yellow is tricky—too much can cause anxiety or eye strain. Use it strategically as an accent. I love yellow accent pillows, floral accents, or yellow lighting washes rather than yellow walls or signs. I also love mixing yellow into food displays to signal brightness and health - think lemon spa water, make your own lemonade carts, etc.

Orange: The Connector

What it means: Enthusiasm, confidence, warmth, social connection, adventure, luxury

When to use it: Networking events, team socials, outdoor adventures, premium brand activations, food festivals

Pro tip: Orange is the most social color—it literally makes people want to talk to each other. It's warmer than red but more energetic than yellow. At a joint milestone birthday I used Orange to create beautiful floral displays (paired with yellows, pinks and blues), custom pillows, cocktail napkins, and of course displays of ripe citrus. We also had a daily specialty orange cocktail (Aperol spritzes, Negronis)—the room buzzed with conversation all night and people delighted in the custom pillows so much they took them home. 

Purple: The Luxury Signal

What it means: Luxury, creativity, wisdom, spirituality, sophistication, ambition

When to use it: VIP experiences, awards galas, creative industry events, wellness retreats with a spiritual component, fundraisers

Pro tip: Purple has historically been associated with royalty—use it when you want attendees to feel special and elevated. Deep purples (eggplant, plum) signal luxury, while lighter purples (lavender, lilac) feel more spiritual and calming.  I used eggplant and the palest blush pink for my own wedding which were close to “black and white” but more “premium and unique” as a color palette. 

Pink: The Playful and Positive Creative

What it means: Playfulness, compassion, youthfulness, modern femininity, creativity, unconventional thinking

When to use it: Women-focused events, beauty launches, creative conferences, millennial/Gen-Z targeted events, fundraisers

Pro tip: Pink has evolved beyond traditional femininity—millennial pink and hot pink signal bold, modern, unapologetic energy. For a women's leadership summit, we used dusty rose with Navy and brass—sophisticated, feminine without being precious. Pink can be powerful when done right. And side note, it’s my signature color (just take a look at my website or my office wallpaper)

White: The Minimalist and Peace Maker

What it means: Purity, simplicity, cleanliness, minimalism, possibility, vision, peace

When to use it: Tech launches (think Apple, Google), medical conferences, minimalist brands, weddings, any event where you want the content or product (or people) to be the star

Pro tip: White isn't absence—it's intentional space. It lets other elements breathe and attendees focus. However, all-white can feel sterile. I love white as a base with one bold accent color. At a product launch for a minimalist tech brand, we used all white with one emerald green wall—the product popped, and the aesthetic perfectly matched brand values.

Black: The Sophisticate

What it means: Elegance, power, sophistication, formality, luxury, exclusivity, gravitas

When to use it: Black-tie galas, luxury brand events, evening affairs, high-stakes corporate dinners, exclusive experiences

Pro tip: Black makes everything feel more formal and expensive instantly. But use it wisely—too much black can feel heavy or depressing so I limit it for corporate events. I love black tablecloths with bright florals or metallics for social events or evening galas. For a movie premiere dinner, we used black tables with gold chargers, silverware and gold-painted florals—elegant, powerful, unforgettable (and very Hollywood)

Neutrals (Gray, Beige, Taupe): The Balancers

What it means: Sophistication, professionalism, timelessness, balance, neutrality, casual luxury

When to use it: As your base palette for corporate events and retail, to let jewel-toned accent colors shine, when you want timeless elegance

Pro tip: Neutrals are your foundation—never boring when layered with texture and strategic pops of color. For a tech conference, we used varying shades of ivory and taupe linens with brass accents and emerald green florals—sophisticated without being stuffy.

Creating Your Event Color Story: A Strategic Approach

Now that you know what each color means, let's talk about how to combine them strategically.

Your event isn't one-dimensional, and neither should your color palette be. Think of color as a journey that evolves throughout the event experience or can even be a signal to attendees about what’s to come.

For our Airtable Leader’s Forum in New York, we used alternating palettes (warm tones vs cool tones) to signal to attendees whether a keynote or a breakout session was happening. It was subtle but when used across signage as well created a beautiful way to create a non-verbal message to attendees to “move”. 

Gianna's Gem: Be mindful when selecting “signaling colors” to make sure color-blind attendees can se the variance (i.e. my father is red-green colorblind so using a red palette and a green palette would just look the same to him). We always aim to be inclusive at events, so symbols/textures/designs to signal change also work in this regard.

The 60-30-10 Rule for Event Color Palettes

Professional designers swear by this ratio, and it works beautifully for events:

• 60% Dominant color: Your primary brand or theme color that sets the overall mood

• 30% Secondary color: Complements and supports your dominant color

• 10% Accent color: Your pop of surprise and delight

This creates visual harmony while keeping things interesting.

Color Temperature: Warm vs. Cool

Understanding color temperature helps you set the right emotional tone:

• Warm colors (red, orange, yellow): Energizing, social, appetite-stimulating, urgent

• Use for: Networking events, food-focused gatherings, creative sessions, evening celebrations

• Cool colors (blue, green, purple): Calming, professional, trustworthy, contemplative

• Use for: Corporate conferences, wellness events, focused work sessions, serious content

Color Psychology Through the Day: Designing for Circadian Rhythm

Your attendees' brains respond differently to color depending on the time of day. Design with intention:

Morning (7am-11am): Energize and Focus

• Best colors: Yellow (energy), blue (focus), white (clarity), green (renewal)

• Avoid: Red (too aggressive pre-coffee), dark colors (too heavy)

• Application: Bright, clean spaces with natural light. Yellow florals at breakfast, blue tones in morning session rooms

Midday (11am-2pm): Balance and Nourish

• Best colors: Green (balance), orange (social), warm neutrals (comfort)

• Avoid: Deep purples or blacks (too formal for lunch)

• Application: Lunch spaces should feel inviting and social. Orange accents encourage conversation, green elements add refreshing energy

Afternoon (2pm-5pm): Re-energize and Engage

• Best colors: Orange (warmth), teal (alertness), green (renewal), strategic red accents (attention)

• Avoid: Heavy dark tones (will emphasize the afternoon slump)

• Application: Combat the 3pm energy dip with color. Bright signage, colorful break areas, energizing accent lighting

Evening (5pm+): Connect and Celebrate

• Best colors: Deep jewel tones (sophistication), metallics (glamour), warm lighting (intimacy)

• Embrace: Blacks, deep purples, rich reds, golds

• Application: Evening is when you can go bold and dramatic. Deep colors + candlelight + metallic accents = magic

Real-world example: At a full-day corporate retreat, we intentionally shifted our color story throughout the day. Morning sessions featured white and blue (focus). Lunch was in a space with natural wood and green elements (rejuvenation). Afternoon breakout rooms had orange accent walls (energy). Evening reception transformed with deep purple uplighting and gold accents (celebration). Attendees felt energized at the right times and ready to unwind when needed—all through strategic color design.

Building Your Event Brand Through Color

Your event isn't just happening once—it's a brand that lives across multiple touch points and possibly multiple years. Your color strategy should reflect that.

Gianna's Gem: Consistency across touchpoints isn't boring—it's how you build a brand that attendees recognize and trust year after year.

Establishing Your Event's Color DNA

Consider these questions:

• What emotion do you want attendees to feel when they think about your event?

• What's the primary action you want them to take? (Network? Learn? Be inspired? Commit to something?)

• What industry are you in, and what colors does your audience already associate with trust in that space?

• What differentiates your event from competitors?

Example: A Women's Leadership Summit

• Primary emotion desired: Empowered

• Primary action: Connect and commit to growth

• Industry: Professional development (traditionally blue/corporate)

• Differentiator: Modern, bold, unapologetically feminine approach

Color solution: Dusty rose (modern femininity, strength) + charcoal (sophistication, power) + brass metallics and greenery (luxury, warmth) = A palette that signals "this isn't your typical corporate conference"

Applying Your Color Brand Across Touch points

Once you've established your palette, deploy it consistently.

Pro tip: Create a brand style guide with your exact color codes (Pantone, RGB, CMYK, HEX) so every vendor is literally on the same page. I include mood boards, do's and don'ts, and real examples. This prevents your elegant navy from turning into random blue across different applications.:

Pre-Event:

• Save-the-dates and invitations

• Event website

• Email communications

• Social media graphics

• Teaser videos

On-Site:

• Registration area

• Signage and wayfinding

• Stage design

• Linens and florals

• Lighting

• Food presentation

• Branded swag

• Staff uniforms

Post-Event:

• Thank you emails

• Event recap videos

• Social media content

• Next year's "save the date"

Advanced Color Strategies: Cultural Considerations and Accessibility

As we become more globally connected and inclusive, sophisticated planners must think beyond basic color psychology.

Cultural Color Meanings

Colors mean different things across cultures. If you're planning international events, do your homework:

Red:

• Western: Passion, excitement, danger

• China: Luck, prosperity, celebration

• South Africa: Color of mourning

• India: Purity, fertility, beauty

White:

• Western: Purity, weddings, cleanliness

• China/Korea/India: Death, mourning

Green:

• Western: Nature, growth, money

• Middle East: Sacred, Islamic color

• Ireland: National color, luck

Pro tip: When planning global events, I often use universally positive colors (blues, teals, certain purples) or rely heavily on neutrals with international metallic accents.

Color Accessibility: Designing for All

Approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some form of color blindness. Inclusive design matters.

Best practices:

• Never use color alone to convey information (add text, icons, or patterns)

• Ensure high contrast between text and backgrounds

• Avoid red-green combinations as primary signage (the most common form of color blindness)

• Test your designs with color blindness simulators

• Use multiple visual cues for wayfinding (color + symbol + text)

Example: Instead of "Red Room" and "Green Room" for breakout sessions, use "Ruby Room" and "Emerald Room" with distinct symbols on signage—ruby gem icon vs. emerald leaf icon. Everyone can navigate successfully.

Gianna's Color Psychology Cheat Sheet

• Want to inspire action? Red, orange, yellow accents

• Need to build trust? Blue, green, white base

• Creating luxury experiences? Purple, black, gold, metallics

• Encouraging creativity? Yellow, orange, unexpected combinations

• Promoting wellness? Green, soft blue, neutrals with natural elements

• Energizing tired attendees? Warm tones, bright lighting, orange/yellow accents

• Calming anxious attendees? Cool blues, greens, soft lighting

• Making food irresistible? Red, orange, warm lighting

• Signaling exclusivity? Black, deep jewel tones, metallics

• Creating approachability? Orange, yellow, warm neutrals

Putting It All Together: Your Color Action Plan

Ready to become a color psychologist? Here's how to start:

For your next event:

1. Define your goal: What's the ONE emotion or action you want to inspire?

2. Choose your dominant color based on that goal and your brand

3. Select complementary colors using the 60-30-10 rule

4. Map color to time of day: Plan how your palette evolves throughout the event

5. Create your style guide: Document your exact colors and how to use them

6. Test in the space: Colors look different under different lighting and in photos—always test

7. Think inclusively: Ensure your choices work across cultures and abilities

8. Tell your story: Make sure your colors align with your content and message

The magic happens when every color choice is intentional. You're not just picking what looks pretty—you're architecting an emotional experience that guides attendees exactly where you want them to go.

The Bottom Line

Color psychology isn't about following rigid rules—it's about understanding the tools at your disposal and using them with intention. The same color that energizes a morning keynote might overwhelm an evening reception. The palette that builds trust in healthcare might look generic in fashion.

Gianna's Gem: Great event designers don't just see colors—they feel them, understand them, and wield them like the powerful psychological tools they are.

When you master color psychology, you're not just making events pretty. You're creating environments where people feel exactly what you want them to feel, do exactly what you want them to do, and remember your event long after the last guest leaves.

What I'm Loving This Week: For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Slick Ride: Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with Waymo (and secretly hope to someday purchase one for personal use!) Waymo for Business, which JUST LAUNCHED, will completely transform how you think about event transportation logistics. Available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Waymo's fully autonomous ride-hailing service solves one of events' biggest pain points: reliable, consistent transportation that actually shows up on time with polite (or rather non-existent) drivers and a luxury experience. What I love most is this premium experience it delivers—attendees can use transit time productively (catching up on emails, making calls, or simply decompressing between sessions) rather than dealing with unpredictable drivers or a funky smell or playlist - seriously, pick whatever you want to listen to from spotify to Waymo’s own mix!

The driverless electric fleet helps meet sustainability goals without compromising on service quality, and the enterprise tools (business portal, customizable promo codes, reporting dashboards) make managing event transportation ridiculously simple. For event organizers juggling VIP arrivals, speaker shuttles, or attendee transportation, Waymo for Business isn't just convenient—it's the kind of innovative, friction-free experience that sets the tone for your entire event from the moment guests arrive. Plus, who are we kidding - there's something undeniably impressive about offering autonomous vehicle transportation that signals you're not just hosting an event—you're curating a forward-thinking experience. Learn more at waymo.com/business or email me for an intro to the team.

Gianna Gaudini is an event strategist, advisor, and author of the Amazon bestselling book "The Art of Event Planning." She's held leadership roles at Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Airtable, creating unforgettable experiences that drive business results.

Gianna’s Gems: The Last Event You'll Ever Need to Justify to your CFO

Hi there,

From speaking to podcasting to planning…I'm buzzing with energy about the conversations around experiential design and measurable ROI. Here's the truth that every tech leader needs to hear: your attendees are drowning in sameness, and traditional conferences aren't cutting through the noise anymore.

The companies winning today aren't just hosting events—they're taking attendees on a journey that offers transformation, catharsis, and true value for the time their attendees dedicate to attending.

Why "Elevated Experiential" Isn't Just Buzzword Bingo

The difference between a traditional tech conference and an elevated experiential event isn't about adding fancy installations (though those help with certain brandbuilding and social sharing objectives). It's about fundamentally shifting how attendees interact with your content and each other.

Traditional tech conferences are information-focused. Attendees sit, listen, network awkwardly over watered-down, luke-warm coffee (if it hasn’t run out), and forget 80% of what they learned by Tuesday.

Elevated experiential events prioritize immersion and meaningful connections. They create emotional resonance with attendees that translates into lasting business impact.

Think multi-sensory experiences that reinforce key messages, unexpected moments of delight, white space in the agenda to reflect and connect, and event spaces designed for authentic relationship building. Success isn't measured by how many butts were in seats or scanned—it's measured by engagement quality and lasting impact.

Here's why this distinction matters: People remember experiences far better than presentations. When attendees participate rather than just observe, they retain more and apply learnings back at work. In a crowded conference landscape, experiential events stand out and create buzz that extends well beyond the event dates.

The Google Cloud Next Blueprint: Turning Conferences into Destinations

At Google Cloud Next, we didn't just host a conference—we built a world for attendees to enter and explore. Every year, we ideated a red thread theme to guide the entire experience. In 2018, our World's Fair theme transformed Moscone Center into a "campus" that invoked the energy, innovation, and promise of the future. The concept was to instill exponential hope and potential for a Google Cloud-empowered enterprise.

The magic was in the details: We created cohesion between disparate spaces through strategic branding and human-based wayfinding. Every environment was dynamic and celebratory, elevating the usual keynote-demo-training formula. Attendees encountered imaginative art installations, local culinary delights, and hands-on experiences like an AI MBA basketball demonstration.

The Showcase strategy: We divided the expo into 7 intentional zones with 80 custom interactive vignettes. Each installation provided product overviews through contextual narratives designed to evoke curiosity and conversation. These weren't just product demos—they were story-driven experiences that connected keynote content to real-world applications.

The Avenues concept: Inspired by effective civic planning, we created pathways within expo halls that hosted mini breakout pods, bookable meeting spaces, sponsor activations, and communal networking lounges. This wasn't accidental—it was architected community building.

From Demo to "Holy Sh*t" Moment: The Dev Conference Code Constellation

Want to see how we transform standard product demos into experiences that people can't stop talking about?

At our dev conference for one of my AI startup clients, we wanted to bring AI coding power to life in a way that was tactile, interactive, and left a lasting impression—all created with the help of their ai product.

The Code Constellation: We created a large fabric surface embedded with soft glowing constellations, where each star represented a function, variable, or coding language. As attendees pushed the fabric surface, their touch "connected" stars to reveal their own personalized code constellation. This installation perfectly mirrored how the company helps people connect ideas faster, clean up complexity, and accelerate clarity—turning scattered thoughts into beautiful, working logic.

The result: Attendees could literally feel the magic of AI amplifying their personal powers. We didn't just tell them about the product—we let them experience transformation in their hands.

This is what I mean by moving from "what" to "why" before tackling "how."

The Data-Driven Experience Design Framework

Here's how I use analytics not just to measure success, but to design better experiential moments from the start:

The Four-Bucket Strategy: I assess each of the below four buckets and how they impact what we want to invest time and resources into.

• Business goals

• Attendee goals/ROI

• Macroeconomic environment

• Historical data

Then, I establish clear weighting between brand goals and business goals so teams understand investment priorities as we map the experience (i.e. we want 80% brand and 20% business-related).

Real-time optimization: I track engagement through event apps, social listening, and direct feedback. Remember my Diet Coke example at Google Think events? When an attendee started posting about wanting Diet Coke, we pivoted quickly and made it happen. Listen to what your attendees are saying in real-time and lean into that energy.

Personalization at scale: Like how TED allots a certain dollar amount ot attendees to spend on “buying” their own swag from their premium store to take home in a gifted suitcase (which they ship home for you). When you make attendees feel seen individually within a large-scale experience, that's when magic happens and why they remember you for years to come.

Historical data as crystal ball: I use past event data to predict what will create memorable moments and eliminate pain points. The Google Next food court redesign came from analyzing three years of attendee complaints about lunch logistics.

Beyond Vanity Metrics: What Actually Matters

ROI-driven decision makers want proof that experiential investments drive business results. Here's what I track beyond traditional attendance numbers:

• Social proof and word-of-mouth: Are you getting organic social mentions? How are people describing your event when no one's asking them to? I got a quote from a Leader I support saying other marketing leaders were asking how we created such an impressive experience on budget—that's gold.

• Relationship temperature: Are executives from prospect companies still talking about how much they enjoyed the event months later when deals are up for renewal? Are analysts and press writing positive things about you after the event?

• Next-step optimization: How does the event improve subsequent interactions? Are people more likely to attend demos, read emails, or take meetings after your experiential touchpoint?

• Community amplification: What is your community saying organically? Brand affinity is a leading indicator of customer lifetime value.

• Look beyond vanity: Sure, you can track social shares and demo completions, but dig deeper. What is that engagement really doing for pipeline and revenue?

Breaking the Panel-and-Keynote Prison

Tech events default to panels and keynotes because they feel safe. But safe doesn't stand out, and standing out is more valuable than blending in.

My framework for format innovation:

• Don't make your event another meeting: How do you make experiences co-creative and exciting for people to choose to attend?

• Energy-driven scheduling: People are more creative at night. That's why we served champagne, caviar, and chocolate before the opening keynote at our women's summit.

• The 70:30 rule: 30% prepared content, 70% audience-led content. Read audience energy and engagement cues, then adapt.

• Un-conference formats: Fishbowl discussions and Customer Share Circles create space for authentic peer learning that attendees can't get anywhere else.

• Surprise and delight: At Goop events, they didn't announce special guest speakers for the closing keynote so people stayed engaged until the end.

The Trust Economy: Why Venue Partnerships Make or Break Experiences

Working with amazing properties like The Four Seasons or Auberge and other brands I love isn't just about prestige—it's about partnership that elevates every touchpoint.

• Build relationships before you need them: I invest time in understanding venue capabilities, challenges, and goals before event planning begins.

• Create win-win scenarios: We gave venues positive exposure, donated items they needed that we purchased anyway, and made their jobs easier by understanding approval processes upfront.

• Collaborative enhancement: Utilize hotel partnerships for enhanced F&B experiences, bringing outdoor elements indoors and vice versa. Attendees are happy, and I’ve often had the hotel decide to adopt the requests we made into their evergreen menus and experiences for guests.

• Proactive problem-solving: No last-minute requests. Every detail planned and communicated in advance so the focus onsite is on attendee experience, not logistics firefighting. De-risking and scenario planning is good for the hotel, for your team and your attendees.

• Share the success: I always allow venues and agency partners to share in the recognition. Success is never a zero-sum game. Every event manager who’s ever gone above and beyond will receive an email to their manager from me, and other tokens of gratitude for their teamwork and effort.

The Cost of Playing It Safe

Here's what analytical, ROI-driven decision makers need to understand: the cost of NOT creating memorable experiences in competitive markets is exponentially higher than the investment in getting it right.

Breaking through the noise is more valuable than making zero impact in a crowded space. There's no such thing as "bad data" when you dare to be different, test, and iterate based on results.

• Ruthless editing and prioritization: What will drive the most ROI, and what can you cut? Maybe breakfast or florals aren’t worth the budget if you can invest in an unforgettable closing experience instead.

• Scale beyond the investment: Ensure your experiential elements can scale beyond the event through video content, case studies, campaigns, and roadshows. One great installation can fuel marketing for months.

• Word-of-mouth multiplication: When you show executives something they've never seen before that inspires awe while using your product, they become your most credible salespeople.

This is why people invest in art—because beauty, surprise, and emotional connection create value that compounds.

The Transformation Formula

At the core of every successful experiential event is a simple truth: we're not just moving people from Point A to Point B. We're creating space for them to have catharsis and transformation.

Start with your event brief focused on what you want attendees to feel before everything else. Where are they emotionally when they arrive, and where do you want them to be when they leave? After you nail the feeling, then focus on what you want them to think, and finally, what you want them to do.

Moving from 'what' to 'why' before tackling 'how' is the difference between events people attend and experiences people can't stop talking about.

Your competitors are still hosting conferences. You have the opportunity to architect transformation.

The question isn't whether you can afford to invest in elevated experiences. The question is whether you can afford not to.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Event Platform and podcast: If you're serious about creating experiential events that drive measurable business impact (and keeping your sanity while doing it), Bizzabo deserves a look. They're not just a registration platform—they're a true Event Experience Operating System that supports the entire journey from planning through post-event analysis.

Learn more:Bizzabo.comand Listen to my episode that dropped last week:Experiential Event Planning & Cognition

Gianna's Gems: How AI is Transforming Event Planning - Creating More Magical Moments

Hi there,

As someone who's spent over two decades crafting unique experiences for global brands, I'm fascinated by how AI is fundamentally changing our approach to event planning. Let me share what I'm seeing working with my top clients (three of which are AI companies).

The Magic Question That Started It All

In its best form, the magic happens when we use AI to answer that fundamental question I always ask: "How can I make this moment more magical?" Now we have more data to guide those decisions, and AI frees up more bandwidth for us to make it happen.

What excites me most is how AI is shifting us from reactive to predictive planning. Instead of scrambling to accommodate last-minute changes, we're now anticipating attendee needs before they even articulate them. We're seeing 45% of event organizers and directors actively using AI tools to enhance operations and personalize attendee experiences.

AI platforms can suggest personalized sessions, activities, and networking opportunities to create custom agendas, while automated systems handle attendee registration, check-in processes, and badge printing, greatly reducing wait times and human error. It also opens up new ways to surprise and delight attendees through immersive technology and personalization.

My Top AI Tools (Yes, I'm Naming Names)

I am naming the companies that I think are the best (and happen to also advise) because I am highly selective in who and what tools I work with. Aside from using Claude by Anthropic almost daily for everything from content outlines to research and contract comparison, what makes the companies below exceptional is their ability to handle the heavy lifting while preserving the human touch that creates memorable experiences.

BoomPop - I love the integrated ai-powered features like an AI-powered Itinerary Builder that builds your itinerary in minutes, and their AI-powered guest support that lets their AI Text Assistant answer guest questions. Their AI learns from past activity to improve future recommendations, pricing predictions, vendor availability forecasts, and RFP responses so it feels like like having an event planning assistant by your side, 24/7. They still have the personal touch with dedicated account managers, but those account  managers are more efficient and responsive due to the AI support.

Gradual - Love GRadual’s all-in-one community platform that supports everything from small intimate roundtables to multi-day (and stage) conferences with engaging and robust event capabilities. What sets them apart is their ability to support events with up to 100,000 concurrent users with robust content delivery and infrastructure. Their attendee matching features are also highly useful for what people want both virtually and in person at events right now making networking much more engaging, relevant and personal.

BookwithEva (EVA) - This streamlined platform makes booking quality entertainment and speakers quick, easy, and reliable, with more than 500 vetted entertainers ready to place offers on virtual or in-person events EVA - Entertainment made easy. Their AI-driven platform allows you to easily find entertainers through a variety of filters and search options, communicate directly with entertainers through their secure messaging system, and quickly narrow down options based on genre, price range, location, and availability.

Events.com ecosystem - While Events.com itself isn't a single AI platform, I love that it’s broader ecosystem includes powerful tools like Eventbrite Boost, an AI-driven event marketing tool that optimizes social media ads, email campaigns, and audience targeting to increase event attendance with AI-optimized paid advertising and predictive analytics for ticket demand and pricing recommendations.

Where AI Is Eliminating the Friction Points

The algorithms of AI help event planners automate things like venue selection, logistics management, content and email/social copy, task management, and scheduling tasks. The key is using AI to eliminate friction points so attendees focus on the content and connections, not the logistics. Here's where I've seen the biggest impact:

Venue Selection: AI search engines like BoomPop automatically narrow down venue options based on your specific criteria, saving weeks of manual research and back and forth with venues.

Contract Review: Here's where AI is becoming a game-changer for those of us juggling multiple vendor contracts. AI compares and negotiates proposals in real time by quickly analyzing contract terms, identifying potential red flags, comparing pricing across multiple vendors, and even suggesting negotiation points based on industry standards. This means less time buried in paperwork and more time focusing on the creative elements that make events memorable.

Attendee Flow and Predictive Planning: AI-powered systems using QR codes or facial recognition technology reduce wait times and improve attendee flow at entrances. AI will predict event attendance more accurately, manage food and beverage requirements based on real-time data, and monitor energy usage at large events.

Content Development: One area where AI is particularly transformative is content creation. AI can draft social media calendars, campaigns and posts, generate emails, and aid in sourcing different assets, from speakers and sponsors to events and vendors. Whether it's written or visuals, AI is incredibly useful for creating event content and pre-and post-event communications, with email templates and welcome packets. I've even seen companies using it to generate names for new conferences and event logos!

The Magic of Personalization

This is where AI truly shines in creating those magical moments. AI platforms can tailor event experiences by using attendee data to create custom agendas and personalized communication based on attendees providing preferences at registration.

For example, Brella's AI-powered matchmaking algorithm analyzes hundreds of data points to find highly relevant matches for each person, creating higher attendee engagement and satisfaction by curating a fulfilling event experience for each attendee.

I also think AI, when incorporated elegantly into events, can enhance the experience and inspire attendees or create a sense of awe. I work with an experiential agency called De-Yan, who always incorporates AI coding into immersive, art-like experiences. They work with all the fashion houses because people can't help but engage and share these on social. Other examples I've done range from creative AI photobooths that turn people's photos into works of art based on AI filters, or the time I hired a famous conductor to generate a musical score using the AI coordinates of the company I had invited to the event.

The impact is undeniable: 78% of event planners who have used AI in their planning report a higher return on investment. When people feel the event was designed specifically for them, they become advocates, not just attendees.

But Let's Keep It Real: The Limitations

I don't think event planners will ever be replaced by AI as it requires a high level of emotional intelligence and orchestration/teamwork and leadership that are hard to program. I remember attending TED Vancouver in 2019 and AI scientist Kai Fu Li flashed up a slide that had ten professions he thought were AI-proof, and Event Planner (along with CEO) was on there. However, here are a few challenges with AI I've experienced personally:

Generic Responses: AI pulls from known information on the internet, making it hard to be innovative when you're pulling from things that have already been done before. Plus, the lack of attention to detail leaves room for error. Overreliance on AI for creative copy and/or design can result in repetitive and uninspired themes and lower open/response rates. People love my newsletter and I have a high open rate because I create emotional connection through personal stories and use anecdotes from my career which an LLM could never have generated. The human touch remains irreplaceable for creating emotionally compelling narratives and storytelling throughout the experience.

Human Oversight: AI misfires require always double-checking automated outputs, and human oversight is key - AI assists but doesn't replace thoughtful planning and customer service. My recommendation is for planners to use AI as your strategic partner, not your replacement. AI should be thought of as a complement to your skillset and creativity, not something that can replace what you do. It can be a great brainstorming tool, or a starting point when you need an outline for a program, but when it comes to planning a personalized event that's innovative, creative, and engaging, it's lacking - you'll always need a human touch for that.

Looking Into My Crystal Ball: The Next 5-10 Years

The future is incredibly exciting. The next five years promise AI-powered real-time attendee insights, automated event logistics, hyper-personalized networking, and advanced predictive analytics to enhance decision-making.

I'm particularly excited about:

• Immersive Experiences: AI integration with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will lead to even more immersive event experiences, with AI personalizing virtual environments and making them more interactive. It can even democratize access to content and speakers - making having famous artists/people from past and future show up at your event or give a speech for much less than it costs today.

• Real-time Sentiment Analysis: AI will assess attendee satisfaction in real-time through sentiment analysis, analyzing facial expressions, social media posts, and feedback to provide immediate insights. (Hopefully companies like AWS will stop limiting this at their events!)

• Sustainability Optimization: AI will help optimize resources and reduce waste by predicting attendance accurately and monitoring energy usage to improve sustainability efforts. I just keynoted for a Tech Leaders Summit hosted by the Four Seasons and one problem that attendees brought up was the issue of food waste, so the challenge is on to crack that!

• Strategic Partnership: AI systems will start functioning as strategic business partners, helping executives make informed decisions and automate complex tasks with real-time data analysis and personalized insights.

My Final Gem

I love the limitless potential AI opens up by giving planners more time for strategic planning and creativity. The key will be staying curious and experimental while never losing sight of what makes events truly magical—the human connections and emotional experiences that technology can enhance but never replace.

The best AI, like any technology, feels invisible and elegantly enhances an experience. It should amplify your creativity and strategic thinking, not replace the heart of what we do.

What I'm Loving This Week: For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

I’ve always loved videos - from the 3,000 video playlist I have running on YouTube of my son’s top moments (we watch them several mornings a week and it always reminds me of the most important things in life), to the videos I captured of my own wedding, and then all those event sizzle reels that crystalize the hours of work that went into creating magic moments…That’s why I wanted to share (again) my favorite video platform for crafting timeless memory capsules in minutes - VidDay. I have shared my love for them before, but this week am tickled to share an interview I did with VidDay’s founder about designing thoughtful events with intention, for connection and impact. Read it here. Take 10% off with my discount code: ViddayGVIP10

GIANNA'S GEM Sexy Property Spotlight: Four Seasons Napa Valley

When Excellence Meets Terroir: Why This Calistoga Sanctuary Commands Its Premium

Four Seasons Napa Valley isn't just another luxury resort—it's a one of a kind gem of a property that captures the complete essence of wine country through the lens of uncompromising Four Seasons excellence. This is where Napa's agricultural soul meets hospitality perfection, and why world class travelers and businesses will pay premium rates without question to experience this majestic resort.

Here's what lights me up about this property: It is truly a sanctuary that will drop your cortisol level as soon as you drive up the vineyard lined driveway. It's not trying to be Napa—it is Napa, distilled into its most refined form. I can say with full honestly that this was the one property I have been to in Napa where I felt 100% present at every moment and savored the tranquility of the natural surroundings, the peace and calm of the resort and genuine care the staff took to ensure every need was tended to. It was a slice of paradise that left me feeling inspired, restored, and even looking into their private residences because I truly would love making this property a home. Read on to get intrigued.

Why Four Seasons Napa Valley Is Worth Every Premium Dollar

While other properties offer wine country accommodations, and let’s face it, at inflated rates, The Four Seasons in Calistoga has created something genuinely rare: a resort that wraps you in Napa like a cozy cashmere, bringing the best to you so you can relax stress free in the best of this magical place. They thought of everything and spared no detail - for instance, its own working winery, Elusa, and tasting room where guests can taste library wines just steps from their casitas. As we checked in, we were also invited to feel free to sample the grapes ourselves off of one of the vines that bordered the resort. What a special and inviting experience. This isn't tourism—it's terroir-driven hospitality that only Four Seasons could execute with such seamless sophistication. And of course, we were welcomed to our room with a bottle of Elusa’s wine paired with chocolate and a charcuterie board - a perfect wine country welcome.

The property commands its rates because it delivers experiences money typically can't buy: direct access to vineyard-to-glass storytelling, an open-air Michelin-starred restaurant, Auro, featuring a pristine glass exhibition kitchen to view the magic making, legendary mountain views, and a Mexican chef to honor the many workers who work hard to bring the harvest to table every year. We were greeted at the restaurant entrance by the sommelier who offered us an amuse bouche and glass of sparkling wine - a simple but important detail. I remember a pain point for me at The French Laundry was having to wait 30 minutes for a glass of wine at my first time dining there - they nailed this pain point by offering a snack and a welcome drink before we were even seated. Watching a full harvest moon rise over the mountains like a show before our eyes made it even more special. No fancy art needed!

What Makes This Property Genuinely Irreplaceable

Bringing Wine Country to Guests Seamlessly: 

What sets Four Seasons Napa Valley apart is how masterfully it delivers the entire wine country experience within its borders. Guests can taste estate-grown grapes steps from their accommodations, dine on Michelin-starred cuisine while gazing at the same vineyard and Calistoga mountains that produce their wine, and transition seamlessly from poolside relaxation to farm to table dining in indoor/outdoor country-chic settings without the logistics of having to even board a bus or car the entire time. This isn't just convenience—it's curation at the highest level, where every element of the quintessential Napa experience has been thoughtfully integrated into a single, cohesive destination to save time and pain so attendees can spend more time savoring the experience, relaxing, and mingling with eachother. For busy executives and discerning groups, this means maximum immersion with minimal coordination—the luxury of experiencing wine country's soul without the typical touring complexities.

Event Spaces Built for Community: The two main event spaces beautifully combine outdoor space with indoor space, each with a private lawn for a reception, dinner or wedding ceremony, and indoor space for those late night dance parties or winter months. The Vineyard Barn and lawn is inspired by rustic architecture and overlooks the Cabernet Vineyard and Palisade, while the Calistoga Ballroom and Terrace overlook the lake and fountains and can be access privately and completely distinct from any other hotel guests for the most private and discreet celebrations and events. The outdoor terrace capitalizes on those golden hour moments that make presentations memorable, while indoor venues feature built-in bars that keep networking flowing seamlessly. And…there are a couple of smaller “dining room” vignettes set in the vineyard on property with overhangs - a perfect way to bring your guests to the vineyard without having to drive off property. Plan a memorable company picnic lunch or executive dinner that guests don’t even have to travel off property to reach, yet feel miles away nestled within the cabernet vines. 

The Culinary Adventure: Two spectacular restaurants, Truss and Auro, showcase panoramic mountain vistas that serve as natural conversation starters for deal-making. The Michelin Star Auro isn't just about prestige—it's about offering clients and executives dining experiences that match the caliber of the finest restaurants Napa has to offer without having to leave the property. For an intimate, rarefied experience, vineyard picnics can be arranged in the middle of the property vineyard. Truss is a vibrant brasserie-style all-day dining experience with American-Mediterranean flavors and Napa Valley’s finest ingredients. With sweeping vineyard and Palisades Mountain views, guests can sample bold, seasonal dishes, renowned pizzas, handcrafted cocktails. The poolside Mexican restaurant, Campo,  offered fresh, local flavors as bright as the lemon-colored decor that lend well to more casual, healthy comfort dining and relaxed relationship building. The open-air poolside restaurant is conveniently located between the Resort Pool and the adults-only infinity pool serving California-inspired favourites that change with the seasons and showcase Napa Valley’s freshest ingredients. 

Adult-Focused Luxury: The adults-only infinity pool creates that coveted space where serious conversations happen organically in the pristine infinity pool surrounded by sweeping wine country views and bordered by grapevines, while the main infinity pool accommodates mixed groups without compromising sophistication. There is a bocce court and other activities like s’mores kits available for children, yet plenty of quiet spaces like the spa sanctuary, pristine gym, and adult pool for those who want an adult-only experience. This dual-pool approach is strategic hospitality at its finest providing inclusive and enjoyable options for anyone.

Accommodations That Deliver Impact: These aren't hotel rooms—they're vineyard-view sanctuaries with oversized soaking tubs, Le Labo bath product, and waterfall showers that ensure your VIPs (and you) arrive to meetings genuinely rejuvenated. The casita-style layout provides privacy for sensitive discussions while maintaining the communal energy essential for team cohesion. Every detail is seamless…rooms come with a wine fridge - perfect for storing Napa wine purchases after a tasting, or enjoying a selection of Napa’s local wines, and the rooms are spacious enough with tall ceilings and sweeping views to make you feel as though you are home away from home.

Gianna’s 10/10 Rating

This property succeeds because it understands something fundamental about modern luxury hospitality: today's executives and discerning clients aren't impressed by amenities alone—they're moved by authentic experiences that reflect sophistication without pretense.

The chic, refined minimalist design doesn't compete with Napa's dramatic setting; it enhances it. The spa experience caters to the longevity-focused crowd featuring a small but tranquil outdoor space with a cold plunge and cedar sauna that complement Calistoga’s traditional wellness culture. The spa offers the kind of sophisticated recovery experiences that allow executives to return from retreats genuinely renewed, a key part of my success formula: Stress + Rest = Growth and Success. 

As always, the impeccable Four Seasons service anticipates needs without hovering. This is hospitality intelligence that justifies premium investment. A text message to check if I wanted turn down service since my do not disturb sign was on…another text to see if my room was suitable to my needs and if anything else to make my stay special. When I arrived and was interested in moving my reservation to the Michelin Star restaurant, I received a phone call accommodating the request. Every staff member I engaged with was genuinely helpful, offering me tips on where to run in the morning to what to order on the lunch menu. The helpfulness of the Four Seasons brand isn’t lost on me, a former Google Event Leader, where “helpfulness” was synonymous with our brand.

For planners seeking venues that elevate and expand what’s possible with hospitality rather than merely accommodate, Four Seasons Napa Valley delivers something increasingly rare: an authentic sense of place wrapped in operational excellence that makes complex logistics look and appear effortless.

Some experiences are worth the premium. This is one of them.

Ready to explore how Four Seasons Napa Valley can transform your next gathering from successful to unforgettable? Let's discuss making wine country magic happen at the level your vision deserves - reach out to learn more via a discovery call: intro.co/GiannaGaudini

Gianna's Gems: Mental Fitness: The Game-Changer Every Professional Needs

A Gianna's Gem on Why Training Your Mind is Just as Critical as Training Your Body

Hi there,

With school starting this past week, my son told me his favorite class was “PE”. Not surprising for an eight year old boy, right? But it got me thinking - why aren’t we teaching mental fitness in school at a young age? I’ve started working with my own son on mental fitness in the mornings before school to build his resilience and I’ve already noticed a huge difference. So let me ask you think - what is the difference between mental health and mental fitness?

Here's what I've learned after orchestrating events from intimate C-suite dinners to record-breaking stadium experiences: Your physical stamina can get you through the 18-hour event days, but your mental fitness determines whether you thrive or merely survive in this industry, and really in any life situation.

Gianna's Gem: Mental Fitness vs. Mental Health - Know the Difference

Let me be crystal clear about something that gets confused all too often. Mental health is about addressing challenges, managing conditions, and seeking support when you're struggling. Mental fitness? That's about proactively training your mind to perform at its peak, just like an athlete trains their body.

T

hink of mental fitness as your psychological gym routine. You wouldn't expect to run a marathon without months of cardiovascular training, right? Yet we expect ourselves to handle high-pressure client presentations, manage complex logistics under tight deadlines, and lead diverse teams through inevitable curveballs—all without training the organ that makes it all possible: our brains.

Mental fitness is about building resilience before you need it, not just recovering after you're depleted.

The Four Pillars of Mental Fitness for Event Professionals

Pillar 1: Nutritional Input (What You Feed Your Mind)

Just as junk food creates sluggish energy and crashes, consuming the wrong mental "food" can leave you anxious, overwhelmed, and creatively depleted.

Mental nutrition includes:

• Morning content consumption: Start your day with inspiring podcasts, industry thought leadership, or educational content instead of diving straight into your inbox or doom-scrolling news

• Curated learning and career development: Follow innovators in event tech, design, and experience creation rather than getting lost in comparison-driven social media. I consider this “expanding” rather than comparing and happy to share recommendations for some industry expanders with you (message me back).

• Boundary-setting with information: Designate specific times for industry news and client communication rather than being "always on"

Gianna's Gem Action Step: For the next week, replace the first 30 minutes of your morning phone time with something that genuinely inspires or educates you. Notice how this shifts your mental state for the entire day.

Pillar 2: Rest and Recovery (Your Mental Sleep Training)

Event professionals are notorious for burning the candle at both ends, but peak mental performance requires intentional recovery periods.

Essential mental rest practices:

• Meditation or mindfulness: Even 10 minutes daily can significantly improve focus and stress management

• Quality sleep hygiene: Creating wind-down routines that help your brain process the day's information

• Digital detox windows: Scheduled breaks from phones and laptops to let your mind truly rest

• Nature connection: Studies show that time outdoors literally resets our mental processing capabilities

Remember that white space I always talk about? Your brain needs it just as much as your calendar does. Otherwise you’re going to get that “force shutdown message” or death spiral literally and figuratively!

Pillar 3: Mental Strength Training (Building Cognitive Muscle)

This is where the real magic happens. Just as physical exercise builds muscle memory and strength, certain practices build your mental resilience and problem-solving abilities.

Mental strength exercises include:

• Visualization: Mentally rehearsing challenging scenarios (difficult client conversations, technical failures, last-minute changes) so you're prepared rather than reactive

• Manifestation with strategy: Not just wishful thinking, but combining clear intention-setting with actionable planning

• Cognitive reframing: Training yourself to find positive opportunities within challenges rather than defaulting to stress responses

• Decision-making practice: Regularly making small, low-stakes decisions quickly to build confidence for bigger choices

Pillar 4: Mental Exercise (Keeping Your Brain Agile)

Physical exercise keeps your body flexible and strong; mental exercise keeps your brain sharp and creative.

Brain-boosting activities:

• Puzzle-solving: Crosswords, sudoku, or logic games that challenge different cognitive pathways

• Creative movement: Dancing, especially learning new choreography, builds neural connections and has been proven as the #1 way to reduce cognitive decline (I shared this with my husband when pitching we start dance lessons together!)

• Complex problem-solving: Taking on challenging projects that stretch your strategic thinking

• Learning new skills: Whether it's a language, instrument, or technology tool, novel learning keeps your brain adaptable

Gianna's Gem: The same mental agility that helps you solve a Rubik's cube will serve you when you need to completely reimagine an event setup 48 hours before go-live.

Why Mental Fitness Can Make or Break Your Career

Let me share a story that illustrates this perfectly. Two years ago, I was working with a incredibly talented event planner—let's call her Sally. She could coordinate logistics like a symphony conductor and had an eye for design that consistently wowed clients. But Sally had never trained her mental fitness.

When a major client demanded significant changes three weeks before their annual summit, Sally's lack of mental resilience showed. Instead of seeing the challenge as an opportunity to showcase creativity under pressure, she spiraled into overwhelm. Her team and I picked up on her stress, vendor relationships became strained, and what should have been a career-highlighting project became a source of burnout.

Contrast this with another event planner I know who faced an even bigger last-minute crisis—a venue roof actually falling in on 48hours notice. Because she had trained her mental fitness through regular visualization, stress management practices, and cognitive flexibility exercises, she was able to stay calm, think creatively, and lead her team through an incredible recovery. That "roof falling in" became the story that landed her the next promotion.

Gianna’s Gem: In our industry, your technical skills get you in the door, but your mental fitness determines how high you rise and how long you last.

Mental Fitness and Leadership: The Multiplier Effect

When you're mentally fit, you don't just perform better—you elevate everyone around you and build durable teams that succeed for the long term. 

Mentally fit leaders:

• Stay calm under pressure, which allows their teams to focus on solutions rather than managing up anxiety

• Make clearer decisions faster, reducing the analysis paralysis that kills momentum

• Communicate with greater emotional intelligence, building stronger client relationships and vendor partnerships

• Bounce back from setbacks quickly, modeling resilience for their entire organization

• See opportunities where others see only obstacles, driving innovation and competitive advantage

Gianna's Gem: Your team's stress level will never be lower than yours. If you want a high-performing, resilient team, you must model mental fitness first.

Creating Events That Support Mental Fitness

Here's where this gets really exciting: Once you understand mental fitness, you can design events that actually contribute to your attendees' mental well-being rather than just delivering information. By elevating their mindset, you will not just become an industry leader, but you’ll put attendees into a better frame of mind to be receptive to new ideas, and in a generous state of wanting to share about your brand by word of mouth. 

Event elements that support mental fitness:

• Environment Design: Create spaces that feel psychologically safe and energizing rather than overwhelming. This means thoughtful color choices (I love bringing in natural wood tines, lighter colors, greens rather than red tones that signal danger), warm, natural lighting where possible, and layouts that encourage both connection and moments of quiet reflection and rejuvenation between sessions and networking.

• Programming Structure: Build in "brain breaks"or “digital detox hours” between intensive sessions. The human attention span isn't designed for back-to-back content consumption. Include movement, meditation moments, or simply unstructured restorative time. Trust me, your attendees will be so grateful! I’ve NEVER had an attendee upset about not enough content - it’s usually the opposite - they feel overwhelmed.

• Content Delivery: Mix high-energy presentations with reflective, smaller workshops. Include high performance technique training such as mental rehearsal coaches, visualization exercises, breathwork, and opportunities for attendees to practice new mental models in real-time.

• Nutrition Choices: Offer brain-healthy, nourishing food options that sustain energy rather than creating sugar spikes and crashes. Your catering choices directly impact attendee mental performance. I love offering colorful spa waters for attendees to sample throughout the day that also offer pops of color to the environment and are environmentally friendlier than bottled water.

• Recovery Spaces: Designate quiet zones where introverted attendees can recharge, get a foot massage or a “sound bath”, meditate, have an aroma therapy blend created for them, or where anyone feeling overwhelmed can reset their mental state.

The Business Impact: Why Mental Fitness Events Win

When you create events that support mental fitness, something remarkable happens: Your attendees don't just learn—they transform. And transformed attendees REMEMBER your event and then become raving fans who drive real business results far more than any other marketing channel.

I've seen this play out repeatedly. Events that prioritize attendee mental well-being consistently achieve:

• Higher engagement scores because attendees feel energized and taken care of rather than drained

• Better retention rates as people actually implement what they've learned and remember your product better

• Stronger word-of-mouth marketing because the experience felt genuinely valuable

• Increased client loyalty as organizations see measurable impact on their team's performance

• Premium pricing opportunities because you're delivering transformation, not just information

Gianna's Gem Action Step: For your next event, ask yourself: "How can I design this experience to leave attendees feeling more mentally fit than when they arrived?" Then build those elements into your programming from day one, not as afterthoughts.

Your Mental Fitness Training Plan Starts Now

Ready to begin your mental fitness journey? Here's a practical starting point:

• Week 1-2: Focus on mental nutrition. Clean up your information diet and establish a inspiring morning routine.

• Week 3-4: Add daily mental rest practices. Even five minutes of meditation or a brief walk outside counts. Heck, even take a bathroom break without your phone (you know you do it!)

• Week 5-6: Introduce mental strength training through visualization, mental rehearsal  and cognitive reframing exercises.

• Week 7-8: Incorporate mental exercise—try a new puzzle type, learn a dance move, or develop a new creative skill.

• Week 9 and beyond: Make mental fitness a non-negotiable part of your professional development, just like staying current with industry trends or technology.

In an industry where the unexpected is expected and pressure is the norm, mental fitness isn't a luxury—it's a competitive necessity. The event professionals who thrive in the coming years won't just be those with the best technical skills or vendor relationships. They'll be the ones who have trained their minds to stay calm in chaos, see opportunities in challenges, and lead with clarity when others are overwhelmed.

Your career deserves the same intentional training you'd give your body if you were preparing for a marathon. Because in many ways, that's exactly what you're doing—preparing for the long game of a fulfilling, sustainable career in an industry you love.

The strongest leaders aren't those who never face challenges—they're the ones whose minds are trained to handle whatever comes their way with grace, creativity, and unwavering focus on what matters most.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Mental Fitness Through Heart Rate Variability (HRV): I'm absolutely fascinated by Garrett Gaudini's deep dive into the Morpheus heart rate monitor and how it's reshaping the way we think about mental fitness. What struck me most was his insight about shifting from an "all gas, no brakes" mentality to training smarter through data. The Morpheus system uses Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to measure the balance between your body's stress and recovery systems - essentially giving you a daily "readiness score" that tells you when your nervous system is primed for challenge versus when it needs restoration. This isn't just about physical performance; it's about building the mental discipline to listen to your body's signals rather than pushing through regardless of your internal state.

What I love about Garrett's approach is how he frames this as a paradigm shift in mental fitness - moving from the toxic "mind over matter" mentality that leads to burnout and injury, to a more sustainable philosophy of working with your body's natural rhythms. The ability to have concrete data about your nervous system's readiness feels like such a game-changer for anyone trying to build resilience and optimize their mental performance. The core concept of using biometric feedback to guide your daily intensity is brilliant. Check out more of Garrett's thoughtful takes on health tech and longevity - his "Product Guy" perspective on optimizing healthspan is exactly the kind of evidence-based approach to wellness we all need more of.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Ready to make mental fitness your secret weapon? Need help training your team in this area? I’d love to help! Reach out to this email and we can discuss your specific needs and transform you to your optimal state of thriving.

Want more? Take My Master Class or Book a 1:1:intro.co/GiannaGaudini

Gianna's Gems: What Executives Want from Events - Cracking the C-Suite Code

Hi there,

Last week I had coffee with a CMO who told me "I get 50 event invitations every month. I attend exactly three."

This conversation reinforced a topic I love to discuss - what truly motivates C-suite executives to not just attend events, but to engage, connect, and ultimately take action with your brand. After working with dozens of executives and analyzing the most successful corporate events I've planned, I've uncovered the secret sauce that transforms good events into game-changing experiences for the corner office crowd.

Getting Inside the Executive Mind: Understanding the C-Suite Personality Matrix

Here's the truth about executives: they're not all cut from the same cloth. Each C-suite role comes with distinct motivations, pressures, and success metrics that directly impact what they find valuable in an event experience.

The CEO: The Visionary Connector CEOs are constantly balancing strategic oversight with the need to stay ahead of industry disruption. Research shows that only 10 percent of Fortune 250 CEOs have marketing experience, which means they're often looking for ways to understand markets and customers better. They attend events to:

• Gain strategic insights that could reshape their industry landscape

• Position themselves as thought leaders and in their space

• Build relationships with other visionary leaders

• Stay informed about disruptions that could impact their long-term strategy

The CMO: The Growth Unifier CMOs are being moved to executors of strategy rather than being the ones to help create the strategy, making them hungry for content that elevates their strategic role. They're seeking:

• Data-driven insights that demonstrate marketing's ROI impact

• Networking and partnership opportunities with other growth leaders

• Cutting-edge tools and technologies that can transform customer experiences

• Validation of their strategies from successful peers

The CTO: The Innovation Scout CTOs attending events focused on artificial intelligence may learn about potential applications of AI in their industry, enabling them to explore new avenues and drive innovation. They're motivated by:

• Technical insights with authorities in the space on emerging technologies before they hit mainstream

• Peer discussions about implementation challenges and solutions

• Opportunities to scout talent and partnership opportunities

• Understanding how technology trends will impact business strategy

The CRO: The Revenue Accelerator Today, only 11 percent of Fortune 100 companies have a CRO, making this role particularly focused on proving value. They attend events to:

• Learn about tools and strategies that can directly impact pipeline growth

• Network with potential customers and partners

• Stay ahead of sales and marketing technology trends

• Share best practices with other revenue leaders

The Executive ROI Equation: What Motivates Attendance

The Bottom Line Truth: A little over half of CEOs believe that event marketing generates more ROI than other marketing channels. But what does ROI mean to executives attending events?

Time ROI: Executives value their time like gold. They need to know that attending your event will deliver insights they can't get elsewhere, in a format that respects their packed schedules.

Relationship ROI: The connections they make must be at their level and directly relevant to their challenges. Meet your peers at your career level for 4–5 hours in a private environment with high-quality content.

Learning ROI: The content must be immediately actionable and ahead of the curve. They want to walk away knowing something their competitors don't or getting access to someone they couldn’t get access to otherwise.

Strategic ROI: Everything must tie back to business outcomes. Abstract concepts and experiential without clear business applications simply won't cut it.

Making Events Irresistibly Memorable: The Magic Multiplier Approach

Remember my mantra: "How can I make this moment more magical?" This question becomes even more powerful when applied to executive events, because these leaders experience dozens of events that all start to blur together.

The Arrival Transformation: Instead of standard check-in, create a moment of recognition. Have a concierge approach them by name before they even reach registration. "Ms. Chen, we've been looking forward to your insights on AI transformation." This simple acknowledgment that you know who they are and why they matter sets the entire tone.

The Content Elevation: Executives don't want to hear about what happened last quarter—they want to understand what's coming next year. Structure content around:

• Exclusive data and insights not available elsewhere

• Peer-to-peer case studies from comparable organizations

• Interactive scenarios where they can apply learning in real-time

• Access to thought leaders they couldn't normally reach

• Stories from other CXO’s who have gone through challenges and how they navigated them (crisis stories are always hot here, even though controversial, i.e. the CEO whose company was cyber-hacked)

The Network Navigation: The main goal is to find those CEOs who inspire and motivate you, believe in what you believe in, share similar values and know your industry. Create structured networking that goes beyond cocktail hour:

• Curated introductions based on shared challenges or interests

• Small group dinners with specific topics and skilled facilitators - I love a Jeffersonian Style to ensure everyone at the table is engaged

• "Office hours" and book signing with keynote speakers for intimate Q&A sessions

• OCTO (Office of the CTO) members setting up meetings to delve into personal strategies

• Follow-up facilitation to help maintain valuable connections

• High-End Networking Activities in the am before content such as group biking, racing, etc.

Creating the Next Action Catalyst

The difference between a good event and a great one isn't just what happens during the event—it's what happens after. Here's how to create momentum that leads to business action and will make sure your investment drives real impact:

The Strategic Takeaway: Design a personalized action plan for attendees. I once did this for Google Performance Ad marketing and we created a custom website for every Exec with relevant videos, use-cases specific to their vertical, industry, region, etc. and a vanity link. To make it EXTRA special, we made a custom bobblehead of their “Androidified” self (email me to learn more about this separately) with a link to the website on the base, so they could sit it prominently on their desk and be reminded of us daily. What exec can resist putting a custom Android version of themselves on their desk? It worked brilliantly and we won a marketing Gold award plus closed more business than any other Exec event had that year. 

A simplified version could be a personalized debrief / action document for them with:

• Three key insights they gained

• Two strategies they want to implement

• One person they want to continue conversations with

• Specific next steps with timelines

• What they want you to check in with them on in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months.

The Continuation Strategy: Within 48 hours, send a personalized follow-up that includes:

• Any photos of their specific participation moments or of them (they will use, share, etc and best if your logo is also somewhere in there!)

• Contact information for the people they connected with (with permission)

• Relevant resources based on the sessions they attended

• An invitation to an exclusive follow-up meeting, event or community (more on this below)

The Community Connection Create an ongoing executive community that extends far beyond the event. CEO peer advisor board meetings offer a comprehensive suite of opportunities for growth and leadership development. Here’s further proof by Fast Company that these communities really drive business impact. This could include:

• Monthly peer advisory sessions

• Exclusive private slack channel or Whats app 

• Early access to industry insights

• Quarterly intimate dinners

• Mentorship or Coaching Cohorts

De-Risking Executive Attendance: The Guarantee Strategy

Executives are risk-averse with their time. Here's how to remove every barrier to their attendance:

The Value Guarantee: Offer a specific, measurable value promise: "If you don't walk away with at least three actionable strategies that could impact your quarterly results, we'll personally conduct a follow-up strategy session at no cost."

The Agenda Transparency: Share detailed learning objectives and outcomes for each session. Let them see exactly what they'll gain and why it matters to their specific role.

The Peer Validation: Share attendee lists (with permission) showing other executives at their level. Successful CEOs understand that networking is essential, and they want to know the quality of their peer group.

The Incentive: Offer something they must attend to receive (i.e. we won’t be record the session as it’s chatham house rules), or I’ve once sent attendees one bespoke cufflink or shoe (really anything with a pair works here) but they had to attend the event to receive the other.

Successful Event Formats by Executive Type

For CEOs: The Strategic Salon

• Intimate groups of 12-15 CEOs maximum

• Half-day format respecting their time constraints

• Chatham House rules for candid conversations

• Focus on long-term trends and strategic challenges

• Anything that focuses on de-risking and expanding company growth and building partnerships and alliances

• Include a private dinner component for deeper relationship building

Example: A "Future of Ai" breakfast series where 12 CEOs spend 3 hours discussing industry disruption, followed by quarterly follow-up dinners.

For CMOs: The Growth Lab

• Interactive workshops with real-time application

• Case study deep-dives with peer Q&A

• Lots of networking - CMO’s tend to be more extroverted and into experience/mingling than some other C levels (CHROs as well)

• Demonstrations with hands-on experience

• ROI measurement and other workshops

• Remember - CMO’s plan events, so the experience should be high quality and top notch and potentially also offer content about event strategy and marketing mix

Example: A "Marketing ROI Accelerator" where CMOs work through real scenarios using new attribution models, with immediate takeaways for their teams.

For CTOs: The Innovation Showcase

• Technical deep-dives with live demonstrations

• Peer-to-peer troubleshooting sessions

• Early access to emerging technologies

• Security and implementation-focused content

• Small group problem-solving sessions

• Access to “Office Hours” with your technical team and products

Example: An "AI Implementation Intensive" featuring live coding sessions, security workshops, and peer advisory groups tackling real implementation challenges.

The Ripple Effect of Executive Event Excellence

When you create truly magical experiences for executives, the impact extends far beyond the event itself. These leaders become advocates who:

• Refer other high-level executives and their teams (champions) to your future events

• Engage more deeply with your brand and solutions

• Provide case studies and testimonials that attract similar leaders

• Become advisors and partners in your continued growth

70% of consumers expect tailored experiences, and executives are no different—except their expectations are exponentially higher. They want experiences that honor their expertise, respect their time, and deliver value that matches their investment.

The most powerful feedback I've ever received from an executive event wasn't about the celebrity speaker or the luxury venue. It was from a CEO who said: "For the first time in months, I left an event feeling energized instead of drained. Every conversation was valuable, every session was relevant, and every connection was meaningful. This is what executive events should feel like."

That's the ultimate power of understanding what executives truly want from events. It creates experiences that don't just fill calendars—they transform businesses.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Calistoga Motor Lodge

Don't let the "motor lodge" name fool you – this Hyatt property is a masterclass in casual luxury that perfectly captures Calistoga's laid-back wine country + hipster vibe. I had the pleasure of visiting the property this past weekend and was pleasantly surprised by this little known gem. What makes this place so special is how thoughtfully they've reimagined the classic motor lodge concept with young, hip touches that don't feel forced or trendy. From the moment you arrive, you're greeted by genuinely warm service and delightful surprises: pour-over coffee setups in every room, a wood-fired pizza oven that's actually put to good use, fresh local food programs, and evening s'mores kits paired with a cozy bonfire. The property strikes that rare balance of being sophisticated yet approachable, with both adult and kids' pools ensuring everyone in the family (or your team) feels welcome.

The rooms themselves are spacious and impeccably clean, featuring sleek furnishings that feel more boutique hotel than roadside motel, plus private patios that make you want to linger with your morning coffee or evening wine. For companies planning offsites or families seeking that wine country experience without the Four Seasons or Solage price tag (both literally less than two blocks away), this is your sweet spot. The Calistoga Motor Lodge proves that affordable doesn't mean sacrificing style, service, or those special touches that make a stay memorable – it's exactly the kind of place that makes you want to extend your trip by another night.

Gianna's Gems is a weekly exploration of ideas that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. If you found this valuable, please share it with a fellow event professional, and subscribe for more insights delivered directly to your inbox.

Want more? Take My Master Class or Book a 1:1: intro.co/GiannaGaudini

Gianna's Gems: Build Better Habits (and Events) Using Systems

Hi there,

At a family dinner this week, we were playing "conversation jenga” (it’s fun when you need a way to get your kids to be more cogent) and one question was “what warning sign would you come with”? We joked that my husband’s would be “warning: I won’t remember any of this or arrive on time” but that did launch us into a conversation about why our house runs so smoothly despite this funny fact. (p.s. email me if you want to know what my warning label would be according to my husband!)

So why some of us seem to effortlessly stick to our goals and stay highly organized at work and in life while others struggle to make it past day three of our latest "transformation" and can never seem to juggle it all effortlessly? The secret? It's not a superpower... It's systems.

The Magic in Making It Visible

Here's your first gem: make your goals impossible to ignore. I'm talking about that water bottle sitting pretty on your desk, the meditation cushion in the corner of your bedroom, the vision board above your desk or that "PAUSE" sticky note on your laptop screen. 

When our goals are visible, they become part of our environment's conversation with us. Every time you see that water bottle, it's a gentle nudge saying "hey there, let's hydrate." No mental energy required - just a simple visual cue that keeps you on track. I recently wanted to start drinking more pure water rather than bottled water, so I started filling a pretty mug with clear, filtered water and leaving it in my fridge. Every time I opened the fridge, I saw that cute mug, and took a sip rather than grabbing a bottle - so simple!

Your Future Self is Your Best Decision Maker

Harvard Business School dropped some serious research that changed how I think about planning: when we make decisions for our future selves, we make better decisions.

Think about it - when you're planning your meals on Sunday for the week ahead, you're choosing grilled salmon and roasted vegetables. But when you're hangry at 7 PM on Tuesday? Hello, Uber Eats! Your future-focused self has clarity that your in-the-moment self simply doesn't have.

This is why successful people batch their decisions. They choose their outfits the night before, meal prep on Sundays, and yes - they plan their events and habits in advance when their judgment is crystal clear. This is also why I engage in mental rehearsal and micro-intention setting. When you have a pre-mortem about how you want a day, a meeting, a tennis match to go in advance, you mentally prepare your body to perform optimally the way you want it. 

Planning = Your Secret Weapon Against Decision Fatigue

Every decision we make throughout the day depletes our mental energy - from what to wear to what to eat to whether we should work out. By the time evening rolls around, we've run out of “adaptation energy” or the equivalent of fumes and can’t perform/respond at our best or make smart decisions.

But here's where planning becomes your superpower: it eliminates micro-decisions and lowers what researchers call "activation energy." The less energy it takes to start something, the more likely you are to actually do it.

When you plan your day / week ahead of time, you're not deciding if you'll work out or meditate - you're just showing up to the appointment you made with yourself. The decision was already made by your clearer, more intentional past self.

The Simple System That Doubles Your Success Rate

Ready for this? Setting a simple alarm for what you want to do makes you twice as likely to follow through. Seriously - studies on everything from quitting smoking to starting exercise routines show this works. 

Chevron used to have an ergonomic practice of locking their employees out of their computers once an hour so they’d be forced to take a break. Genius!

Have you ever noticed how spas and acupuncture never have good wifi (hint…it’s intentional because they want you to tune out and get zen!)

It's not just about remembering (though that helps). It's about creating a moment where you consciously choose your goal over whatever else is competing for your attention. That alarm becomes your accountability partner, your gentle coach, your reminder that this matter to you. I also create calendar alerts for things I want to remember because I know myself well enough to know I’ll be checking my email and will see the alert. It’s sadly true but it works for me!

Environment Design: Make the Right Choice the Easy Choice

Here's the truth: willpower is overrated and unreliable. The real strategy for success is in designing your environment so well that good choices become automatic.

Get the tempting stuff out of sight, out of reach, and out of mind. If you're trying to eat healthier, don't keep ice cream in the freezer and expect to win that battle every single night. If you don’t want to scroll instagram, get it off the home screen of your phone!

The same principle applies to your plans. If you want to work out in the morning, lay out your workout clothes the night before, pre-set the coffee and pre-pack your lunch to save am time and set an alarm to get to bed early enough so you’ll have energy in the morning. If you want to read or journal more, keep a book on your nightstand and charge your phone in another room.

How This Transforms Your Event Planning Game

Let's talk about how these same systems completely revolutionize your event planning, whether you're hosting a dinner party, planning a birthday, or organizing a corporate event.

Project Management Systems 

Tools such as Asana, Monday.com, Airtable, or Google Suite enable event teams to track tasks, deadlines, and dependencies across multiple stakeholders, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks and maintaining clear accountability throughout the planning process.

Instead of keeping your event ideas floating around in your head, or on a multitude of emails, slacks and documents, create a planning hub. I use this as a central source of truth for all collaborators to contribute to to manage simultaneous workstream deadlines, run-of-show, assets that need to be shared, calendars, and documents all in one centralized location so nothing gets missed. 

The key is to re-iterate one source of truth and consistently direct people to keeping everything there. It pays off in spades when you’re trying to find something in a hurry, or needing to reference an obscure piece of information from the previous year’s event.

Your Future Event-Planner Self Knows Best

Remember that Harvard research? It's everything when it comes to events. When you're planning your friend's baby shower three weeks out, you're choosing thoughtful games and a beautiful brunch spread. When you're planning it the night before? You're panic-ordering pizza or trying to get your brother-in-law to be the photographer and praying for the best.

I like to conduct a pre-mortem with my clients a week in advance of the event to walk through the event plans minute by minute and poke holes in all aspects of the attendee journey and team onsite roles. This gives us time to make any last minute changes to maximize success onsite and nothing slips through the cracks.

Plan your events when you're in your most creative, unstressed headspace - not when you're already feeling the pressure. Your future-self decisions will always be more thoughtful, more personal, and honestly, more fun.

I intentionally block time on my calendar for writing (these Gems!) and building creative and strategic plans. I found that when I used to try to do this at the end of the day, I didn’t have the “adaptation energy” left for it, so I now save all my less strenuous tasks and emails for that time and it’s made a huge difference in my productivity and creative output.

Templates That Eliminate Event Decision Fatigue

Here's where event planning gets genius: create templates for different types of events to repurpose. I have my product launch brief template, my "Milestone Birthday Celebration" template, and my "Trade Show Brief" templates in addition to various others and can repurpose then time and time again to kick start strategic planning.

By creating a template every time you need to create something new, you’re no longer starting from scratch and getting overwhelmed by infinite possibilities in the future. You’re pulling from proven systems and customizing from there. It's like having a personal event-planning assistant who knows exactly what works.

The Event Alarm System That Actually Works

Set specific alarms for your event planning milestones! "Send Invites Today" calendar alert two weeks out. "Grocery Shopping for the Dinner Party" calendar alert three days before…It’s a simple tool to ensure you don’t miss it on your to-do list.

This isn't just about staying on schedule - it's about breaking down what feels like one enormous task into manageable, timed actions, setting a date to be reminded when to do them, and clearing that mental space for what’s most urgent and timely. 

Pro-Tip: build some “flex time” so each alarm is a gentle nudge keeping you on track without the last-minute panic.

Environment Design for Effortless Hosting

Set up your spaces in advance so hosting feels effortless. The night before your event, arrange the furniture, set out menu cards, test your playlist (and charge your devices), and prep whatever you can do in advance.

When your guests arrive, you're not frantically finishing last minute touches and can greet them as the serene host you aspire to be and your guests deserve. Your environment is designed for success, and you get to actually enjoy the event you worked so hard to create. 

When hosting dinner parties, I purposely prep items that can “cook” while I’m socializing with guests like a roasted chicken and veggies. I have a dessert like a cheese and chocolate board I can whip out of the downstairs fridge and have ready in an instant rather than having to pre-plate everything. This maximizes what my guests and I want out of the experience - more quality time together!

Your Challenge:

Pick one area where you want to build a better habit or improve your planning and apply these systems:

1. Make it visible in your environment

2. Plan it when you're feeling clear and motivated

3. Set a simple alarm or reminder

4. Design your space to support success

5. Remove obstacles and temptations

Remember, sustainable change isn't about perfection - it's about creating systems that work with your human nature, not against it. You're not broken if willpower alone hasn't worked for you. You just needed better systems.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

EVA Entertainment - A Rising Star Worth Your Attention

My followers have been asking about the entertainment booking platform I frequently use, and there's exciting news to share! EVA has just been named to the prestigious 2025 Inc. Magazine Inc. 5000 list, ranking an impressive #1,149 overall and #123 in software. What started as two college students' bold vision to disrupt entertainment booking has now become one of America's fastest-growing private companies. This incredible milestone showcases what happens when innovative thinking meets a fearless team and a community ready to revolutionize events. The best part? EVA can now book talent nationwide, even if your city isn't currently featured on their platform. Ready to experience their game-changing service? Reach out using my exclusive PromoCode EVAGVIP to receive 10% off your booking plus VIP customer service. Trust me, this is the future of entertainment booking, and you'll want to be part of it!

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Check out my book, The Art of Event Planning or book a session with me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini

Gianna's Gems: The Happiness Formula - Creating Events That Feed the Soul

Hi there,

Summer’s a great time to ponder the meaning of happiness…and how to get more of it.

This week I've been obsessed with a question that’s been on my mind since a conversation I had recently with a happiness researcher: What if we could actually engineer joy? Not the fleeting, superficial kind that comes from a perfect Instagram moment, but the deep, lasting happiness that transforms how people feel about themselves and the world around them.

As event planners, we're essentially happiness architects—but are we building the right foundation? After diving deep into positive psychology research, I've discovered something that's completely revolutionized how I approach event design: true happiness isn't one-size-fits-all. It's actually made up of three distinct ingredients that people need in different proportions, like a custom cocktail (or mocktail) for the soul.

Gianna’s Gem: Let me introduce you to The Happiness Trifecta: the Engaged Life, the Pleasant Life, and the Meaningful Life. Understanding these three pillars and weaving them into your events doesn't just create better experiences—it creates transformation.

The Engaged Life: When Time Disappears

The Engaged Life is about flow states—those magical moments when you're so absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time entirely.

You know that feeling when you're completely absorbed in something challenging yet perfectly within your abilities? That's engagement. It's the programmer at 2 AM who forgot to eat dinner, the musician who plays for hours without noticing, the puzzle solver who can't put it down. In events, this translates to experiences that challenge attendees' skills while keeping them in their sweet spot of capability.

How to Build Engagement Into Your Events:

• Interactive Problem-Solving Sessions: Instead of passive presentations, create collaborative challenges. At a recent tech conference I designed, we replaced traditional breakout sessions with "CSI style breakouts" where teams of 4-6 people worked together to solve real business challenges like cyber-security hacking using new tools they learned that day. The energy was electric—people were so engrossed they didn't want to break for lunch.

• Gamification That Actually Works: Skip the basic point systems. Create compelling narratives. For a sales summit, we designed a "Mystery of the Missing Revenue" experience where attendees gathered clues throughout different sessions to solve a complex case study. Each session revealed new pieces of the puzzle and points, keeping people fully present and engaged. Everyone was able to redeem points for swag at the end. Win-win for all!

• Skill-Building Workshops: Offer hands-on learning experiences that stretch attendees just beyond their comfort zone. Think coding bootcamps, improv classes, or collaborative art projects. The key is calibrating difficulty—too easy and people zone out, too hard and they shut down.

• Live Music and Performance: Not as background entertainment, but as participatory experiences. I once organized a "Corporate Talent Show" rather than A-List talent which ended up being the most engaging and popular concert we ever had plus inspired awe and inspiration at people’s talented colleagues - and new connections made through shared talent that was revealed during the tryouts and performances.

The Pleasant Life: Indulgence as Strategy

Pleasant experiences aren't frivolous—they're neurologically necessary. They create positive emotional states that make people more creative, collaborative, and open to new ideas.

The Pleasant Life is about sensory delight and luxury experiences that make us feel pampered and cared for. This isn't shallow—it's strategic. When people feel physically comfortable and emotionally elevated, they're primed for better learning, networking, and decision-making.

How to Curate Pleasure at Your Events:

• Elevated Food Experiences: Move beyond standard catering. Create food stations that surprise and delight—think liquid nitrogen ice cream made to order, home-made chocolate chip cookies cooked fresh at your booth, or a "build your own charcuterie masterpiece" station with a professional guide. The act of creating something delicious together creates positive emotional anchors. And an excellent espresso lounge - always the most popular activation at any conference is certain to draw in attendees and keep them alert for your content.

• Sensory Luxury Touches: Incorporate unexpected moments of luxury. Hand or neck massages during networking breaks, essential oil stations, weighted blanket relaxation pods, or even a champagne and chocolate pairing during registration. These small indulgences signal that attendees are valued and help them relax so they will stay at your event longer to be pampered rather than retreat to their hotel room.

• Entertainment That Elevates: Instead of generic background music, curate experiences that truly entertain. I recently hired a mentalist who worked the networking hour, creating moments of wonder and delight that became conversation starters for weeks after the event. Or consider the custom leather-branding station or engraved water bottles for a personalized swag moment that draws people in and helps them remember you after the event.

• Beautiful Environments: Invest in creating Instagram-worthy moments not for social media, but because beauty genuinely elevates mood. Fresh flowers, live soft music, delicious smells, interesting mood lighting, unexpected art installations—these details create an atmosphere where people feel special simply by being present.

The Meaningful Life: Purpose as the Ultimate Connection

Meaningful experiences connect people to something larger than themselves. They transform attendees from passive participants into active contributors to positive change.

This is where events can become truly transformational. When people feel they're part of something bigger—whether that's solving important problems, helping others, or contributing to positive change—the experience resonates long after they've left your event.

How to Weave Meaning Into Your Events:

• Give-Back Components: Partner with local charities or causes that align with your event theme. At a leadership summit, we organized teams to shop for the wish list of local Napa fire victims—it became the most talked-about part of the entire event. People connected with each other through service and it made us all feel gratitude.

• Mentorship Circles: Create structured opportunities for experienced attendees to share knowledge with newcomers. Not just networking, but intentional knowledge transfer that makes both sides feel valued and connected to a larger community. I did this with Googles Women Leadership Summit and took it a step further by having female Google women leaders bring copies of their favorite books and sign them for a local women’s shelter with words of encouragement to the recipients.

• Problem-Solving for Good: Design sessions where attendees use their skills to tackle real social or environmental challenges. A marketing conference I organized included "Pro Bono Fridays" where teams created campaigns for local nonprofits. The energy was incredible because people felt their expertise was making a real difference.

• Google Marketing Events Academy: When we had an event cancel abruptly and our team felt lost with so much time on their hands, I created a marketing events academy where members of my team each presented on a specific event topic they had expertise in (i.e. brainstorm sessions, product launches, influencer marketing). It became a great way for our team to learn and grow during the slow period and kept us all feeling productive and engaged.

• Legacy Projects: Give attendees ways to continue making an impact after the event ends. Create collaborative documents, resource libraries, mentor programs, or ongoing volunteer opportunities that extend the meaningful connection beyond the event itself.

The Magic Formula: Blending All Three

Here's where it gets interesting: everyone needs different proportions of these three types of happiness. Some attendees crave the high-energy challenge of engagement, others need the comfort and pleasure of luxury experiences, and others are motivated most by meaningful connection and purpose.

The secret? Layer all three into every major event touchpoint.

Opening Session Example:

• Pleasant: Welcome attendees with exceptional expresso and wellness smoothies, and a beautiful environment that engages all the senses.

• Engaged: Interactive opening exercise (ie standing yoga or group breathing) that gets brains working immediately

• Meaningful: Frame the event's larger purpose and how attendees will contribute to positive change

Networking Breaks Example:

• Pleasant: Elevated food and drink experiences, maybe featuring local artisan vendors or something attendees can engage in with all their senses like make your own trail mix

• Engaged: Structured networking lounges or demo stations

• Meaningful: Opportunities to meet with a coach or mentor, or share with others through unconference style attendee-led share circles

Closing Experience Example:

• Pleasant: Celebration with live music, champagne toast, or gift store

• Engaged: Collaborative reflection on key learnings and next steps such as choosing one person who attended each breakout to share a one-two sentence summary for the rest of the attendees on stage in rapid-fire lightning format.

• Meaningful: Have attendees write a note to their future selves about something they want to remember from the event and mail it to them afterwards.

The Ripple Effect of Happiness-Centered Events

When you intentionally design events that feed all three dimensions of human happiness, magic happens:

For Attendees: They don't just gain information—they gain energy, connection, and a sense of purpose that extends far beyond the event. They become advocates who can't stop talking about their experience.

For Organizations: You create deeper engagement, stronger loyalty, and more powerful word-of-mouth marketing. People don't just attend your events—they actively look forward to them and bring others along.

For Society: You model what's possible when we prioritize human flourishing alongside business objectives. Your events become examples of how commercial gatherings can contribute to positive change.

Making This Your Method

Start by auditing your next event through the Happiness Trifecta lens. For each major element, ask:

• How does this engage people's skills and create flow?

• How does this create pleasure and positive sensory experiences?

• How does this connect to meaning and larger purpose?

The goal isn't to check boxes, but to weave these elements together so naturally that attendees feel the full spectrum of human happiness without even realizing it's by design.

Remember, we're not just planning events—we're creating experiences that can genuinely improve how people feel about their work, their relationships, and their ability to make a positive difference in the world.

What if your next event didn't just inform or entertain, but actually made people happier long after they went home? That's the kind of magic worth creating.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Don’t Be a Jerk Podcast: I am obsessed with leaders who care about making the world better and lead by example.  Healey Cypher, CEO of Boompop, a friend and genuine example of said leader, just launched his own podcast, aptly named “Don’t Be a Jerk”, a great follow on to this blog about how to create a better life and make others’ lives better as well. In his words: My brother once said all CEOs are inherently bad—and I get it. Headlines glamorize ruthless success, but there’s another story: leaders who win because they’re good people. “Don’t Be a Jerk” explores real-world examples and tactical insights proving kindness and integrity aren’t just nice—they’re strategic advantages. Each episode reveals actionable lessons to build success without compromising values. Let’s rewrite the narrative of leadership, one story at a time.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Check out my book, The Art of Event Planning or book a session with me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini

Gianna's Gems - What is Experiential Marketing and how to do it on any budget?

"How can I make this moment more magical?" 

This question, which I've been asking myself daily, isn't just about adding sparkle to life (though I do love sparkle). It's the golden thread that weaves through every successful experiential marketing event I've ever planned or attended.

After more than two decades creating events for Google, AWS, SoftBank Vision Fund, Airtable and Windsurf, I've learned that the difference between a standard marketing event and a truly experiential one comes down to this: Are you creating a moment people experience, or are you creating an experience people remember forever?

The Magic Behind Experiential Marketing Events

Experiential marketing events go beyond traditional event marketing tactics. Instead of allowing guests to simply move from one session to another, experiential creates immersive interactions that surprise and delight attendees and tie into the theme of the content with a cohesive red thread. These events are designed to create a memorable and emotional connection between attendees and the brand, often through interactive activities, sensory stimulation, and storytelling.

The goal isn't just brand awareness—it's about creating advocates. When people are moved emotionally by an experience, they don't just remember the content of your event—they remember how you made them feel and are compelled to share about it.

Standard Marketing Events vs. Experiential Marketing Events: The Key Differences

Traditional Marketing Events Focus On:

• Information delivery - PowerPoint presentations, product demos, training

• Mass communication - One-to-many messaging

• Passive consumption - Attendees sit, listen, and leave

• Metrics like attendance - Numbers over engagement quality

• Standard touchpoints - Registration, sessions, networking, meals, departure

Experiential Marketing Events Create:

• Immersive experiences - Interactive or augmented reality to enhance the experience and bring a product or brand to life

• Emotional connections - Moments that make people feel things like awe, delight, joy, nostalgia, inspiration and connection

• Active participation - Attendees are active participants in the experience. For instance, at one opening to a Google Cloud Security Summit, we had attendees put on special glasses to view a secret message as they walked through a portal into the general session.

• Memory creation - Experiences people can't help but share, like the time I had Olympic athletes lead morning group swim, run and cycle for CEOs.

• Transformative touchpoints - Every moment becomes an opportunity for magic, pain points become moments of delight instead.

Gianna's Gem: Think about approaching every touchpoint with the question: "What do I want attendees to feel, think and do after the event, and how can I inspire them through this experience”?

Real-World Examples from My Event Portfolio

Since anecdotes are always helpful, below are a few samples - photos can be found in my portfolio.

Google's Self-Driving Car Experience

Back when I worked at Google and the very first self driving cars were in beta (pre-Waymo, pre Tesla), I hid golden tickets under just a few general session seats. Those lucky attendees got to take test drives of the car during the lunch hour. Instead of just talking about innovation, we let attendees experience the future firsthand and it also solved the problem of how to offer just a limited number of rides to the audience (given the team’s capacity) and a fair yet delightful way to do it.

The World Record Yoga Session

At Google, I turned a massive event for tens of thousands of employees into an opportunity to create a world record for "the largest yoga session" by having a yoga instructor lead the keynote room in some standing poses before the content began. This helped awaken the audience, captivate them for what other surprises we might have in store for them (one of them was our CEO dressed as Elvis  swapping into an elvis impersonator performance before his keynote!) and became an energizing, shared, memorable moment.

CEO Summit AI Orchestra

At Softbank, I hired a famous musician to use AI to compose a score for a quartet from the geolocation points of all of our portfolio companies. We had the quartet perform in different places throughout the venue at breakfast, lunch, breaks, and then finally introduced the composer during the afternoon keynote and had him explain the custom created score, which we later gifted digitally to all the CEO’s. Since our portfolio companies all focused on ai, this theme tied into them and also created a memorable moment that could be relived through the gifted score after the event.

The Value of Experiential vs. Standard Events

For Attendees:

• 65% of people think that live events help them understand a product better

• Emotional connection creates deeper brand loyalty

• Memorable moments they actively want to share with others

• Hands-on learning that sticks long after the event

For Brands:

• Unparalleled word-of-mouth marketing - People can't help but talk about magical experiences and share about them on social as well.

• Higher return attendance - Memories of magic create powerful FOMO for future events

• Stronger participant engagement - Attendees who feel delighted participate more fully

• Increased perceived value - Magic-infused experiences justify premium pricing

• Brand differentiation - Being the "magical" choice sets you apart

The most powerful event feedback I ever received wasn't about the celebrity speaker or the gourmet food. It was from an attendee who wrote: "For three days, I felt completely seen. Every detail made me feel like someone had thoughtfully considered how to make my personal experience perfect and special which made me feel this is how they would treat me as a customer".

Creating Experiential Events on Any Budget

The beauty of experiential marketing is that magic doesn't require massive budgets—it requires intentionality and thoughtfulness. Some of the most magical moments I've created came from thoughtfulness rather than expenditure.

Low Budget ($500-$2,500): The Thoughtfulness Approach

Transform Registration into Recognition Having staff greet attendees by name the moment they approach the check-in desk (like The Battery private club or Four Seasons Hotel staff masterfully do) immediately signals they matter. Cost: Training and preparation time.

Hidden Surprises Throughout the Journey For long sessions, I sometimes leave waters or snacks under people's seats so they don't feel the need to get up and leave the room mis-session, or we’ll have hawkers pass coffee and protein balls or donuts at registration or long keynote lines.. Cost: $5-$10 per person.

QR Code Learning Experiences Transform waiting areas with educational content or surprises that tie to your event theme. Cost: Design time and printing.

Attendees Intention Notes Instead of the standard "thank you for coming" email, I’ve asked attendees to write down what they want to remember from the event and well mail it to them 6 months after the event. It just costs os shipping and is always a helpful way to get back in touch with customers or prospects while offering them a way to remember their intentions (and you!)

Medium Budget ($10-$100K): The Technology Integration

Pop-up Experiences

• Interactive installations with branded 3D backdrops and props designed to promote social sharing. For example, a "3D movie poster" activation for Google Lunar X Prize where attendees could step into the scene and take photos ($15-30K)

• Mobile food trucks or cocktail bars with custom branding, such as a "bulletproof coffee bar" created for a Google Capital security summit ($20-50K)

• Multi-sensory product sampling stations that engage attendees beyond just taste or touch. An example would be a virtual reality windsurfing activation at a Windsurf Lounge during Google Next, combining physical product demos with immersive digital experiences ($25-75K)

Tech-Enhanced Activations

• VR/AR experiences with 2-4 stations that allow groups to participate simultaneously ($30-60K)

• Interactive digital walls, touchscreen displays, or custom apps that enable virtual reality experiences and real-time interaction ($20-40K)

• Social media contest hubs with live feeds, potentially incorporating emerging tech like Meta glasses for enhanced sharing capabilities ($15-35K)

• Event apps featuring interactive challenges, scavenger hunts, or badge collection systems that encourage exploration throughout the venue. Attendees can accumulate points and redeem them for tiered swag rewards, creating ongoing engagement throughout the event ($25-50K)

Hands-On Workshops

• Branded maker spaces designed for networking and learning, featuring activities like pottery, cocktail mixing, or Iron Chef-style competitions that bring people together around shared experiences ($20-50K)

• Wellness activations including contrast therapy (infrared sauna, cold plunge), pop-up acupuncture, wellness shots, and other health-focused experiences that provide immediate value to attendees ($25-60K)

• DIY product customization stations with custom vignettes or demo pedestals that allow attendees to create personalized takeaways while learning about your brand ($15-40K)

High Budget ($100,000+): 

Immersive Environments

• Multi-room branded experiences with themed environments that showcase product portfolios, such as a Google Home activation designed to demonstrate Google's full range of hardware devices to key influencers ($150-500K)

• Large-scale interactive installations featuring projection mapping or kinetic sculptures, like a projection-mapped dinner experience where each course is accompanied by different seasonal visual themes that transform the entire dining environment ($200-800K)

• Pop-up restaurants or bars featuring celebrity chefs, such as a female chef and sommelier collaboration dinner in Los Angeles designed to create an exclusive culinary experience for high-value guests ($100-300K)

Technology Spectacles

• Holographic displays and advanced AR experiences that create memorable, shareable moments through cutting-edge visual technology ($150-400K)

• Interactive gaming tournaments with professional-grade setups, similar to large-scale hackathons that bring together top talent in competitive, branded environments ($100-250K)

• AI-powered personalization experiences across multiple touchpoints, such as an AI sommelier that provides customized recommendations based on individual preferences and creates a unique experience for each attendee ($200-600K)

Exclusive Experiences

• Private concerts or performances by notable artists, creating once-in-a-lifetime entertainment experiences that generate significant buzz and lasting impressions ($100-500K)

• Luxury transportation experiences including helicopter rides or exclusive test drives of unreleased vehicles, such as competitions where driving brand-new Teslas before market launch serves as the ultimate prize ($200-1M+)

• VIP meet-and-greets with top athletes or musicians before shows or games, providing intimate access that money typically can't buy ($150-750K)

Bonus Activation Ideas If your event features renowned speakers, consider creating a "library" activation stocked with their books that attendees can take home for free after the event. As a surprise element, some books can be pre-signed by the authors, adding unexpected value and creating lasting branded touchpoints beyond the event itself ($5-15K).

Gianna's Proven Framework for Experiential Success

• Start with the Attendee Journey Map: Map every single touchpoint from initial invitation to post-event follow-up. At each point, ask: "How can I make this moment more magical?”

• Create Moments of Surprise and Delight:This is about intentional presence and the commitment to elevating every experience from ordinary to extraordinary.

• Design for Shareability. Every experiential moment should be so remarkable that attendees naturally want to document and share it.

• Connect Experience to Purpose: Ensure every magical moment ties back to your brand story, product benefits, or event objectives.

• Measure What Matters: Track engagement quality, emotional impact, and long-term brand connection—not just attendance numbers.

Getting Started: Metamorphize your next Event into an Experiential Activation

Gianna's Gem Action Step: Choose one upcoming event and identify three touchpoints where you can ask "How can I make this moment more magical?" Start small—magic often lives in the details, not the budget.

Remember, your attendees are ready to be delighted - doesn’t everyone crave delight? The question isn't whether you have enough budget for experiential marketing—it's whether you're ready to commit to creating memories that matter.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Best online holistic health practitioner: Parsley Health. To say I’m a fangirl of Parsley Health is an understatement. I’ve been using Parsley Health since 2021 for the personalized, comprehensive I'd been searching for years to find. Unlike traditional doctors who spend just 20 minutes a year with patients, Parsley's functional medicine approach gives me over 200 minutes annually with a dedicated medical team, including both a doctor and health coach and Functional Lab Testing for less than $80 a month membership. What sets them apart is their commitment to uncovering root causes rather than just treating symptoms—using advanced diagnostic testing with 100+ biomarkers to reveal hidden imbalances that other providers miss. The holistic approach addresses everything from nutrition If you’d like to give them a try, you can use my code here to get $150 off your membership so you can give yourself the gift of energy, clarity, and vitality all from the comfort of your home.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Want to dive deeper into creating magical event experiences? Check out my book The Art of Event Planning or Book a 1:1: intro.co/GiannaGaudini .

Gianna's Gems: The Art of Slowing Down - Why Are We All Rushing Through Life?

Hi there,

Last week, I caught myself speed-walking through the farmers market while simultaneously checking emails and making a phone call. I realized I was treating a simple walk that was intended to bring joy and presence like an Olympic sport of time optimization. When did buying produce become a race against time?

This moment of self-awareness made me pause (literally, right there among the tomatoes and green beans) and ask myself a question that's been haunting me lately: Why are we all rushing through life, and what are we missing when we move at warp speed?

The Why Behind Our Need for Speed

We live in what I call the "optimization obsession era." Our phones buzz with productivity apps promising to help us squeeze seventeen tasks into a ten-minute window. Social media feeds showcase people apparently accomplishing more before 7 AM than most of us do all day. I don’t think any of us are immune to multi-tasking on a zoom call. We've somehow convinced ourselves that being busy equals being important, and moving fast equals moving forward.

But here's what I've discovered through years of event planning and life observation: the most meaningful moments happen in the spaces between the rush.

Gianna’s Gem: Leave white space in your day and in your life - it’s in the space that you can welcome in opportunity, rest, and even fun.

Think about it—when someone asks about your favorite memory from last year, I guarantee it wasn't the day you efficiently completed twenty-three items on your to-do list. It was probably a lingering conversation over dinner, an unexpected laugh with a colleague, or the ten minutes you spent engaging with your child so deeply that you both were smiling, laughing and bonding.

Our culture has created what I call "hurry sickness"—a chronic condition where we feel perpetually behind, constantly chasing an imaginary finish line that keeps moving further away. We rush because we think there's not enough time, but the irony is that rushing actually makes time feel more scarce.

The Hidden Cost of Living in Fast-Forward

The impact of constant rushing extends far beyond simply feeling anxious and distracted. When we operate in perpetual hurry mode, we miss the very experiences that make life rich and meaningful.

Creativity suffocates under pressure. Some of my best event ideas have come during slow hikes through nature or while meditating or doing something new and inspiring like visiting an art gallery or enjoying a tasting menu at a restaurant (designed to be savored) —never while racing between meetings. Guess what? Our brains need white space to make unexpected connections.

Relationships become transactional. When we're always thinking about the next thing, we can't fully engage with the person in front of us. I learned this the hard way when my eight-year-old son asked me a question and I realized I had given him three "uh-huh" responses without actually listening to a word he said. This led to so much guilt over my subpar engagement that I wasted more time ruminating than I would have if I just paused and fully engaged with him for that one minute.

We develop what I call "presence amnesia." We become so focused on getting to the destination that we forget to notice the journey. This is particularly devastating in our work—we plan beautiful events but forget to pause and appreciate the magic we're creating, or to celebrate the win afterwards…AND to actually review how the event went and properly host a post-mortem to optimize for the next event based on the feedback and results.

Decision-making deteriorates. When we're rushing, we default to quick fixes rather than thoughtful solutions. Some of my only regrets happened when I felt pressured to decide immediately rather than taking time to consider all my options, or not taking the time to “sleep on things” and responding before my subconscious had time to appraise the situation and find the best solution. Fortunately these are few and far between these days now that I’m aware of the benefits of leaving space to pause, meditate, reflect, and attract what it is that I want to happen.

The Surprising Benefits of Strategic Speed

Now, before you think I'm completely anti-efficiency, let me acknowledge that there are genuine benefits to moving quickly—when it's intentional rather than habitual. As my clients know, I am the queen of efficiency, but that doesn’t mean I sacrifice being present.

Momentum creates energy. A burst of focused action can break through procrastination and generate positive momentum. I've seen teams come alive during intense eventworking sessions when everyone is moving with purpose toward a shared goal. Also, like energy attracts like, so when you’re in a positive mood, being generous with your time and spirit and winning by lifting others up, you too will continue to win.

Deadlines foster creativity. Constraints can spark innovation. Some of my most creative event solutions emerged under tight timelines because conventional approaches weren't possible.

Quick decision-making prevents overthinking. Sometimes the first instinct is the right one, and analysis paralysis is more dangerous than imperfect action. I love the phrase “no bad data” as sometimes it’s best to go for it, gather the intel, and then use the information gathered through calculated action to optimize and improve rather than ruminate over whether you have the “perfect strategy”

The key distinction is choosing to move quickly versus feeling compelled to rush. One empowers, the other enslaves.

The Event Planning Paradox: What Happens When We Rush Our Guests

This rushing epidemic has infected our events in ways that directly undermine our goals as experience creators. When we pack agendas too tightly or rush attendees through transitions, we're essentially telling them their presence doesn't matter—Could you imagine having a dinner party where you rushed guests from course to course, cutting off conversation, and didn’t give people enough time to even use the bathroom or have casual conversation?

I've witnessed this countless times: speakers who race through content or worse yet, skip the Q&A or breaks to squeeze ii more slides... networking sessions cut short to stay on schedule, and meals treated as fuel stops rather than connection opportunities. Have I mentioned, I really don’t care for ”lunch and learns”? Attendees leave feeling efficient but empty and probably won’t remember much about the event either.

Here's what I've learned about creating space in events:

The most powerful moments happen in the margins. At a recent conference I planned, the most talked-about experience wasn't the keynote speaker—it was the extended 1.5 hour lunch where attendees naturally clustered into deep birds of a feather conversations and could experience experiential demos and self-driving car test drives we had planned for people to engage with on their own time. We had originally planned a 45 min lunch but extended it to an hour and a half when we realized the connections made at our events were the most valuable ROI for attendees, not squeezing in another session that they could simply view on demand.

Transitions can be transformations. Instead of herding people quickly between sessions, I’ve done experiential “portals” that create excitement as people move from one space to the next. I’ve used local school bands to help galvanize thousands of attendees at Google into a general session, and I’ve offered hawked coffee and donuts to people queued up for a keynote to give them delight and a reason to talk to each other and the local vendors as they’re waiting for what’s next.  I add in "breathing breaks"—intentional pauses that allow ideas to settle and connections to form and people to get a sense of place in the venue or city they’ve traveled to the event for so they don’t feel rushed and overwhelmed. Sometimes this means scheduling fewer sessions, but the depth of engagement increases dramatically.

Meals become memory-makers. When we treat dining as mere sustenance, we miss opportunities for organic relationship building. I love offering hosted tables where people can meet with product experts or “birds of a feather” to have deeper conversations in a casual and relaxed setting. I also love a Jeffersonian style format to foster a “shared conversation” between executives so they aren't stuck talking just with those next to them. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive—people felt connected rather than programmed and learned more about each other as a result. It also benefited us by inspiring more connections between customers and prospects and out own team that wouldn’t have happened without intentionality.

The Google Approach: The Power of White Space

Google's brand aesthetic isn't minimalist by accident—it's strategic. That clean, uncluttered design you see on their homepage as well as in their event experiences communicates clarity, focus, and ease. When we apply this philosophy to our lives and events, something magical happens: space creates possibility.

In event design, white space might look like:

• Generous transitions between sessions

• Unstructured time for organic interactions

• Visual breathing room in signage and materials

• Quiet spaces for reflection and processing

• “Create your own adventure” style programming so people can choose what type of experience they want based on their mood and needs

In life design, white space might mean:

• Margins in your calendar for unexpected opportunities, rest and fun 

• Evening routines that transition you from work mode to personal time

• Weekend mornings without an agenda

• Phone-free time in your home or schedule

Gianna’s Gem: White space isn't empty—it's unlimited potential - a canvas ready for paint!

Space on Our Plates: The Literal and Figurative Art of Less

This concept extends beautifully to how we literally fill our plates and figuratively fill our lives. At events, I've started embracing what I call "curated abundance"—fewer menu items but each one exceptional, rather than overwhelming buffets where quality gets lost in quantity.

The same principle applies to our daily lives. Instead of cramming seventeen activities into a weekend, what if we chose three meaningful experiences and gave each one room to breathe? Instead of accepting every networking opportunity, what if we were more selective and showed up fully present to the ones we choose?

I recently implemented "plate management" in my own life. Just as a beautifully plated dish has white space that makes each element more visually appealing, my calendar now has white space that makes each commitment more meaningful and gives me time to pause and reflect (or make a helpful connection for that person) before rushing to the next.

Practical Magic: How to Cultivate Mindful Presence

The transition from rushing to presence doesn't happen overnight, but it can start with small, intentional shifts:

Create arrival rituals. Before entering any space—whether it's your office, an event venue, or even your own home—take three conscious breaths. This signals your nervous system to shift from transit mode to presence mode.

Practice the "one-thing rule." When engaged in conversation, close your laptop. When eating, put down your phone. When walking, resist the urge to simultaneously check emails. Single-tasking is a radical act in our multitasking world.

Design buffer zones. Build fifteen-minute cushions between meetings, arrive ten minutes early to events, leave for appointments with extra time. These margins eliminate the stress of rushing and create space for unexpected moments of connection.

Embrace strategic slowness. Deliberately move slower in certain contexts—walk leisurely to the coffee shop, take your time reviewing proposals, sit quietly before beginning presentations. This isn't inefficiency; it's intentional presence.

Ask different questions. Instead of "How can I get this done faster?" try "How can I make this experience more meaningful?" Instead of "What's next on my list?" ask "What am I noticing right now?"

The Ripple Effect of Slowing Down

When we choose presence over speed, the impact extends far beyond our personal experience. Attendees at our events feel more valued when we're not rushing them through experiences. Colleagues feel more heard when we're fully present in meetings. Family members feel more connected when we're genuinely available during our time together.

I've discovered that slowing down doesn't mean accomplishing less—it means accomplishing things that matter more. The events I plan with generous time margins consistently receive higher satisfaction scores. The relationships I nurture with presence rather than efficiency grow deeper and more fulfilling.

The most profound shift happens when we stop asking "How can I fit more in?" and start asking "How can I be more present with what I've already chosen?"

What I'm Practicing This Week

I'm implementing what I call "micro-moments of mindfulness"—three-second pauses throughout the day where I simply notice what I'm experiencing right now. The taste of my coffee, the feeling of sunlight through the window, the sound of laughter from another room, how my body feels when I take a deep breath. These tiny moments don't add time to my day, but they add depth to my experience of time.

Your Invitation

This week, I invite you to experiment with just one area of strategic slowing down. Maybe it's taking a longer route to work that allows for a more peaceful transition. Perhaps it's scheduling one fewer meeting each day to create breathing room. Or simply practicing eating one meal without multitasking.

Notice what happens when you give yourself permission to be present rather than productive, to be mindful rather than busy.

Remember: In a world obsessed with speed, choosing slowness is a revolutionary act of self-care and conscious living.

The most magical moments of life—whether in our events or our everyday experiences—happen not when we're rushing toward the next thing, but when we're fully awake to this thing, right here, right now.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Vagus Nerve Deck: 75 Exercises to Reset Your Nervous System. I’ve always been obsessed with brain science (and was a former bio minor at UCSD!) Only recently however, have I realized just how important “vagal tone” is for regulating the nervous system which is critical for high-stress careers in events, startups, (or both!) I have been reading and practicing vagus nerve exercises and fin them just as critical to my wellbeing and vitality as my physical exercise and sleep routine. I love this deck

The vagus nerve, plays a special role in our autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS regulates many bodily processes, including our stress response. When we encounter an external threat, our stress response kicks in, triggering a cascade of physiological changes to help us adapt and protect ourselves. Like a helpful friend, the vagus nerve steps in to restore balance. It exerts anti-inflammatory effects, promotes relaxation, and supports immune system regulation. With the exercises in Vagus Nerve Deck, you’ll learn to harness this power and foster resilience in the face of life's challenges. Enjoy!

Gianna's Gems is a weekly exploration of ideas that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. If you found this valuable, please share it with someone who might need permission to slow down.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Want to pick my brain? Book a session with me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

Gianna's Gems: Sexy Property Spotlight - Four Seasons Westlake Village

Due to overwhelming requests from my instagram travel feed, I'm now dedicating at least one Gianna's Gems feature per month to luxury properties ideally suited for corporate events and bleisure (business-leisure) travel. Properties interested in being featured can inquire with me directly.

I had the pleasure of spending my birthday weekend in the golden sun of Los Angeles as a guest of the Four Seasons Westlake Village. It was a trip I had been looking forward to for months and couldn’t have come at a better time with the whirlwind news of the Windsurf acquisition and much needed R&R. I tend to suffer from disappoint due to high expectations, but in this case, the property exceeded my expectations and I am already manifesting the perfect wellness program to bring to the property so I can partner with them this year!

The Bottom Line: Four Seasons Westlake Village isn't just a hotel—it's a wellness-forward corporate sanctuary that seamlessly blends California's laid-back luxury with serious business capabilities, all while delivering an experience so elevated it feels like a private estate retreat. Imagine a Canyon Ranch meeting the luxury and world-class service and amenities of a Four Seasons and is even family friendly (they have an arcade and soccer field!) and there’s not much left not to love.

A Visionary Legacy Nearly Two Decades in the Making

Since opening in 2006, the Four Seasons Westlake Village and its on-site Center for Health & Wellbeing has been pioneering the integration of luxury hospitality with comprehensive wellness—nearly 20 years before it became a mainstream concept. The property was born from the visionary partnership of David H. Murdock, chairman and owner of Dole Food Company, Inc. geneticist Andrew Conrad, PhD. and Wellpoint, Inc., who recognized that the future of hospitality lay in addressing the whole person, not just providing a place to sleep.

Murdock developed the Dole headquarters campus in Westlake Village and later hired Jack Nicklaus to build the golf course at what would become Sherwood Country Club. The Dole campus would come to include the Four Seasons Westlake Village and wellness and longevity center that became the focus of his endeavors in later years. This wasn't just a hotel development—it was designed as a destination where people would travel specifically for the Center For Health & Wellbeing (Formerly Center for Health and Longevity).

The Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village, California was created in November 2006 with the purpose of providing those in search of a healthier lifestyle all the medical, nutritional and physical resources they needed to promote a longer life span. So smart!

Why This Property Makes Me Swoon

Nearly two decades later, this prescient vision has created something extraordinary: a property that seamlessly blends California's laid-back luxury with serious business capabilities and revolutionary wellness infrastructure. This isn't your typical business hotel—it's a transformative destination where deal-making happens against a backdrop of waterfalls and botanical gardens, originally designed to support guests traveling from around the world for comprehensive health and longevity programs.

What light me up about this property is how effortlessly it marries serious business infrastructure with California's wellness culture. The Grand Ballroom spans an impressive 11,600 square feet, easily accommodating large corporate gatherings, while the property offers a total of 77,533 square feet of meeting space with 11 breakout rooms. But here's where it gets interesting—the resort features such unusual elements as a fully soundproof television broadcast studio, making it perfect for companies needing to broadcast events or conduct high-level virtual presentations (although I heard it’s also perfect for afterparties!).

The Highlights

Event Spaces That Wow: The Grand Ballroom can accommodate up to 1000 guests, making it ideal for major corporate events, product launches, or company celebrations. The real magic happens with the seamless indoor-outdoor flow—guests can gather in the regal Grand Ballroom or choose from breathtaking outdoor spaces including the spectacular Waterfall Lawn and scenic Activity Lawn featuring dramatic views of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Wellness Revolution: The Center for Health & Wellbeing is the first of its kind – a luxury wellbeing destination offering one-on-one consultations, group workshops and daily classes with on-site accredited health experts. For companies prioritizing wellness, or wanting to offer longevity summits for executives, this isn't just amenity—it's a competitive advantage. The $50 million wellness center houses hydrotherapy pools, steam rooms, state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities including MRI and CT body scanning equipment and 28 spa treatment rooms.

Culinary Excellence: The Wellness Kitchen offers hands-on cooking experiences with expert wellness chefs and registered dieticians, perfect for team-building events with a healthy twist. Guests can dine at five distinct venues, including Coin & Candor (California brasserie), ONYX (Japanese restaurant), Prosperous Penny (late-night bar), Stir (coffee and pastries) and The Cove (poolside Mediterranean dining). Fun Fact: I canceled my dinner reservation off property on Day 2 of my stay so I could eat at Coin and Candor a second night…the food was that good!

Accommodation Luxury: All 269 guest rooms, including 27 luxurious suites, feature high ceilings, magnificent chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling windows, and finely crafted custom mahogany furniture. These aren't just rooms—they're retreats designed for the discerning business traveler who demands both comfort and sophistication. I stayed in a luxury suite which was beautifully appointed, had more storage space than I could even use, a beautiful parlor that was large enough for me to practice yoga in the morning, and views of the hills. The bed was soft and dreamy and the deep tub relaxing and sumptuous.

Recreation That Impresses: The property features three pools, including the adults-only Serenity Pool, an indoor pool, and the expansive grand pool: The Cove. For active groups, there's a 16,000 square foot fitness center and a comprehensive Center for Health and Wellbeing offering guided hikes, interactive cooking classes and complimentary daily wellness activities.

Who This Property Serves Best

Corporate Executives seeking a venue that combines serious business capabilities with unparalleled luxury and wellness focus

Fortune 500 Companies planning major events, product launches, or executive retreats where the venue itself becomes part of the brand experience

Tech Companies and forward-thinking organizations that prioritize employee wellness and want to showcase their commitment to work-life balance

International Corporations needing sophisticated broadcast capabilities and proximity to both Los Angeles business districts and entertainment industry connections

Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Companies that can leverage the unique wellness facilities for educational events or product demonstrations

Leadership Organizations And Retreats: Think events for YPO and Hampton groups, Chief, Vistage, and other organizations who want a turnkey wellness luxury experience for members.

Comparable Properties & What Makes This Unique

While you might compare it to other luxury California resorts like The Resort at Pelican Hill or Montage Laguna Beach, Four Seasons Westlake Village stands apart with its unique corporate-wellness fusion. Unlike traditional business hotels that treat wellness as an afterthought, this property was designed from the ground up to integrate health and business seamlessly.

The television broadcast studio is a game-changer for companies or studios needing professional-grade production capabilities. Meeting rooms are wired to the television production studio for satellite broadcasts, offering capabilities you simply won't find at typical luxury hotels.

Why I'm Absolutely Obsessed

What makes me passionate about recommending Four Seasons Westlake Village is how it redefines what corporate hospitality can be. This isn't about choosing between business functionality and wellness luxury—here, you get both without compromise. The property understands that today's most successful companies recognize employee wellbeing as a business imperative, not just a nice-to-have.

The location is strategically brilliant—close enough to Los Angeles for convenience, yet far enough away to feel like a true escape. Just 15 minutes from Malibu and 45-60 minutes from LAX and Burbank, it offers easy accessibility while providing the kind of inspiring environment where breakthrough thinking happens naturally.

For companies ready to invest in experiences that truly reflect their values and ambitions, Four Seasons Westlake Village isn't just a venue choice—it's a statement about who you are and where you're headed. I’d be honored to connect anyone with a direct introduction to the incredible team there - just respond “connect me” to this email.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Dolly Parton's return to Vegas is magic!

The country legend just announced "Dolly: Live in Las Vegas" - a six-show residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace this December, and tickets sold out in just 90 minutes. This marks her first extended Vegas run in over 30 years and her return to regular performing since her "Pure & Simple" tour wrapped up in 2016 - nearly a decade ago.

Still going strong at age 79, Dolly remains one of music's most iconic figures with an estimated 100 million album sales, a successful film career, and her very own theme park Dollywood. She's one of an elite group of individuals to receive at least one nomination from all four major annual American entertainment award organizations; Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar, and Tony. From "Jolene" to "9 to 5" to "I Will Always Love You," her catalog of hits spans generations and genres, making her truly one of America's most enduring entertainers.

And what’s even more magic? The chance to book her for a private corporate event. EVA, a company I advise, and one of my favorite platforms for booking entertainment has the exclusive ability to book Dolly for private corporate events. If your brand is aligned with Dolly and you’d like a connect, message me by responding directly to this email.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Want to pick my brain? Book a session with me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

The Fun Formula: Play is Your Unexpected Secret for Success

Hi there!

Hope you all had a lovely long weekend celebrating America’s birthday. I spent four glorious days up at my family’s cabin at Lake Tahoe where ever since I was a girl, we never installed a TV so that we’d instead read, play games, and spend time outdoors. This trip was no different and it was so refreshing to spend so little time on a screen and countless hours laughing playing silly games like Apples to Apples, bike riding and enjoying playful conversations with friends.

If you’re feeling revived and energetic after the Fourth of July holiday and hoping to keep the magical energy rolling, let me tell you something that might just change how you approach every single day...

The Science of Joy: What Happens When We Play

When we engage in genuine fun, our brains become absolute magic-makers. Here's what's happening behind the scenes:

Dopamine floods our system, creating that energizing feeling of reward and motivation. This isn't just about feeling good in the moment—dopamine actually enhances our ability to learn, remember, and make creative connections. It's like upgrading your brain's operating system every time you laugh.

Endorphins cascade through our bodies, those delightful natural painkillers that don't just make us feel amazing—they boost our immune system and increase our resilience. Fun literally makes us stronger, both mentally and physically.

Cortisol drops dramatically. When stress hormones decrease, everything improves—our decision-making, our creativity, our ability to see opportunities that stressed minds miss entirely.

Oxytocin levels rise, deepening our connections with others and making us more magnetic. You know that person who walks into a room and everyone gravitates toward them? These people seem to “sparkle”. They're probably running on high levels of this "bonding hormone."

The Sparkle Effect: Why Playful People Attract Success

There's something undeniably magnetic about people who know how to have fun. They possess what I call "The Sparkle"—that effervescent quality that draws opportunities, connections, and serendipitous moments like a magnet.

When you're genuinely enjoying yourself, you radiate a frequency that's absolutely irresistible. You become more approachable, more memorable, and more likely to be included in conversations and opportunities that could change your trajectory. People want to be around joy—it's contagious and transformative.

Think about the last networking event you attended. Who do you remember? Probably not the person who handed out business cards with robotic efficiency, but the one who made you laugh, who seemed genuinely delighted to be there, who turned a potentially awkward interaction into a moment of connection.

Fun at Work: The Ultimate Performance Enhancer

In professional settings, fun isn't frivolous—it's fuel. Teams that incorporate play and humor into their work culture consistently outperform their more serious counterparts. Why? Because fun breaks down barriers, encourages risk-taking, and creates psychological safety where innovation thrives. It boosts morale and trust which are keys to any successful team and business. When work feels like play, people don't just perform—they excel.

Fun also increases what psychologists call "cognitive flexibility"—your brain's ability to switch between different concepts and think about multiple things simultaneously. This mental agility is crucial for problem-solving and adapting to change.

Example: When I worked at Google, we had a famous 20% time policy, where employees could spend one day a week on passion projects. I remember using my 20% time to start a “Marketing Event Academy” where my team members and I took turns each week teaching something about event planning that we knew to the rest of the team. And then I took it a step further and started posting the recorded sessions and slide decks on a Google Website to share with the entire company so more people could share the knowledge. It was a passion project, but brought me so much joy and also boosted the morale and bonding between my team members. 

Transforming Events: The Alchemy of Atmosphere

As someone who's witnessed countless events, I can tell you that the ones that incorporate “authentic fun” are the ones that create lasting impact. When people are enjoying themselves, several magical things happen:

• Guard drops, connections deepen. Laughter is the universal key that unlocks authentic relationship-building. People share more, listen better, and form stronger bonds when they're having fun together.

• Memory formation intensifies. Our brains are wired to remember positive emotional experiences more vividly. An event that makes people laugh, play, or feel joy will be remembered long after the serious, information-heavy ones are forgotten.

• Energy becomes exponential. Fun is self-generating—the more people enjoy themselves, the more enjoyable the experience becomes for everyone. It's like creating a positive feedback loop that elevates the entire gathering.

• Openness to new ideas increases. When we're having fun, we're more receptive to new concepts, more willing to step outside our comfort zones, and more likely to say "yes" to opportunities that might otherwise seem too risky.

The key to building “fun” into events is "participation without pressure"—creating multiple ways for different personality types to engage authentically. This ensures the fun feels genuine rather than forced, which is crucial for corporate settings where people might be more guarded.

Below are a few examples designed to create real human connection while naturally generating brain chemistry benefits. They're also practical enough to implement without major budget or planning overhead.

Corporate Events:

• Need to assign tables? I once used “unique mathematical numbers” for the table numbering (i.e. pie or the golden number) and gave each Executive Guest a card with a definition on it about that number. They had to figure out what number the definition described to find their table. This led to playful (nerdy) competition, conversation between the guests and fun during a typically  mundane part of the event.

• Two-minute story exchanges for authentic networking - use something that might lead to joy, like what was your worst job early in your career? Or what was the strangest food you’ve ever eaten?

• Scavenger hunts for charity - at Google, I once built a teambuilding activity where each team had a Christmas list from a family in need, and we all shopped for the items and then wrapped them together

• Playful food moments often offer joy - s’mores making, displaying donuts hung from branches, or a cake-bite wall all bring delight

Social Events:

• I recently hired a unique entertainment vendor, The Haikuists for a social event where they used typewriters to create custom haikus for guests (learn more on my Gianna Recommends page).

• Memory lane remixes that add learning to nostalgia - I once planned a surprise 40th birthday for my husband where I bought out a Yoga Studio we loved, and had all of his friends and family as “the class”, our favorite instructor leading, and a “playlist” of all of our favorite songs together. It was not expensive, but a priceless and personal experience for him.

• Hide a card with a conversation starter or joke underneath people’s salad plates.

• For a recent 50th birthday, I added envelopes to everyone’s place setting and people opened them and either had to give a toast, or read a piece of trivia about the Birthday Boy. It kept everyone on their toes and was engaging and funny.

How Joy Magnetizes Opportunity

Here's where it gets really interesting: When you're operating from a place of joy and playfulness, you're vibrating at a frequency that naturally attracts what you desire. This isn't just spiritual philosophy—it's observable psychology.

When you feel good, you:

• Notice more opportunities (your brain's reticular activating system is primed for positivity)

• Take more beneficial risks (confidence is higher, fear is lower)

• Attract people who want to help you succeed (joy is magnetic)

• Maintain persistence longer (fun activities don't feel like work)

• Think more creatively (relaxed minds make novel connections)

Your Fun Formula Action Plan

Ready to inject more joy into your success journey? Here's my Gianna’s Gems pro tips for how to start:

• In Life: Schedule play like you schedule meetings. Whether it's dancing in your kitchen, playing an instrument just for fun, playing with a pet, doing something artistic, cooking a new dish, or having a game night with friends, make fun non-negotiable. I journal every day and one of the questions I ask myself is “how will I bake some fun into the day”. It help give you something to intentionally look forward to, even if it just takes five minutes (which is often all I have time for, but it still makes every day more magical!)

• At Work: Bring lightness to your interactions. Share appropriate humor, celebrate small wins loudly, and look for ways to make routine tasks more enjoyable and lift others up with you.

• In Events: Think beyond the agenda. How can you create moments of surprise, delight, or playful interaction? Sometimes the most important connections happen during the "fun" breaks, not the formal presentations. I’ll never forget when we opened up a giant internal conference in Las Vegas with an “Elvis performance” and at the very end, our CEO at the time swapped out with one of the Elvis impersonators in full costume creating an audible gasp from everyone. It lightened the mood by showing more playful side of him before we dove into all the gravitas of annual planning and strategy.

• Daily Practice: Start each day by doing something that makes you smile. End each day by reflecting on moments that brought you joy. This trains your brain to notice and create more fun. Listen to a fun dance playlist while brushing your teeth, challenge your child to “crawl like a cat or slither like a snake” instead of walking to do their chores to engage them and lift you up with laughter as well. It’s easy to make every day routines more fun by adding elements of play and lightness to them without adding any extra time and little extra effort.

The Ripple Effect

When you embrace fun as a success strategy, you don't just transform your own experience—you become a catalyst for others. You give people permission to enjoy themselves, to be more authentic, to take themselves a little less seriously. You become the person others want to collaborate with, celebrate with, and champion. I always try to bring levity and joy to my 1:1’s and team meetings and find people are so much more collaborative and engaged - even if we have a lot to cover. 

Success doesn't have to be 100% serious. In fact, the most sustainable, fulfilling success often comes wrapped in joy, laughter, and genuine delight.

So here's your invitation: What if you decided that having fun wasn't something you'd do after you became successful, but the very vehicle that would take you there? The universe will conspire in your favor, especially when you're smiling. Try it.

Keep sparkling, 

Gianna

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Hotel I love: The Estate, Yountville: Nestled in the heart of charming downtown Yountville in the renowned Napa Valley wine region, Estate Yountville is a romantic and luxurious lifestyle destination set on a picturesque 22-acre village-within-a-village. I recently had the opportunity to do a buyout of their Vintage House Hotel for a very special milestone birthday and it was exected flawlessly and joyfully by their incredible team partnering with my own. I loved their willingness to meet our requests for custom menus, signage, and deliver above and beyond service to all the guests. There are photos of the beautiful event on my event portfolio if you’d like a glimpse. 

At The Estate Yountville, they’ve reimagined the Wine Country experience into an approachable and inviting getaway. Voted the most beautiful boutique hotel in Napa Valley, Vintage House on the North end of the Estate captures the intimate charm and serenity of Yountville. On the South end of the Estate, the modern and lively Hotel Villagio, which sits adjacent to their private vineyard, welcomes you with its bright patio and lobby bar. AND…they have a Veuve Clicquot themed spa that is decked out in orange loveliness, and even offers pool-side Veuve Clicquot foot and scalp massages! Together, these two retreats invite you to take part in the quintessential Napa Valley escape. Let me know if you’d like help sourcing this venue for your next event - I couldn’t recommend the team and property more highly.

P.S. Want to pick my brain? 

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

Gianna's Gems: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Inaugural Customer Conference

When community becomes currency and customers become your biggest champions

Hi there,

There must be something in the air…I’m getting so many requests for building inaugural event strategy (which I love because that’s my sweet spot!). Maybe it’s Marc Cuban’s prediction that’s going viral: 

"Within the next 3 years, there will be so much AI, in particular AI video, people won’t know if what they see or hear is real. Which will lead to an explosion of f2f engagement, events and jobs.”

 Which Leads to the Golden Question: Why Host a Customer Conference?

Your customers are more than revenue numbers—they're your biggest advocates, your product development partners, and your most valuable source of authentic testimonials. A well-executed customer conference transforms these relationships from transactional to transformational.

Your conference becomes the physical manifestation of your community. It's where feature requests turn into collaborative discussions, where customer success stories inspire prospects, and where your team gains invaluable face-to-face feedback that no survey can capture. More importantly, it positions your company as a thought leader and creates an annual touchpoint that customers anticipate and plan around and that activates your internal team to launch products for.

Think of it as relationship ROI—you're investing in deepening connections that compound over time. Customers who attend your conference typically have higher lifetime value, lower churn rates, and become vocal advocates who drive organic growth through word-of-mouth marketing.

The Readiness Litmus Test: When You're Ready (And When You're NOT) Ready to Host your Own Conference

You're Ready When:

• Customer Base Maturity: You have at bare minimum of 500-1000 active customers with 50+ who would genuinely be excited to attend. Your customer success team can identify your superfans without hesitation.

• Internal / External Resources: You can dedicate 4-10 full-time team members + budget to bring in agency/contractor support for conference planning for 6-12 months without compromising core business operations. 

• Budget: You have executive buy-in and a realistic budget of $500K minimum.

• Customer and Industry Content: Your customers have compelling success stories, your product team has exciting developments to share, and your industry has enough depth for meaningful educational sessions.

• Operational Stability: Your product is stable, your customer support is strong, and you're not in the middle of major organizational changes or funding crises that could risk event cancelation - much less embarrassing and costly to pull out of a tradeshow you’re sponsoring than to have to email hundreds of attendees and refund them if ticketing/sponsorship plans are in place..

Pump the Brakes When:

• Premature Product and Community: You're still figuring out product-market fit, or your customer base is too small or geographically scattered. If you can't confidently fill 200+ seats with engaged customers, wait.

• Resource Constraints: You're bootstrapped to the bone, just raised a Series A and need every dollar for growth, or your team is already stretched thin on core deliverables.

• Timing Troubles: You're planning a major product pivot, dealing with significant customer churn, or facing internal instability. Conferences amplify your current state—make sure it's one you want to broadcast.

• Unrealistic Expectations: You expect the conference to be immediately profitable or solve fundamental business challenges. First conferences are investments in relationships, typically not revenue generators in the first few years (trust me, this was true event when I was building Google Cloud Next!).

Customer Conference Pros and Potential Drawbacks

If you’re falling into the “Green Light” category above, get excited because there are some extremely compelling upsides to hosting your own conference:

• Customer Loyalty Amplification: Face-to-face interactions create emotional connections that digital touchpoints simply cannot replicate. Attendees become your most vocal advocates.

• Product Development Gold: Direct customer feedback in a concentrated setting accelerates product roadmap decisions and validates development priorities.

• Revenue Acceleration: While not immediately profitable, conferences typically drive 20-30% higher customer lifetime value and significantly de-risk contract renewals among attendees.

• Brand Authority: Positions your company as an industry leader and creates content and case studies that fuel marketing efforts year-round.

• Audience Control: Like hosting your own wedding, you get to control the audience, meaning you can control the perfect mix of customers, prospects, press, and friendlies that will benefit your marketing and sales efforts (but make sure you know what you’re doing here!)

However, hosting your event must be done with strategic mastery and an experienced team to avoid these potential downsides:

• Financial Risk: First-year conferences rarely break even. Plan on budgeting for a 6-figure investment with intangible returns that materialize over 12-18 months.

• Execution Complexity: Event planning and owned conferences require a specialized skill. Underestimate the logistics and you risk damaging customer relationships or embarrassing yourself as a brand instead of strengthening both.

• Resource Cost: The resources dedicated to conference planning could be invested in product development, sales, or other growth initiatives with more predictable returns. There’s always a tradeoff so make sure this is the best use of everyone’s time and that you’re repurposing as much of the work done on the content as possible.

• Expectation Management: Once you host a conference, customers/company executives will expect it annually. Consider committing to a recurring investment and a memorable name and logo lockup that will build its own recognition over years to come (i.e. Dreamforce, AWS re:invent, Google I/O).

Measuring Success: The ROI Metrics That Actually Matter

Gianna’s Gem: When it comes to Hosted Customer Conferences, I recommend focusing on a few key metrics and weighting them in terms of importance to help prioritization. 

Forget vanity metrics like social media mentions. Focus on these strategic indicators:

Customer Health Metrics:

• Net Revenue Retention among attendees vs. non-attendees (6-12 months post-event)

• Customer churn reduction percentage for conference participants

• Expansion revenue (cross-sell, upsell) generated from attendee accounts within 12 months

• Customer advisory board participation 

Product Development Acceleration:

• Number of product improvements implemented based on conference feedback

• Time-to-market reduction for features validated during customer sessions

• Customer satisfaction scores for new features developed from conference insights

Sales & Marketing Leverage:

• Cost per lead for prospects who attended vs. other channels

• Conversion rates from conference-generated leads over 12-month period

• Customer advocacy metrics (referrals, case study participation, speaking opportunities)

Brand and Strategic Relationship Indicators:

• Executive-level relationship establishment (C-suite), Press/influencers in attendance 

• Press and Analyst articles/reviews

• Customer testimonials generated

• NPS score above 80 (remember, word of mouth from promoters is extremely valuable)

Success Strategies: The Tactical Playbook Outline 

It’s impossible to share all my knowledge with you in one post, but below is an overview of what you want to think about as you start building the strategy for your inaugural event.

Optimal Conference Length & Format

• Sweet Spot: 1 - 1.5 days maximum for inaugural conferences (keep in mind how much content you will need to fill up that many days, and effort/resources involved in each session). Best practice: Day 1 focuses on keynotes, product announcements, education and inspiration, Day 2 on hands-on workshops and networking, an Un-Conference, or an Executive Track. Avoid conference fatigue while maximizing value density.

• Content Framework: 70% customer-led or unconference content (case studies, panel discussions, peer learning), 20% company / product updates and roadmap sharing, 10% partner/sponsor/external content. Remember: Customers attend to learn from peers, not to be sold to. They want to see and learn from others like them, and care less about a paid speaker they could find on YouTube.

Sponsorship Strategy Without Soul-Selling

• Partner Integration: Limit sponsors to 3-5 strategic partners who genuinely add value to your customer experience. Think complementary partners who will attract your target audience and help drive registrations, not competitors.

• Revenue Realism: Sponsorships should cover 20 - 30% of costs maximum, focusing on value exchange rather than pure revenue generation. I.e. consider what else your sponsors offer you other than revenue: credibility, audience generation, content generation, for example.

• Sponsor Activation: Integrate sponsors into educational content or experiences rather than giving them isolated sales pitches and booths. I like strategically planning my food/beverage so that I offer about 50% of what I’m planning to sponsors as MPOs (i.e. coffee shop/break, branded coffee/tea stations, popcorn and gelato pop ups, smoothie bars, beer garden).

Ticket Pricing Psychology

In most cases, I wouldn’t recommend charging for your inaugural conference as driving attendance is one of the biggest challenges without additional cost as a hurdle. However, it CAN help you drive more qualified RSVP’s and also reduce attrition, but the key is a super strategic plan that’s thought out well in advance.

• Price Strategy: Charge enough to ensure commitment ($200-$500 for customers, $800+ for prospects) but not so much that it excludes smaller customers. Consider tiered pricing based on company size.

• Early Bird Advantage: Offer 30-40% early bird discounts to drive early commitment and help with planning logistics. Create urgency with limited early bird quantities offered ideally 6 months in advance.

• Customer Appreciation: Consider complimentary tickets for your top 10-20 customers as relationship investments, —perceived value matters, plus that will also ensure you have the right audience at your event (you can also leverage these champions for customer testimonials onsite and other opportunities).

• What’s the Draw: Make sure you market the ROI attendees will get for attending. It helps to lock in key speakers, sponsors and attendee company logos before marketing more broadly and have a clear value proposition. Another strategy is to create a letter to add to your website intended for people to use for approval to attend.

Attendance Optimization and Venue/Location

From venue size to attrition, attendance planning is another exercise in strategic planning. Below are a few key tips to keep in mind:

• Target Range: Aim for 100-300 attendees for your inaugural conference. Small enough for intimate networking, large enough for diverse perspectives and viable economics.

• Audience Mix: 70% existing customers, 20% qualified prospects, 10% partners and industry influencers. Maintain the customer-centric focus while creating networking value.

• Registration Strategy: Open registration 4-6 months before the event with a strong email campaign, personal outreach from customer success teams, and executive-level invitations for key accounts.

• Geographic Strategy: Choose a location within 1 hour drive for 60% of your customer base. Focus on cities/regions where the majority of your customers or target industry is located (and you may need to split the conference between two regions at smaller sizes)

• Venue Considerations: Hotels and conference centers offer turnkey convenience but lack personality. Unique venues (museums, historic buildings, corporate campuses) create memorable experiences that generate social sharing and lasting impressions, but be aware - they often require more cost to bring in infrastructure and outside catering/AV.

So…How Far in Advance Should We Start Planning?

That is the golden question. Gianna’s Gem: Do not attempt to host your own Customer Conference unless you have ample time for strategic planning, audience acquisition, and locking a venue. Here’s an example timeline:

• 6-12 Months Out: Secure venue, establish budget, and assemble planning team. Begin customer research on preferred topics and speakers. Secure hotel room blocks and negotiate group rates if needed.

• 6 Months Out: Secure keynote speakers, launch sponsorship outreach, and create preliminary agenda. Begin marketing content creation.

• 4-6 Months Out: Open registration, announce speaker lineup, and launch promotional campaigns. 

• 3 Months Out: Finalize logistics, conduct content read-throughs and send attendee communication sequences. 

• 1 Month Out: Shift focus to experience optimization, staff training, and contingency planning. Create detailed run-of-show documents and backup plans.

• 2 weeks - Pre-Cons, Rehearsals

Gianna’s Gem: Your inaugural customer conference is not a marketing event—it's a relationship investment that pays dividends in customer loyalty, product insights, and brand authority. Success isn't just measured in immediate revenue but in the strength of connections formed and the strategic intelligence gathered.

The companies that nail their first customer conference create an annual tradition that becomes a competitive moat. The ones that rush into it without proper preparation risk damaging the very relationships they're trying to strengthen.

Your customers are ready to celebrate your shared success—make sure you're ready to host them properly.

What's your biggest concern about planning your first customer conference? The logistics, the budget, or the customer expectations? Send me a note or reach out for a strategy session.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

I attended an event at The Battery last month featuring Dr. Ishan Shivanand, born a monk and now an author, doctor and a globally recognized expert in mental health and meditation. He was extremely captivating, moving, witty, and moved me so much, I had him sign my book and have started attending his nightly meditation sessions, even sharing a couple with my son. If you’re interested in his book, The Practice of Immortality, a Monk’s Guide toDiscovering Your Unlimited Potential for Health, Happiness, and Positivity, I highly recommend it. You can learn more at Yoga Of Immortals. He also hosts a nightly ten-minute meditation (the next one starts on June 22nd). Reach out if you’d like me to share the link or put you in touch.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Want to pick my brain? 

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

Trust - The Foundational Key to Success in Events (and Life)

Hi there!

Let's talk about trust. It's the invisible currency that makes the world go round, the secret sauce that transforms ordinary partnerships into extraordinary collaborations, and what separates the amateurs from the pros in every single industry.

Trust isn't just a nice-to-have – it's the non-negotiable foundation upon which every successful relationship is built. Whether we're talking brands and customers, agencies and corporate partners, event teams, families and friends, or that most important relationship of all (the one with yourself), trust is your golden ticket to a life of seamless success.

Your executives need to trust that you’re guiding them in the program’s best interest without micromanaging and making decisions by committee. Your team needs to trust you’re their “shit umbrella” and have their back so they can keep focused on their respective roles and responsibilities. And you? You need to trust that everyone will deliver on their role so the whole event comes together beautifully, overseeing things as a leader and inspiring people to come together operating as #OneTeam with a shared goal.

I’m just coming off a beautiful milestone birthday celebration where my client trusted me so much that they didn’t even request a week-of meeting or event day walkthrough. I had provided them consistent updates, handled all of their guest communication while they enjoyed a month-long vacation the month before their big bash,. They were so relaxed on the day of the event, they arrived later than planned since they were relaxing at home watching tennis in the morning trusting that I had everything covered!

I understood their goals, their budget, and what they hoped to get out of the event, and they told me they loved how I made it simple for them to make decisions. They never second-guessed my recommendations, and the result? A flawless celebration that looked like it belonged in a magazine with the client overjoyed, guests raving about the seamless experience, and my team and vendors all one-team working together in harmony with smiles on our faces since we could all do our jobs (well) and deliver joy.

This is why I start every pre-con (pre-conference) with a compliment to the team involved, and appreciation for everyone’s efforts, why I ask what’s keeping everyone up at night, and then resolve it in advance so we enter the event feeling secure, confident, and ready to be able to “add magic” rather than fight fires.

An example from this past weekend? I was so relaxed at our seamless registration desk, that when a guest told me she’d forgotten her lipstick and couldn’t find a store in the small town of Yountville that sold it, I told her not to fear. I pulled up Doordash on my phone, asked for her color preferences, and had two colors of lipstick delivered to the front desk within the hour. I even covered the cost for her so she wouldn’t have to bother with that. She was so thrilled, she kept telling me it was the most magical thing that had happened to her that day. When everyone is working in harmony, the team has the mind space and desire to go above and beyond, and create magic. A far cry from how a team operates under stress with no room to say “yes” to additional requests or think creatively and with a kind, giving mindset.

Compare this to events where trust is lacking – where vendors are constantly questioned, where team members hide information, where everyone's covering their own backs instead of working toward the shared vision. Those events feel tense, disjointed, and frankly, exhausting for everyone involved.

Gianna’s Gem: Planning events without trust is like conducting an orchestra where nobody can see the conductor.  It's pure chaos!

Why Brands Must Earn Customer Trust (And Keep It Sacred)

Picture this: You walk into your favorite boutique, and without even looking at price tags, you know everything you pick up will be worth every penny. That's trust. When customers trust your brand, they become more than buyers – they become believers, advocates, your personal cheerleading squad.

Take Patagonia, for instance. They've built such unwavering trust by consistently delivering on their environmental promises that customers will literally tattoo their logo on their bodies. When Patagonia says "Don't buy this jacket" in an ad promoting sustainability, people trust that they mean it – and ironically, it makes them want to buy it even more.

Or consider how Glossier built an empire by trusting their customers to be part of the conversation. They didn't just sell beauty products; they created a community where every customer felt heard, valued, and trusted to shape the brand's future.

When trust exists between brand and customer, magic happens. Customer acquisition costs plummet because word-of-mouth becomes your best marketing channel. Retention skyrockets because people stick with brands they trust. And here's the kicker – trusted brands can charge premium prices because customers know they're getting premium value.

The Agency-Corporate Dance: Trust Goes Both Ways

Now, since this newsletter caters to event and business professionals, let's talk about the beautiful dance between agencies and their corporate partners. These relationships bloom when trust is present, and I've watched it crash and burn spectacularly when it's not. And while trust takes weeks…months…years to earn, it can be lost forever in one minute.

When an agency trusts their corporate client, they bring their A-game creativity without fear. They pitch bold, innovative ideas because they know their partner will give them fair consideration. They show up, go above and beyond and even flex on things like pricing and timelines because they want the client to win. They feel skin in the game as a trusted partner. Meanwhile, when corporations trust their agency, they give them the creative freedom to work magic instead of micromanaging every pixel and comma, and they hire them without a lengthy RFP process because they know the agency will deliver.

I typically give agencies the trust to give a creative pitch their all without micromanaging the process and putting too many constraints on them. For a recent program, I gave my agency complete creative control for an experiential activation. The result? A 40% increase in social impressions. Why? Because trust allowed the agency to take calculated risks that a fear-based relationship never could have supported.

On the flip side, I've witnessed agencies bend over backwards for corporate clients who questioned every decision, demanded endless revisions, and never quite believed in the expertise they were paying for. The result was always the same: diminished morale, mediocre work, unachievable timelines, budget overage, and everyone walking away frustrated and never wanting to work together again.

The Most Important Relationship: Trusting Yourself

There’s one relationship that I’ve only really started to excel at with age (I’m no spring chicken!) and that’s self trust. None of this external trust matters if you don't trust yourself first. And I'm talking about really trusting yourself, especially when it comes to listening to your body, tuning into how you feel around people, in your gut, and trusting your intuition. (ps, meditating helps hone this intuition!)

Your body is your most honest advisor. When you walk into a meeting and your stomach tightens, that's your body saying "pay attention." When you feel energized after a phone call with a potential client or collaborator, that's your body giving you the green light. When you're pushing through exhaustion or sickness instead of resting, and rewarded it for it by your clients, that's your body begging you to trust its wisdom.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I ignored my body's signals during a particularly intense event. I was running on fumes, working despite a 103 fever, and telling myself I'd rest "after this project." My body was practically screaming for me to slow down, but I didn't trust what it was telling me. The result? I ended up recovering for two weeks, missing an important social event I was looking forward to. Now I trust my body like I trust my best friend – because that's exactly what it is. When it says I need a chamomile tea instead of another espresso, I listen. When it says this client meeting feels off, I pay attention. When it says I need to meditate rather than doing a HIIT workout, I honor that wisdom. And it’s had a 100% success rate for me. Trust the body.

The Time, Money, and Seamlessness Factor

Working with people you trust isn't just emotionally satisfying – it's financially brilliant. Trust eliminates the need for excessive RFPs and iterations, check-ins, and protective measures that eat up time and resources.

When you trust your team, you spend less time on status meetings and more time creating and celebrating. When your clients trust you, they approve concepts faster instead of requesting endless revisions. When vendors trust each other, projects flow like silk instead of grinding to a halt over miscommunications.

I once calculated that working with trusted partners cut project timelines by an average of 30% compared to working with new or unreliable vendors. That's not just efficiency – that's pure profit, darling.

When Trust is Broken: The Road to Redemption

We’ve all had it happen– sometimes trust breaks. Maybe a vendor doesn't deliver as promised. Maybe a client changes the scope without adjusting the budget. Maybe you hear someone talking negatively about a person they pretend to be friendly with in group settings.

Broken trust isn't the end of the world, but it is a crossroads. You can either let it destroy the relationship, or you can use it as an opportunity to build something even stronger.

The key is radical honesty and swift action. Acknowledge what doesn’t feel right without making excuses. Take full responsibility for your part. Communicate clearly about how you'll prevent it from happening again. And then – this is crucial – follow through on every single promise you make during the rebuilding process.

And if the other party isn’t willing to own up and take ameliorative action, know when to walk away. Life is too short to engage in relationships that aren’t productive and built on a foundation of trust.

Trusting the Process and the Universe

Finally, there's the ultimate trust exercise: trusting the process and the universe itself.

This means trusting that the right opportunities will present themselves at the right time. It means trusting that setbacks are setups for comebacks. It means trusting that you don't have to control every variable to create something magnificent.

When you trust the process, you stop forcing outcomes and start allowing them. You pitch for your dream client and trust that if it's meant to be, it will be – and if it's not, something better is coming. You launch your passion project and trust that the right people will find it. You take calculated risks and trust that your skills and intuition will guide you to success.

Trusting the universe doesn't mean being passive – it means being actively aligned with your values, your vision, and your inner wisdom while staying open to possibilities you might not have imagined.

The Trust Imperative

At the end of the day, trust is everything. It's the difference between transactions and relationships, between surviving and thriving, between working harder and working smarter.

In your business relationships, be trustworthy first. Show up consistently, communicate clearly, and deliver on your promises. The trust you build today becomes the foundation for tomorrow's opportunities.

In your personal relationship with yourself, listen to what your body and intuition are telling you. They've never steered you wrong – you've just forgotten how to trust their guidance.

And in your relationship with life itself, trust that you're exactly where you need to be, learning exactly what you need to learn, becoming exactly who you're meant to become.

Because here's the ultimate truth: when you operate from a place of trust – in others, in yourself, and in the process – you don't just succeed. You soar.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Agency I trust and Love: One of my favorite experiential agencies, MAS, has been an agency partner to me for over a decade supporting me with Google’s Think Events, where they supported me in building a custom app (that actually won an award for best B2B event app), Executive Summits, and even Google Cloud Next, plus supporters me with the most prestigious events for SoftBank, and now Developer Events at Windsurf. Most importantly, they are not only extremely talented tastemakers, but they’re so consistently good at what they do that I often find they’ve answered my questions before I even need to ask them. And…I genuinely enjoy hanging out with them as people, as an extension of my own team.

In their own words, “At MAS, we create moments that move people, shift perception, and spark lasting connection. It’s not about one-off moments, it’s about earning a place in your audience’s story. Brands trust us to lead with heart and imagination and we deliver more than engagement...we deliver impact. Because when people feel seen and valued, trust follows, and that’s where real brand love begins”. If you’d like an introduction, please reach out to me as I can’t rave highly enough about them as partners.

XX,

Gianna

P.S. Want to pick my brain? 

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

Gianna's Gem: Seven Sacred Types of Rest and Why YOU & Attendees Need Them (Copy)

rust: The Golden Thread That Weaves Success

A Gianna's Gem on the Foundation of All Great Relationships

Let's talk about something that's more precious than any diamond– trust. It's the invisible currency that makes the world go round, the secret sauce that transforms ordinary partnerships into extraordinary collaborations, and what separates the amateurs from the pros in every single industry.

Trust isn't just a nice-to-have – it's the non-negotiable foundation upon which every successful relationship is built. Whether we're talking brands and customers, agencies and corporate partners, event teams, families and friends, or that most important relationship of all (the one with yourself), trust is your golden ticket to a life of seamless success.

Why Brands Must Earn Customer Trust (And Keep It Sacred)

Picture this: You walk into your favorite boutique, and without even looking at price tags, you know everything you pick up will be worth every penny. That's trust. When customers trust your brand, they become more than buyers – they become believers, advocates, your personal cheerleading squad.

Take Patagonia, for instance. They've built such unwavering trust by consistently delivering on their environmental promises that customers will literally tattoo their logo on their bodies. When Patagonia says "Don't buy this jacket" in an ad promoting sustainability, people trust that they mean it – and ironically, it makes them want to buy it even more.

Or consider how Glossier built an empire by trusting their customers to be part of the conversation. They didn't just sell beauty products; they created a community where every customer felt heard, valued, and trusted to shape the brand's future.

When trust exists between brand and customer, magic happens. Customer acquisition costs plummet because word-of-mouth becomes your best marketing channel. Retention skyrockets because people stick with brands they trust. And here's the kicker – trusted brands can charge premium prices because customers know they're getting premium value.

The Agency-Corporate Dance: Trust Goes Both Ways

Now, since this newsletter caters to event and business professionals, let's talk about the beautiful dance between agencies and their corporate partners. These relationships bloom when trust is present, and I've watched it crash and burn spectacularly when it's not. And while trust takes weeks…months…years to earn, it can be lost forever in one minute.

When an agency trusts their corporate client, they bring their A-game creativity without fear. They pitch bold, innovative ideas because they know their partner will give them fair consideration. They show up, go above and beyond and even flex on things like pricing and timelines because they want the client to win. They feel skin in the game as a trusted partner. Meanwhile, when corporations trust their agency, they give them the creative freedom to work magic instead of micromanaging every pixel and comma, and they hire them without a lengthy RFP process because they know the agency will deliver.

I typically give agencies the trust to give a creative pitch their all without micromanaging the process and putting too many constraints on them. For a recent program, I gave my agency complete creative control for an experiential activation. The result? A 40% increase in social impressions. Why? Because trust allowed the agency to take calculated risks that a fear-based relationship never could have supported.

On the flip side, I've witnessed agencies bend over backwards for corporate clients who questioned every decision, demanded endless revisions, and never quite believed in the expertise they were paying for. The result was always the same: diminished morale, mediocre work, unachievable timelines, budget overage, and everyone walking away frustrated and never wanting to work together again.

Even more shocking…I heard from one of my very favorite agencies recently that a client of theirs at a top brand had gone into a budget (in a collaborative Google sheet) and altered the numbers and then blamed the agency for going over budget. The agency was understandably burned, and as a result now locks down all of their Google sheets. I was appalled to hear this, but secretly proud of the agency for canceling their client, even though the client was a big brand name and one of their original successes. And you know what - by clearing space for new business, the agency landed my business for an impressive brand, and another top AI company’s business that will be arguably a better fit for them in the long run.

Event Teams: The Trust Orchestra

Planning events without trust is like conducting an orchestra where nobody can see the conductor.  It's pure chaos!

In event planning, trust isn't just nice – it's a must havel. Your executives need ot trust that the team is guiding them in the program’s best interest and trust the process without micromanaging it or trying to make decisions by committee. Your team needs ot trust you’re their “shit umbrella” and have their back so they can keep focused on their respective roles and responsibilities. And you? You need to trust that everyone will deliver their piece of the puzzle so the whole picture comes together beautifully, overseeing things as a leader but leading by inspiring people to come together operating as #OneTeam with a shared goal rather than through fear with people ready to blame others for any misstep.

I’m just coming off a beautiful milestone birthday celebration where my client trusted my team and I so much they didn’t even request a week-of meeting or event day walkthrough. They showed up, knew I had everything more than covered, and trusted me completely. They never never hovered, second-guessed, or changed their minds seventeen times. And you know what? The result was a flawless celebration that looked like it belonged in a magazine with the client overjoyed, present and able to relax and enjoy every moment. Compare that to events where trust is lacking – where vendors are constantly questioned, where team members hide information, where everyone's covering their own backs instead of working toward the shared vision. Those events feel tense, disjointed, and frankly, exhausting for everyone involved. And…they usually end up failing!

This is why I start every pre-con (pre-conference) with a compliment to the team involved, why I make sure to triple check what’s keeping everyone up at night, from my client to every team member and vendor, and make sure they all know we are going into the event feeling secure, confident, and aligned, and that they all know how much I appreciate them and am there to be their fearless and supportive leader.

The Most Important Relationship: Trusting Yourself

There’s one relationship that I’ve only really started to excel at with age (I’m no spring chicken!) and that’s self trust. None of this external trust matters if you don't trust yourself first. And I'm talking about really trusting yourself, especially when it comes to listening to your body, tuning into how you feel around people, in your gut, and trusting your intuition. (ps, meditating helps hone this intuition!)

Your body is your most honest advisor. When you walk into a meeting and your stomach tightens, that's your body saying "pay attention." When you feel energized after a phone call with a potential client or collaborator, that's your body giving you the green light. When you're pushing through exhaustion or sickness instead of resting, and rewarded it for it by your clients, that's your body begging you to trust its wisdom.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I ignored my body's signals during a particularly intense event. I was running on fumes, working despite a 103 fever, and telling myself I'd rest "after this project." My body was practically screaming for me to slow down, but I didn't trust what it was telling me. The result? I ended up recovering for two weeks, missing an important social event I was looking forward to, and the reward from the client…nada! They moved on with little appreciation for the dedication…

Now I trust my body like I trust my best friend – because that's exactly what it is. When it says I need a chamomile tea instead of another espresso, I listen. When it says this client meeting feels off, I pay attention. When it says I need to meditate rather than doing a HIIT workout, I honor that wisdom. And it’s had a 100% success rate for me. Trust the body.

The Time, Money, and Seamlessness Factor

Working with people you trust isn't just emotionally satisfying – it's financially brilliant. Trust eliminates the need for excessive RFPs and iterations, check-ins, and protective measures that eat up time and resources.

When you trust your team, you spend less time on status meetings and more time creating and celebrtaing. When your clients trust you, they approve concepts faster instead of requesting endless revisions. When vendors trust each other, projects flow like silk instead of grinding to a halt over miscommunications.

I once calculated that working with trusted partners cut project timelines by an average of 30% compared to working with new or unreliable vendors. That's not just efficiency – that's pure profit, darling.

When Trust is Broken: The Road to Redemption

We’ve all had it happen– sometimes trust breaks. Maybe a vendor doesn't deliver as promised. Maybe a client changes the scope without adjusting the budget. Maybe you hear someone talking negatively about a person they pretend to be friendly with in group settings.

Broken trust isn't the end of the world, but it is a crossroads. You can either let it destroy the relationship, or you can use it as an opportunity to build something even stronger.

The key is radical honesty and swift action. Acknowledge what doesn’t feel right without making excuses. Take full responsibility for your part. Communicate clearly about how you'll prevent it from happening again. And then – this is crucial – follow through on every single promise you make during the rebuilding process.

And if the other party isn’t willing to own up and take ameliorative action, know when to walk away. Life is too short to engage in relationships that aren’t productive and built on a foundation of trust.

Trusting the Process and the Universe

Finally, there's the ultimate trust exercise: trusting the process and the universe itself.

This means trusting that the right opportunities will present themselves at the right time. It means trusting that setbacks are setups for comebacks. It means trusting that you don't have to control every variable to create something magnificent.

When you trust the process, you stop forcing outcomes and start allowing them. You pitch for your dream client and trust that if it's meant to be, it will be – and if it's not, something better is coming. You launch your passion project and trust that the right people will find it. You take calculated risks and trust that your skills and intuition will guide you to success.

Trusting the universe doesn't mean being passive – it means being actively aligned with your values, your vision, and your inner wisdom while staying open to possibilities you might not have imagined.

The Trust Imperative

At the end of the day, trust is everything. It's the difference between transactions and relationships, between surviving and thriving, between working harder and working smarter.

In your business relationships, be trustworthy first. Show up consistently, communicate clearly, and deliver on your promises. The trust you build today becomes the foundation for tomorrow's opportunities.

In your personal relationship with yourself, listen to what your body and intuition are telling you. They've never steered you wrong – you've just forgotten how to trust their guidance.

And in your relationship with life itself, trust that you're exactly where you need to be, learning exactly what you need to learn, becoming exactly who you're meant to become.

Because here's the ultimate truth: when you operate from a place of trust – in others, in yourself, and in the process – you don't just succeed. You soar.

XX,

Gianna

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Need to pick my brain? Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)

Gianna's Gem: Seven Sacred Types of Rest and Why YOU & Attendees Need Them

Hi there,

Last week, I found myself completely exhausted after what should have been an energizing high profile event. A-List celebrities, engaged VIP attendees, flawless execution in a magical setting—yet I felt utterly drained after the event wrapped. Sound familiar?

Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’ve experienced the post-event “partum”, and remembered Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's revolutionary insight that “we're not just tired from lack of sleep…we're suffering from a rest deficit across seven distinct areas of our lives”. For this week’s Gianna’s Gem, I wanted to share these insights with you, in hopes it will reach you right as you need it most.

This insight completely revolutionized how I approach event design as well. Because here's what I discovered: when we understand the seven types of rest our attendees desperately need, we can create experiences that don't just inform or entertain—they genuinely restore and rejuvenate.

The Seven Sacred Types of Rest (And Why We're Getting It All Wrong)

Physical Rest isn't just about sleep. Yes, we need those precious 7-9 hours, but we also need active physical rest—gentle stretching, mindful breathing, meditation to destress the mind, and restorative movement that releases the tension we carry in our bodies.

I used to think a successful event meant keeping people engaged every single minute. Now? I intentionally build in what I call "restore and rejuvenate breaks." At a recent leadership retreat, instead of cramming in another speaker or expedition, we had a certified breathing guru lead a 10-minute gentle belly breathing session where attendees could snuggle up in comfortable rest pods, and allow their bodies to regulate and restore. The energy shift was palpable—shoulders dropped, breathing deepened, and the afternoon sessions had noticeably higher engagement and smiling, relaxed attendees.

Mental Rest is about giving our overworked minds permission to stop processing, analyzing, and problem-solving. Our brains are like smartphones constantly running apps in the background—eventually, we need to restart so they don’t crash.

Event magic happens when you create mental spaciousness. At Google events, I started scheduling what we called "wandering time" through a “Google sandbox” —short breaks where attendees could explore interactive installations without any agenda or pressure to network. No structured activities, no objectives—just permission to let their minds wander, to get inspired, and enjoy beauty and art mixed with creative technology. The feedback was incredible: "I had my best ideas during those quiet moments” which led to better networking and engagement in the subsequent sessions.

Emotional Rest means creating safe spaces where people can authentically be themselves without performing, pleasing, or managing others' emotions. It's the relief of dropping the mask we wear to navigate social and professional situations.

I love incorporating "share circles" into events—small groups of 4-12 people where participants share one genuine challenge they're facing, without advice-giving or problem-solving. Just witnessing and being witnessed. The vulnerability and connection that emerges creates a foundation of trust that transforms the entire event experience.

Spiritual Rest isn't necessarily religious—it's about connecting to something larger than ourselves, finding meaning and purpose beyond the daily grind. It's about remembering why we do what we do. For me, I find it in nature, especially when witnessing a sunset, a perfectly unfolding flower, or redwood trees that have lived for hundreds of years and risen from nothing to huge beautiful living things.

For corporate events, I try to find ways to incorporate aspects that will inspire “curiosity or awe”, be it a startlingly beautiful musical composition, art installation, nature walk, or group challenge that raises endorphins. At leadership offsites, I sometimes build in a "purpose pause"—a moment where we connect the work being discussed to its deeper impact. At a recent tech conference, instead of diving straight into product features, we began with a video montage of customers sharing how the technology had genuinely improved their lives and their communities. 

Social Rest is the difference between energy-draining interactions and energy-giving ones. It's about curating relationships and social experiences that restore rather than deplete us. I have a journal topic that prompts me to “what did I do to give back or help someone today”. This simple practice energizes me as much as it prompts me to remember to give (even a compliment or outreach to a friend who I know could use it) even when I feel most depleted. My theory is this signals to your brain that you have abundance (of time, energy, resources) which actually recharges me.

Not all networking is created equal. Consider designing "meaningful connection opportunities” instead of traditional networking sessions. Think small groups organized around shared interests or challenges, with conversation starters that go beyond "What do you do?" Questions like "What are you most excited about right now?" or "What's one thing you've learned recently?" create connections that energize rather than exhaust.

Sensory Rest is about giving our overstimulated senses a break from the constant input of lights, sounds, textures, and digital stimulation that bombard us daily. Try meditation for starters - it is an incredible way to pause and reset your nervous system so you can clear the chaos and instantly feel rejuvenated and more insightful and focused. I didn’t believe it until I tried it, and it works.

Most events are sensory assault courses—bright lights, loud music, constant chatter, overwhelming visuals and sponsors nagging you to check out their swag. I've started creating "sensory sanctuaries"—quiet spaces with soft lighting, natural textures, perhaps the gentle sound of water or instrumental music. Similarly, I try to offer different areas for watching the keynote - ancillary viewing theaters in “living room” style lounges for those who need less stimulation and the ability to feel relaxed while viewing so much intense content.

Creative Rest involves experiencing beauty and wonder without the pressure to produce or perform. It's about consuming rather than creating, appreciating rather than analyzing. More and more difficult in today’s world when if we didn’t post it on Instagram, did it exist?

I'll never forget a marketing leadership event where, instead of another case study presentation, I took everyone to a private art collection for a tour. No discussion questions, no takeaways to identify—just permission to let beauty and inspiration wash over them. Afterwards at lunch, I broke the ice by asking everyone which piece of art they appreciated most and why. It was a really authentic way of understanding what moved people and why and led to a really deep connection with our leadership team before we dug into annual planning.

How to Recognize Your Rest Deficit (The Symptoms We Ignore)

We've become so normalized to exhaustion that we've forgotten what genuine energy feels like. Here are the signs I've learned to watch for in myself and my event participants:

• Physical Rest Deficit: You're tired even after sleeping, experience frequent headaches or muscle tension, or find yourself reaching for caffeine constantly.

• Mental Rest Deficit: You can't turn off your thoughts at night, feel overwhelmed by simple decisions, or find your mind constantly racing even during relaxation attempts.

• Emotional Rest Deficit: You feel like you're always "on," performing for others, or you're irritable and reactive in situations that normally wouldn't bother you.

• Spiritual Rest Deficit: Work feels meaningless, you've lost connection to your values, or you're going through the motions without passion or purpose.

• Social Rest Deficit: Social interactions feel exhausting rather than energizing, you're avoiding social situations, or you feel lonely even when surrounded by people.

• Sensory Rest Deficit: You're easily overwhelmed by noise or crowds, crave quiet spaces, or feel constantly stimulated without relief.

• Creative Rest Deficit: Everything feels mundane, you've lost appreciation for beauty, or you feel blocked and uninspired in areas where you used to feel creative flow.

Building Rest into Your Events - The Game-Changing Implementation

The magic happens when we intentionally design rest into our events rather than treating it as dead time between "real" content. Here's how I've transformed my approach:

Create Rest Stations: Designate specific areas for different types of rest. A quiet corner with comfortable seating for mental rest, a movement space for physical rest, a beauty installation for creative rest. At a recent corporate retreat, we set up seven different rest stations throughout the venue. Participants naturally gravitated to what they needed most, and the energy remained high throughout the entire three-day program.

Schedule Sacred Pauses: Build rest directly into your agenda. Not just coffee breaks, but intentional rest moments. "We're going to take 10 minutes for mental rest—feel free to step outside, find a quiet corner, or simply sit with your eyes closed." Permission to rest transforms guilt into gratitude.

Design Transitions That Restore: Instead of rushing from session to session, create transitions that naturally provide different types of rest. A walking meditation between indoor sessions provides physical and mental rest. A gratitude circle before lunch offers emotional and spiritual rest. A prompt for attendees to “check and charge” their phones during meals can help them and also encourage them to connect rather than drain their energy.

Offer Choice and Flexibility: Not everyone needs the same type of rest at the same time. Provide options during break periods—a movement class for physical rest, a meditation corner for mental rest, small discussion groups for social rest, or a quiet gallery walk for creative and sensory rest.

End Events with Restoration: Instead of the typical rushed goodbye, create closing experiences that send people home truly renewed. I've started ending events with what I call "integration circles"—small groups where participants share one insight they want to carry forward and one thing they're grateful for from the experience. I’ve also asked attendees to write down one reminder they’d like us to mail them six months from now (and we do it!)

The Ripple Effect of Restorative Events

When we design events that truly restore attendees, remarkable things happen:

• Higher Engagement: Rested brains are creative brains. People participate more fully when they're not running on empty.

• Better Retention: Information integrates more deeply when the mind has space to process rather than constantly consuming new input.

• Genuine Connection: When people feel restored rather than depleted, they show up more authentically in interactions with others.

• Positive Word-of-Mouth: Attendees don't just remember your content—they remember how they felt. Events that restore create raving fans.

• Sustainable Impact: Instead of the typical post-event crash, participants maintain energy and enthusiasm for implementing what they've learned.

Your Rest Challenge

The most powerful feedback I've received wasn't about our keynote speaker or gourmet meals. It was from an executive who wrote: "For the first time in months, I left a conference feeling more energized than when I arrived. I didn't know that was possible."

That's the ultimate power of understanding rest. It transforms events from energy-draining obligations into energy-giving experiences that people actively seek out for metamorphosis and catharsis.

Start small. At your next meeting or event, ask yourself: "What type of rest might my attendees need most right now?" Then build in one intentional rest moment. Watch what happens.

Remember, in a world that's constantly demanding more—more productivity, more engagement, more everything—offering genuine rest isn't just nice to have, it's revolutionary. It's how we create experiences that don't just inform or entertain, but truly transform.

Your attendees are tired. Not just sleepy—soul tired. When you become the person who offers them genuine restoration, you don't just plan events, you create sanctuaries.

What I’m Loving this week:  For all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Outstanding Brand Activation: I absolutely loved the playful brand activation my client, Windsurf, pulled off last Sunday as the official sponsor of Bay 2 Breakers 2025 in San Francisco. Highlights included Flow Mile, a length of the course from Alamo Square to the Panhandle, that was decked out with Windsurf flags, tents, sails, surfboards and massive rubber ducks, where runners ran through bubbles and took pictures with the ducks, Windsurf leadership participating and clad in rubber ducky costumes. The experience and delight that it created reminded me fondly of my early days at Google where we always created a playful, quirky brand vibe at our events that embodied the startup-culture of Silicon Valley. As a distance runner and long time SF resident, it held a special place in my heart to see the fans engaged with Windsurf. You can read more and check out photos here.

keep shining (and resting),

Gianna

P.S. Want to pick my brain? 

Book me here 👉 intro.co/giannagaudini (check out the feedback from others who have worked with me as well in the reviews!)