Gianna’s Glimmer - No More Bad Conversation. Magic Questions and more.
Hi there,
I just got back from a family vacation in Napa, and one of the small things I packed ended up being one of the best things I packed: a deck of conversation cards for dinner every night.
One evening, our waiter noticed the deck on the table and asked what they were. I told him they're a great way to spark conversation, learn something new about the people you're with, and stretch your imagination at the same time, rather than defaulting to the same dinner-table small talk. Then we pulled a card and asked him the question: What movie would you never want to watch twice?
He lit up thinking about and then sharing his answer. And we felt like we got to know him a little bit better…as a human.
Gianna's Gem: The right question at the right moment can turn a transactional interaction into a memorable one. It costs nothing and takes ten seconds to ask. It creates engagement and inclusivity and a little spontaneous surprise and delight.
Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering, has a name for questions like this. She calls them "magical questions." Her definition: a question is magical when everyone in the group is interested in answering it, and everyone is curious to hear everyone else's answer. It's a simple equation, but it's the difference between a question that lands and one that falls flat.
The questions that don't work are the ones we default to on autopilot: How are the kids? How's work? Anything new? They're not bad questions, they're just tired. They invite a status update, not a story.
Magical questions do something different. They invite a story instead of an opinion, and in doing so, they let people show up as more than their job title or their role in the room.
A few of my favorites to keep in your back pocket:
What is one thing you own that probably nobody else in this room owns?
What's the first concert you ever went to, and who took you?
What's a path you almost took but didn't?
What topic could you give a 20-minute talk on with zero preparation?
Before your next dinner party, networking coffee, or kid's school pickup line conversation, bring one or two of these with you. The moment conversation starts to lag, that's your cue. I often throw a few in my purse and even use them if I’m out entertaining a few of my sons friends - they love it and we all end up with a few laughs as well. For dinner parties, you can also slip a couple under everyone’s plate and it creates a way for people to actively engage and ask questions that are prepared in advance and spark group conversation.
Gianna's Gem: You don't need to wait for conversation to get interesting on its own. You can simply bring the spark with you.
But the magical question is not the only way to spark better conversation. Here are a few other gems I use regularly to keep conversation engaging and playful:
1. Co-create a scavenger hunt. If you're on a group trip, build a list together before you go (or on the first day together) and require photo proof along the way. In Napa, our family hunted for things like pink hair, a bride, a skateboard, a Ferrari, a grasshopper, a balloon, a hummingbird, etc. It kept everyone looking up and around instead of down at a phone, and it added just enough friendly competition to make people pay attention to the place they were actually in.
2. Pair the meal with an experience. Don't just plan a dinner. Plan a dinner after something: forest bathing, a wine tasting, a painting class, a friendly poker game. Conversation flows so much more easily when people have already shared an experience together. You're not starting from zero, you're picking up a thread that's already there.
3. Ask everyone to bring something to share that’s under $50. Fancy sun lotion or hand cream to share. A genuine compliment. A square of good dark chocolate. A bottle of wine. Even a joke or a compliment. It doesn't matter what it is, what matters is that everyone gets to give and receive. People leave feeling like they contributed to something, not just attended it.
Stack these all together, and your magical question isn't doing all the work alone at a quiet table. It's landing on a group that's already warmed up, present, and a little more generous with each other than when they arrived.
XX,
Gianna
What I'm Loving This Week: Good Humans Example
A New Baby Care Package…But for the Neighbors, not the new parents
Our favorite next door neighbors just welcomed a newborn, and of course, we sent over goodies to welcome the baby. What I didn't expect was what came back: a basket from them, for us, with wine, earplugs, and under-eye patches, along with a note written "from the baby" apologizing in advance for any crying we might hear through the walls.
I was so delighted by the thoughtfulness, I haven't stopped talking about it. It flipped the script entirely. The new parents, who have every excuse to be depleted right now, took a moment to think about our experience too.
Everyone should be this thoughtful. Consider this your nudge: if a neighbor welcomes a baby, a little something for the people who'll be living next door to the new noise might be the most memorable gift you give all year.
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 magic-maker, and subscribe for more inspiration delivered directly to your inbox.
For coaching or a quick consult, book a 1:1: intro.co/GiannaGaudini
Gianna’s Gem: I Went to Dinner at Wolfsbane. I Took Notes. Here's Why…
Hi there,
I’ve spent my career designing the kind of experiences that make people feel truly seen, surprised, and delighted. Corporate conferences, product launches, intimate executive dinners. I think about every touchpoint, every transition, every detail. So when I sat down recently at Wolfsbane, the stunning new tasting menu restaurant in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, I didn’t just eat dinner. I took notes for you.
What I experienced was fresh, deeply thoughtful, and unmistakably intentional…A nine-course journey that drew parallel after parallel to how I craft experiences for events. Wolfsbane is, without question, a masterclass in creating a memorable experience that surprises and delights at every turn - is elevated yet approachable, and an experience I’d unequivocally recommend to anyone.
And…the best part is, if you want to bring the magic of this fine dining brick and mortar experience to your events, they have a catering company, Foxtail Catering, which was actually where I first met Chef Tommy and experienced the cuisine while at an AI Leader’s Dinner I blogged about (and raved about) back in March. This is a
The Dream Team Behind the Magic
Wolfsbane is the creation of three culinary forces: Tommy Halvorson, a Kentucky-born chef, catering veteran, and the owner of Foxtail Catering & Events, teamed up with Michelin-starred chef Rupert Blease and his wife and general manager Carrie Blease, the beloved couple behind Lord Stanley, which earned a Michelin star and ran for a decade in San Francisco before closing in May 2025. Together, they transformed the former Serpentine space at 2495 Third Street into one of the city’s most anticipated fine dining destinations.
Rupert and Carrie met at Raymond Blanc’s legendary Michelin two-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in England, worked through New York kitchens including Per Se and Blue Hill, and made San Francisco their home and life’s work. Wolfsbane, named for the folkloric plant said to help werewolves hold onto their humanity, is their second act. And it is extraordinary.
The experience was part Michelin-star fine dining, part whimsical adventure; a beautifully decorated room hung with flowers, elevated service, and playful, approachable touches that make the room feel alive rather than stuffy.
Gianna’s Gem: Great hospitality, whether it’s a tasting menu or a corporate conference, is never accidental. It’s obsessively, lovingly designed. And when it works, people don’t just remember what they ate or what they heard. They remember how they felt.
What We Can Learn From Wolfsbane
Here’s how Wolfsbane’s experience maps directly to the principles I apply to every event I design:
1. Personalization: The Details That Say “We See You”
At the best events, guests never feel like one of thousands. They feel like the only one in the room. Wolfsbane achieves this with effortless grace:
• Guests choose their own chopstick holder at the start of a fish course - each “chopstick animal” playfully named by the staff to add an extra element of fun.
• Pick your steak knife color: a tiny choice that feels surprisingly personal.
• For guests with dietary restrictions, the adaptation is seamless and invisible. My gluten and dairy-free menu never made me feel like an afterthought. My dessert was a perfect truffle, exactly what I would have wanted. I didn’t feel like I was missing out. I felt considered and perfectly satisfied, not deprived.
• A thoughtfully curated mocktail menu for non-drinkers, because inclusion is an experience design decision.
• For guests who want the Wolfsbane magic without the full prix-fixe commitment, a communal table offers à la carte dining. There’s a format for everyone.
2. Presentation: Surprising, Delightful, and Deeply Creative
In events, we talk constantly about “surprise and delight.” Wolfsbane delivers it with every single course. These are the moments that made me lean over and grab my phone to take notes:
• A carved-out onion arrived filled with scallop, onion “soup,” and fried onions. It tasted like the pure, concentrated essence of onion, surprising in execution and deeply delicious.
• At the first course, sunflowers were presented, and the base of each flower was an artichoke heart filled with sunbutter and poppy seeds. Beauty and function, united.
• For dessert: a chocolate and banana creation that looked, and smelled, exactly like a cigar. They actually have a room in the back where cigar smoke is blown onto the dessert. It’s theater. It’s genius and evokes all the senses.
• A whole leg of squab, including the feet, was presented tableside. What could have been off-putting became memorable (and the drumstick was one of the best bites of the night!). Alongside it: a piece of bread soaked in the jus, a nod to the Italian “scarpetta” tradition of mopping up sauces at family meals. Story told through food.
• A single oversized ice cube, the size of a stick of butter, in my water glass. A tiny detail that somehow felt extraordinarily considered.
3. Ambiance: Every Sense Is an Opportunity
• The main dining room and the bathroom play different music. Different soundscapes for different moments, a detail so few bother with and so easy to implement.
• Whimsical flowers hang from the ceiling throughout, creating a sense of wonder and warmth that draws you into another world.
• The room is clean and elevated without being stuffy. Fine dining without the formality barrier, approachable enough that guests can relax, polished enough that they feel special. There is no other dining room like it.
4. The Full Journey: From Welcome to Send-Off
In event design, I always say: the experience doesn’t end when the last session ends. The closing moment is the one people carry home. Wolfsbane understands this better than almost any event I’ve attended:
• Guests are welcomed by name at the door, and that genuine warmth carries through the evening with thoughtful servers and the owners themselves circulating, checking in, and making real conversation.
• As you leave, you’re handed a gorgeous branded artisanal wood box filled with a freshly baked loaf of bread and preserves. The last impression is one of abundance and generosity. You don’t just leave full, you leave with a gift, and a story to share over their homemade bread for breakfast the next day.
5. Quality: The Foundation Everything Else Rests On
Here’s what I say to every client: surprise and delight can’t save a bad product. At Wolfsbane, the substance matched every ounce of the theater:
• Every single dish was a home run: well-seasoned, balanced, seasonal, and genuinely unique. Nothing felt dated or gimmicky.
• The portions were substantial enough to be filling (almost unheard of at a tasting menu) and I actually had to share bites with my husband. That’s saying something.
• Service was seamless throughout, water always refilled, the table always tended, attention always present without being intrusive.
• Every element of the table setting, the ceramics, the silverware, the glassware, was gorgeous. No detail too small to care about. Every course different and intriguing.
Gianna’s Gem Action Step: Map your next event (or dinner party, or meeting) as a guest journey: arrival through departure. At every single touchpoint, ask: “How can I make this person feel more seen, more surprised and delighted, or more memorable?” Then make one change you haven’t made before.
Wolfsbane is currently one of the hardest reservations in San Francisco, and worth every effort to secure one. It is not just a meal. It is a reminder of what’s possible when a team of deeply talented, deeply caring people decide that ordinary is never enough.
That’s the bar. For them. For us. If you live in San Francisco, or have a chance to visit, this is a can’t miss experience - you have my word.
What I’m Loving This Week
Wolfsbane: 2495 Third Street, San Francisco (Dogpatch). The nine-course tasting menu rooted in Northern California’s seasonal bounty. Book it. Reserve the communal table if the main dining room is sold out. Check out the private dining room as well for groups up to 10.
Foxtail Catering & Events Here's a pro tip that goes beyond the dinner table: Chef Tommy Halvorson's catering company, Foxtail, is a masterclass in smart business strategy. While Wolfsbane delivers the full fine dining experience to a lucky few each evening, Foxtail brings that same culinary philosophy, thoughtfully sourced, seasonal, technically advanced, to the masses, servicing weekly SF corporate clients, private events, and weddings with the same commitment to restaurant-quality food and flawless execution.
The model is genuinely clever, and one every event and hospitality business should study: the Michelin-pedigreed tasting menu builds the brand and the buzz; the catering company scales the reach and the revenue. If you want an intro, let me know and I’m happy to personally connect you to the dream team here.
Final thought: Ask yourself… where is the premium version of your service, and where is the scalable one? The two can coexist beautifully, and Foxtail + Wolfsbane is proof. If you're in the Bay Area and need a catering partner who refuses to believe event food should ever be an afterthought, the Foxtail team is your call.
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 magic-maker, and subscribe for more inspiration delivered directly to your inbox.
For coaching or a quick consult, book a 1:1: intro.co/GiannaGaudini
Gianna's Gem: Champagne Wishes, Bud Light Budget? I got you covered.
hi there,
I’m launching my annual summer AMA - send me your burning questions about events, strategy, leadership, wellness, and everything in between. Drop me an email and I’ll be answering one each month over the summer in an abbreviated version of Gianna’s Gems. (I’m calling these shorter form Gems “Gianna’s Glimmers”).
This Week’s AMA asked by a good friend who runs content strategy for some of the top brands in the world.
“How do you approach situations where your boss or client wants champagne on a beer budget?How do you frame it, and what do you say to keep the peace but still set reasonable boundaries and expectations?”
I love this one, and yes, I have many examples. Let me introduce you to the phrase my father, a former CTO and engineering leader, passed down to me early in my career. It has saved my sanity more times than I can count and Executives respond to it well because it’s logical, simple and reasonable.
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately with founders, product marketers, and recently attended the 2024 Engineering Leadership Conference. All of it has me coming back to this idea again and again, so this week’s Glimmer is all about trade-offs and stakeholder management for event planning.
“Cost, Schedule, Features. Pick Two.”
This concept is well-known in project management and product development (my husband’s profession). It’s called the Project Management Triad or the Triple Constraint. Here’s how I translate it for events:
Cost: The budget and resources allocated to the event.
Schedule: The timeline and date for planning and execution.
Features: All the bells and whistles, i.e. gifting, sessions, demos, you name it.
The theory is simple: you can optimize for two of these factors, but doing so will always affect the third. Instead of saying “no” (which rarely lands well), I walk clients through the trade-offs. Most stakeholders understand that cheap + fast + fully-featured isn’t realistic… they just need someone to show them why.
The Three Scenarios
Scenario 1: Prioritize Cost and Schedule
Keep the budget and the timeline. Something has to give; fewer attendees, fewer keynotes, no live stream, a simpler app. The event still happens; it’s just leaner.
Impact: Features take the hit.
Scenario 2: Prioritize Schedule and Features
Full feature set, same timeline… budget climbs. Rush fees, premium vendor rates, and more labor all add up. I use this one constantly: when clients keep adding requests, I say “yes, and here’s what it costs.” That usually does the trick.
Impact: Budget takes the hit.
Scenario 3: Prioritize Cost and Features
Full bells and whistles at your set budget… but the planning window stretches. Early-bird venue discounts, more time to negotiate with vendors, no rush premiums. Think: planning a wedding on a Wednesday instead of a prime Saturday.
Impact: Timeline takes the hit.
This framework doesn’t just help you push back — it gives your client or boss a concrete choice. They’re not being told “no.” They’re being empowered to decide what matters most.
Pretty simple, right?
Cost, Schedule, Features - Pick Two.
Happy prioritizing!
XX,
Gianna 💎
What I’m Loving This Week - Dejama Bird Boxes
I first experienced this delightful item in my mom’s bathroom! An interior designer with impeccable taste and a sharp eye (and ear) for details, she used this simple little device to create a moment of pure surprise and delight.
The Dejama Bird Box creates birdsong when someone passes by. Think: entering a bathroom, a hallway, or a quiet corner of an event space. It’s motion-activated, under $50, and requires zero effort to install.
For event planners and hosts, this is the kind of low-cost, high-impact detail that guests remember. It doesn’t shout for attention, it surprises you when you least expect it. That’s the magic of a well-placed sensory detail.
The Gem: You don’t need a big budget to create a moment. Sometimes a $50 bird box in a bathroom does more for your guests’ experience than a $500 centerpiece.A great room is a decision, not an accident.
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.
How To Maximize Your Event Budget
If you find yourself over budget, you either need to find ways to supplement that budget (ticket sales, sponsorships, donations) or find ways to shave budget.
Can you imagine a world in which you didn’t have to take budget into consideration when planning events? It might seem like every planner’s heaven, but I truly feel it’s akin to giving creatives no direction.
People tend to work better when they have some constraints and budget is a great one!
I am a firm believer that everything’s negotiable. If you have a budget, state that budget to your vendor and see if they’re willing to work with you within your means.
Look For Economies Of Scale
When budgeting for corporate events, I try to look for economies of scale. This kind of bulk purchase greatly reduces cost, here are a few tactics I use often to shave costs off programs.
If you’re using a vendor like a caterer or production agency, see if they’ll cut 20% off their fees if you guarantee them multi-program or multi-year business.
If you need to order lanyards for badges, can you order a larger quantity that can be used for the entire year’s events rather than just ordering one at a time?
Can you see if your hotel or venue will do away with venue rental in exchange for a slightly higher F&B minimum?
Get Creative!
When planning my own events, I always keep budget in mind.
When hosting an open house type of party (holiday party, house warming, etc.), consider making a batch cocktail like sangria rather than purchasing cases of expensive wine. It’s festive, and will save you a ton of money!
Instead of hiring a florist, buy flowers from your local flower mart and arrange them yourself. I will often get as many flowers as I can in the same color and mix them in varying vases. It’s elegant, effective, and costs so much less than hiring a florist.
Rather than hiring an event photographer, see if you can get a Taskrabbit to come use your own camera and shoot photos at your party. It’ll not only keep you from having to stay on top of capturing pin-worthy moments, but it’ll only set you back a hundred bucks or so!
If There Is A Will, There Is A Way
I’ve worked with multimillion dollar budgets where I still have to trim and shave every last bit of fat off the project to come in within my allocation.
In general, if you find yourself over budget, you either need to find ways to supplement that budget (ticket sales, sponsorships, donations) or find ways to shave budget.
Know Your Audience
By putting yourself in your attendee’s shoes, you’ll not only be able to anticipate their needs, you’ll be able to strategically plan their journey through your event so they see / do and feel the things you want them to.
Would you ever plan a seated dinner for a 2 year old birthday party? What about a tea party for IT executives?
Sure, these are extreme examples that planners like you obviously would never consider, but I’m surprised at how often we forget to pause and get into the minds and hearts of the people who we’re planning for.
This makes the difference between connecting with your audience and missing the mark, wasting your precious planning time and budget.
What is a Target Audience?
A target audience is the demographic of people most likely to be interested in a your product, service, content, or event. If you work for a wedding planner and are hosting a promotional event to make your company’s flair known to the surrounding area, your target audience will likely be as simple as men and women in their late twenties and early thirties.
Below are some questions if you’re struggling to determine your target audience, or helping a client identify them:
What age is your target demographic?
What region are they from?
What are they passionate about?
There are many more questions, but these three apply to any demographic.
Plan their journey
When thinking through how you’re going to allocate space planning for your event, many of us immediately think tactics rather than strategy. We slot programming in where it fits our diagrams best, without pausing to consider the flow of how an attendee will move through the day.
When you begin by thinking through the attendee journey, you may do a bit more legwork upfront, but ultimately it will pay off because they will be drawn to the things you want them to see and do rather than passively navigating through the space and potentially missing specific areas you’ve planned.
Plan meals strategically so attendees have to walk through a demo or sponsor area you want them to see in order to get food
Consider lines - what spaces will end up having the most traffic - if there will be people waiting in line, what can you offer to capture their attention or offer them some delight while they’re captive?
Consider the arrival - how are attendees arriving at your event? Think through navigation issues that could occur if, say, there’ snot a clear ride-share drop off location, or if guests tend to get dropped off at the wrong entrance to your event.
Attendees show up when they want to show up:
One thing that always fascinates me is how different types of attendees tend to have specific qualities including how early or late they arrive at an event.
Our developer audiences tend to arrive hours before a keynote and will line up outside the venue waiting to get a prime seat. However, our corporate audiences tend to show up just 5 minutes before keynote starts. And I’ll never forget, when I used to plan EDU events, our teachers would arrive even before the published time on the agenda!
For the early birds who will line up outside your conference in droves, consider thinking ahead and investing in coffee and donut carts! Not only will you please these devoted fans of your brand, but it’s probably cheaper than serving the venue’s food and this will help your buffets from getting hit hard all at once when doors open.
When you know attendees tend to show up late, plan buffer time into your agenda, so you can let keynote start late and run a bit long without throwing off the rest of your day’s schedule. Also message that reserved seats will be released 15 minutes prior to the event to make sure people get there in time for you to fill your room or backfill any reserved sections.
If you know you’ll have guests who arrive before doors open, tell your caterer they need to be set a full hour early and/or have a clear location at your venue or off property to usher these early guests to wait until the appropriate time.
The Power Of Knowing Your Audience
By putting yourself in your attendee’s shoes, you’ll not only be able to anticipate their needs, you’ll be able to strategically plan their journey through your event so they see / do and feel the things you want them to.
It’s a win/win!
Planning a theme
Themes aren’t always needed for events. But if your event does warrant a theme, it’s important that it resonates with the kind folks you’re catering to.
Themes aren’t always needed for events. But if your event does warrant a theme, it’s important that it resonates with the kind folks you’re catering to.
Some events don’t require a theme, but have an inherent one.
For example, I’ve planned cybersecurity summits and political events that in and of themselves are the theme. Try to be clever about a theme without over-doing it. Here area few examples:
When you think cybersecurity, the last thing you want to do is instill fear in attendees.
They’re already terrified about hackers, so steer clear from icons like locks, bars, and other things that will make attendees want to close down
Instead, consider the opposite: what things instill comfort and security?
I selected a clear, open venue with lots of light rather than a dark conference center so attendees would feel different at my conference than standard dark security summits.
I’ve planned political debates, conventions and galas.
One thing that brings people together more than overt political themes, red/white/blue stripes and stars, is the people and place themselves.
If I had a debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I focused on the local flavors, bringing in elements of the city to my event and featuring local specialties and vendors.
When you have to come up with a theme
Other times, a theme isn’t as obvious and you as a planner are tasked with developing a theme. How do you create one that won’t feel cheesy or outdated? Here are a few ideas.
Consider seasons
They aren’t offensive, and you can use local, seasonal ingredients, florals and materials that will inspire memories in people.
Everyone can relate to a season, so if you’re hosting an event in the spring, play up the theme of rebirth and greenery. In the winter, focus on things that make people feel cozy and grateful since it’s a season of giving.
Go Retro
Similar to seasons, people love nostalgia. I find retro themes are often popular ways to get people to naturally reminisce and bond with each other.
Plus, it’s really fun to plan everything from the fonts on your signage to the food and beverages you’re serving around a certain era, be it the Gatsby 20’s, Madmen 50’s or hippie 60s. And there’s nothing like an 80’s cover band to get your guests on the dance floor!
Look At Current Events
Another great theme for an event, especially if you need to theme the content, is around whatever’s in the zeitgeist. Take cybersecurity, or women’s initiatives, or sustainability.
Execution:
Here are a few additional tips to execute on the above themes
If focusing on an important theme that’s in the zeitgeist like sustainability, make sure you talk the talk.
Source local, sustainably farmed foods and use local brewers and wineries for your catering.
Use compostables and even consider partnering with an eco-friendly or LEEd certified venue.
Take inspiration from the seasons when hosting a dinner party.
For fall dinners, I love using leaves, buckeyes, and other found organics like persimmons, squash and gourds to decorate.
I also use organics as place settings - etching people’s names into pumpkins or persimmons.
You can also serve your first course in a hollowed out pumpkin shell to make a beautiful, festive presentation on your table.
I once hosted a retro pool party-themed reception that was hugely popular.
We hired synchronized swimmers, planted pink flamingos around the pool, and left 60’s style sunglasses on the high boy tables for guests to wear.
No matter what you do, make sure your theme is on-point.
You’d never want a theme that could offend any of your attendees or one that promotes stereotypes. Have any great theme ideas you’ve used recently? I’d love to hear!
Setting A Goal For Your Social Event
Whether you are planning a major corporate event or a social dinner party, there is one question you need to ask yourself before you start planning: How do you want people to feel?
Whether you are planning a major corporate event or a social dinner party, there are three questions you need to ask yourself before you start planning:
What do you want people to Think? How do you want people to Feel? What do you want people to Do?
Set A Specific Goal
Even in social settings you have to get clear with yourself about what the goals are when you’re thinking about what to serve
Is your goal to show off new dishes because you’re a budding chef?
If so, put thought into the complexity of the dish. I once set a goal that I wanted to learn how to braise shortribs in wine. Once I perfected this skill, it was a perfect opportunity to prepare them for a New Years dinner party!Maybe your goal is you want to engage with people you haven’t seen in a while?
Come up with a menu you can put in the oven while guests arrive or make in advance then spend just 10 minutes to finish up. This way, you won’t be stuck behind a stove and can offer each guest a glass of wine and catch up with them. #superhost!
Prioritize Your Goals
Before planning an event, I always lead a prioritization exercise to get clear on the experience we want to create.
People usually want an event to accomplish a lot, but guests have so much competition for their attention and mind space, you can really only take away three things from an event. I know, I know, you want them to remember so much more, but trust me on this one!
Think about the last time someone asked you about an event. How did you describe it? How much detail? Most people are never going to say more than three things, so when I work with people or even when I’m planning my own events I list all the things I want people to think or feel.
After all those ideas are down on a list I can start to prioritize each one. Once I know the three most important things, I can start to put attention on those.
Questions To Ask Before Your dinner party
1. What do you want attendees to feel while here?
This helps you get into the mindset of your guests and reminds you of the reason why you’re hosting the dinner party! If you want them to feel loved, what are you doing to show them this while at your dinner?
2. What are two things you must have and two things you would like to have if time and budget permit?
This helps you prioritize where your focus should be before you allocate time and budget to all the ideas you have.
3. What is the most important part of the environment?
If it’s mood, think through your lighting, scent, music. If you want people to connect, think of your seating plan strategy.
4. How much effort, time, and money do you want to spend?
Paying a venue but means you don’t have to clean your house and they’ll handle the food so you can focus on other details like gift bags, music, speeches, etc.
5. What can you outsource?
Figure out how you can get help, because no matter how awesome you are - no one can do it all.
Want to capture photos at your social event? I started hiring task rabbit photographers to come to my events and take photos with my phone that way I make sure I capture everything without burdening your guests.
My mom has her housekeepers come to dinner parties so they can do the dishes and she can spend time socializing with her guests without worrying about the clean up between courses.
Pro Tips for Planning Women's Events
Women need events where they can access role models, support one another, and hear success stories specific to women.
"We are linked not ranked." - Gloria Steinem
Hosting women’s events helps companies retain female employees, acquire new talent, make new business connections, and increase female employee morale and career development.
Making Equality The New Normal
Women need events where they can access role models, support one another, and hear success stories specific to women. There are many things we can do to make events more women-friendly in addition to hosting women-focused conferences:
Consider setting a goal to have 50% speakers and 50% of your attendees be female
Consider the marketing and graphics you’re using on your event site. Is there good diversity and inclusion represented?
Consider offering travel grants or subsidized tickets to under-represented groups like women to encourage them to attend.
A great way to create a baseline of diversity within your event is by adding questions to your event registration form. Take into account cultural sensitives and labor law based on your the location of your event. Doing so will help you capture needed information.
How do you plan a women’s only event properly?
There is a lot of debate around whether women-only events perpetuate segregation or benefit females. Personally, I feel the offer a valuable experience for attendees to safely share and connect with others like them, make career connections, get inspired, and speak openly.
When planning women’s only events, you should consider whether you are making the event exclusive to women, or women-centric, allowing males allies to attend (and hopefully learn how to support women).
Ask yourself questions around what the goals of your event are which will help guide you to a decision. Some other best practices around hosting women’s events are listed below:
Add a mother’s room so that nursing mother’s can attend your conference.
Consider the hours of your conference and adjust them to accommodate pick up / drop off times for parents and/or offer childcare or a childcare stipend.
Offer pronoun stickers she/her, he/him, they/them, ze/hir, and blank field for people to self-identify.
Choose your colors and vendors mindfully
For a women leadership summit I planned, we were careful to select all women-owned businesses as our vendors and were also mindful not to lean into gendered stereotypes (like focusing on shopping, manicures, and pink/purple).
We featured women-owned businesses in a market place where we served up confections, coffee and healthy treats throughout the day.
Our production agency, videographer and photographer were all female and our female musicians even complimented us that we’d hired female sound technicians!
Without leaning into stereotypes, we featured content relevant to women like a VR experience that featured women in different industries including America Ferrera and other inspiring and diverse females.
We created networking activities like postcards featuring work by female artists that attendees could post around the room with inspiring messages, or mail to someone (postage and adorable mailbox provided by us)
Making Room At The Table For Everyone
In industries that skew heavily male, the male to female participant ratio is often unbalanced and the topics addressed can make women feel excluded from the conversation.
By tailoring an event to a group with shared experiences, attendees can discuss and gain advice without judgement – addressing challenges women face in their respective industries.
Key Factors of a Successful Proposal
As event planners, we’re expected to write proposals at a relatively high frequency. Most vary from each other, but I’ve taken what I’ve learned along the way and improved my overall proposal strategy dramatically over the years.
As event planners, we’re expected to write proposals at a relatively high frequency. Most vary from each other, but I’ve taken what I’ve learned along the way and improved my overall proposal strategy dramatically over the years. This has culminated in my pitching to a number of fortune 500 companies for partnership on the launch of my book, The Art of Event Planning.
Last week I wrote a proposal for a potential collaboration with a company I’ve gotten to know well over the years. I sent my new contact all the information I knew she would need to make a decision. We’ve all dealt with potential clients or stakeholders who don’t follow up, but this meeting quickly materialized. Our conversation was a great one, and I felt thankful for the expertise past mentors had imparted. Now, I am sharing my strategy with you, and I hope you hone it to represent your own voice and move mountains!
Establish a level of understanding first
When we collaborate or pitch to new people, we try to ensure that they understand the role we will play in helping them create a goal-oriented event. However, I do think it’s easy to overlook how little a new client might know about the event planning process. Think about it this way, what seems obvious to us, most likely wasn’t fresh out of school.
Maybe the new prospective client assumes that they will sell a certain number of seats at their ticketed conference, at an exact price point, and this bolsters their budget. However, we understand that there are comps and discounts and affiliate codes to be shared, and these affect net numbers. These additional discounts must be accounted for, since the overall budget will likely be less afterwards.
If we can educate our clients on basic strategies in talks before the proposal hits their inbox, then we have already cleared up any foreseeable confusion and we can seal the deal in a prompt manner.
Differentiation
The CEO of Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions, Inc.Hector Ruiz, once said, “Fair and open competition is the only course we know that can lead to meaningful innovation.” This much is true, and studying competing agencies will only help you glean information on what’s working tech wise. While there is an abundant amount of tools at our disposal, knowing which ones to use to sustain a client’s strategy is key. In addition, whether you’re great at reducing budgets or very interested in engagement or have unique strategies for sharing messaging— I implore you to share your super strengths within your proposal. List them first and make sure to leave some points open ended so that you can talk to your client and provide supporting evidence, and avoid overwhelming them with the printed word.
Transparency is key
Finally, sometimes, our clients ask us for things to include in our scope that we don’t have practice with. It’s fine to say no, or ask more questions, or propose a different solution that your agency can handle. The truth is, there is a fair amount of risk in overpromising to a client. We must always air on the side of caution when we go about listing our services, when they are outside of our typical scope of work. Whether it’s a 30,000 person event you’re trying to win, or a fully integrated AI concierge service you’re trying to implement— always remember that your “yes’s” should be truthful. Take your time in answering, and if you realize you can’t accommodate their proposal, it’s okay! The great thing is, there is always a way: it just takes some brainstorming to get there.
Finally, I’d love to hear your tips for scribing winning proposals. Since I am learning everyday, I will continue to share. I hope you do too!