Offsites are the New Offices - How to Optimize Them

This week’s Gianna’s Gem is on Optimizing your Offsites.

But First…Why they Matter:

• Forbes recently published a study that 81% of corporate millennials consider in-person communication to be vital to their success. With the new reality of remote-first workplaces, offsites become a critical bridge to drive collaboration and business success.

• Offsites are beneficial for creating new relationships or creating cross-functional alignment, and also strengthening current relationships within one’s own team/org.

• Offsitesinspire new ways of thinking and ideas that will help a company succeed. Remember my post about Steve Jobs getting his best ideas while on vacation? There’s something about stepping out of our regular environment and away from our computers that enables our minds to find the space to think bigger and more boldly, especially when we can brainstorm and feed off other colleague’s ideas. In fact, ~34% of workers have claimed getting their most creative ideas while on a company retreat. 

• Fun Fact: Company retreats have been so successful in forming bonds and promoting innovation, that some companies are considering purchasing destinations to provide offsites throughout the year.

If I’ve convinced you that offsites are important for your company’s growth and employee productivity and retention, read on for how to optimize them:

Offsite Optimization Step 1: Establish a Theme to Focus Agenda and Activities

Depending on the demographic, size of the group, location, budget,  etc, it’s helpful to establish a theme/purpose for each offsite to help tie the experience together. Here are some examples:

• Adventure: Promotes team-building and bonding and also inspire problem-solving muscle-building. Great for extraverted and competitive teams like Sales, and also for teams from the same org. Activities could include:

• Escape rooms, Ropes courses, Scavenger hunts, Kayaking, Hiking, bike touring, bob-sledding, dude-ranch activities 

• Leverage speakers like Mount Everst climbers or other athletes who have blazed trails, or have former olympic or well-respected athletes lead an activity session for a special magical moment (I’ve had Olympic swimmers, bikers and runners lead Executives in group exercise in the am before and it was a peak experience for them)

• Thematic enhancements: Make your own trail mix bar, personalized bandanas and/or cowboy hats, ice baths, branded canteen water-bottles

• Creative: Excellent for creative, brand, comms, or experience teams (also engineers), teams with more introverts, or executives

• Art classes (painting, pottery, etc.), Cooking, mixology or winemaking, Improv/comedy workshops, Music-making, weaving, writing class, etc.

• Use an icebreaker on a related theme such as: Visit an art gallery and have everyone share which is their favorite painting and why.

• Gifting - custom aprons, label/bottle wine produced by the team in a custom “blend”

• Volunteering / Give-Back: Great for people/comms teams, holiday offsites and organizations who value giving back to community (also great for brand building)

• Community service i.e. home-building, graffiti cleaning, mentoring local students, Environmental clean-up efforts, or team shopping competition for family’s wish-lists around the holidays

• If you’re in a local community for the event that is not your own, welcome local vendors in for a “local gift bazarre” and allocate a certain amount of budgetfor purchasing a gift from local vendors. If the offsite is in your own community, donate any materials/food/swag from the event to local community afterwards. 

• Wellness: Great for teams who have just completed a major project, event, initiative and need some R&R. Also great for teams who are burned-out or need to recharge.

• Ideas include: Yoga or meditation retreats. Spa days, acupuncture (they even have mobile acupuncture now), sauna/ice bath, healthy foods and beverages: spa water, mock-tails, bone broth bar, make you brown tea sachets, or foraging in the forrest for adaptogenic herbs and flowers to add to food

• Gifting may include: branded eye masks, heating pads, scented essential oils (or blend and take home from the event), and healthy snacks/treats.

Offsite Optimization Step 2: Establish Goals and Priorities:

Assigning a weight to each goal which will help advise how you structure the agenda:

• What % of the offsite if dedicated to bonding/teambuilding? 

• What % of the offsite if dedicated to business needs (strategy, education/training, creative ideation, etc)? 

• What % should be focused on cross-fuctional networking?

Offsite Optimization Step 3: Establish Your Budget, Planning Timeline and Plan for Execution:

• Determine your budget (per attendee) and then you can back-into which locations, dates, and activities are realistic for your team/company. This helps reduce the amount of options + constraint often leads to better focus and creativity.

• Establish dates for the offsite, lock them in via contract/calendar holds and start planning communication and logistics backwards from there. Make sure you get a save the date and RSVP out ASAP to confirm attendance so you don’t pay an attrition penalty.

• Determine whether to use an event pro (like me) to assist with strategy/planning, or leverage internal team, or an external offsite planning SAAS platform (see Gianna Recommends for vendor suggestions)

Offsite Optimization Step 4: Evaluate the Success of your Offsite, and establish a frequent cadence of offsites

• The end of your offsite is only the beginning! Make sure you measure the success of the offsite (email me if you need help with how to do this), so you know what resonated most/least with attendees.

• Establish an annual offsite calendar/cadence so you can get ahead of booking optimal dates/locations, maintain a drumbeat of social connection, innovation and company bonding, reduce budgeting (further out usually means better rates), and signal to attendees that this is a normal operating expectation.

In summary, when planning, consider: Team preferences and personalities, company culture and goals, budget constraints, balancing teambuilding with productive outcomes, and be careful that the offsite is inclusive to everyone attending. 

Happy summer campers!

Storytelling is Social Glue

This is most likely the final Gianna’s Gem post before I jet off to Sardinia for my husband’s 50th birthday celebration! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of great Gem material after all the celebratory events in Italy so stay tuned for that in July!

With 50th birthday toasts galore for us these next few weeks, the theme of “storytelling” is on my mind, and it is inherently part of being human, arguably more important as we grow older and wiser with valuable insights to share.

Storytelling is social glue. It’s a social “meme” that has been used for generations to pass along information in a way that people remember more than any other format. 

Storytelling has evolved to be more and more complex in modern times: From movies and TV, events and experiences, startup pitches at events like Tech Crunch Disrupt or Shark Tank, storytelling is a powerful skill and one that not many people do well…but should: It’s a superpower and I wish they taught it in school!

But fear not - today’s Gianna’s Gem is about Storytelling and events - what to do to captivate and engage your audience, and tips for how you and your speakers can prepare.

Ever wonder why TED talks always open with a story? There is a science to this.  Ever hear the story of the Elephant and the Rider?

The Elephant represents our emotional side – vast, powerful, and often driven by instinct. In comparison, the Rider, perched on the back of the elephant, symbolizes our rational mind – analytical, planning, but small relative to the enormous elephant.

There is a secret formula to engagement and that is: Imagine + Feel = Change

This is because the Left Brain gets fatigued by too much data. The Right Brain (aka the elephant) will always win out, so feed the right brain and you will be able to influence attendees.

If YOU are the Speaker, or coaching a speaker, here are strategies for crafting a more engaging presentation:

• When Preparing your speech or presentation: Consider, where is my target audience now? Where do I want them to be after my presentation?  

• Remember to never introduce yourself or give housekeeping notes. There is a cognitive hallowed ground in which to capture your audience’s attention and you want to create a “file-folder” for them to remember you by starting with something they’ll remember like a story.

• Use metaphors: Anyone who knows me knows I favor metaphors and use them often to help convey ideas. Metaphors are awesome because they help the brain link an unfamiliar idea with something more familiar. When crafting metaphors, consider: sports, nature, animals, building, travel, transport, auto, music, games, pop culture, food for ideas that are relatable to all audiences.

• Don’t Be the Hero - Be the Catalyst. Speakers do better with audiences when they’re more relatable and/or share the same goals or struggles as the audience. Many comedians know this secret. If you listen closely, they often begin with material that is self-depracating by design to warm the audience up to them!

• Wrap Data in a Warm Blanket of Emotion: Remember the formula above to evoke emotion if you have to present data. For example - Use a headline to grab attention before presenting data. Or a phrase like “imagine you’re the world’s biggest/richest/smartest xxx”...to get people to feel/imagine before sharing data.

• Consider using a prop to prove a point or grab attention. I recently had the famous swimmer, Diana Nyad speak at a corporate event and she was incredible. You’d think her story (festured recently on Netflix) would sell itself, but she went above and beyond to tell the story so vividly using all the tactics above, including bringing a bugle horn she played to elicit the visual of how early her father used to wake her up in the mornings to swim before dawn. It certainly grabbed our attention and evoked emotion to cement her story into our memories long after the event ended.

Remember - storytelling is the art of creating emotions that lead to memories that drive actions:

Emotion -> Memory -> Action

Storytelling is one of THE most important skilsl for anyone to have.  If you need support in honing your craft, reach out and I’ll help you kickstart your storytelling magic.

The Magic of the 95:5 Rule

Do you have a friend who seems to be able to eat whatever they want when you go out to dinner with them, and they maintain a great physical body? 

I do too…and his name is Garrett, my husband (sorry honey). 

After 15 years being together, I realized his trick is 95% of the time he eats healthy (smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch), but then 5% of the time, he eats whatever he wants, and he doesn’t hold back, as long as it’s something he really wants and high quality (donut right out of the fryer, mone-made pasta, really stinky french cheese or a perfect woodfired pizza).

And so, he never feels deprived, his health doesn’t suffer, and he enjoys life. That’s what I call the win-win-win, my favorite strategy in life, and especially when planning events for my clients!

So how do you apply the 95:5 rule to events? 

There are plenty of ways, but a few of my gems below to whet your palate (see how I carried the food theme all the way there?!)

Gem #1:

• For those clients / brands who are afraid to take the moonshot, consider ONE bold idea that you want to try that only takes up 5% of the budget and 5% of the total resources that go into planning the event, and test it out while keeping the rest of the event plans similar to how they were previously.
  

• Why this works: First of all, I love science and this is a great way to tease out if a new concept is moving the needle.
  
  If you throw too many new ideas at a tried-and-true method, how will you know which one worked?
  
  Or perhaps too many ideas together will overwhelm your attendees, but just one great idea has the power to capture their attention?
  
  And if it doesn’t work, you’ve only sunk 5% of the cost/budget into this.
  
  I once had an idea to spice up the team-building breakouts in the afternoon by building some nostalgia into the afternoon with “yurts” that served as “breakout rooms”.
  
  We sent the C-level attendees into the yurts with trail mix and the assignment to brainstorm in teams and they loved the intimate camp-like environment so much we had rave reviews about the breakouts, a session that was usually the lowest-rated AND some pretty incredible ideas pitched as a result (probably because people are more creative when you put them in an outside-the-box setting)!

Gem #2:

• If you’re planning an event and wondering where to invest in a paid speaker, consider the two most important parts of an event: The “peak” moment, and the close and if you are paying a speaker, consider these two moments for placement.

• Why this works: If you maintain your speaker budget for 95% of the content by leveraging your internal experts, friends of your Exec team (ask me about how to do this graciously and effectively), and customers, but splurge on a special keynote speaker for the very end, the audience is more likely to remember it as their last impression of you, leave inspired, and in the right emotional state to take action, accept a request for a meetings, etc. (so long as the speaker was good!).

  Not only will the audience be more likely to remember the paid speaker by using them to close the event, but it will also motivate people to stick around until the end of the event rather than leave early.

  I once attended Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Health Event and she left the closing keynote in the agenda as “surprise celebrity guests”. I was a new mom and thought I had initially considered leaving the event early, I couldn’t resist the pull of who she might have on stage!

  She didn’t disappoint: It was not one but 3 A-List celebrity friends of hers and it was a peak moment AND the closing! The entire keynote was packed and I ended up sticking around for the afterparty as well because it had me so energized!

  
  Gem #3:

• Let’s close with budget. If you maintain a tight budget for 95% of your experience, you can use the last 5% on something truly magical.
  
  That one truly magical thing will probably make a much bigger impact than spending average budget on a lot of mediocre things.
  
  Example: For a big birthday celebration (let’s just say 40), you keep the food menu pretty standard, but splurge on having a very special vintage bottle of 1983 champagne served. It is an expensive, memorable treat that people wouldn’t usually expect but feels celebratory, and unique plus reminds people of why they are celebrating.
  

• Why this works: It’s ok to splurge occasionally as long as you run a tight ship most of the time. This is true for so many things in life - it just takes restraint, focus, and prioritization.
  
  I like to build some “surprise/delight” budget into my budgets with 5% of the budget held for this so when we get that big idea, we can actually make it happen. By actively cutting back on other costs so you can add surprise and delight, your guests win, and you are still in control. Win-win for the win!

A next-level event doesn't have to break your budget

Hi there!

This past week, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients that need help with creating VIP experiences on tighter budgets. Sound familiar? 

Lucky for you, I’m going to share some strategies for “smart luxury” with you in this week’s gems so you can create more of those win-win premium experiences while keeping you on-budget and driving the results you want! 

But first…I love this quote:

“Luxury means just giving more; hospitality means being more thoughtful”.

Take a minute to let that sink in. 

What does that mean? 

Example #1:

• Rather than spending $100 more on caviar for every attendee (p.s. Not everyone even likes caviar), investing in an “event concierge” who will sending a personalized email to every attendee before a special dinner to ask them if they have any special requests, dietary restrictions and also share with them who they can expect to meet at the event, what the format is, and how much you’re looking forward to making personalized intros to them. 

• Why does this work? If you take the time to invest in getting to know your attendees and showing you’re invested in their personal experience, they are
  
  1) more likely to show up
  2) be engaged
  3) remember you
  4) take the action you want them to take after the event…especially if you follow up with a personalized note afterwards!

Example 2:

• Rather than providing fancy but generic gifts for VIP attendees, do a little time “researching” them and their hobbies, families, passions, and personalize a welcome amenity to set the tone for the event.
  
  For example: I once bought out the W Hotel in San Francisco for an event at Google, and they sent up a “blind tasting” wine experience to my room when I arrived since I had recently passed the Court Master Sommelier exam.
  
  They had researched that about me. It was so fun to not feel rushed/stressed when I checked in before the big event, but to have a playful moment where I got to taste wine and guess what they had selected for me (it was a Robert Sinsky pinot gris and yes, I still remember 10 years later because it was so personalized and unique!)
  

• Why does this work? That bottle of wine cost them roughly $30, but the thoughtfulness that they put into covering the bottle, printing out a blind tasting test from the Court master sommelier site, and delivering it with some nuts/olives and a fun note made such an impact on me, I’ve shared this story so many times!
  
  They could have instead sent up a $150 bottle of champagne, but I probably wouldn’t have opened it and also probably wouldn’t have remembered it from all the other bottles of champagne I’ve received. Fancier isn’t always better and thoughtfulness counts!

Example 3:

• Invest in people and training vs “stuff”.
  
  When you go to a fine dining restaurant, they will sometimes research every guest in advance so they can address you by name as you enter the restaurant, have some knowledge about you, and customize the menu to meet your needs.
  
  At Eleven Madison Park restaurant, the staff was trained to listen in to their guests and if they mentioned something like “gosh, I have had such a great experience in New York, but I never got a chance to try a hot dog”, they had a staff on hand who would go buy a hot dog and present it (plated up nicely) as a surprise and delight to the guests.
  
  This hot dog only costs them $5 but you can be sure they felt it was magical and special because the restaurant was listening and cared about hospitality and providing the most top notch service.
  
  Similarly, I was once managing a Google Executive event where we weren’t serving soda in cans to be more sustainable, but I noticed in our event app’s chat one attendee was complaining that he was really craving his afternoon Diet Coke fix. So I went to the nearest vending machine on campus, and bought a diet coke to hand deliver to him with some help from ID’ing him from my Sales leads.
  

• Why this works: People want to be seen and heard from the time we are children through adulthood.
  
  That Google client was so surprised and delighted that we had seen his message and then delivered exactly what he was craving in the moment, that he booked a meeting with our SVP afterwards and ended up closing a major deal! Now the coke didn’t cause the deal to close, but it sure made him stick around the event and had we not gotten him that coke, who knows, he might have left, or at least not have been a happy guest. 

So you see…hospitality is about making your guests comfortable, it’s about anticipating their needs, or listening to them and then delivering a personalized and delightful experience.

It can involve luxurious treats, but doesn’t need to.
All it takes is time, intentionality and good old fashioned hospitality.

If you need more ideas or help with personalized outreach and “event concierge” service, reach out and I’ll help you make some magic happen: calendly.com/gianna-gaudini.

The ONE thing that will make your event successful!

Hi there!

90% of what makes an event or gathering successful is put in place beforehand. True or false?

If you answered true, you’re correct! 
By the time your event rolls around, you should be sleeping soundly knowing you’ve put everything in place for a successful event. 

That simply means you’ve taken the appropriate steps to de-risk it, and now have the mental bandwidth to quickly quash any last minute curveballs thrown your way (and we know there are always one or two!)

But how can you ensure the right plans are in place beforehand, you might ask?

So glad you asked because I’m about to share my secret sauce with you …

My planning process that builds the following:

• “Prime” your attendees before they get onsite so they know what to expect, what to prepare, and what you’re going to deliver.
  
  This ensures everyone shows up with the right intentions, goals, and also helps ensure you’re reducing day-of attrition by giving people a heads up on what is expected of them and what they will get out of the event. It’s an art, and I can help you with this.

• Plan a 2-hour attendee-journey session with everyone involved (key stakeholders, agency, cross-functional team members, an event consultant, etc.) to ensure you poke holes at every aspect of the experience. 

• Where might there be pain? If there are any pain points,  turn them into surprise and delightful moments instead.
  
  i.e. at registration offer people wellness shots and protein balls with conversation cards attached with toothpicks to assuage their hunger and boost their immune system (and also strike up a reason to get them chatting)

• Where are you lacking clarity? If there is anything left unanswered, make sure you figure that out onsite. You want to walk into your event knowing you’ve alleviated 100% of the outstanding questions so you’re not scrambling onsite.
  
  This can be as simple as: If the product team is demo’ing a product to attendees, knowing who’s taking notes and capturing the questions the attendees are asking so Sales can follow up. (hint: Maybe pair a member of Sales with Product demo-ers so they can take notes and follow up with more detail to close or accelerate the deal after the event).

• Think of your opening and ending with intentionality. It’s true - people remember the beginning and ending of experiences and a crucible moment, so get them right.
  
  (i.e. ask attendees to write a note to themselves that they want you to mail to them in 6 months. This gives you an excuse to reach out to them after the event while also reminding them of how thoughtful you are and what a great time they had at your event).

• Whatever you do, don’t start or end the event with logistics! There’s nothing that makes me cringe more than an Executive starting off their keynote with housekeeping notes!
  
  Take care of these before people enter the general session, or at the very minimum, have an Emcee handle them so the keynote can make a big slash at the cognitive hallowed ground that is the first 1-5 minutes of the session.

Need more help with your event?

I can audit your event plans, lead your attendee journey audit session, help you strategize how to intrigue people and capture their attention before, during, and after the event.

Reach out and book time to share what you need help with via my calendly here: calendly.com/gianna-gaudini.

Slow Down to Speed Up

Have you ever wondered why you suddenly get that “Big Idea” when you’re sitting at a beach on vacation?  Or while hiking in nature? 

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my clients around this phenomenon lately - a trend that people seem to be warming up to. Did you know both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are both famous for taking retreats where they totally detached to come up with their biggest ideas?

"Steve would be on vacation, and he would be pondering where the next product, the next direction for Apple, new technologies, things he's reading,"...He used that vacation as a time to kind of expand his thinking and get outside of the Apple day-to-day." - Tony Faddell, who invented the iphone.

His team shared that they expected not to hear from Jobs for the extent of his trips. But while that was true for the first 24 to 48 hours, vacation proved to ignite Job's creative juices more than anything else and they’d end up getting calls from him 5-6 times a day to research or brainstorm the big picture ideas he was coming up with.

So This Week’s Gianna’s Gem, just in time for summer is: Slow Down to Speed Up. 

Slowing down to speed up could mean being conscious of the many distractions that bombard you and keep you from getting to where you want to go in a shorter amount of time. 

Slowing down to speed up may mean eliminating a lot of unimportant things you do so you have more time for the important things.

It can also mean taking time to plan an event for your team, your leadership team, or your entire company to connect, spend time building relationships, and coming up with moonshot ideas or solutions to increase organizational efficiency and flow. 

What this looks like for companies: 

Spending just 2 days together at an offsite can end up generating your next big breakthrough product, eliminate major inefficiencies and improve team communication so that your company can improve how it works and drives business results (AND, a great morale booster)!  

Some might protest it’s too costly from a budget/team/resource perspective to invest in these kinds of events for their own teams, but I argue that’s a penny-wise, pound foolish approach. 

By slowing down to build the foundation RIGHT, you can build a higher building (or skyscraper if you have big dreams) on top. But a weak foundation will cause any new additions to your building to crumble, or at a minimum be unstable or unreliable. There are plenty of creative solutions if budget, time, location, etc. is daunting to you (just reach out and I can help you optimize what you are solving for).

What this looks like for events: 

Events have so many tasks and deliverables, it’s easy to get caught up in getting them all done and as quickly as possible. But when we move to “execute-mode” too often with events, we sometimes fail to see creative solutions and ideas that might end up saving us a lot of pain/budget/time and improving the attendee experience. 

I recently helped a client shave hours off their weekly planning and hundreds of thousands off their budget by auditing their event (EVERYTHING, I mean budget, team structure, timeline, contracts, staging and creative…) and rebuilding the foundation of the event for them even though they were midway through planning.  

We had to pause on the forward-movement and rebuild the foundation (estabish clear team structure, ROI measurement, budget structure, operating process, exec reviews, etc), but after two weeks of building a strong operating structure, we started flying! 

Decisions were being made swiftly because we had operational efficiencies in place, clear structure for reviews and clarity on which ONE person was the ultimate decision maker and which ONE person was performing the task, and clear objections which allowed us more focus and prioritization and ultimately a much more successful event.

What this looks like for you:

Many of us are Type A’s (guilty as charged) and never seem to have enough hours in a day to do it all. We are often overloaded these days with so much content, noise, activities, that it becomes distracting to our bigger-picture vision and ability to see clearly our real priorities each day, let alone each year. But like the slow-food movement, which encouraged people to stop eating on the go, and savor food with appreciation, I think people are finding the same to be true with how they are approaching how they connect and engage with the world and eachother.

Here are some tips if you can’t take a vacation TODAY (because honestly, that R&R is a good investment in your future success!)

Ground yourself in nature: Even 10 minutes walking in nature can reduce cortisol and help you take a step way from your screens and have space for creative solutions and ideas.

Sleep: You will probably be more efficient, creative and effective if you get an extra hour of sleep rather than spend an extra hour on emails (and we all know you’re also on social media - not helpful before bed!)

Meet: Spend time getting out with friends, going to events, museums, whatever nurtures your soul and connects you with others. It will pay off to take a break from your screen and share ideas and get inspired from being in a new environment. That’s why we all love events ;)

Predictions for the Events Industry 2024

My thoughts on key trends for the event and hospitality industry as we close out 2023

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2024 is going to be an exciting year for events and a busy one for event and hospitality professionals. In-person events and the appetite for experiences and travel will grow to pre-2019 levels. Below are a few of my predictions for 2024:

AI is now ubiquitous - it’s hard to imagine that just a year ago we were explaining it to our Mom’s at Thanksgiving and now there are fewer companies that don’t have or promote some type of AI-washing or integration. It will become more rare to attend an event that doesn’t use AI than ones that do leverage it in some capacity (seen or unseen). With so many people now using AI, companies will need to be more discreet about how they arousing it and leverage it in interesting ways that are truly helpful, not generic. Using Chat GPT to write an event script or invite no longer cuts it. Best use cases will be data synthesis and analysis that will help save planners loads of time rather than “doing their job” for them, and helpful ways of enhancing the attendee experience so they get more personalization and meet more of the people they want to meet rather than wasting time at events listening to session or meeting with people that aren’t relevant to them.

Virtual event platforms will need to specialize and find their niche in order to thrive. Whether that’s focusing on becoming a webinar content-generating machine (like Hubilo), or focusing on community (like Gradual), marketing very specific use cases will help the winning platforms focus and rise to the top. There will be consolidation in the industry and some key players who will be able to be full-service platforms, and also succeed for planners who want to reduce their tech stack and onboarding time for vendors. Virtual events will be hyper-targeted to top of funnel events that are more about brand exposure and lead gen than deep middle and bottom of the funnel engagement and deal-making. 

People crave in-person experiences and are willing to travel to them, especially if they are in a location that promotes other activities of leisure. “Bleisure” travel is surging and continues to motivate people to travel further to events that promise more experiences than just content. People who just want content will do that from their own homes or travel locally, but those who want experiences and to truly engage with others are willing to do so in unconventional formats and locations. Wellness is another key activity that is helping attendees maintain their health (or restore it) while traveling including everything from ice baths to meditation to healthier foods and group exercise programming. Many want to leverage events as a way to rejuvenize so we will see a lot more health-focused activities and inspiration and less of the unhealthy activities and food/beverages of former events.

People are craving more experiential activations rather than the standard corporate conference format in a ballroom or convention center. People have been starved of experiences during the pandemic and this combined with the explosion of social media has people craving experiences that they can remember, share, and revisit after they invest in attending them. Everyone is “press” at events now since there are so many influencers and social sharing is ubiquitous and must be built into the event experience before, during, and after the event. 

ROI must be proven for everything we do. There is never an excuse these days to not have benchmarks in place for success. Planners must be able to justify every aspect of their event/experience and how it supports their business goals. Planners are getting smarter by reducing more of the “fluff” and focusing on fewer key experiences that will really drive the ROI they need to prove success and ensure marketing budgets are maintained. Teams are relying on consultants like myself and freelancers more and more to support their teams and help with everything from strategy to budgeting to execution. Many corporate planners have either left the market and turned to contracting or have lost their jobs due to downsizing so event teams are being tasked to do more with much smaller teams. Thus many are budgeting sizable amounts of for external event support. AI is helping, but event portfolios are exploding since events are proving more and more ROI, so teams can’t keep up. Events are finally starting to sell out again as companies are willing to host larger and larger events and in new regions.

2024 is going to be exciting and will catapult the industry to new heights. I’m here for you event professionals - if you need me, you know where to find me! GiannaGaudini.com

Best AI Platforms for Event Professionals

So you know AI is important for Event Planning…now which platforms are best?

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We all know that some decades seem to only make a year’s worth of progress whereas others years make a decade’s worth. As AI catapults the world into a totally new zeitgeist with hundreds of companies declaring themselves AI-based (or are they just AI-washed), how do you determine which are best for you to test out?  While there are MANY AI platforms available that are helpful for event planners, below is a breakdown of some popular ones (according to ChatGPT!)

Cvent: Cvent is a comprehensive event management platform that offers AI-powered solutions. It provides features such as attendee management, event registration, data analytics, and personalized recommendations. Cvent's AI capabilities help event planners streamline their processes and deliver personalized experiences.

Bizzabo: Bizzabo is an event management platform that incorporates AI to enhance attendee engagement and optimize event performance. It offers features like personalized event websites, registration management, networking tools, and data analytics. Bizzabo's AI capabilities help event planners create customized experiences and drive meaningful interactions.

Grip: Grip is an AI-powered event networking platform that uses algorithms to match attendees based on their profiles, preferences, and goals. It facilitates personalized recommendations, one-on-one meetings, and networking opportunities. Grip's AI capabilities help event planners improve networking outcomes and foster valuable connections.

Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a popular event management and ticketing platform that integrates AI features. It offers functionalities like event promotion, registration management, ticketing, and data analytics. Eventbrite's AI capabilities help event planners analyze attendee data and optimize event marketing efforts.

Pathable: Pathable is an AI-driven event app and website platform that focuses on attendee engagement and networking. It provides features like personalized schedules, session recommendations, exhibitor directories, and interactive event maps. Pathable's AI capabilities help event planners deliver personalized experiences and enhance attendee satisfaction.

Attendify: Attendify is an event management platform that utilizes AI to create engaging and interactive event experiences. It offers features such as event apps, attendee engagement tools, social media integration, and data analytics. Attendify's AI capabilities help event planners enhance attendee interactions and gather valuable insights.

Hubb: Hubb is an event management and content management platform that leverages AI for session management, speaker selection, and content recommendations. It helps event planners streamline the content creation process and optimize session scheduling based on attendee preferences.

These platforms are just a few examples, and there are other AI-powered event management solutions available in the market as well. Which AI platforms do you think are the best?1

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How Event Planners can implement AI strategically to improve events

How Event Planners can implement AI strategically to improve events

There’s seldom a day that goes by now when there isn’t news about a valuable new use of AI. As event planners, I believe AI is going to help us become more efficient, strategic and accelerate our planning timelines. Wondering where to start when it comes to implementing AI to support your event efforts? Below are a few ideas (tee’d up for you by ChatGPT!)

1. Data analysis and insights: AI can analyze large volumes of data, such as attendee demographics, preferences, and past event feedback, to provide valuable insights. Event planners can use this information to personalize experiences, tailor marketing campaigns, and make data-driven decisions.

2. Chatbots and virtual assistants: AI-powered chatbots can handle routine queries and provide real-time assistance to attendees, sponsors, or vendors. They can offer event information, guide participants through registration processes, answer FAQs, and provide updates, freeing up human resources for more complex tasks.

3. Personalized recommendations: By analyzing attendee data and preferences, AI algorithms can generate personalized recommendations for sessions, workshops, exhibitors, and networking opportunities. This helps attendees navigate large events and discover relevant content or connections.

4. Smart scheduling: AI algorithms can optimize event schedules by considering various factors such as attendee preferences, speaker availability, session popularity, and room capacities. This ensures a balanced and efficient event agenda while minimizing conflicts and maximizing attendee satisfaction.

5. Event security: AI-powered video analytics and facial recognition systems can enhance event security by identifying potential threats or unauthorized individuals in real-time. These technologies can be integrated with access control systems and surveillance cameras to provide proactive security measures.

6. Social media monitoring: AI algorithms can monitor social media platforms for event-related mentions, sentiment analysis, and trending topics. This helps event planners gauge attendee satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and adapt their strategies in real-time.

7. Virtual and hybrid events: AI can enhance virtual and hybrid events by enabling features like virtual reality (VR) experiences, augmented reality (AR) interactions, real-time language translation, and personalized content delivery. These technologies can create immersive and engaging experiences for remote participants.

8. Predictive analytics: AI algorithms can analyze historical event data, market trends, and external factors to predict attendance rates, revenue projections, resource requirements, and attendee behavior. This allows event planners to optimize their strategies and allocate resources effectively.

9. Post-event analytics: AI can assist in post-event analysis by automatically analyzing attendee feedback, sentiment analysis, and post-event surveys. This helps event planners identify areas of improvement, measure event success, and refine future event strategies.

Overall, AI offers event planners powerful tools for enhancing attendee experiences, streamlining operations, and making data-driven decisions throughout the event planning lifecycle.

The Future of Events - 2023 will be dynamic and exciting!

The future of events is exciting and a dynamic topic that has garnered a lot of attention in the past year as the world has began to open up from the global pandemic. As technology continues to advance, the way we plan and attend events is changing in unprecedented ways. Here are some key trends and predictions I have for the future of events:

1. Virtual and hybrid events will remain part of event portfolios even with smaller scale in person events becoming more popular: With the rise of remote work and social distancing measures, virtual and hybrid events have become more prevalent in recent years and are a cost-effective way to reach top of funnel leads and scale thought leadership from events. These types of events allow attendees to participate remotely, either through video conferencing or streaming platforms and are more sustainable for companies looking to reduce their carbon emissions. In the future, we can expect to see more virtual and hybrid events, as they offer a convenient and cost-effective alternative to in-person events.

2. Personalization will be a key focus: Although I‘ve always thought this was key to successful events, event planners will place a greater emphasis on personalization in the future now that there is so much competition for attendee attention. This could include customizing the event experience for individual attendees, using data and analytics to tailor the content and format of the event, and incorporating interactive elements to engage attendees. For virtual events, it might include dynamic web experiences or recommendations based on a profile that attendees create during registration to make the experience more relevant to them.

3. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will play a larger role: AI and automation are already being used to streamline various aspects of event planning and execution, such as registration, ticketing, and scheduling. In the future, we can expect to see more advanced AI and automation technologies being used to enhance the event experience, such as personalized recommendations and real-time analytics.

4. Sustainability will continue to be a top priority: With increasing awareness of environmental issues, sustainability will be a key consideration in the future of events. Event planners will prioritize eco-friendly practices, such as using renewable energy sources, reducing waste, and promoting carpooling and public transportation. Some agencies and venues will charge a “sustainability surcharge” to event planners to offset carbon emissions.

5. The experiential factor will be more important than ever: In the future, events will focus more on creating immersive, experiential experiences for attendees. This could include incorporating interactive elements, such as virtual reality and augmented reality, and using sensory elements, such as sound and lighting, to enhance the event atmosphere. In some cases, a VR experience in the keynote can be applied to the experience for both in person and virtual attendees. Imagine someone sitting at home having access to the same holographic keynote speaker as the in-person attendees.

Overall, the future of events is likely to be characterized by a greater focus on technology, personalization, sustainability, and experiential elements. As the events industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these trends play out and how they shape the way we plan and attend events in the years ahead. What do you think? Drop me your thoughts at gianna@gaudini.com / giannagaudini.com.

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The Art of Event Planning - Chapter ELEVEN Part 1 Sneak Peak!

Tis the Season for Giving! As a small gift, I’ll publish the final free chapter of my book this final month of 2020 in hopes it will keep those in the event and hospitality industry inspired. I hope Chapter ELEVEN, Part 1, “WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE” from my book, The Art of Event Planning will resonate with everyone, as we look ahead towards 2021 with hope. For those who purchase my book as a gift this month, please contact me via my website (giannagaudini.com/contact) if you’d like me to mail you a signed sticker to include in your book.

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Chapter Eleven - Part 1 - What to Expect In the Future

The Art of Event Planning, Pro Tips from an Industry Insider

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When I think about the future, it might surprise you that my first thought doesn’t go to technology, but rather to sustainability, so that we will have a beautifully preserved planet for our children and their children. As event planners, we have a responsibility to focus not only on the community we are hosting inside the event venue, but to show respect for and give back to the community in which the event takes place. If you're hosting a large conference in a metropolitan area, aim to make the locale better than when you left it rather than disrupting the city with added traffic (and hence pollution), road closures, and waste. When planning an event, think about sustainability before you even determine a venue or event location. Consider how far attendees will have to travel by plane or ground vehicle to get to the destination. Ideally, plan an event that limits air travel, and if there is substantial travel involved, consider purchasing carbon offsets. When selecting a venue for an event, look for venues that are LEED certified (like the Moscone Center in San Francisco). When hosting an outdoor event, try using sustainable power sources like solar or sustainable biodiesel. When planning the fabrication and rentals for your event, consider the materials you’re using and how you’re shipping event properties to the venue. Can you used recycled or reclaimed materials rather than new ones? Can you eliminate any shrink wrap used for shipping by using shipping blankets? It goes without saying to make sure you limit the number of trash cans at your event and supply more recycling and compost bins. There are organizations (I use Green Mary in San Francisco) that you can hire locally who will help sort refuse and even help educate your attendees on how to properly dispose of their waste. Finally, consider who you hire to support your event. I always inquire about sustainability practices when evaluating an RFP for caterers and agencies and hesitate to hire those who do not have these standards in place.      

A result of the “always on” society in which we live today is a renewed focus on the importance of mindfulness and wellness. Thinking like an attendee, wellness is especially challenging to maintain when traveling. Events can be overwhelming, especially when people are away from their jobs and families, trying to juggle it all while remaining present. I like to offer healthy food options like fresh, local produce and proteins, fruit-infused spa waters, and healthy snacks available in a “micro-kitchen” that rejuvenate people throughout the day. I’ve incorporated breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation into sessions to break up the heavy content, which is often a welcome and refreshing break. Meditation rooms and massage lounges are rising in popularity, as are group activities such as a morning yoga or hike, to help keep attendees feeling at their peak and fully engaged at the event while building community.

As the event planning industry continues to evolve with increasingly complex experiences, new solutions are forming that will help planners rise to the heightened expectations of attendees. Although we face an ever-present reality of higher workloads and tighter time constraints, around us, solutions percolate for every part of the planning cycle. We are in an era of innovation, but in order to be successful, we must follow consumer attention and use the tools that benefit both our teams and our attendees. This means understanding which trends will last and which will fade—yesterday, it was the six-second video app Vine and automated messaging; now it’s Instagram, virtual reality, and customized event apps. 

We know that the origin of any great event begins with a motivated audience, so when we’re confident about lasting technology, we can reverse-engineer pain points and use it to shape our solutions. We also need to think about the bigger picture: Are we truly delivering diverse content? Does our venue have accessible entrances for everyone? Are we spreading more than just product awareness, but our company culture and beliefs too? The best way to maintain relevance is to read, listen, and constantly absorb. When the future beckons, it’s your job to take charge and move with it.

When we look to data, all conclusions point to a more prolific use of technology within the event industry. A study from Enterprise Event Marketing found that the use of technology can create a twenty percent increase in event attendance while reducing related costs by up to thirty percent. Conversely, one of the biggest reasons event professionals don’t use new technologies is due to costs—but this much is changing. As technology improves, event management and planning products will integrate and SaaS models (software as a service) will be offered at a limited cost or even free of charge. One integrated technology to look out for is event diagramming software. Diagramming has been around for a while, but now planners are able to complete their venue diagrams by dragging-and-dropping virtual props, constructing 3D walkthroughs, and designing different levels of comfort seating, all on the same platform. Within the next two years, planners will be able to construct virtual attendee experience simulations, too. A number of companies have platforms that offer much of the aforementioned, but I take note of the ones that offer their services for free. 

The web based app, Social Tables (part of Cvent), is one example; the event diagramming company allows users to accurately create to-scale diagrams in minutes, and centralize communication between team members. Diagrams can easily be shared with venues, clients, and collaborators. Planners can also manage guests, from VIPs to special meal requests, and visually seat them in the diagrams they create. There’s no harm in trying a free version of the SaaS, so go for it! With so many tools cropping up these days, I recommend using a structured product evaluation process to determine whether a solution is a good investment for your team’s unique needs before purchasing it. Stay focused on your core use cases for what it must do and don’t get mislead by shiny features that may even distract your attendees from why you wanted the app in the first place.

We can all agree that apps have become an integral part of how we function in daily life, so it comes as no surprise that this is also true for our industry. We will likely see a rise in event apps, since they provide limitless opportunities to interact with consumers while providing helpful information to attendees. Apps can be customized to appear as if they were created specifically for certain occasions, while offering functionality that enhances and personalizes the attendee experience. I encourage planners to study the proliferation of artificial intelligence, since AI will be used to alleviate industry pain points within these applications. AI-powered concierge apps are prolific in the hospitality industry already and come in the form of digital assistance, voice-activated hotel check-in agents, and travel experience enhancers. Since human interaction is so vital in our industry, it’s likely that we’ll see a higher frequency of concierge apps that also incorporate person-to-person interaction. Attendees will use their digital concierge to ask questions, and the AI will handle their requests or flag a skilled worker nearby at the event. Should a guest want a cappuccino, they need not wait long—their AI-powered devices will make the necessary request, and soon the beverage will appear. A recent study by American Express reported that 9% of Americans would spend more with brands that provide superior customer services, which bodes well for the digital concierge industry, so expect to see more of these types of solutions. The event planning industry will not become entirely reliant on AI-powered apps anytime soon, though, so we will still need day-of-event staff for set-up, catering, and of course, general friendliness and face-to-face interaction. However, AI management services will begin handling the bulk of incoming requests from guests, so that employees can better focus on the tasks that require human sentience.  

Not only will guests begin to create their own in-seat on-demand snacks and beverage schedules, similar to the Virgin airlines model, but they will also help shape the content they consume, too. Attendees have been suggesting speakers and topic ideas for a while now, but their influence will continue to grow. Most event registration platforms or websites are currently set up so that attendees can pre-select the talks they want to attend, and if sessions don’t attract enough people, they’re dropped from the agenda or can be moved to a smaller room within the conference.

Stay tuned next week for Chapter 11 PART TWO….

The Art of Event Planning - Chapter ELEVEN Part 2 Sneak Peak!

Tis the Season for Giving! As a small gift, I’ll publish the final free chapter of my book this final month of 2020 in hopes it will keep those in the event and hospitality industry inspired. I hope Chapter ELEVEN, Part 2, “WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE” from my book, The Art of Event Planning will resonate with everyone, as we look ahead towards 2021 with hope. For those who purchase my book as a gift this month, please contact me via my website (giannagaudini.com/contact) if you’d like me to mail you a signed sticker to include in your book.

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Chapter Eleven - Part 2 - What to Expect In the Future

The Art of Event Planning, Pro Tips from an Industry Insider

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The next level is total audience engagement. This requires planners to pose more questions to attendees ahead of time on social media or via live polling. On a personal level, you can get involved by reaching out to audience members on industry-centric LinkedIn groups and asking challenging questions that make viewers think deeply about what they want from your event. You can preface these questions with a few lines regarding what your brand would like to communicate, and if commenters express different viewpoints, I encourage you to explore these further. These dialogues will serve as great intel when curating event content. 

A number of new companies have cropped up for this very reason—Mentimeter, Glisser, and Buzzmaster, to name a few. Buzzmaster is a particular industry favorite as of late, since it fosters interactions with talented thought provokers and audience members in real-time. The “BuzzMasters” are all journalists or experienced event managers, who pose unexpected questions to the audience as the event unfolds, helping to facilitate sessions and create a buzz. They also sort through data and curate the most interesting comments during and after the event and find the best stories to share. Tools like this typically have a feature that sends tactful push notifications to communicate with audiences. According to a study by Localytics, 52% of smartphone users have push notifications enabled on their devices, which means half an audience can be reached during an event, and driven towards purchasing decisions or other actions. 

Of course, as with all things, moderation should be practiced when interjecting into the attendee experience, even with goodwill tech. The reality is, we live in a world where marketing infiltrates every part of our lives, and there’s a fine line between spamming and informing our guests. Sending push notifications to inform an attendee of a newly opened session that matches his or her profile can certainly prove helpful, but studies have shown that sending an attendee more than ten push notifications in one day has negative effects. You certainly don’t want to drive anyone to disable their notifications since it’s a quick way to communicate need-to-know updates, so be ultra-selective when planning push-communication and be sure to put in some “per user limits.” If it’s obvious that you’re delivering value to your audience members through the form of promo codes for discounted meals and swag, than push away. But remember, when someone installs your event app, they are trusting you. It’s up to you to keep that promise. 

In the darkly comical indie film, Ingrid Goes West, a young woman becomes infatuated with an Instagram-famous blogger named Taylor. Ingrid becomes so entranced by Taylor’s seemingly flawless life, she starts mimicking Taylor’s every move. When Taylor posts a picture of her breakfast at a bagel place, Ingrid stops by the same joint later in the day. Taylor quotes a passage from her favorite book, and Ingrid orders it right away. The events depicted in the film might be hyperbolic for cinematic purposes, but they aren’t too far off from reality. Influencers have played a role in promotion for a while now, and their eminence isn’t fading. Artisanal  avocado toast will eventually not be the most popular food posted on social media, but influencers have changed the way brands think about marketing and promotion and look to be around for at least a little while longer. 

Since consumers have unlimited freedom and choice over the content they view, brands struggle to target their audience members over a growing number of platforms. For this reason, influencers who have considerable reach now have a monetary value that can be worked into planning budgets. As of 2019, an Instagram influencer’s monetary value is calculated at $1,000 per 100,000 followers. YouTube sensations are said to be worth $100 for every 1,000 views they receive on videos. I recommend taking a look at companies like Traackr, Klear, and HYPR to help you evaluate which influencers will represent and serve your brand best. When an influencer embodies your brand and has great reach to your target demographic, you’ll be able to inspire attendees to look further into your product or services by working with the influencer to produce captivating content on a new medium. When done right, this attributes credibility to your brand and gives your upcoming event organic exposure through the influencer’s top channels.

On another note, companies should be increasingly aware of accounts that are propped up with purchased fake followers. The goal of influencer marketing is to find digital celebrities who have all obtained an organic following and appreciate a steady growth rate. Brands should partner with people they believe embody a similar ethos and style. Since Instagram deleted bot accounts in September, 2016, the influencers who purchased fake followers saw a sharp drop in “popularity.” A number of companies were established to detect whether influencers have had any unnatural drops or large, sudden bumps in followers. InstaCheck, for example, is designed to detect fake accounts by analyzing a user’s engagement, spam, and overall activity growth. If it seems like the influencer continued to purchase fake followers in the aftermath of the Instapurge, InstaCheck will highlight this. When evaluating an influencer, it’s helpful to understand growth rates yourself. At or below 2% is considered poor, while above 7.5% is very good. You can see why a growth rate of 61.6% seems completely unrealistic and suspicious. Of course, if an account becomes popular after the owner does something to produce a viral response, it’s a different story. For this reason alone, doing a preliminary online search on top candidates should be the first step you take in this process.

Another growing trend in the event planning landscape is the use of projection mapping. Imagine entering a convention center and being totally immersed in a rejuvenating experience: you hear the sweet sounds of birds and crickets, and even feel the warmth of sunshine on your skin. Instead of registration tables and flat walls, you see a colorful forest growing before your eyes—greenery of all shades, swaying flowers and shrubs, flitting wings from lovely birds. Is it a mirage? No! It’s an augmented reality experience, created by an intricate array of projectors and a state of the art sound system. 

Devices can now light up practically any surface and turn everyday structures and building sides into 3D interactive displays. Projection mapping helps us event planners incorporate truly transformational design elements into any space we see fit. It cuts the cost of creating scenic wall displays, and can create entertaining distractions for guests if they’re waiting in line. Some venues have started projecting scenes of dancers and acrobats as attendees wait to be seated. The whole process of creating the mapping is sort of like painting with light: designers can add textures, colors, and imagery to the entirety of an environment. Practically anything can be projected—from sponsor carousel branding, to cinematic narratives that include subtle advertisements for products. Because there are no real limits to what you can do with projection mapping, event planners are free to stretch their imaginations and come up with truly inventive displays. Whether it be a 3-D map of sponsor booths, a social media wall, or an interactive art display, the technology is flexible enough to meet a variety of objectives.

Furthermore, venues themselves can also benefit from projection mapping. While many event venues offer audio and visual equipment, most do not offer creative solutions to the most common challenge faced by event planners: space customization. Adding projection mapping enables venue managers to create unique experiences without physically altering the venue itself. This is already happening at the Sydney Opera House, courtesy of the artist Jorn Utzon, who has created an overwhelmingly popular initiative to give the building human expression. Right now, the venue is decked out with projection mapping and features new, jaw-dropping transformations daily. Any non-white and non-flat surface shows advertisements, art videos, and decorations. In other parts of the world, regular run-of-the-mill conference spaces now boast projected windows that show views of world-famous buildings and natural wonders. Venues can charge a lot more for their space with views of the terraced gardens of Capri, or even a close-up glimpse of the pockmarked moon, than those who still sport plain, uninspired walls.

Finally, we thankfully hear the words diversity and inclusion far more than we did ten years ago, but we still have a long way to go with this important initiative. There's a lot that event organizers can start doing right now to exceed societal expectations and facilitate truly inclusive experiences. Bringing in more attendees from different backgrounds means bringing a diverse array of insights into the event space, too. After all, diversity is much more than race and ethnicity. We need to think about it this way: It includes people of different ages, physical abilities, genders, education levels, and more. 

Fortunately, at every step of the event organization process, there are more opportunities than ever for event organizers to promote diversity. At the event registration screen, for example, give attendees the option of choosing a gender neutral prefix (Mx.), in addition to the standard options of Mr., Mrs., or Ms. The addition of a checkbox is by no means a final point since it simply serves to identify some members of the community. In terms of taxonomies related to gender, sexuality, and so on, including this step is just what some expect to see. One of the best ways to make diversity front and center at your event is to dedicate a session or panel to it. In fact, diversity panels and sessions have become increasingly popular in recent years. When holding them, there are several things to keep in mind: 

• Make sure that your panel speakers are involved with other programming as well and not simply invited, as this can be perceived as “tokenism.” 

• Be deliberate with your diversity programming—asking why diversity is important should simply start the talk off. 

• Probe deeper with content beyond diversity, career, and work-life-balance. 

Above all, think of how you can extend the conversation outside of your event and into future discussions. The conversations shouldn’t just stop once the session ends. Try making room for additional dialogue in vibrant online and offline event communities. Being truly inclusive means going above and beyond simply sourcing diverse speakers and targeting a broader attendee demographic. 

Make it a goal to bring on more diverse vendors to support your event, from small local caterers to women-owned businesses. These vendors will likely add more authenticity to your efforts and offer a unique perspective to enhance your DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programming. At a Women’s Leadership conference, I made sure to hire all women-owned vendors, from caterers and the production agency, all the way to the photographer and miscellaneous contractors. During the conference, when one of our senior female leaders interviewed a famous young YouTube performer, she actually commented on how cool it was that the sound engineer was female. She said she’d never worked with a female sound engineer, but was inspired by the level of thought we put into our inclusive staff. When you’re focusing on serving an underrepresented demographic, make sure you have people on your team who identify with them, so you can gut check all your event decisions and make sure they will be positively received by attendees.

Technology and consumer expectations will continue to evolve, but certain fundamentals will always remain. As people engage with companies across industries, their expectations for what constitutes a good customer experience stays grounded in the obvious: People want to feel like they’ve been heard, inspired, and educated, and that the company involved genuinely cares about them. 

In the coming years, experts will figure out how to incorporate personalization into all facets of an event or experience: how to bring together disparate data sources, how to deliver one-to-one experiences that connect across channels, and how to leverage machine learning to power truly personalized concierge service. Now that the one-to-one dream is attainable, we will see this filter throughout our own organizations, too.

With 80% of event planners saying their jobs encompass more experience creation than just two to five years ago, we shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by all the new technology available, but rather embrace it, and lean into its presence. Think about it this way: As complex as machine learning, facial recognition, and data algorithms are, the purpose of any one of these trends is not to intimidate us, but to enhance our capabilities and the experience for our guests. Whether we achieve richer experiences via technology that enhances the attendee experience or maximizes the way we spend our time as planners, or by standing behind socially responsible initiatives that matter to our audience, these movements are elevating standards and empowering the industry to push the boundaries of face-to-face experiences.

Conclusion

By now, you have an idea of what it takes to craft successful events and hone these skills into a thriving career. There are so many paths this unique field may lead to, and I hope you are prepared for an exciting and fulfilling journey. When creating experiences that will touch people and make lasting memories, I challenge you to try something new and push the boundaries of experiential engagement. It is within your capability to create the most memorable experiences possible, leaving impact long after guests have said their final goodbyes. 

While much of this book outlines my professional career, I believe event planning affects everyone. Reflecting back on my own life, many of my memories are anchored by events; birthdays, holidays, weddings, baby showers, celebrations, dinners, and graduations... memories are a universal part of being human. I sometimes think I’m a “memory weaver” with each event I plan, be it a dinner at my home, or a conference for 30,000 people, creating a fabric that is rich and textured. Virtually everyone will attend an event or host an event at some point in their life, and my overarching principles are the common thread that ties them all together. 

If I’ve inspired you or taught you something you find useful, please share my book with the people you care about in your life. Friends, families, college friends, colleagues. Anyone who can benefit from being able to better design their life and the events that help cement key moments forever. Remember, you are the event planner of your life!

I love hearing from readers. If you’d like to get in touch, you can find me at Giannagaudini.com. Send me a note! Who knows, perhaps we’ll plan an event together someday. And, if you liked this book, please help support me by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or Bookbub. 

Create Strategic, Engaging Virtual Events

It’s July, 2020, and becoming clear that most live events are most likely not happening again until 2021. The most ubiquitous phrase in every company’s lexicon is now “should we pivot to virtual, and how”? Now, the key to planning successful virtual events is to ask the question: Can my virtual event achieve or exceed the goals of my previously scheduled live event? If your answer is no, I encourage you to perhaps find a different marketing medium to meet your objectives (podcast, content marketing, blogging, video on demand, etc). However, if you’ve decided to go the way of virtual, please read on for strategies to make your event successful and add a ton of value to your organization by driving engagement that can be measured.

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Start with big picture goals:

When kicking off your virtual event, always start with the question: What can we achieve through a virtual event that we wouldn’t be able to achieve via a live event? If you can solve this question, you’re already on the way to having a great virtual event by making the most out of this platform. 

Example scenario: If you are hosting an event for 500 investors and founders and your main goal is for them to have as many 1:1 meetings with each other as possible, that would be very challenging to pull off in an actual venue given limited meeting rooms available (believe me I’ve bee there and even built 25 meeting rooms in one venue once!). However, with a digital platform like Hopin, that has a feature for “serendipitous” networking matches created instantly with attendees who are participating at the same time, you are able to achieve that goal.

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Make it a co-creator experience:

Attendees should be able to participate in the event in some way in order to keep their attention and also to keep them interested in tuning in live rather than just waiting to watch the recording on-demand. 

Example scenario 1: By asking your speakers to make use of a polling function, Q&A and chat features, the speaker can actually use data from the audience to steer the conversation so it’s more relevant and engaging to the attendees. And this is another example of how virtual can sometimes be better than live (it’s a lot harder to take an instant poll from the audience at a live event).

Example scenario 2: Offer attendees virtual event backdrops they can try out while live at your event (this only works if they tune in for it!) or offer a digital photo booth that they’ll then want to share on social platforms.

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Lead with Top Tier Content:

With virtual events, there’s nothing to pad the attendee experience if the content isn’t great. No fancy food and beverage, cocktails or great entertainment to make attendees forgive a lackluster keynote session. With virtual, your speakers and topics are what will draw attendees to the event and also have to carry it.

Consider: If you’re pivoting a live event to virtual, consider using some of the budget that you will no longer be spending on things like transportation, lighting, food/beverage, florals on attracting better speakers. Not only will this attract greater attendance to your event, but you can negotiate terms with these speakers so that they’ll help promote your event pre and post via their channels with thousands of followers. You can also leverage post-event recorded video content for future marketing initiatives and use the speaker’s brand and status to draw more page views.

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Don’t promise a recording:

At live events, attendees seldom assume the event will be recorded for later viewing, nor do they need to since they’re typically tuned in while at the event. However, with the content saturation right now, many attendees these days will register for an event and then simply wait until the content is available on-demand to view at their leisure. While this isn’t the worst thing, it won’t promote engagement at your event and could also cause you to lose valuable opportunities to connect your attendees live with a virtual sales team, sponsors, and also capture their questions, polling and survey responses, all critical data to leverage. 

Consider: Always record the event, but don’t indicate that you’re doing so. You could also even message to attendees that they should tune in live because the event recording is not being shared (you can always release snippets of the recordings at a later date should you need or want to).

Virtual events definitely provide opportunities for success and can even delight and build your brand affinity. These are just a few considerations to get you started and help you think through how to make the most out of the current situation. If you are interested in more ideas, please feel free to contact me at gianna@gaudini.com, or visit me at giannagaudini.com.

Virtual Events Content Strategy Pro Tips

How to create a strong content strategy, source speakers strategically and engage your attendees with unique formats.

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Let’s Lead with Content:

Content has always been king. But for virtual events competing in a saturated space, with the catering, venue, and other hospitality flourishes becoming superfluous, planners are forced to focus on content now more than ever before. I’ve always encouraged my clients and key stakeholders to start with the content of an event and then build the experience around it to create one cohesive narrative. All too frequently, planners begin with the details when really those should fall into place only in the last phase of planning. Smart brand strategists and event planners know that they shouldn’t be losing time planning the content strategy and selecting speakers for their 2020 and 2021 events, regardless of whether they know if they’ll be virtual or not. By locking in your agenda now, you can better market your event to your target audience, and save the date for your attendees and speakers, regardless of whether they’ll be showing up live or virtually. 

So... what makes great content and how should you go about building it for your event? 

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Great content does one if not all of the following things:

• Offers a unique opinion, even if a controversial one. Can you offer a perspective that people can’t find on Google, or one that will surprise and maybe even delight them?

• Educates the viewer. As my industry peer, Giana Ciapponi puts it “Great content should make you feel smarter afterwards”. In order to build brand equity, you want your attendees to feel the time they invested in your event was valuable and left them with useful takeaways or new insights.

• Builds trust in the brand. You want to make sure your speakers and messaging are aligned with your values and the values of your attendees. 

Bonus if content is engaging and participatory: People feel more like part of a community or more aligned with a brand if they can contribute to a shared experience. By offering opportunities for two-way dialogue at events, you give your attendees more of an “experience” rather than an on-demand non-synchronous content experience. Read on for more ideas about how to engage your audience.

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So... what’s the best approach to finding the right speakers for your event? 

• Identify your attendee personas: Identify the demographic and psychographic of the people who will be consuming your content. What are their values, their beliefs, their motivations? What are their ages, genders, and occupation? By building out personas of your attendees, you can then tap into what types of experiences and speakers would engage them (or repel them), a definite brand don’t.

• Draw inspiration from a different realm: For instance, professional athletes are often appealing to those in the startup world as they push themselves to elite status achieving the “impossible” but in a physical rather than mental capacity. By offering inspiration from a different realm, your attendees can be delighted and inspired by a unique point of view.

• Find speakers that want to support you and are an authentic fit for your brand. If you’re a business, your customers can be great speakers if they will evangelize your brand and share real live experiences with other potential customers, especially if they have a unique and interesting story to tell. If you’re selling an herbal sleep aid, perhaps an influencer like Arianna Huffington would be a natural fit since she is such an advocate for sleep health and well-being and also inspirational.  

• Launch Partnership. Consider professionals who are getting ready to launch a product, publish a book, or release an album. Not only will this build excitement and offer your attendees an exclusive “preview” but often means you can negotiate little to no speaker fee in exchange for publicity.

• Leverage your network. If you can identify a great speaker, chances are either you or one of your stakeholders is connected to them. By leveraging your network, you not only make a warmer introduction to the speaker, but the likelihood of them reducing their rates or volunteering to join your event as a speaker pro bono increase dramatically.

So...how do you build engaging formats?

You’ll quickly lose the attendee’s attention if all they see is a talking head on “zoom”, so mix up the format to make sure your audience wants to stay tuned in. Here are a few ideas and pro tips that can be executed on any budget:

• Host an intimate fireside chat with two speakers from totally different industries. Often the dynamic between speakers makes or breaks the experience so make sure you rehearse with both speakers together in advance.

• Drive viewer engagement by including the audience in the conversation. Platforms such as RuntheWorld offer a “grab the mic” feature where attendees can virtually “queue up” to ask live questions during a session. Adding in live polls or trivia questions is another way to make sure your attendees aren’t tuning out. Platforms such as Hopin or Buzzcast can execute these seamlessly.

• Host an AMA (ask me anything) with a visionary speaker or top executive that attendees want access to. Use a platform with question features (see above) for best execution.

• Offer a VIP “backstage pass” to select attendees to chat with the speakers in an intimate virtual group.

• Host a diverse panel with different perspectives. There’s nothing worse than having panel after panel of all white males that will turn some attendees off and hurt your brand’s reputation. When hosting a panel, make sure to select speakers that will have different views and come from different backgrounds so the conversation will be lively and inclusive.

• Try a lightning round where ten speakers each talk for two minutes each and then split off to lead breakouts that attendees can select based on the two minute “overview”.

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To sum it all up, remember that content is like storytelling. Your entire virtual event should have a clear story arc with a beginning, middle and end, and should work to communicate your overall messaging, engage, educate and have a point of view. Finally, after having spent so much thought on your agenda, make sure you’re properly capturing your content and have a distribution plan in place so you can repurpose it on your social channels, website, and in marketing materials for the future. If you’d like to learn more about building an engaging content plan or creative ways to source great speakers, you can reach me at Gianna@Gaudini.com.

How Impossibility Clause Can Save Your Budget and Reputation

With each passing month, more and more events are being pushed into 2021, or canceled altogether. Smart planners should be prepared with how to use the Impossibility Clause to get out of financial obligations should the COVID-19 pandemic make it impossible to host their event and also how to negotiate a bullet-proof contract for future events. Many of you commented that you found my last blog on contract negotiation tips helpful. As a continuation, this blog will cover additional legal considerations to keep in mind as we move into the next phase of the pandemic. I’ll outlined a key strategies and clauses to help you navigate how to get the Force Majeure Clause to work in your favor using the “Impossibility clause” so you can minimize the impact a pivot in your event strategy has on your company’s bottom line and reschedule your event with the right protection in place. Please note that these recommendations are based on my own personal experience and do not reflect the recommendations of any legal counsel.

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What is the Impossibility Clause? The impossibility clause can help you if you’re in a situation whereby an “Act of God” such as a pandemic or natural disaster, makes it “impossible” for a vendor or venue to provide services as you intended them at the time both parties signed the contract.

What does it mean if you can prove “impossibility”?  Having the right foundation and legalese in place to prove impossibility means that if you have to cancel your event because it’s impossible to host it in the current environment, you’re released from any financial obligation, pay no penalty, and might even qualify for a refund for any previous deposits.

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Now, the KEY to being able to tap into impossibility clause, is by setting up your contract or communication with the other party with the proper language to begin with. By adding the right language, it’s a lot easier to prove that the venue or vendor is not able to deliver services as planned and saves you a costly litigation process. Below are my tips for what to add when you’re contracting to make sure you’re covered:

1. Consider adding language such as: “Any emergency that prevents at least 25% of the group’s attendees from attending the meeting.” This clause is particularly relevant during this COVID situation if you have international attendees that might not legally be able to travel to your event, or that have to quarantine for 14 days once crossing into your country’s border. 

2. Clearly spell out in your contract the details of your event and get as specific as possible when it comes to numbers of guests and details that the venue or vendor must be able to fulfill. For example, list out how many attendees you will need to seat in a keynote session, at meals, evening events, whether attendees are international, etc. That way, even if a venue (for example) could technically host 50 guests spaced 6 feet apart in a keynote session, but you need to be able to seat 150 attendees in the keynote, you could argue impossibility.

3. Add in language that also includes impossibility kicking in if attendees are not able to safely arrive at your venue via available method of transportation. This would take into account safety of airplanes during a pandemic, quarantine holds for crossing borders, or high risk groups that are advised against taking public transit to get to your event and have no other way to get there.

4. Make sure that you add in specified timing in your force majeure clause that allows for cancellation without penalty. For example, if you add into your contract: “up to 90 days”, it would cover the group at any point in that timeframe. So if, for example, at 90 days out from a meeting, the local government was not allowing meetings at hotels, and the group wanted to terminate under force majeure in order to move the meeting, but the hotel says “Don’t worry, our hotel will be open when your meeting starts.” The group can reply that by then it will be too late to move their meeting should they need to. This supports you being able to proactively move or cancel your meeting without penalty.

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Here is a sample legal clause you can add to your contracts to protect you:

“The parties’ performance under this agreement is subject to acts of God, war, terrorism, disaster, strikes, civil disorder, curtailment of transportation facilities, any situation beyond the parties’ control that prevents or similar emergency beyond the parties’ control which makes it impossible, illegal, or impracticable to hold or host the meeting, prevents 25 percent of attendees from being able to attend the meeting, or which otherwise materially affects a party’s ability to perform its obligations under this Agreement. In the event of a force majeure incident, the group may invoke the force majeure clause and terminate the contract without liability up to ninety (90) days prior to the meeting dates in order to have adequate time to relocate the meeting, if necessary.”

What to do if you didn’t get the right language in your contract? First of all, it happens. Virtually nobody predicted this pandemic coming, and we’re all learning as we go. The best thing you can do when you realize you may need to tap into an impossibility clause is get in writing (email works fine) all the details of your event that are needed in order for the venue or vendor to provide services. If you can get them to agree to that in writing, even if it isn’t in the contract, it will be much easier to prove impossibility if you have to involve a legal team. I also recommend researching local news and ordinances to get an idea of reopening trends in and whether it’s highly likely that it could be impossible for your event to take place. It’s also worth it to get an outside counsel’s advice. A couple thousand dollars spent on professional help can save you hundreds of thousands when navigated properly.

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In conclusion, impossibility clause is best used if you can prove that it is impossible for a vendor or venue to provide services you agreed to in the manner you agreed to when signing a contract. If you have any questions you’d like me to cover in my next post, feel free to message me at giannagaudini.com. For more pro tips for navigating contract negotiation, I’ve included an entire chapter on my strategies in my book, The Art of Event Planning. 

XX, Gianna

How to Host a Great Virtual Wine Tasting Event

Here’s how to turn COVID 19’s “virtual happy hours” into an elevated brand building event while supporting local wineries and restaurants!

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What would Decantress do?

I formerly moonlit as “Decantress”, a wine-blogger and certified sommelier who spent my weekends galavanting around Napa wine country visiting new wineries and restaurants and sharing my tips with oenophiles around the world. After becoming pregnant and then giving birth to my son, Giacomo, I had less time and desire to focus on wine in my spare time, though it’s still my adult beverage of choice to enjoy socially on the weekends. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed the same, but from a poll I’ve taken among my friends and colleagues, if you’ve been drinking more wine during COVID-19 social distancing, you’re not alone! In an effort to recreate former evening event plans, virtual happy hours have quickly become a global trend, and I’ve personally noticed I’m drinking more wine these days than when I was previously allowed to go out and socialize. It makes sense, because I don’t have to worry about childcare for my son, or driving to/from a social event with time leftover to pick him up from preschool.  This new trend got me thinking...with companies struggling to rethink events in a safe, virtual medium, why not capitalize on this “social trend” to serve a business purpose?

I’ve always found people enjoy a wine-tasting experience. In fact, Napa California is the second most visited locale in California by tourists second only to DisneyLand! There’s something about the experience of swirling, sniffing, tasting, and sharing your uniquely subjective experience of the wine “earthy, ripe peaches, black cherry, rosemary!” that creates an enjoyable bonding experience. And wine has brought people together since the most ancient times. It appeals to those who are highly educated aficionados, and even those who would like to know more about it, making wine-tasting a great universal experience and opportunity for companies to stay connected with their clients.  If you’re looking for a way to bring your clients or potential customers together, build brand love, and offer a learning experience, hosting a virtual tasting is a virtual event I’d highly recommend trying.

I actually have hosted virtual wine tastings in the past, but the reason was not due to a quarantine, but rather as a creative way to introduce a Google product. I’ve always loved coming up with creative ways to introduce a product and make it more relatable or social because it helps people remember it while providing context. When Google Hangouts had just reached the market, I came up with the idea to hold virtual wine tastings at our Google Think event evening receptions. This translated into a recurring theme of proving social utility for the product, by way of demonstration. In order to best convey Google Hangout’s ability to connect people from all over, my catering team set up a conference room with pre-poured glasses of wine, a sheet with tasting notes, and snacks for pairing. Members from my team and I would log into a live Hangout with an engaging sommelier based somewhere across the country (for effect), and the entire room would join in a tasting demonstration, carried out by the sommelier hundreds of miles away. Occasionally, the sommelier would call out to a member in the conference room for their opinion on a particular wine, surprising and delighting the guests who weren’t expecting such a successful two-way dialogue from the product. Everyone had a great time while experiencing a new product in a fun context. The tastings were so successful because the sommeliers would make sure there was a two-way interaction between them and the guests partaking in the experience. We also curated specially themed flights that would appeal to the audience at our event.  Below I’ll share my recommendations for how to host a brilliant virtual wine tasting.

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Select a Theme:

Rather than just select random wines to taste with your virtual guests, come up with a theme that will hopefully lure them in. Here are some thought starters:

• Pinots from around the world (I like to include French pinot (Burgundy), a Sonoma or Monterey pinot Noir, an Oregon pinot noir and an Australian Pinot Noir, which offers a nice variety of styles.

• Old World vs New World wines: Old world wines come from European regions like France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany, while New World wines include the United States, South America, South Africa, and Australia. Old World wines have a distinctly different style and taste than new world which makes them fun to taste and compare side by side, especially if tasting the same varietal.

• Bubbles from around the world (this can include prosecco from Italy, sparkling wine from Napa, cava from Spain, and Champagne from France). Also try different styles like rose, cremant, ulta-sec, etc.

• Different varietals from a certain region or vineyard: Here, you can highlight wines from a region, such as: the Bordeaux Region of France, or you can highlight a special wine portfolio from a wine producer, such as Hamel Family Wines based in Sonoma.

Select a great sommelier:

• An engaging sommelier is also a nice draw to make sure you have a good turn-out. Think about what will appeal to the guests you’re trying to attract.

• Perhaps you can highlight a female sommelier, a sommelier from a famous winery or restaurant, or a sommelier who has their Court of Master Sommeliers Master certification. 

• Make sure that the somm you select is engaging and prepared to ask and answer questions in addition to just leading a formal wine tasting. This will make for a more fun and engaging experience.

Ship the goods & resources to your guests

As a really nice touch, print up tasting note menus that you can mail or email your guests in advance, that they can use to guide their tasting. As a really nice touch (and budget permitting), send your guests a bottle (or small vial) of each of the wines you will be tasting that evening. Make sure you specify that the wines should be “unboxed” only during the live tasting because there’s something really exciting about unboxing a product live.

Select and Practice your platform

Select a live-streaming platform (I like Google Hangouts or Zoom), to generate a code that you can then provide to your users. Encourage them to add it to their calendars, and to download the software in advance if need be. Schedule a “test run” with your sommelier to make sure they look and sound good on the virtual platform and have them log in fifteen minutes before the session is set to go live. That way, if there are any connectivity issues, you still have time to troubleshoot before guests log in for the experience.

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Overall, the experience should last no longer than an hour to hold the attention of your guests, and allow time for Q&A. Encourage guests to share their feedback of the wines and somm either during the live event, or via a post-event survey, so you can ascertain your ROI and feedback for future virtual tastings. You can also consider supporting local wineries or restaurants to purchase the wine, and  offer coupons for guests to use afterwards - a win/win for everyone! If you have hosted a live tasting, and want to share what has worked well for you, I love hearing from you. Cheers!

How to navigate your venue contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Legal savvy to help navigate through COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty

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My program canceled…now what?!

With worldwide event cancellations in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, planners not only have to worry about how to re-think their events to ensure attendee health and safety, but they’re also left questioning what legal recourse they have when it comes to their hotel and venue contracts in the face of event cancellations. I’ve always had a passion for navigating venue contract negotiation for just this reason, and even included some of my contract negotiation pro tips in my book, The Art of Event Planning. For this blog specifically, I’ve outlined a few key clauses to help you navigate the unpredictable event environment so that you can minimize the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on your bottom line and responsibly move forward with any contracts that are pending. Please note that these recommendations are based on my own personal experience and do not reflect the recommendations of my company, SoftBank Vision Fund, and should also be reviewed with your own legal counsel.

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Force Majeure

If government bans travel or declares a state of emergency, then Force Majeure clause can be invoked, meaning neither a venue or contracting party can be held liable for nonperformance. Examples of this as it pertains to coronavirus include the US travel department banning travel into/out of China, which would make it impossible to host an event there for international attendees. Other instances of this are declarations of national emergencies, as in the city of Austin and its cancellation of SXSW. Always include a force majeure clause in your contracts so that instances like this will release you from losing additional money on an event that cannot happen. A sample clause I always use is pasted below:

The performance of this agreement is subject to any circumstances making it illegal, impossible or inadvisable to provide, use, or travel to or from the Hotel facilities, including, but not limited to, Acts of God, war, government regulations or intervention, disaster, strikes (except strikes by hotel employees), civil disorder, epidemic, or curtailment of transportation facilities.  This agreement may be terminated without any liability of any nature for any one of the above reasons, or based on any act of, or risk of, terrorism or other unsafe conditions, which cause travel to be impossible or inadvisable. Termination must be by written notice from Hotel or client. Following termination based on any of these circumstances, the Hotel will refund to client any deposits or other monies previously paid with regard to the terminated agreement.

Rebooking Clause

Hopefully, you’ve never dealt with a major event of yours canceling, but at some point in your career (and maybe soon), you will likely face this situation. I absolutely always make sure I ask for a rebooking clause in my hotel or venue agreement in case I do need to move the date of a program.  Typically, a rebooking clause will allow you to rebook your event within 1 year of the program date making use of the deposits or a percentage of the deposits you’ve already paid and/or owe the venue. A sample rebooking clause you is as simple as the below:

If the program cancels, 100% of the cancellation deposit and penalties will apply to a future program that operates within one year from date of cancellation.

Moving forward with booking contracts during an epidemic

To protect your event against any concerns that might make attendees reluctant to travel, such as a pandemic, it’s helpful to include a clause that allows you to reduce your guest count if you have attrition due to a perceived threat. An example of a clause like this that I use is:

Should the organization wish to continue with the event, but because of travel advisories as to health, security or terrorism, which might cause a reduction in attendance, the organization shall be able to reduce its guest count accordingly, without liability and without a reduction in amenities that are contingent on room block and pickup.

In closing, every planner right know is dealing with uncertainty and my heart goes out to every planner and attendee who has been impacted by the coronavirus. Though our health is the most important and must be protected first and foremost, we can still be smart about how we proceed and modify our event strategies given the current situation. If you have any additional suggestions for helping planners mitigate cancellations and protect themselves as they look to move or rebook their events, I welcome your feedback here!

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Letting Go of Sleep Shame

Why we should all start getting more sleep and bragging about it

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Let’s change the narrative

As a wine enthusiast, my motto is “squeeze the juice out of every day.” This was intended to be a personal reminder to live life to the fullest, but most days it just means crossing as many things as possible off my ever-growing to-do list. While I try to optimize every minute of each day, I’ve come to learn that the active part of the day is no more than 16 hours. This is immutable — there’s no cutting corners when it comes to getting enough sleep. Every time I try, the bill eventually comes due in the form of injury, illness, or feeling like my brain is clocking at half speed. I believe so highly in the correlation between sleep and a healthy, successful life that I addressed it comprehensively in the opening chapter of my recently published book, The Art of Event Planning: Pro Tips From an Industry Insider. There’s no “efficient sleeping” model that I know of, so for seven to eight hours every day, I accept the fact that I will not be active, but I’ll be preparing myself up to be my most productive and creative version of myself the next morning. 

This did not happen overnight. It took years for me to realize the importance of sleep and how important it is to staying healthy and being a successful mother, wife, and professional. And while I now make sleep a priority, I still admit to feeling sleep-shamed by those who brag about functioning on little sleep as though it’s a badge of honor to be paraded around. I’d like to share my story with the hope that together, we can stop feeling guilty about getting the sleep our bodies need and encourage others to do the same.

I’ve built a career in event planning, which is inherently stressful and consistently ranks as one of the top five most stressful careers. Due to the highly public nature of events, and the ever-ticking countdown to an event date, there’s constant pressure to deliver on time, on schedule, on brand and on budget — then rinse, repeat, start again. Before joining the SoftBank Vision Fund as Global Head of Events, I spent nearly a decade running Google’s highest profile events. I was passionate about the work, but there was so much to do that I often worked into the night, then would wake before dawn to tackle the day yet again. I was averaging five hours of sleep a night, some nights just three hours. Meanwhile, I was juggling a heavy project load: authoring my wine and lifestyle blog, “Decantress,” volunteering time on the board of a nonprofit organization, and training for marathons. Eventually my body started showing physical signs that this lifestyle was unsustainable. I’ll never forget being onsite running a very high profile CEO event, just weeks before producing our company’s largest global conference for 19,000 employees. I awoke in the middle of the night to find my lips swollen shut and puffy red hives covering my body. I couldn’t hide the intense stress and pressure I was under, it was literally written on my face! There was no time to see a doctor so I took some Benadryl, put on a long-sleeved dress, and soldiered on producing a successful event. Though the event went well, I was haunted by the fear that my body was failing me and I couldn’t push these limits without consequence.

Shortly thereafter, my husband and I decided to start a family. After six months of trying to conceive without success, I finally sought the advice of my OB/GYN. After undergoing rounds of testing, poking, and prodding, his conclusion was that my body was extremely stressed and exhausted. My lifestyle was essentially triggering my flight-or-fight system, and in order to conceive I needed my body to feel calm and balanced. So I grudgingly agreed to add some weight to my small frame (treating myself to nightly gelato and pasta in Italy, this was easy!), cut back on marathon training, and began sleeping more. For once in my life, I simply couldn’t achieve something by pushing myself harder, working longer, and doing more. I had to signal to my body that I was not in a stressful environment and could store enough in reserves to support a growing child. However, despite my best efforts at reducing stress and getting more sleep, I could still not conceive and had to turn to IVF. I thought this would be a surefire solution, but after hundreds of shots, four failed cycles, two miscarriages, and money down the drain, I was nowhere closer to my goal. I had to make even more drastic changes in order to become a mother. And for me this meant taking a break from work, where I could never really let my guard down enough to rest and destress. I instinctively knew my new job needed to be focusing on healing my body with rest, practicing restorative yoga, acupuncture, a minimum of eight hours sleep, and then attempt to conceive one more time. 

I was fortunate to have stockpiled enough vacation time saved and a supportive leadership team at Google, and could take off a month — others I know aren’t this lucky and I feel grateful every day that I was able to make this work. In the end, this worked, my instincts were right, and by taking this time to let my body rest, I was able to get pregnant. Seeing my son’s little heart beat for the first time, I burst into tears, and vowed my child would always be my priority moving forward. Through my pregnancy, I made sure I got enough sleep, hitting the pillow each night around 9:30 p.m., since I knew how important it was for the health of my baby. It occurred to me how strange it was that the only time we are not made to feel guilty about getting enough sleep is when pregnant, and that is because we’re bearing another life, so it goes back to the woman as giver first and foremost. 

After giving birth to my son, I experienced the tortuous and unavoidable sleep deprivation experienced by all new moms who breastfeed. Since newborns need to eat frequently and throughout the night, and I provided my baby’s only food source, I was never able to sleep for more than two hours at a time. My early weeks of motherhood brought on the brutal effects of sleep deprivation and this was entirely out of my control. I was emotionally drained, constantly hungry, stressed, and the smallest problem could bring me to tears. In my journey towards giving my body the sleep it needs — this was my low point. This all changed when my son was three months old and we hired a wonderful sleep consultant and soon trained him to sleep through the night. Amazing! I could now sleep around seven hours a night and ever since then I’ve fiercely protected my sleep like it is sacred. I am that person who schedules dinners for 6 p.m. so I can be home and in bed before 10 p.m. I awake every day at 4:30 a.m., so it’s imperative I get to bed at a reasonable hour if I plan to get enough sleep.

So where am I today? Running a high-octane events team in an industry that has endless deadlines and inherent pressure to perform, I feel waves of guilt when I sign off work to go to sleep. I know quite well that the mind is not as sharp late into the night and each later hour of work has diminishing marginal returns. And that I’ll be up before dawn the next morning, refreshed and ready and a better manager, leader, and creative thinker after a night of restful sleep. However, I somehow feel some pangs of guilt and shame around getting this rest. I have a feeling I am not alone in feeling guilt for taking care of myself.

So how can we collectively change our mindset and mantra around protecting this basic human need? Sleeping is not only the smartest thing we can do to sharpen our minds and heal our bodies, but getting adequate sleep prevents accidents in the workplace, leads to increased productivity, less sick-leave, and higher work output. My wish and goal for myself and fellow high-performers is that we change the narrative and start promoting and encouraging sleep hygiene. My hope is that someday soon, “Insta-bragging” will include photos of pillows and eye masks next to the ubiquitous photos of green juices and fit bodies. It’s up to us to not only change our sleep behavior, but to be champions of it, proudly evangelizing the importance of taking care and resting our bodies. It’s my personal goal and challenge to us all to stop feeling guilty about sleeping and keep spreading the word so that our children will grow up with positive role models and a new mindset around sleep.

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Moving forward after losing a loved one

A guide to bereavement and reintegrating into work and daily life after the loss of a loved one.

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The morning I returned from holiday vacation, my father texted me to let me know he wanted to come by to deliver something to me. Nothing could have prepared me for the news he delivered: The day before, my only sister and aunt to my son, had lost her battle with depression and taken her own life. I have never in my life experienced emotions this violent all at once - pain, shock, desperation, disbelief, grief. I couldn’t control my body from violently shaking and screaming out in anguish, and kept thinking I would suddenly wake up from this nightmare. The following days were consumed with sharing the tragic news with friends, family, and work, grieving and feeling waves of regret and “what could I have done…”, paying tribute to my sister by preserving every memory I had of her, and nights laying awake thinking about her final days, weeks, year, reliving every last encounter, text, and instagram post as though they would bring her back.

While nothing will every bring my sister back, I have made it my mission to be more empathetic, aware and understanding and to educate others to do the same. Mental illness causes 90% of all suicides and it’s helpful to learn more about it and be empathetic of those who have experienced it themselves or through loved ones. I have also realized that if there’s an opportunity to be kind to someone, to take a minute and help someone out or just listen, I will always take that opportunity. We need more of that in the world and I encourage you do join me in this mission.  It's so important to make the time to spend time with those you care about, and to share the things you love about them openly. It can make a difference in their life and certainly theirs, and maybe some day save one.   

Slowly, I’ve started re-entering the routines of everyday life: grocery shopping, swim class with my toddler, and returning to work. I am so grateful to my incredibly supportive network of friends and family and to my job for allowing me the bereavement time I needed. Below I share my experience and advice with others who may be going through a similar experience in hopes of raising awareness and understanding.

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Taking time off to grieve and process your loss

When processing grief like that of a suicide survivor, it’s important to give yourself ample time and space, maybe even more time than you think you may need to return to work. Ideally, you should return to work only when you feel able to cope, and you may also want to consider the possibility of working part-time for a period. Having experienced an intense state of shock and grief, you may initially have trouble with with sleeping, concentration, or even holding a conversation. I found that the first week after my sister’s death, I could hardly communicate in coherent sentences, and could barely bring myself to do the things that I was accustomed to doing so effortlessly. If you experience a short-term loss of efficiency and performance, be kind to yourself, and take things at your own pace. Just like you wouldn’t expect someone to come back from maternity leave at 100% capacity, a suicide survivor may also need weeks to return to their former state of functioning. Employers and colleagues should be aware and mindful of setting realistic expectations so as not to create extra stress, and understand that grief is unpredictable and can reappear erratically from time to time for months following the incident.

While you’re on bereavement leave

When processing grief like that of a suicide survivor, it’s important to give yourself ample time and space, maybe even more time than you think you may need to return to work. Ideally, you should return to work only when you feel able to cope, and you may also want to consider the possibility of working part-time for a period. Having experienced an intense state of shock and grief, you may initially have trouble with with sleeping, concentration, or even holding a conversation. I found that the first week after my sister’s death, I could hardly communicate in coherent sentences, and could barely bring myself to do the things that I was accustomed to doing so effortlessly. If you experience a short-term loss of efficiency and performance, be kind to yourself, and take things at your own pace. Just like you wouldn’t expect someone to come back from maternity leave at 100% capacity, a suicide survivor may also need weeks to return to their former state of functioning. Employers and colleagues should be aware and mindful of setting realistic expectations so as not to create extra stress, and understand that grief is unpredictable and can reappear erratically from time to time for months following the incident.

How to support a suicide survivor

Each person grieves at their own pace and isn’t always confined to non-working hours, so compassion, encouragement and understanding are key during the reintegration phase. If you manage a person dealing with bereavement loss, try asking how their grief is affecting them, what they would like their colleagues to be told in relation to the death, and how they feel they could best be supported at this time.  You could also check in via an in-person lunch or coffee a couple of days before they return to work to allow them to share the details in private and discuss concerns about not knowing what to do or say when their colleagues inquire once back at work.

Mental health, suicide and bereavement are all good topics for employers to discuss with employees in addition to counseling options, especially if offered through employment. If an employee needs to leave work to attend a counseling sessions, this should be supported.

How to approach “I’m so sorry” comments

Seeing co-workers for the first time exposes you comments like "I'm so sorry" which can open up the healing wound.  As difficult as these expressions of sympathy may be to hear, they can be better than no acknowledgement at all. There is no need to discuss anything you aren’t comfortable sharing, and a simple  "thank you" is a perfectly fine response. While you may worry about getting emotional or breaking down in front of colleagues, rest assured that many people will understand if they know what has occurred in your life and excusing yourself it totally acceptable. It might be helpful to share as much information as you are comfortable sharing with your work colleagues before you return to work and if you find people ask too many questions, you can share that you aren’t ready to go into it right now. You might find it helpful as well to keep your manager or one trusted colleague informed of key details and they can help message your boundaries to others.

I'm finding that recovering from the suicide of a loved one is an ongoing process that is likely unique for each individual survivor. Getting back into a routine and finding purpose through work, hobbies, giving back and social engagements can be an important step in the journey towards healing.

Keys to Planning a Great Company Holiday Party

It’s that time of year - lots of shining lights, champagne, goodwill, and office parties! I’ve been asked by many friends to help review and consult on their company holiday party plans and even though it’s getting late in the season, here are my tips and recommendations for planning a party that’s fun, on-brand, relevant to your attendees, and budget-friendly.

Know Your Demographic

Before you even start looking for a venue and brainstorming ideas, make sure you have a solid grasp on the demographic that’ll be attending your event. For instance, if you’re working for a tech startup where the majority of attendees will be trend-conscious millennials, you’re going to want to think of a very different experience than if you’re working for an established bank where the typical demographic is conservative and middle-aged. The demographic of your event will influence everything from the venue you select to the timing of the party, any activities, music and the food served. My husband works for a food delivery tech start-up, and their holiday parties are notorious for starting late and going late into the night and utilizing locally trending food trucks for late night eats rather than traditional caterers. 

Plan with Diversity and Inclusion in Mind

Along the lines of knowing your demographic, make sure you’re planning inclusively. I always advocate giving people a “plus one” to these events, but always advise against planning a seated dinner because that can make people who don’t bring a +1 feel self-conscious seated without a partner. It also makes it harder to plan for flexibility, which also takes into consideration people who may not be able to afford child care for a long period of time and can arrive and depart the party at the time that works for their family.  You can also consider giving ride-share and childcare vouchers to make getting to and from the event more affordable to your employees. Make sure that your entertainment is not offensive to any of your attendees, and that you’re considering all dietary needs when menu planning. When hiring vendors, consider diversity. For example, hire both male and female bartenders, and consider a mix of ethnicities, ages and races when hiring your photographer, DJ, and catering team. Having diversity baked into the fabric of your event will help make all demographics feel represented. Also be mindful to not make anyone uncomfortable. While having Santa Claus come to the holiday party may sound like a fun idea, it can make some with different religious practices feel uncomfortable, so err on the side of neutral when it comes to religious holiday connotations and references.

Consider Theme and Venue

Choosing a theme for the event can also help unite people and make standard holiday parties more creative and engaging. Stuck on a theme that applies to all? Try a decade in history. Asking everyone to dress up in 80’s or roaring 20’s attire can make a boring holiday party a little more interesting and also more inclusive. You can also look for an out-of-the-box venue to match the theme. Try a jazz club, speakeasy or a roller-rink to make the party unique!

Think About What Your Giving Back

Holidays are all about giving, so I always encourage building in a give-back activity or initiative into holiday parties. It can be as easy as having everyone bring a book, toy, or warm coat to donate, or can be an activity that everyone does together, like building bikes, teddy bears, wrapping gifts, or “health kits” to donate to local shelters. One year, for my team’s small holiday offsite, we decided to adopt several families that had lost everything in the Napa fires and fulfil their holiday wishes.  We divided our team into smaller groups, gave each the wish list and a budget, and let everyone spend three hours shopping in downtown San Francisco for gifts for their family. We then enjoyed cocktails and appetizers while wrapping the gifts. It was a great way to give back and also a great teambuilding activity. When planning a corporate event, also consider the vendors you hire. At my company holiday party this year, I specifically selected a caterer that uses only organic and sustainably sourced products. The food was beautiful and delicious, and also had a minimal negatiec impact on the environment.

Focus on Just Three Things:

There’s limited time at holiday parties, and people generally want the opportunity to socialize with as many people as possible. Limit the time you spend on over-thinking the activities, and focus on the top three things that you think are important to people at yoru company. For instance, if they really care about great food, make sure you hire an excellent caterer or have an out of the box creative culinary experience (live action, food trucks, make-your-own treats, etc.) If alcohol is particularly important, consider pouring more budget into that area and bringing in an interactive component (champagne tasting and pairing is fun and festive). Music can be a great way to add a memorable aspect to the event. Consider a surprise solo performance, live jazz band to kick off the night, or even a comedian if the atmosphere is right. If activities are important, plan one or two fun experiences to entertan guests. Photobooths or photo-ops are a great idea because they offer a way for guests to interact at the event,  and also provide a memento of the event, especially since people tend to dress-up for holiday parties. Remember, at the end of the day, geusts tend to remember just three things at any given event, so pick your three areas of focus and prioritize your budget and time!

Budget Saving Ideas:

The end of the year is often a time that companies want to give back, but are also mindful of cost-saving strategies as budgets are max’d out. If budget is particularly tight, consider a day-time event and position it as “family friendly”. You’ll save considerably on food, booze, and venue rental and also win many people by giving them an evening back! You can also consider post-poning your holiday party until January. Venue rental rates drop considerably after the holidays and it also gives people something to look forward to in the new year. Consider limiting options for food and beverage, but make them higher quality options. For instance, I had a budget for my wines but really wanted to make sure we had a good sparkling option. So I convinced the caterer to give us a great sparkling option, and just remove on of the white wines that was going to be offered. You can also cut back on expensive florals (nobody remembers these anyways) with fun, edible centerpieces like candy and confections that double as desserts.

In short, employing some strategy to your office holiday party planning can make the difference between a success or a flop. I’d love to hear about your successes (or areas for improvement) - send me your best holiday party stories!