#EventIcons

The pandemic put a strain on everyone in the events industry, and it’s pushed some of our longest-serving professionals into other careers or even retirement, leaving a vacuum for other professionals to fill. It’s this need for experienced and knowledgeable event professionals, along with the revitalization of events, that led today’s guest, Bradley Cocks, to transition from doing to educating. Bradley is an experienced event professional with an impressive 20 years of history in the industry. He’s also founded and sold his own events agency and has launched a successful online Masterclass specifically for event professionals. In this #EventIcons episode, Will has many questions for Bradley. Tune in to hear what skills Bradly thinks event professionals need for the future, what prompted his transition from events to event education, and more.

Throughout 2022, we discussed how event professionals could talk business and engage with the C-suite. We also talked about trends we witnessed and expected to see in 2023. That’s why we’ve brought Jim Kelley on today’s episode of the #EventIcons. Jim is an experienced leader in the events industry. Currently the Vice President of Marketing and Industry Relations at Fern Expo, he has a long history of working in events, tradeshows, and conferences. Jim describes himself as a continuous learner, trusted advisor, innovator, educator, and ukulelist in training. Today, he’ll share his background, how event professionals can take on the business world, how to avoid burnout, and why we’ll see more white space in 2023.

The events industry is on the cusp of change. As we exit the pandemic era, companies are looking to understand how they can drive event growth and how events can, in turn, drive growth for their business; that’s why we’ve brought on a special guest for this episode of #EventIcons, Mark Kilens. Mark is the CMO of Airmeet, a leading virtual and hybrid event platform. He previously worked at Drift as the VP of Content and Community and at HubSpot as the VP of Marketing. Mark comes to us today with no shortage of experience in event-led growth. Today, Will and Mark will discuss his accomplished background, what business and event growth mean to him, and what he thinks your event mindset should be. Let’s get right into it!

On the last episode of #EventIcons, Erica Bishaf said, “A lot of organizations put about 60 - 80% of financial risk into one live event.” Unsurprisingly, companies are heavily invested in attendee satisfaction. Often, event planners turn to metrics and engagement as a measure of an event's success. That's why we've brought on an expert on all things attendee engagement, Ryan Costello. Ryan is the founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Event Farm. Today, hundreds of organizations use Event Farm. Over the last 20+ years, he’s become a leading innovator in the events industry. His obsession with attendee engagement and experience is evident in both his company and today’s episode. Rather than hyper-focusing on the precise metrics you should focus on for engagement, Ryan shifts our attention to mindset and approach. He challenges us to remember that we are in the business of humans. Let’s get right into it!

Endless Events has recently celebrated its 15th birthday and we’ve decided to mark the occasion by hosting a very special #EventIcons episode in which our listeners could ask us any questions they want about Endless’ past, present, and future. The 15-year special was hosted by no other than the CEO and Founder of Endless Events, Will Curran. Three members of the Endless team have also kept him company: Keaton Watson, Director of Sales and Operations, Karmen Jericevic, Sales Development Manager, and Sonja Hayden, the Director of Content. Here’s to many more, Endless Events!

After a month-long break, the #EventIcons podcast is back in all its glory! This week's iconic guest is the knowledgeable Gianna Gaudini, an event marketing strategist who understands events inside and out. She worked as Marketing Events Lead at Google for nine years and Head of Events at AWS for nearly two years. Even more importantly, she has founded her own company in 2018. Check out Gianna's website: she's established herself as an industry leader as well as an author and course creator. Since she's got such a wide range of knowledge, Karmen thought it would be a great idea to pick her brain about the best event planning tips for 2022. Karmen and Gianna do not dwell on any one particular topic for too long. After all, Gianna knows a lot about data analytics, content delivery, community, leadership, and so much more. They go over the recent changes in the events industry, ROI metrics, diversity and inclusivity, sustainability, and her favorite resources for event planners. Tune in - you'll learn a lot!

This week, the #EventIcons podcast comes with a three-day delay, but we’re so excited about this amazing episode that we couldn’t wait any longer to share it with the world! First, let’s get the most exciting part out of the way. Will is joined by a brand new host: the fabulous and inquisitive Karmen Jericevic, AKA the Event Opportunity Creator at Endless Events. Some of you might remember her from the episode we did with the Endless team about managing virtual fatigue. As she constantly talks directly to event planners, she knows exactly how they think, what they want to know, and what their main pain points are. And alongside her bubbly personality, that makes her an exceptional interviewer! And then, there’s our iconic guest: Ellis Davis, the Chief of Equation Equilibrium at Endless Events. But even though that’s one impressive title, it barely encompasses all that Ellis is and does. He’s this industry’s knowledgeable visionary, a charismatic yoga teacher, and a delightful conversationalist. Make sure to tune in: you’ll leave inspired, informed, and more exuberant than before!

New week, new guest, new host! #EventIcons is back with a very special episode! Recorded at Event Tech Live, Will had a great conversation about the evolution of SXSW with none other than their former Chief Innovation Officer, Scott Wilcox. Today, Scott has a new consulting venture, Here and Tomorrow. We’ve talked about SXSW (South by Southwest) before in this podcast’s history. We’ve watched them do their first-ever 4K live stream, and included them on the list of our favorite events in 2018. Today, we’ll explore how they went from being a company without emails to thought leaders in innovation and technology.The iconic guest takes us back to the year 1996 when business was still done via snail mail and CD ROMs ruled the world. Almost three decades later, SXSW is a household name among trade shows, conferences, and events. How did they do it? Tune in and find out, it’s an episode that you really shouldn’t miss!

When we talk about movement at events, our minds might go to walking around the venue at in-person events or walking to the fridge if we’re attending a virtual experience. But what if we told you that a little movement goes a long way even before or during speaker presentations? Taking care of the health of the attendees is a growing trend in the events industry – and we’re not just talking about COVID-19 compliance at events. PCMA EduCon 2021, for example, hosted a gamified health challenge and encouraged attendees to move their bodies. So, we brought on an iconic guest to explain to us what movement at events is all about.Our #EventIcons guest is Lizzy Williamson, an event and meeting energizer who coined the term Two Minute Moves. As a wellness and fitness enthusiast, she knows all about the science behind moving our bodies. Not only is it good for our mental and physical health, but it also boosts engagement at virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. So press play and join Sarah and Lizzy as they talk and demonstrate how to elevate your event with movement!

There is only one thing that seems to be certain in these trying times in the events industry: virtual events are here to stay, no matter the state of the pandemic and our personal preferences. And that’s why it’s time to talk about virtual event production -again. The #EventIcons podcast strives to talk to the very best in the events world. And wow, did we deliver this week!Today, we don’t introduce you to one, but two #EventIcons guests: Kara Gladish and Sheehan Hubbard from Socio. For those who might not know: Socio is an event technology company that helps enterprises and SMBs optimize their events in more than 40 countries. Their clients include big names, such as Microsoft, Google, and Pinterest. Join Sarah as she has one of the most insightful, information-packed conversations ever witnessed on this podcast!

Before the pandemic hit us, we took genuine human interactions at events for granted. Attendees mingled, networked, formed everlasting bonds, and had a great time while doing all of that. As the industry pivoted to virtual events, virtual audience engagement became one of the most talked-about challenges. How do we replicate genuine interpersonal dynamics in the virtual world? Is it even possible? Today’s #EventIcons guest thinks that it definitely is.The iconic Steve Gottlieb is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. And most importantly for this podcast, he is the founder and CEO of Shindig, a virtual conference, event, and meeting platform that has mastered the art of online engagement. Just like many of our guests on the podcast, he is a huge advocate for the virtual revolution. Join Sarah and Steve in a lively conversation that is bound to inspire, challenge, and encourage you to keep up with the times and embrace all things virtual.

Event platforms took the events industry by the storm. So much so that they can be considered as the new venues! There's more of them each year and some of them are even attracting huge investments. We've had countless enthusiastic guests talk about them on #EventIcons before, but today's guest is a little bit different. He says: down with third-party event platforms!Saroosh Gull is the CEO of Eventcombo and he is on a mission to disrupt the entire $1 trillion event industry. He's all about building meaningful relationships and event planners staying in full control of their events. Event platforms unquestionably satisfy event planners' needs, but are they really the only way to go forward? Press play and find out!