Ever sat at another influencer's event and been like, "this isn't me."

Or maybe you've sat in a bunch of influencers' events and you've said that every time.

They aren't speaking to you, yet, you're still feeling called to put on your own.

It’s not everyone’s fantasy to put on an event in front of hundreds in a hotel ballroom.

I get it. That’s totally cool. And here’s what I say to that:

DO THE WORK of figuring out what the live experience of YOUR BRAND would look like.

And then you do you.

Simple as that.

So what does that look like? The whole figuring out what the live experience of YOUR BRAND looks like?

I'm so glad you asked.

I like to call it R&D. Research and Development. Subscribe to other influencers' email lists.  Follow influencers who are putting on events on socials. Go to influencers' events.  Heck, go to non-influencer events. Lots of them.

Maybe the light bulb moment for YOUR BRAND's live event will come from going to a gallery...

Ever had the opportunity to go to a physical store of a brand you just LOVED? And you were like OH MY GOSH I’M HERE!

Something where you had to wait and you had a lot of anticipation building.

It's exactly how I felt when I went to a game at Lambeau Field for the first time or Nike Town in Chicago when I was a tween.

And I imagine that’ll be what it’s like when I venture into a farm stand or florist or restaurant in the Hamptons favorited by Ina Garten or Williams Sonoma’s test kitchen in San Francisco one of Chef Chloe's restaurants in New York City or Magnolia Market in Waco or Tiffany’s in New York City...ok, I’ll stop. I think you get the picture.

It’s kinda like when your kiddo got to go to Disneyland for the first time. Do you follow?

Can you imagine that feeling of pure elation?

THAT is the gift you give your community when you create the live event experience of YOUR brand.

Such a gift. And they’re dying to open...

Call me crazy.

But I believe Serendipity, or the Universe or God has a hand in our success.

I believe that if we cast our vision for what we want and get it as clear as we possibly can in our minds and on paper, that Serendipity, or the Universe or God shifts things in our favor.

I just had a monumentally freaky coincidental thing happen for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, the thing that happened, caused me to cry tears of “why is this happening.” Because at this moment, it’s not a good thing.

But, and that’s a big but right there, I believe in the pit of my soul, that this thing that just happened FOR me, while isn’t what I thought I wanted or needed TODAY, has some bigger purpose in my life and someday, maybe, I’ll learn why.

No, I wasn’t a philosophy major in college. Yes, I’m a very grounded, no-nonsense person. No, I don’t usually talk woo woo or like anything woo woo, but…

There’s a big piece of me that just KNOWS...

I feel safe in this community of Live Event Leaders. Safe enough to pronounce once and for all that seashells spray painted in florescent colors are NEVER OK.

Agreed?

I was hosting this swanky dinner party at a beachfront private club on a gorgeous patio overlooking the ocean. I had connected with a DMC (Destination Management Company) to provide centerpieces for the event.

We had a build your own flower arrangement bar set up for guests (so they could each make something to brighten their hotel rooms for the weekend) so more floral arrangements didn’t seem like the right fit for centerpieces.

The thought was to have square vessels filled with sea shells on each table instead.

Pretty and classy, right?

Well…not so much.

You see my vision of what that looked like and the vendor’s vision of what that looked like wasn’t in alignment.

When I saw the centerpieces the day of the event my jaw dropped in horror. They had used seashells that were spray-painted in a variety...

Have you heard of Jesse Itzler? 

If not, you should start following him, like today.

I'm absolutely smitten with his work in this world.

Here's why. His work is a mashup of so many of the things I love: live events, adventure, family, personal growth, biohacking, and the power of eating plants.

You know I'm obsessed with the idea of everyone in this Live Event Leader community doing "R&D" as I call it...researching other influencers' events.

Well, I practice what I preach and I do my R&D and you know what I noticed about this dude? This dude does his events OUTSIDE!

He mashes up personal growth and physical fitness and endurance and the great outdoors. So flipping cool.

When I first learned about 29029 Everesting I couldn't take my eyes off it. The live event producer in me was all  over the thing.

I came from an event space where events were inside hotel ballrooms like 90% of the time, so to see the mold "I" was used to, broken, actually, shattered, just ...

Have you seen Dave Asprey sporting his signature yellow lenses?

You know those yellow eyeglass lenses that have become sort of the ‘in’ thing?

I got some. My eye doctor casually mentioned they’d be a good idea given how much time I spend staring at screens all day and I jumped at the opportunity to look this hip.



But, seriously though. Isn’t being an entrepreneur hard enough as it is?!

I’m kinda like, if there’s something out there that’s going to make it a little easier on me, make my body a little healthier, make me feel a little saner, I’m in.

Green smoothies. Sleep. Meditation. Exercise. Eating more plants. Breathing air in the great outdoors. Drinking spring water.

Are you all over things that might give you the competitive edge as well?

If not, I’d encourage you to start.

I mean come on, it's what all the cool kids are doing.

Make it an outstanding day.

Sarah :)

Has the idea of hosting your own live event (or scaling the one you’ve got) ever sent you into overwhelm?

I get overwhelmed easily when I can’t see the path or when I know I need help but I’m afraid to ask.

Regarding #1, “seeing the path”: I’m a planner at heart. Very type A. I like to “see” things. I like to know what the steps are to getting things done and what order they need to be done in and what the “best” way is to do them.

Regarding #2, “afraid to ask”: This is probably my biggest shortcoming. I know when I need help, yet I don’t ask. Have you ever been here?

So what to do about it, right? Overwhelm, for me, manifests itself in procrastination. So unhelpful, right?!

For me, forcing myself to focus on only the very next thing I have to do, helps a lot.

And when it comes to events, what I’ve found to be most helpful is the parking lot. And that’s the gift I want to give you today: permission...

I went to a family reunion recently. It really is so awesome to see family from all over the globe gathered. I know in my family, it doesn’t happen nearly often enough. So, suffice to say, I was thankful for the opportunity to bounce around six different airports in four days to attend. Whew!

One of my relatives graciously went through the trouble of reserving a discounted block of sleeping rooms for us all. However, I don't think we filled it because so many folks went and their own thing. It got me thinking about how old the school of concept room blocks is.

Just think about all the options there are these days for guests at an event… they could stay at the event hotel, or with friends or family in the area, they could use a vacation rental website like Airbnb or VRBO, they could use an online travel agency like Travelocity or Expedia, book with points, book with a military or government discount, or maybe they use a travel search engine like Kayak, my personal...

Recently, a leadership conference I could have attended was canceled and turned into a virtual event. Stuff happened outside of the event leader’s control that made it so the event couldn’t happen live.

I was so impressed with how fast the conference pivoted and switched the entire event over to a virtual event.

They were able to increase the capacity for the event now that it was virtual, which drove up excitement for the event.

They stayed strong in their communication efforts with their guests, in fact, they probably increased their communications.

They created success from a situation that could have turned into a huge failure.

A quick perspective switch and thinking outside of the box made it possible.

It got me thinking… there will be times when a virtual event just makes sense. You’ll know when that’s the case. Your gut will tell you.

If that’s the case, what do you do to make it feel special and unique, and successful in the eyes of your guests?...