Gathergeeks By Bizbash

Informações:

Synopsis

Welcome to GatherGeeks, a place where people passionate about the power of live experiences come together. Join David Adler, C.E.O. of BizBash, and Beth Kormanik, editor in chief of BizBash, as they discuss the latest news and trends affecting event marketers, meeting strategists, nonprofit organizers, and everyone in between. This new podcast by BizBash is the destination for information, innovation, and inspiration for anyone involved in planning events and meetings, from conferences, trade shows, and fund-raising galas to product launches, festivals, award shows, weddings, and birthdays.Look for GatherGeeks in your favorite platforms: iTunes, Pocket Casts, Player FM, Stitcher, with more on the way. Connect with us on Twitter at @GatherGeeks and join the conversation using the hashtag #gathergeeks.

Episodes

  • What Is Hospitality Today? Take It From The Plaza

    20/02/2023 Duration: 39min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Luigi Romaniello In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Luigi Romaniello, the new managing director of New York’s iconic The Plaza Hotel. Like the famous book series Eloise, the 30-year industry veteran actually lives at The Plaza where he oversees all aspects of the luxury hotel, including daily operations, guest experiences, and continued growth strategies. He comes to New York after years managing other iconic properties in The Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Dallas, and Abu Dhabi. He's the first one to tell us that no one really owns The Plaza except for the people of New York. And in this interview, he also touches on his management philosophy, what hospitality looks like today, and how hotels can become epicenters of community. In addition, you’ll hear from three new “Ask the Expert” guests: Tim Groot, CEO and founder of Grip, an AI-powered event platform; and renowned event designers David Beahm of David Beahm Experiences and Todd F

  • How This 5-Day Gathering in Poland Tests the Boundaries of Live Experiences

    13/02/2023 Duration: 37min

    Host: David Adler Guests: Paul Bulencea, Claus Raasted, Tahira Endean In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder sits down with the founders of the College of Extraordinary Experiences, a five-day conference held inside a 13th-century Polish castle that uses an immersive education method to study experience design. We also hear from “graduates” of the conference—including IMEX's head of programming Tahira Endean—on the life-changing learning that impacts how they plan events and conduct their lives. Founders Paul Bulencea and Claus Raasted come from the world of LARP (live-action role playing)—could that be the ticket to entice this next generation of eventgoers? We also hear from our returning “Ask the Experts.” Wine and spirits specialist Vanessa Cominsky delves into wine myths, and hiring pro Dawn Penfold of Meetingjobs discusses what hiring managers in the meeting and event industry are looking for today.

  • Dishing on the Catering Industry—What to Know to Be a Better Client in Today's Market

    16/01/2023 Duration: 58min

    Host: David Adler Guests: Carla Ruben, Chap Gage, Dawn Penfold, Vanessa Cominsky In this episode of GatherGeeks, along with the main interviews, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler has added two new “Ask the Expert” features. One is with career and hiring pro Dawn Penfold, president of Meetingjobs, who will discuss salary transparency and where the job market is today. Our second expert is Vanessa Cominsky, wine and spirits specialist for Prestige-Ledroit Distributing Co., who will touch on how the wine and beverage industry has changed because of the pandemic. In the main interviews, our two speakers give us a sense of the state of the catering industry. Carla Ruben, owner of Creative Edge Parties, dishes on a new generation of guests at events, and how clients are moving away from comfort food and leaning into clean, luxurious offerings. Then, Chap Gage, CEO of Susan Gage Caterers, discusses how the building blocks of a great company include taking care of coworkers and building meaningful relationship

  • A Year in Review with BizBash's Editorial Team

    27/12/2022 Duration: 46min

    In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with BizBash’s editorial team—interim editorial director Shannon Thaler, managing editor Sarah Kloepple, and senior contributing editor Claire Hoffman—to discuss how events fared in 2022. The trio answer questions about what gave them “goosebump moments” this year, their favorite BizBash stories they worked on in 2022, and what they predict is in store for the industry in 2023. 

  • State Dinners to Top-Secret Events—Lessons From a Former White House Social Secretary

    21/12/2022 Duration: 52min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Deesha Dyer Imagine orchestrating a visit from the pope and a Chinese state dinner… within days of each other. In this episode of GatherGeeks, recorded live at Connect Winter Marketplace in Washington, D.C, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Deesha Dyer, who served as the White House social secretary—the person responsible for planning and coordinating official social events at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.—for the last two years of the Obama administration. Dyer is also the founder and CEO of Hook & Fasten, a social impact agency that specializes in transformational relationships between corporations and communities, diversity and inclusion, and executive operations. In this conversation, Dyers gets candid on navigating stressful moments in a high-stakes environment, working with Michelle Obama, how she started as an intern at the White House, lessons she’s learned, and insights on serving the country.

  • How This Tech Company Is Simplifying B2B Payments for the Meetings and Events Industry

    17/10/2022 Duration: 41min

    Host: David Adler Guests: Tony Wagner, Sara Meyer Meeting professionals are constantly multitasking. The last thing they want to do is spend time on manual, tedious processes that should just be easy—including cross-checking spreadsheets to track down commissions and payments. This is where Onyx CenterSource’s GroupPay™ can help. This holistic solution is an industry-first payments automation platform that provides hotels and meeting professionals with unparalleled transparency and efficiency to track and proactively manage their event commissions—which, in turn, enables easy reconciliation and faster payments. In this special sponsored episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Onyx’s Tony Wagner and Sara Meyer to discuss the company’s expansion into the meetings and events payments sector of the hospitality industry, how GroupPay™ can help when planners feel like they’re “flying blind,” and what fast, easy commissions can look like with the right technology in place. Do

  • Setting the Standards for the Events Industry

    03/10/2022 Duration: 35min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Amy Calvert In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Amy Calvert, CEO of the Events Industry Council (EIC), which oversees more than 30 member organizations in the events industry. The EIC is a global champion of event profs and event industry excellence, offering professional standards and recognition and certification programs that take the industry to new heights. In this podcast, Calvert divulges what keeps her up at night representing this industry, discusses why inspiring young people to enter the industry is more important than ever, and how the CMP—considered the gold standard for planners—is changing as a result of the pandemic.

  • How Are Global Exhibitions Changing Today?

    26/09/2022 Duration: 36min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Doug Emslie In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Doug Emslie, CEO of Tarsus Group (one of the largest exhibition companies in the world), to get a global perspective on trade shows and exhibitions. How have things changed since the pandemic? How do they differ culturally between markets like Europe, the Middle East, and North America? Emslie also discusses how to bring back attendees each year, how the global structure of events is becoming more regional, the rise of bleisure travel, and why technology and sustainability will be positive disruptors to the industry.

  • A Virtual Event Platform's Path to Global Recognition

    01/08/2022 Duration: 23min

    Hosts: David Adler, Claire Hoffman Guest: Vaibhav Jain In this special edition of GatherGeeks—recorded live at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—hosts David Adler and Claire Hoffman (BizBash’s senior contributing editor) sit down with Vaibhav Jain, CEO of event technology solution Hubilo, to discuss how he took the company from a local in-person event solution to a global behemoth. He also touches on how he realized events could be life-changing, how he raised money and pivoted strategy, and how he knew the platform had to involve agile, fast development to meet client needs.

  • Behind the Scenes of Meta Beach at Cannes 2022

    01/08/2022 Duration: 31min

    Hosts: David Adler, Claire Hoffman Guest: Damien Baines In this special edition of GatherGeeks—recorded live at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—hosts David Adler and Claire Hoffman (BizBash’s senior contributing editor) sit down with Damien Baines, the experiential marketing lead at Instagram. They go behind the scenes at Meta Beach where, for the first time, the company has used Meta branding at the festival. Baines also discusses what inspired many of the elements for this year’s beach, planning a superbloom-themed dinner for the event, and how Instagram aims to highlight all types of creativity and passion on the platform.

  • How Creativity Shined at Pinterest’s Cannes 2022 Activation

    01/08/2022 Duration: 32min

    Hosts: David Adler, Claire Hoffman Guest: Judy Lee In this special edition of GatherGeeks—recorded live at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—hosts David Adler and Claire Hoffman (BizBash’s senior contributing editor) sit down with Judy Lee, head of global brand experiences and programs at Pinterest. She breaks down her team's strategy and execution of Pinterest Beach, which put creatives front and center. She also discusses being a jury member for this year's festival, Pinterest's approach to face-to-face marketing, and creating spaces that reflect a multitude of different communities.

  • Inside Spotify's Daytime/Nighttime Approach at Cannes 2022

    01/08/2022 Duration: 22min

    Hosts: David Adler, Claire Hoffman Guest: Keyana Kashfi In this special edition of GatherGeeks—recorded live at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—hosts David Adler and Claire Hoffman (BizBash’s senior contributing editor) sit down with Keyana Kashfi, the global senior director of experiential and content production at Spotify. Kashfi, who is also a BizBash Event Master, was in charge of the creation of Spotify Beach at this year’s festival. She brought in some of the world’s top musical talent not only to grab attention at Cannes, but to prove that live experiences are critical to Spotify. In this podcast she also discusses the daytime/nighttime approach her and her team took to create Spotify Beach, differences she’s seeing in audiences post-2020, and advice for event pros just starting out.

  • Inside the World of High-Stakes Gatherings

    11/07/2022 Duration: 31min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Steve Clemons In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Steve Clemons, who has begun a role as a senior executive in charge of events at Semafor, a new global news organization launching this fall. Clemons was previously editor at large of The Hill. He also served as the Washington editor at large of The Atlantic, where he was the editor-in-chief of AtlanticLIVE, the brand’s live event series. He specializes in high-stakes gatherings, and in this episode, he gives a master class on connecting people. Clemons also discusses why he believes the best events reach people’s hearts and not just their minds, embracing uncomfortable conversations, and how event pros can engineer moments that bring about change.

  • Corporate Event Departments Now Have a Seat in the C-Suite

    20/06/2022 Duration: 35min

    Host: David Adler Guests: Jennifer Savica, Sophie Ahmed In this special sponsored episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash founder and chairman David Adler sits down with longtime event pros Jennifer Savica, vice president and head of corporate events for New York Life Insurance Company, and Sophie Ahmed, senior vice president of market strategy for Hubilo. The trio discusses the newfound clout of corporate event organizers and how C-suite executives’ perception of events is changing. They also touch on the pain points of engagement strategies, navigating new formats for producing events, the inclusivity of event technology, and building upon the momentum created by the return of live events.

  • How Lockdown Mentality Is Changing Event Design

    14/06/2022 Duration: 34min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Kristin Banta Sponsored by CORT Events, this episode of GatherGeeks is part of season two of our “Royal CORT” podcast series, which includes insightful convos with top event and experience designers. BizBash founder and chairman David Adler sits down with award-winning celebrity event designer Kristin Banta, owner and creative director at Kristin Banta Events. A teacher and mentor to the industry, Banta’s clients have included Justin Bieber and Oprah Winfrey. In this conversation, Banta touches on how everyone is craving tactile experiences—but warns event pros not to overstimulate the senses—how multiculturalism and aspirational travel is having a huge impact on events, the art of hosting and how to make guests feel special, and designing for introverts.

  • Must-Haves for Luxury Events and Activations

    14/06/2022 Duration: 39min

    Host: David Adler Guest: David Beahm Sponsored by CORT Events, this episode of GatherGeeks is part of season two of our “Royal CORT” podcast series, which includes insightful convos with top event and experience designers. BizBash founder and chairman David Adler sits down with David Beahm, founder of event design firm David Beahm Experiences, who has designed weddings for high-profile clients like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, as well as Fortune 500 corporate events for clients like Target, Victoria’s Secret, Christian Dior, and McDonald’s. In this conversation, Beahm discusses supply chain issues, the importance of budgets to help constrain your creativity to actually be more creative, how luxury is about aspiration and scarcity, must-haves for luxury events, and more.

  • How to Think Like an Attendee for Successful Event Design

    14/06/2022 Duration: 41min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Todd Fiscus Sponsored by CORT Events, this episode of GatherGeeks is part of season two of our “Royal CORT” podcast series, which includes insightful convos with top event and experience designers. BizBash founder and chairman David Adler sits down with Todd Fiscus, founder of Todd Events, whose clients include Tom Ford, the Dallas Cowboys, Audi, and Neiman Marcus. In this interview, Fiscus discusses navigating the waters of a post-pandemic world, his definition of the new VIP experience, strategies on how to think like a guest when walking into a room, differences between social and corporate events, and the state of gifting.

  • Why Storytelling Is So Important in Events Today

    14/06/2022 Duration: 35min

    Hosts: David Adler, Lilian Shen Guest: Larry Abel Sponsored by CORT Events, this episode of GatherGeeks is part of season two of our “Royal CORT” podcast series, which includes insightful convos with top event and experience designers. BizBash founder and chairman David Adler and CORT Events’ director of marketing Lilian Shen sit down with Larry Abel, CEO and “dreamer in chief” at Abel McCallister Abel, a full-service experiential agency. In this interview, Abel talks about how the industry is rebuilding back better than ever and taking more risks, and how he strives to create a journey with his events. He also touches on the importance of surprise-and-delight moments with recent examples—edible glitter! a surprise bounce house!—and why he moved his 17-year-old company from LA to Nashville.

  • Podcast: Secrets of Smart Events in a Post-Pandemic World (Episode 217)

    09/05/2022 Duration: 47min

    Host: David Adler Guest: Gianna Gaudini In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash chairman and founder David Adler sits down with Gianna Gaudini, head of events for Airtable, for a master class in planning events and experiences—whether you’re an old pro or just starting out. The pair discusses Gaudini’s work for companies like Amazon Web Services, Google, and Softbank Vision Fund, along with what went into creating her best-selling book and e-learning course. Gaudini believes that people want to attend events to experience some sort of catharsis or transformation—and she shares tips for how to accomplish that, along with insights into driving global event strategy, brand awareness, diversity and inclusion, and more. Sponsored by Hopin.

  • The Biggest Event Industry Pain Points—and How to Solve Them (Episode 216)

    02/05/2022 Duration: 43min

    Host: David Adler Guests: David Landgraf, Allison Pieter In this episode of GatherGeeks, BizBash founder and chairman David Adler sits down with industry veterans David Landgraf, the founder and chief experience officer of Make It Happen Management in New York, and Allison Pieter, the founder and president of Cassis Productions in Los Angeles. The group shares real-world pain points—and solutions—for the event industry, diving into topics like the impact of new technology, whether traditional events have given way to unproven experimentation, the frustration of supply chain issues and labor shortages, and more. They also discuss whether the so-called “great resignation” is having an impact, how budgets and costs have changed, their insights into the future and much more. Sponsored by Hopin. Running time: 43:33.

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