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Courtney Stanley made a bold shift in her career at the end of 2019 and early 2020. She decided to pursue the path of entrepreneurship. She is a keynote speaker, event emcee, podcaster, and coach. Her humility is personable, and her approach is empowering. âItâs important to remember that youâre really only seeing the tip of the iceberg when you see people on stage, hear them on a podcast. Youâve missed the struggle to get there,â said Stanley.
Stanley didnât experience her success without pulling herself out of a few ruts and difficult days. âA few things really helped me, understanding what the purpose of my work was. If all the shiny things were stripped away, what actually motivates me to do this work? And when I thought about it, it really boiled down to my desire to spark meaningful conversations. I couldnât put a dollar amount on that,â said Stanley. For any event marketers, coordinators, or directors who are struggling or feeling burnout, she recommends âget back to your mission, dig deeper to what you love about the job specifically.â
Mental health is a significant component of getting through those difficult times. âYou canât pour from an empty cup,â said Holly Zalenski, episode host. âI had to recognize that if I wasnât in a great state mentally and emotionally, I was not going to be able to pursue that mission,â said Stanley. She shifted her to-do list to joy-focused things and found that joy brought momentum. It included things like interacting with people who energized her and her mental health, like journaling and working out.
âItâs difficult to find work-life balance if you arenât in the right environment,â said Stanley. Some environments are not supportive of striking that balance. If thatâs the situation, Stanley recommends being open to alternative settings and points out that the current job market favors candidates.
Later in the episode, Zalenski and Stanley discuss techniques to shift away from imposter syndrome. Stanley offers straightforward practices to combat imposter syndrome.
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While the pandemic may have put a pause on travel over the last two years, things are gearing back up, with different industries hosting a splurge of in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. ImpactXM is proud to be servicing over 25 clients at the ICSC Las Vegas event from May 22-24th. In the meantime, hosts Lorre Crisswell and Holly Zalenski reflect on ImpactXMâs 15th Anniversary Rethink conference last year, with special guest and now Vice President of Account Management Sohini Mitra leading the way on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Representation effects how minorities and society view and interact with each other, âInterestingly enough, representation, or lack thereof, starts at a very early age and it follows us through the rest of our lives,â said Mitra.
In a survey conducted on childrenâs characters in the media with over 1600 main characters, 65% of the characters in programs were white and 38% were women or girls. Interestingly, the girls were more likely to solve problems using magic while the men and boys were more likely to solve problems using science, math, technology, or brawn.
âThe hours that these children spent consuming the media, it shaped what they imagined to be possible for people who look like them,â continued Mitra.
As they mature, these images begin to really shape their potential. The self-esteem of girls and minority children were effected by this lack of representation.
In the workforce, similar situations play out. While we start off on equal footing for entry level jobs, as careers progress, these shared representations drop off. This means, as Mitra said, âWhen decisions are being made, there arenât enough women of color sitting at the table, representing their communities.â
Itâs difficult to make decisions that represent these communities without this representation -because representation matters.
With the future involving algorithmic technologies, it is more important than ever to have wide and meaningful representation, helping to eliminate bias in the workplace and in many different industries. To impact the future we must start with representation.
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The creative process is often steeped in mystery to those who arenât involved. Some may think that ideas are on a simple to produce on a momentâs notice. But thereâs much more to it, and without certain processes and collaboration, an idea may never get off the ground.
âA creative brief is the foundation for everything we do. Itâs a starting point but also a point of reflection to make sure weâre on the right path.â says McKinney.
An agency canât do this alone. Clientsâ participation in coming up with ideas is essential, and the brief helps serve as a tiebreaker for everyone.
But what about budgets and timelines? Big ideas, driven by the brief, arenât hindered by budgets. Translating the concept into the execution and experience is shaped by what the client can afford. Of course, budgets, timeframes, and workstyle have changed during the last two years, but McKinney believes itâs still possible to produce experiences and live events that move the consumer.
Join Lorre, Holly, and Erik as they provide the keys to how to create unique and compelling marketing experiences.
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Navigating any business through the twists and turns of the pandemic is not easy, especially for businesses traditionally dependent on in-person conferences and exhibitions. Some might say the task is next to impossible. However, those naysayers havenât met Hailey Rosenstein, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of CrĂ©pes Ă Latte. As Experiential Experts quickly found out, quitting is not in Rosensteinâs vocabulary, and the word âchallengeâ is often met with solution innovation.
âCrĂ©pes Ă Latte is a turnkey hospitality provider,â Rosenstein said. âWe provide unique food and beverage experiences across the country. We help brands make an impact on their customers using hospitality to drive traffic to booths.â
Rosenstein may have started her business in the continental breakfast fashion, but now her services provide more than 100 food and beverage options. This bounty of culinary choices makes Crépes à Latte an attention-getter at tradeshows.
âThereâs a lot of sensory opportunities,â Rosenstein said. âOffering food and beverage, if done well in a booth, can invite attendees in. They are here to learn about your product or service, but the food might be the enticement that gets them in, so you have a captive audience to make that connection with.â
Slowly but surely, businesses are returning to live events and shows, but how did Rosenstein get her organization through the tough stretches of the pandemic when live events went virtual seemingly overnight?
âWhat a unique challenge,â Rosenstein said. âIt was about 2-3 weeks into our COVID pause⊠where I said, âMy goodness. Our brand is positivity and about shared experiences with food and beverage. What if we found items with a positive brand name and utilized our graphics team to make branded snack boxes for virtual meetings?â
Rosensteinâs idea proved any challenge is surmountable when positivity, resourcefulness, and innovation are part of the recipe.
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The hospitality industry revolves around interpersonal interactionsâor so it seemed. Marti Winer, Vice President of MGM Resort Events Production, spoke with Experiential Experts hosts Lorre Crisswell and Holly Zalenski about how the industry has changed since the pandemic.
One significant business change is slower decision-making, partly due to the need for flexibility. For example, businesses may not be able to commit to the number of people attending an event or decide whether there will be a virtual option until right before the event. Thus, flexibility is key for the industry.
Customers have mixed, heightened emotions, so the hospitality workers need to meet them at their level. âEverybodyâs answer is the right one for them. And we need to accommodate that,â Winer emphasized. She added that everyone had a remote and the option to change the media around them throughout the pandemic, which is not the case with live content.
âThe whole shared experience of watching something simultaneously and participating in the rise and fall of emotion, or learning, etcetera, is on that we will really have to take into account in that customer experience as we start to really curate and orchestrate what upcoming events look like.â
The pandemic did result in positive changes for hospitality as well. Ubiquitous content access created thought and geographic diversity. Additionally, the pandemic revealed that current workers persevered and showed they have true dedication and passion for the industry.
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For this first episode of Experiential Experts, hosts Lorre Crisswell and Holly Zalenski spoke with Aimee McGranahan, whose mission is to support shadow warriors and their families. The foundation she works for supports these families through various fundraising events they host.
McGranahan began her involvement with the foundation from the outside as a patron when the organization first began in 2012. In 2016, McGranahan took her first steps toward supporting the foundation at a higher level, which led to her current role as COO.
âWe bring in headliner entertainment, and we host an event. It is âinvite only,ââ McGranahan said. âWe call ourselves the âungala.â Weâre beer, barbeque and concert. One of the unique features that we dois a call out to the intelligence community and defense community to do a battle of the bands. Itâs really interesting to see how many talented musicians exist in this community.âWhile these events feature some big-name talent, McGranahan said that it was an essential part of the mission to raise funds for these families that the event is something unique to draw interest.
âTo date, weâve given $3.6 million to our benefiting charities, which are the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, the Special Officers Warrior Foundation, and the Defense Intelligence Memorial Foundation."
But, like any event during the past year, planning an event for the foundation in 2021 was no easy task due to the ongoing pandemic. McGranahan said they did work through the challenges to host a successful event this past April. They worked with several vendors to provide and meet all safety guidelines to ensure people could attend without worrying about COVID-19.
