Great Events

We’ve spent the last couple of years mastering virtual and then hybrid events, but now big, beautiful, in-person events are back! And the possibilities are endless. In this episode, our hosts Alyssa, Rachel, and Paulina discuss the new approaches being taken when planning massive events, both in the B2B and B2C spheres. Throughout the conversation, you’ll learn about the focus on incorporating technology and streamlined convenience into experiences and get inspired to go big, once again.

CMP, CGMP, PMP, CMM…Do you already have tons of acronyms after your title? Or are you thinking about adding some? In this episode we’re joined by Amanda Young, Owner of Young Events Consulting and Nari Courtney, Senior Marketing Manager at Cvent, to discuss professional development. As you listen, you’ll learn about the different educational and advancement opportunities available. You’ll also gain insight into deciding which certifications are right for you (and which ones you should pass up). In this episode you’ll learn: Focus on certifications that help advance your career, not just add acronyms to your title Professional experience can carry as much weight as certain certifications Actively networking can present great advancement opportunities Things to listen for: [03:02] Combining personal and professional education [06:57] Understanding WHY you want a certification [09:06] Transferring skills to new organizations [10:43] The networking piece of professional development [14:19] Finding your “champions” within the industry [15:55] Investing in your event tech knowledge [18:02] Validating your existing skillsets [21:54] Should we still be called Event Planners? [23:51] Out of the box affordable education opportunities [28:20] Parting pieces of advice

Felica Asiedu is the Senior Marketing Manager in Europe for Cvent, and on this episode she joins the gang to discuss the trends she’s seeing with events at a global scale. Since COVID, the way we tackle events is different. This includes basic logistic complications but also behavioral changes. Things like drinking gallons of coffee because you’re used to having your coffee pot next to you or taking quick naps over lunch because, why not? So what are other differentiations you need to be thinking about on a global scale? Tune in to find out. Key Takeaways: How people are reimagining “in-person” Complications that have risen from COVID Changes in how people show up and participate What to listen for: [01:10] Get to know Felicia [02:07] In-person events in Europe [03:32] Common themes [05:52] Potential complications to planning a global event [10:24] Including sustainability and wellness [15:42] How sustainability is showing up [18:09] Incorporating sustainability in your language [21:47] Experiment, experiment, experiment

The crew at Cvent just participated in a pretty noteworthy conference, the Forrester B2B Summit, and we want to tell you all about it! It's a third-party consultant agency that allows us to get out of the sales pitches and really talk about marketing as a whole. Pretty awesome stuff. So, on the show today Alyssa is joined by Christine Kelly, a team lead of the Marketing Technology team at Cvent, and Tiffany Sanford, a member of the Demand Generation team. Listen in as they share their favorite moments and takeaways from the conference. Key Takeaways: Catering the experience to how you want to participate Choosing the right experiences for the right audiences Making lasting brand impressions What to listen for: [01:15] Why they were excited to attend the event [05:06] Lasting impacts of the conference [09:42] Experiencing it without feeling FOMO [12:24] Unique examples of brand impressions [15:07] Top trends in MarTech and marketing [21:30] Keeping your message consistent [23:45] What the trends mean for future events [26:11] The future of networking

This is a special live episode from the annual Cvent CONNECT conference for event professionals, marketers, and engagement experts. Listen in as Alyssa, Paulina, and Rachel share some of their highlights from past years and dish out advice on making the most of networking opportunities. Our trio is loving how much human connections are making a comeback in the industry so they can go out and do epic sh*t! If you want to do the same (and of course you do) listen in and get pumped for next year’s conference.

COVID-19 and quarantine are fading like distant memories, and events, both internal and external, are on the rise. So how should you be thinking about your internal events to get the most impact? Rachel and Paulina get behind the mic to share lessons learned from the internal events they’ve kicked off for Cvent this year. Listen in to hear the creative ways they’ve been able to give attendees the experience they want and how identifying the purpose of the event is key. Key Takeaways: Thinking about the purpose of your internal events Giving everyone the experience they need Treating it like an external event What to listen for: [01:27] Why companies do internal events [03:22] Lessons learned from Cvent’s global event [08:00] Creative ways to keep it fresh [10:30] The future of internal events [14:53] Rachel and Paulina’s favorite internal event memories [19:04] Final takeaways

Since 2019, the average user has watched over 100 minutes of video content per day. That’s a lot of time, which is why it’s so important to think about video as a part of your marketing strategy. In this episode, hosts Alyssa, Rachel, and Paulina discuss how events and video converge, creating a bigger picture of your marketing strategy. Hint: it’s not just about capturing the video and putting it on social media. Curious to know what the true secret sauce is? Go ahead and press play. Key Takeaways: Why you should incorporate video into your marketing strategy What to think about when adding video to your strategy The influence of social media and TV on attention spans What to listen for: [02:45] Preparing for video marketing in your marketing strategy [05:45] Extending the shelf life of your in-person content [07:56] Take your audience into consideration [09:32] Making your event a production; interactive and interesting [10:30] Keeping TV in mind to engage your audience [12:40] The layers of content accessibility [14:10] What to do with your content after the event [18:33] Being purposeful in using and applying content [22:24] Looking for other sources of inspiration

Great events create great brands, and it takes a village to create an event worthy of your company image. Meet your village: Paulina, Alyssa, Rachel, and Brock. They’re part of the team behind CVENT, and your hosts for the Great Events podcast.

Meet Rachel Andrews, Senior Director of Meetings and Events at Cvent–and one of the hosts of the Great Events podcast. Overseeing over 1,000 global events a year, she is an expert in turning chaos into something beautiful. Rachel loves bringing people together in a meaningful way, enabling her to deliver amazing events with a purpose. In this episode, you’ll get to know Rachel–from her early modeling days, to her love of the outdoors, to her forward-thinking mindset about how to use data to make the future of events better.

Meet Paulina Giusti, Senior Manager of Meetings and Events at Cvent–and one of the hosts of the Great Events podcast. From high-touch luxury meetings and VIP incentive programs, to large-scale conferences and trade shows, she is an expert in handling the “Invisible Workload” of planners, enabling her to deliver more successful events with a more balanced mindset. In this episode, you’ll get to know Paulina–from her past as a ballet dancer, to her surprise proposal from her husband ahead of one of her largest events, to her affinity for sharing real talk about planning and putting on great events.

Meet Alyssa Peltier, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Cvent–and one of the hosts of the Great Events podcast. Alyssa helps enterprise organizations and Cvent consultants tell the story of how planning, meetings and events, and marketing organizations can work together to achieve growth outcomes. In this episode, you’ll get to know Alyssa–from her month working on a vineyard in France, to her passion for always changing up your event program strategies (even if it means you fail a few times along the way).

For our last installment of our six-part series, we are talking all about post event activation. Our speakers, Manpreet Kaur, Director of Meetings and Events at Cvent, and Robin Clark, Manager of Trade Shows and Events at Cvent, talk us through everything they do to make sure that the data collected at Cvent CONNECT 2021 is used in an effective way to make the event that much more successful. Listen in to hear how they use engagement scoring, their take on activating data, and insights on what data points they think we should all be capturing at our events. Visit us at cvent.com/podcast to see a list of all our episodes!

Let's talk about tech! In this episode we talk to our tech experts on what it really takes to put on a hybrid event.  In our fifth installment of our six-part series of going behind the scenes of Cvent CONNECT 2021, we are talking all about technology. We are joined by our experts Taylor Bohn, Event Technology Lead at Cvent, David Heizer, Assistant Team Lead, Professional Services at Cvent, and Paulina Giusti, Senior Manager of Meetings & Events at Cvent, on everything technology and get their behind the scenes look at what putting on a hybrid event is really like. Listen in to hear how hybrid technology is not as bad as it seems and what our team is doing to put on a safe event. If you haven't already, you can still register to join us at Cvent CONNECT 2021! Choose to join from your couch, your car, your office, or at the all-new CAESARS FORUM, August 1-4, 2021. Register now at cvent.com/connect . See you there!

For part four of our six-part Behind the Scenes of Cvent CONNECT 2021 series, we talk to Lauren Allison, Kayla Sommers, Paulina Giusti, from our Meetings & Events team here at Cvent to get insights on how they worked with our partners and vendors on our hybrid event. Listen in to hear how they worked with the venue, AV company, and more to put saftey first and still make this event a great experience for both the in-person and virtual audience. If you haven't already, you can still register to join us at Cvent CONNECT 2021! Choose to join from your couch, your car, your office, or at the all-new CAESARS FORUM, August 1-4, 2021. Register now at cvent.com/connect . See you there!

In this episode we are joined by Sam Efthimiades and Allyson Evancheck from our Meetings & Events team here at Cvent. They join us today to talk through everything that it takes to efficiently and effectively staff a hybrid event. Listen in to hear all their tips and tricks from staffing our annual event Cvent CONNECT 2021 which is hybrid this year. If you haven't already, you can still register to join us at Cvent CONNECT 2021! Choose to join from your couch, your car, your office, or at the all-new CAESARS FORUM, August 1-4, 2021. Register now at cvent.com/connect . See you there!