“If this doesn’t work out I can always pick pop bottles out of the trash” 

This is what I used to tell myself in the very early stages of entrepreneurship. 

A quiet anniversary just passed – my company ED Marketing & Communications turned 18 at the end of August. It feels surreal that I’ve been an entrepreneur of a mighty micro business for most of my adult life. If ED was a child we could have a drink to celebrate them reaching the age of majority. That got me thinking, since I am now a parent as well as an entrepreneur, about the similarities between entrepreneurship and parenting. There are quite a few similarities I realized as I wrote this post. Here are a few that resonate with me so far. 

Long Sleepless Nights With High Anxiety – Solo parenting a newborn was hard. Harder than I ever could’ve imagined. My son had awful reflux, cluster fed, and woke up at 4:30 am for a full year. This stage of parenting changed me at my core. It was a punctuation mark in my growth as a human. I often still wake up at 4:30 in the morning. The early years of starting a business felt similar. Long nights working on projects because I couldn’t afford to pay anyone else to do it. Waking up in a panic over cashflow or having wild, realistic event-mares where an event takes over your dreams but not in a good way. The weight of the worry and pressure of entrepreneurship is similar to parenting still in the questions I’ve asked myself – will this turn out alright? Have I done all I could do? What else could I have done? How could I do this differently? What about _____________!?

Illusion of Control – Being an entrepreneur and being a parent both carry an illusion of control. Before becoming a parent, I had so many ideas of how I would parent my child and how my child would behave. Before my child was ever born, I knew he would never throw himself on the floor screaming in a public place. MY child would certainly never spit at me or hit me or scream in my face. I imagined scenes filled with so much calm, quiet, controlled love… and I was wrong, so wrong it’s hard not to laugh at my pre-parent self. In some ways business is similar, especially a business based on planning.  Even with the most well thought out plans, there are more things OUT of our control than IN our control as entrepreneurs. The market, the client, the venue, our team are all out of our control. Curveballs are the name of the game as parents and entrepreneurs. In my mind, how well we plan helps us handle most of the more rowdy curve balls. As long as I have a paper clip, a piece of gum, a few snacks, a match, some wet wipes, a bandaid and some duct tape I can MacGyver my way out of a lot of sticky situations, but sometimes all the planning in the world won’t help (cue a global pandemic…) then it’s an exercise in surrender and adaptability. 

The Rewards can be Plentiful… if not always in the obvious, expected ways. I always knew I wanted to run my own business. I also always knew I wanted to be a mother. I tried to guess at the rewards of both. As a parent I imagined the rush of holding my baby for the first time and experiencing so many beautiful ‘firsts’ that a child has – first steps, first words, first laugh and more recently the first day of grade 1. I used to look into my rearview mirror and imagine children in the backseat of my car. Of course, I also imagined making a full-time living as a business owner. I imagined the rewards of having loyal grateful clients and a spectacular team. In both cases I never imagined the rewards that would come from the support and encouragement of my ‘village’ or the excitement when a unique idea resonates with a client or the feeling of pride in seeing the development of my child into their unique self. 

It Takes a Village – Parenting takes a village, as does surviving and thriving in entrepreneurship. As a solo parent by choice, this was a question that was asked of me many times – who’s your village? What support do you have in place? Before becoming a mom, I thought I knew who my ‘parenting’ village would be. I was right about a few brave souls. But I have been surprised by the people who supported me in the early days when I was a blubbery shadow of my former self and those who continue to support me in my journey as a parent. Even when I have no capacity to return their support, even when our relationships have changed because I am no longer the same person I was before becoming a parent. My village stands by me.  When I think about my first clients, I am astounded that those people – established amazing successful individuals in some of the top roles in high profile organizations – took a chance on me and my tiny fledgling business. They not only hired me, some of them coached and nudged me along for YEARS. They told me when my pricing was too low. They gave me compassion as I learned the ropes. They referred ED to their friends. Through the years they stand by me in tough times and cheer raucously from the stands for my wins. I’m always wary of people who proudly say they did it alone (in parenting or business) – in my experience, success and failure are two of the things in life that are best when shared. 

You won’t find the answers in a book. I remember when I was pregnant people asked me questions like ‘will you bottle or breastfeed?’ ‘Are you going to sleep train?’ ‘Have you thought about delivery?’. Or they would tell horrific stories about their laboring (or laboring partner’s experience). I remember wondering how I was supposed to know what I would do, having never done any of this before, having no idea what my child would need. When it comes to parenting I am still occasionally surprised by what lessons are mine to learn (or unlearn!). To complicate it further, there are people and resources everywhere, freely and frequently sharing advice whether the source is credited or the advice is solicited. I find the same can be said for entrepreneurship. Early on in my business journey, even though I had more experience and education in business than parenting, when it came time to put my knowledge into practice for myself I didn’t know what would be hard for me. Like many business owners, I have learned some hard lessons in the last 18 years. Some of the lessons my business ownership journey taught me were obvious (think cash flow!) some were less obvious (think firing clients, setting boundaries, letting clients make mistakes). There are so SO many books, podcasts, tiktoks, consultants, coaches and peer groups to teach you anything you want to learn about entrepreneurship, leadership and parenting. You can observe the learnings of others, but no one can teach you what your lessons are and no one can do the real-life boots on the ground growing for you. Before a baby is born you can have a sleep training consultant and a breast feeding doula on speed dial and while the resources help, I believe no one knows what THEIR lessons in parenting or entrepreneurship will be until they’re mired in the muck, crying at two am, figuring out which parts are the hard parts for them. No one could have truly prepared me for the hardest times. No book I read. No wise counsel from a fellow entrepreneur or fellow parent. Surviving them myself and taking the time for reflection was the only way I could truly understand the glorious life altering impact those long nights and foggy days would have on me. 

Thinking back, there have been some very hard days, weeks and years when it felt like I was truly stuck in the muck of breakdown and total ruin. On the flip side there have been so many times when celebration of team and accomplishment has been front and center for ED – like pivoting our service during the pandemic and experiencing growth through an extremely hard time for many event professionals. With this anniversary zooming by and as the ED team heads wraps up our first in person events in Ontario and moves into a very busy holiday event season, I am so grateful for ED’s awe-inspiring team, our incredible loyal clients and this wild, wild entrepreneurial roller coaster.  Here’s hoping for more opportunities to grow and live this lively business and family journey.  Cheers to 18 years!

Last year the ED team pulled together and produced an epic, moving, family holiday video. This year we spent weeks trying to think of a way we could ‘out do’ ourselves and produce something better than what we did last year. Personally, I just couldn’t imagine coming up with something more sincere, more genuine, more us than the heart and soul of last year’s Holiday video…. and then we did. 

After our ED retreat in August we decided to read/listen to the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown as a team. Event Planning, and to a different extent marketing as a whole, is often about the illusion of control. This team spends its time thinking, strategizing and planning for different reactions, outcomes and scenarios all in the hopes of having some control over the ultimately uncontrollable scenarios that life presents. 

And so, what better than to be brave enough to share with you our imperfections. Life is not about control – although it often feels that way – it is about love, learning and laughter. It is a gift to be able to experience this every day with this team and to share the journey with our clients. 

If you want the full experience – get all the feels watching last year’s video…then this one. 

I hope you laugh as hard as I did. 🙂 

Do you ever look at a colleague and think, “how do they do that?” Whether it’s an Excel formula that blows your mind and saves you hours worth of work, or the way they can conjure up a precise detail and seem to have the memory of a trivial pursuit game, or how no matter the amount of work and pressure, they always seem to have time to say yes to helping others with something. I think we all have worked with colleagues that amaze us with their own unique talents, skill sets and how their brains work differently than ours. 

As Kelsey previously mentioned in her last blog post, we had wanted to get a world famous keynote speaker for our ED Retreat, but alas, no budget for that. Instead, we looked internally to the knowledge within the ED team and created an ED-ucation. 

The team was asked through an online survey what they wanted to learn from their colleagues. Based on the common themes coming through the answers, session titles and descriptions were created and assigned to each ED member. With a guideline of only the session title, description, and needing to present for 5 minutes, each of us took a different approach and came to the retreat with an education to share. 

After 2 hours of discussion, we had a great time chatting about what we had learned from each other and loved delving into each other’s brains! Personally, I loved to see how our team is naturally split into two personalities; two of us are more linear and detail oriented and two are more abstract and non-linear thinkers. It was obvious once we saw it that this is part of how our projects and team are balanced and stay on track even when times are stressful  . It’s so interesting to see how we can have such completely different ways of working but still make incredible things happen together. 

Similar to a personality test, or the Five Love Languages, or other self evaluation tools, these presentations helped us to understand each other’s perspectives, priorities, thought process, and much more. As we continued the retreat conversations, and still in our daily work now, how we interact with each other has changed for the better.

Curious about what our presentation topics were? Below are the session titles & descriptions that were given out. Feel free to reach out to any ED member if you want to hear more about their session. Who knows, maybe we’ll all be keynote speakers some day! 

The Art of Learning, presented by Jen 

Jen spends a lot of time learning new things. From new songs as a professional musician, to new instruments, editing videos, making websites, to acting and much more, she always seems up for the challenge of learning something new. Discover how she doesn’t get bogged down in the need for perfection or not knowing the answers. Hear her process for learning and what advice she would give someone who is learning something new. 

Enter the Zen Den, presented by Dana 

Dana is cool as a cucumber, calm and collected even when pandemonium surrounds and extra tasks are thrown her way, or at least that is how she makes it appear! Learn Dana’s secret to staying calm under pressure and not letting endless tasks overwhelm her. Hear how she manages client’s stress, constant changes, rolling with the punches all while still prioritizing her 3 kids. 

Kelsey’s Brain 101, presented by Kelsey 

If you look at Kelsey’s calendar, you may think it’s a kaleidoscope of chaos but there is a method behind the madness. ’Marie Kondo’ your email inbox, calendar and learn how Kelsey uses different systems to manage everything while still staying sane, having time for creative thinking and prioritizing family time and tasks. 

Letting it Go, presented by Erin 

Erin’s superhero power is joining a meeting and contributing mind blowing, strategic and creative ideas that the client loves and takes a project to the next level. Learn from Erin how to let go of some control and to trust others, how to care less in a good way and free up mental space for thinking outside of the task box and look at something differently.  

Have you ever thought about what your organization’s soundtrack would be? Read on to hear about how we curated our own playlist and how it helped us in planning our annual retreat. 

Remember the blog post a while back about asking the right questions and the story about Erin asking a client ‘what kind of chair would it be?’.  If that doesn’t ring a bell, click here to read it now! 

We put the ED discovery practice into play for our own team to ensure we understood the intent, purpose, and desired outcomes of our team retreat. Working backwards, Erin and I brainstormed what we needed to know from the team in order to plan accordingly to achieve our intended results. Based on that, we developed questions that we felt would give us the ‘intel’, aka data, that we needed to make decisions. 

Here are the questions that the ED team was asked, and the purpose behind them. 

1. When we get back home, what are you going to tell your spouse or friend about the ED retreat? What stories do you hope to tell them?

These responses helped us to gauge what was of priority to each team member. Would they talk about relaxing and being able to unwind? Meaning they are feeling stressed and overwhelmed and need a break. Would they tell others about how they enjoyed spending time together? Meaning that they value and have strong relationships with their team members. Would they brag about ED and how happy they are to be a part of it? Meaning that the ED culture is strong. 

One of my favorite responses that came in was: “What happens in Kananaskis, stays in Kananaskis.”

2. If the ED retreat had a soundtrack, what type(s) of music would be on it?

This is similar to the ‘what kind of chair would it be’ question. It’s a roundabout way of asking what do you expect or hope the retreat will be?

The soundtrack question had 2 purposes. 

First, it told us the kind of vibe that the team was looking for. Some of the answers ranged from upbeat, girls rule the world kind of music, to chill, relaxing, laid-back coffee shop, to raise a little hell and girls just wanna have fun.  This gave us insight into the mindset that the team members were coming into the retreat with and we could plan accordingly to ensure we have some down time to relax and some celebration party time! 

Second, it literally became a soundtrack as we had Jen create a playlist for us that we listened to on the drive to the resort. Listen to the ED Retreat 2022 Playlist here.

3. What would an ED client hope we are talking about at the retreat?

This question guided our planning for what the strategy discussion during the retreat would include. The answers shaped the discussion around: 

•  potential pain/stress points our clients may be facing 
•  what other services ED clients may be looking for
• what advice they come to us for as experts in the industry 

An ED-ucation: What would you like to learn about from your ED colleagues? Whether something that you’ve seen them do or talk about during work or something that you know they are passionate about personally? It can be as specific as you like, or a more general topic.

As much as we wanted Chris Hadfield  to speak at our mighty but micro retreat, the budget just wasn’t there; so we chose to focus on the knowledge already in the room. I have to say looking inwards to our own team was one of the best decisions we made. We each have different backgrounds, skill sets and work that we do within ED and sharing that knowledge, mindset and best practices was extremely valuable and something that we will continue to do. And come on, we try to use ‘ED’ in all the words we can and what’s more perfect than our own  ED-ucation session. 

Each ED team member answered what they would like to learn from each other ED team member. Based on the responses, Erin and I developed session titles for each team member to prepare a 15-minute presentation on. A few of the titles were: Art of Learning and Enter the Zen Den. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post specifically on the ED-ucation sessions. 

Overall, the questions achieved their desired purpose in guiding our planning of the retreat itinerary for both social and work elements. And, as a side note, it also solidified the unity of the team, as without any prompting or discussion of the survey in advance of the team taking it, the answers were very consistent and had similar themes. 

Whether it’s a mighty micro retreat, a project kick-off meeting, or any other kind of gathering of minds, asking the right questions will set your team up for success in whatever you are doing. Think outside of the box, try and look at it from the end result to determine your questions and have fun with it. Surprise your colleagues with some thought provoking, creative questions that may not make sense to them initially, but ultimately, you’re taking a different approach to get meaningful answers from them. 

If you ever want to brainstorm questions – just reach out! We’ll promise to have some random thoughts for you! 

The last month has been full of excitement and relief as, in Alberta anyway, the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. I have been buoyed by seeing friends in their homes and walking through public spaces not wearing a mask. I anticipated the interesting contradiction of excitement by familiarity. Relief coming from the place of ‘normalcy’. And yet, what has accompanied these feelings for me is fear and anxiety. 

Those close to me will know I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression at times in my life. The pandemic has not been easy on anyone, especially our collective mental health. I’ve always been an introvert, but I’ve never had a lot of social anxiety…until now.  As someone who’s career and jobs (marketing & Business development as well as event planning) hinges on being able to work a room and be comfortable in crowds, this new anxiety is life altering and terrifying. 

In person events are coming back at an incredible pace. I have been invited to so many networking events, luncheons, conferences, social events, kids birthday parties that it is hard to keep track because I’m not only anxious but I’m also out of practice at running my calendar with in-person needs in place; how long does it take to get fully dressed with hair and make up again? How long does it take to drive to this place? Why is there traffic? Oh right! I have to pay for parking…. Must re-download the parking-pay app.

This was all recently tested as I attended my first in-person networking events last week. Attending a familiar, 500 person construction industry event made me realize how rusty my in-person elevator pitch is and that I’m not prepared for small talk and sarcasm. A second event in a crowded bar, brought to the surface for me my newly acquired claustrophobia when in a crowded bar and that the volume level of 200 people talking is way louder and far more distracting than I remember. 

As I looked around at these events I wondered am I the only one feeling this way? Am I the only one fighting the eagerness to embrace my pre-pandemic self, and realizing she may not exist the same way I remember? Am I the only one struggling to ease back into the world of in person gatherings for work or pleasure? 

I’m a direct and curious person by nature so instead of starting a conversation with ‘Wow this second winter sure sucks doesn’t it?’ I found myself asking my fellow event attendees ‘how are you doing with being in person with all these people? Are you feeling a little awkward and uncomfortable too?’ Turns out I am not alone.  

Since many people may not be able to articulate their anxiety the same way as someone who has been handling general anxiety far before the pandemic, I wanted to draw attention to some things event-organizers can do to support their guests and enhance overall guest experience. 

• Consider putting in place a red/yellow/green system of wrist bands, name tags or lanyards to indicate how comfortable guests are with different levels of interaction. Green is I’ve been starved for interaction – let’s shake hands/hugs/connect closely. Yellow is I’m unsure and may not be ready to shake hands or touch, but happy to connect. Red could be someone who needs some extra space and may still be more comfortable masking 
• Plan for extra space – larger tables with fewer people at dinners, more high tops at networking events, more bars or walking servers to ensure fewer crowds gathered around bars or food stations
• Explore a lighter agenda at this year’s events – plan for more social time as people who may have not seen each other in two years, or may be new to the industries connect and learn from each other. Allow space for free discussion 
• Plan for a ‘quiet space’ near the main event rooms – somewhere with no noise, hand sanitizer, masks, and seating for people who need to decompress and take some time are able to without having to return to their room or leave the event entirely
• Put your guest’s safety at the forefront and have a mental health nurse on site – include this information in scripts and make this individual easy to find. For someone who may not realize it, a panic attack can feel like a heart attack… having someone knowledgeable onsite to assist is next level awareness of the safety of your guests
• Have a way for guests to skip the networking rooms – perhaps it means opening the main room early to allow those who may be a bit more anxious to sit at their tables rather than wait in the crowd at the bar
• Organizers, venue staff, guests, everyone may be dealing with various degrees of this anxiety, be gentle with each other 
• Be vigilent as organizers –  if someone is hanging back from the registration table, gently ask if you can help them
• Keep the doors open as much as possible for air flow and if possible find a way to include an outdoor option to the social parts of your event 
• As an event guest – you are not alone in your worries! Speak up – ask to be sat at the back of the room near an open door, ask the organizers what steps they’re taking, ask for what you need to be as comfortable as possible during this transitional period. 

As much as I want to go back to what I remember to be my enjoyment of events before the pandemic, it’s going to take me time, self-compassion, and the patience of those around me and the knowledge that I’m not alone in this.

When we were thinking of what fun we could have for our holiday message this year….at our retreat in AUGUST, we landed on a parody of a Night Before Christmas with some help from our families in key acting roles of course. However, as we tried to write it, it just wasn’t flowing. I was frustrated. “Twas the night before Christmas…..T’was the night before Christmas when all through the…. the… house…” Nothing was coming to me except mice and night caps. 

Then one day, in early December, while wearing a set of sparkly reindeer antlers and driving round delivering goods to a local charity I sang All I Want for Christmas by the incomparable Mariah Carey at the top of my lungs with the windows down and it hit me!  THIS MOVES ME! THIS is what we should do to spread joy and cheer to our favourite people this year. 

And so within 72 hours, in true ‘get-it done’ ED fashion we had mobilized for a full family video shoot in a field west of Edmonton. Drone work by the illustrious Justin Armstrong from Invert 720 and all! We hope it moves your toes to tap and uplifts your lips to an ear splitting grin because this time of year is not about gifts, gazmos or gizmos, it’s about YOU and those you love. 

From our families to yours – Enjoy. 

It’s pretty rare that we work on a private event. Our usual clients are planning corporate events. But when one of our favourite corporate event clients approached us to help her host a surprise virtual celebration for her husband’s 60th birthday, we couldn’t help but say yes!

We thought this would be simple…until we learned that there would be guests joining from countries all over the world; India, Japan, Singapore, United States, Canada, to name a few. Trying to find a time where everyone could come and not be half-asleep was a challenge in itself. We decided on 7:30am MST so that by the time the event finished, it would be just after midnight in Japan. And remember – this was a surprise party! We scheduled our planning meetings at times that he had staff meetings as both he and our client were working from home. Even with our best efforts of scheduling meetings when he should have been busy, there were still times that our client had to talk in code if he passed through her home workspace to grab a coffee. Ninja-style secret event planning at its finest! 

The guest of honour is passionate about music and reading, so we used his eclectic taste in music and his love of books for inspiration. I found 3 incredibly different artists who all agreed to make a 15-minute personalized pre-recorded video.

Wanda Baloyi, a jazz/r&b/neo-soul singer from South Africa, Autorickshaw, an Indian/pop/jazz fusion band from Toronto, and Kate Blechinger, a folk singer from Edmonton. It was great to see people dancing along in their little Zoom box. To celebrate his passion for reading, we asked guests to recommend their favourite book for him to read as part of the RSVP process. This list was shared with him and, as a tribute to his passion for reading, a donation of textbooks was made in his name to a school in India.

We had a fun “How well do you know the birthday boy” quiz and used Mentimeter so everyone could see the results live.

Guest speakers from across the world shared touching messages of appreciation and stories of how he impacted their lives. One of the honoured guests from Japan led everyone in a customary sanbon-jime, consisting of a series of three handclaps to celebrate the end of an event. The guest of honour was very touched that his dear friend and ex-colleague stayed up so late to celebrate and teach everyone this tradition.

Amazing stories, speeches, pictures, laughter, and tears of joy – all parts of a successful international virtual surprise celebration!

We love working with The Fath Group and their holiday party is always one for the books. In our initial planning meeting with them, we give them options for a few different themes. Once one is selected, we hit the ground running.

Knowing our venue was the Pioneers Cabin (formerly The Old Timers Cabin), we wanted to create a special atmosphere the moment the guests stepped into the beautiful, rustic space.  We were inspired by seeing a lighting design by Roy Jackson Design. They can create the Northern Lights on the walls and ceiling, so our theme became “A Night Under The Stars”.

We learned that if you are using a log cabin that was built in the 1950’s, be prepared for some power issues. Luckily, our amazing tech from Roy Jackson Design was able to make it work (after finding the breaker panel) and created a wonderful ambience, complete with shining stars.

We found some beautiful geometric candle holders from Knotwood Event Rentals that we completed with mirrors to help reflect the lights. Fresh cedar was placed on the tables to bring the smell of the fresh outdoors inside. We also rented a large, wooden farmhouse table that became the centrepiece of the room. Our amazing caterer, Creative Quality Catering, designed a beautiful grazing table with meats, cheese, fruits, and crackers that guests could enjoy as they began to arrive.

After dinner, a few speeches and prize-giveaways, we got into the entertainment. We are so lucky that we have such a thriving musical scene in Edmonton and were so pleased when Martin Kerr was available to do an engaging 45-minute set for our event. 

To close out the evening, one end of the cabin became a dance floor and the other end was set up for a paint nite! Smash Art created two paintings for us to fit our starry night theme. The two large groups that painted had a wonderful time and a lovely canvas to hang on their wall once they got home!

Before I get into my #morethanapartyplanner bit, I feel like I need to tell you how I got started with ED. Some people may think that I’m an unlikely fit for an event planning company. I’m actually a professional musician and have been for about 20 years. I play piano and sing in various theatres around Edmonton, I perform on tracks for film, television, and video games, I work with choirs, and write and arrange music that has been performed all over the world.

4 summers ago, Erin was over having lunch with my husband, John and me. She mentioned that Kelsey was going on maternity leave in a few months and she needed help with ED. John was suggesting a bunch of his students when I finally piped up and said, “what about me?” Now, at the time, I had absolutely NO experience with event planning, but I was willing to learn. I felt the skills I use as an entertainer would contribute to ED’s work; skills like being able to juggle weird schedules, having a creative mind, and my ability to stay calm in busy and stressful situations. Plus I knew my connections in the entertainment industry would prove to be a useful resource.

Fast forward to today, and I know my background as an artist has allowed me to add a different viewpoint to events. And I love being the one that gets to source entertainment! 

Kelsey, Erin, and I have developed a great working relationship, each of us appreciating one another’s individual strengths for delivering a great event. After the initial discovery meeting with a client, Kelsey and I put our brains together to come up with some themes for their event. Once that’s selected, I try to find an entertainment option that fits with the theme. Sometimes our clients specifically ask for something (like a musical act) but often times the ball is left in my court. I usually pitch musical acts to clients (since that’s my background and I have many connections around Edmonton and across the country) but I love it when we can find something really original.

One of my favourite events was a Cirque du Soleil themed Canadian Western Bank gala. I reached out to one of my connections in the performing arts community and was able to book the local circus group, Firefly Theatre, for the event. Aside from doing a jaw-dropping performance for the CWB event, Firefly Theatre also poured champagne for the guests during the reception hour….while hanging upside down from beautiful red silks! This was spectacular to see and definitely gave guests an immediate “wow” factor the second they walked into the room. 

Some things to remember when choosing entertainment options:

• Book early. If you want the best and you’re booking during a busy season (like Christmas) popular musicians and performers can book up months, or even years, in advance.
• Confirm if your entertainment needs extra time to set up or tear down. Is this something that can be done before guests arrive? Or will it take extra time during your main event agenda?
• Know your audience. Don’t book a performer just because YOU really like them. For example, if you have an audience full of young people that just want to get up and dance, maybe a quiet string quartet isn’t the right call.  
• If you want professionals, build it into your budget. Exposure is never an acceptable form of payment.
• Depending on your entertainment option, you may want to do a site visit at the venue with them. For the Cirque event I mentioned above, we needed special rigging to make sure the silks could be hung from the ceiling. We needed to coordinate with the venue so the performers could have early access to install the rigging.
• With virtual events becoming so popular over the pandemic, you can easily include international performers and not have to worry about paying for travel! I just finished up a virtual event where I booked an artist all the way from South Africa.

At the end of the day, I am #morethanapartyplanner! I feel for Erin and Kelsey when they have to work around my crazy performance schedules but am so happy that I spoke up during our lunch and grateful that Erin took a chance on me!