Storytelling is Social Glue

This is most likely the final Gianna’s Gem post before I jet off to Sardinia for my husband’s 50th birthday celebration! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of great Gem material after all the celebratory events in Italy so stay tuned for that in July!

With 50th birthday toasts galore for us these next few weeks, the theme of “storytelling” is on my mind, and it is inherently part of being human, arguably more important as we grow older and wiser with valuable insights to share.

Storytelling is social glue. It’s a social “meme” that has been used for generations to pass along information in a way that people remember more than any other format. 

Storytelling has evolved to be more and more complex in modern times: From movies and TV, events and experiences, startup pitches at events like Tech Crunch Disrupt or Shark Tank, storytelling is a powerful skill and one that not many people do well…but should: It’s a superpower and I wish they taught it in school!

But fear not - today’s Gianna’s Gem is about Storytelling and events - what to do to captivate and engage your audience, and tips for how you and your speakers can prepare.

Ever wonder why TED talks always open with a story? There is a science to this.  Ever hear the story of the Elephant and the Rider?

The Elephant represents our emotional side – vast, powerful, and often driven by instinct. In comparison, the Rider, perched on the back of the elephant, symbolizes our rational mind – analytical, planning, but small relative to the enormous elephant.

There is a secret formula to engagement and that is: Imagine + Feel = Change

This is because the Left Brain gets fatigued by too much data. The Right Brain (aka the elephant) will always win out, so feed the right brain and you will be able to influence attendees.

If YOU are the Speaker, or coaching a speaker, here are strategies for crafting a more engaging presentation:

• When Preparing your speech or presentation: Consider, where is my target audience now? Where do I want them to be after my presentation?  

• Remember to never introduce yourself or give housekeeping notes. There is a cognitive hallowed ground in which to capture your audience’s attention and you want to create a “file-folder” for them to remember you by starting with something they’ll remember like a story.

• Use metaphors: Anyone who knows me knows I favor metaphors and use them often to help convey ideas. Metaphors are awesome because they help the brain link an unfamiliar idea with something more familiar. When crafting metaphors, consider: sports, nature, animals, building, travel, transport, auto, music, games, pop culture, food for ideas that are relatable to all audiences.

• Don’t Be the Hero - Be the Catalyst. Speakers do better with audiences when they’re more relatable and/or share the same goals or struggles as the audience. Many comedians know this secret. If you listen closely, they often begin with material that is self-depracating by design to warm the audience up to them!

• Wrap Data in a Warm Blanket of Emotion: Remember the formula above to evoke emotion if you have to present data. For example - Use a headline to grab attention before presenting data. Or a phrase like “imagine you’re the world’s biggest/richest/smartest xxx”...to get people to feel/imagine before sharing data.

• Consider using a prop to prove a point or grab attention. I recently had the famous swimmer, Diana Nyad speak at a corporate event and she was incredible. You’d think her story (festured recently on Netflix) would sell itself, but she went above and beyond to tell the story so vividly using all the tactics above, including bringing a bugle horn she played to elicit the visual of how early her father used to wake her up in the mornings to swim before dawn. It certainly grabbed our attention and evoked emotion to cement her story into our memories long after the event ended.

Remember - storytelling is the art of creating emotions that lead to memories that drive actions:

Emotion -> Memory -> Action

Storytelling is one of THE most important skilsl for anyone to have.  If you need support in honing your craft, reach out and I’ll help you kickstart your storytelling magic.

Slow Down to Move Fast

Have you ever wondered why you suddenly get that “Big Idea” when you’re sitting at a beach on vacation?  Or while hiking in nature? 

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my clients around this phenomenon lately - a trend that people seem to be warming up to. Did you know both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are both famous for taking retreats where they totally detached to come up with their biggest ideas?

"Steve would be on vacation, and he would be pondering where the next product, the next direction for Apple, new technologies, things he's reading,"...He used that vacation as a time to kind of expand his thinking and get outside of the Apple day-to-day." - Tony Faddell, who invented the iphone.

His team shared that they expected not to hear from Jobs for the extent of his trips. But while that was true for the first 24 to 48 hours, vacation proved to ignite Job's creative juices more than anything else and they’d end up getting calls from him 5-6 times a day to research or brainstorm the big picture ideas he was coming up with.

So This Week’s Gianna’s Gem, just in time for summer is: Slow Down to Speed Up. 

Slowing down to speed up could mean being conscious of the many distractions that bombard you and keep you from getting to where you want to go in a shorter amount of time. 

Slowing down to speed up may mean eliminating a lot of unimportant things you do so you have more time for the important things.

It can also mean taking time to plan an event for your team, your leadership team, or your entire company to connect, spend time building relationships, and coming up with moonshot ideas or solutions to increase organizational efficiency and flow. 

What this looks like for companies: 

Spending just 2 days together at an offsite can end up generating your next big breakthrough product, eliminate major inefficiencies and improve team communication so that your company can improve how it works and drives business results (AND, a great morale booster)!  

Some might protest it’s too costly from a budget/team/resource perspective to invest in these kinds of events for their own teams, but I argue that’s a penny-wise, pound foolish approach. 

By slowing down to build the foundation RIGHT, you can build a higher building (or skyscraper if you have big dreams) on top. But a weak foundation will cause any new additions to your building to crumble, or at a minimum be unstable or unreliable. There are plenty of creative solutions if budget, time, location, etc. is daunting to you (just reach out and I can help you optimize what you are solving for).

What this looks like for events: 

Events have so many tasks and deliverables, it’s easy to get caught up in getting them all done and as quickly as possible. But when we move to “execute-mode” too often with events, we sometimes fail to see creative solutions and ideas that might end up saving us a lot of pain/budget/time and improving the attendee experience. 

I recently helped a client shave hours off their weekly planning and hundreds of thousands off their budget by auditing their event (EVERYTHING, I mean budget, team structure, timeline, contracts, staging and creative…) and rebuilding the foundation of the event for them even though they were midway through planning.  

We had to pause on the forward-movement and rebuild the foundation (estabish clear team structure, ROI measurement, budget structure, operating process, exec reviews, etc), but after two weeks of building a strong operating structure, we started flying! 

Decisions were being made swiftly because we had operational efficiencies in place, clear structure for reviews and clarity on which ONE person was the ultimate decision maker and which ONE person was performing the task, and clear objections which allowed us more focus and prioritization and ultimately a much more successful event.

What this looks like for you:

Many of us are Type A’s (guilty as charged) and never seem to have enough hours in a day to do it all. We are often overloaded these days with so much content, noise, activities, that it becomes distracting to our bigger-picture vision and ability to see clearly our real priorities each day, let alone each year. But like the slow-food movement, which encouraged people to stop eating on the go, and savor food with appreciation, I think people are finding the same to be true with how they are approaching how they connect and engage with the world and each other.

Here are some tips if you can’t take a vacation TODAY (because honestly, that R&R is a good investment in your future success!)

Ground yourself in nature: Even 10 minutes walking in nature can reduce cortisol and help you take a step way from your screens and have space for creative solutions and ideas.

Sleep: You will probably be more efficient, creative and effective if you get an extra hour of sleep rather than spend an extra hour on emails (and we all know you’re also on social media - not helpful before bed!)

Meet: Spend time getting out with friends, going to events, museums, whatever nurtures your soul and connects you with others. It will pay off to take a break from your screen and share ideas and get inspired from being in a new environment. That’s why we all love events ;)

The Magic of the 95:5 Rule

Do you have a friend who seems to be able to eat whatever they want when you go out to dinner with them, and they maintain a great physical body? 

I do too…and his name is Garrett, my husband (sorry honey). 

After 15 years being together, I realized his trick is 95% of the time he eats healthy (smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch), but then 5% of the time, he eats whatever he wants, and he doesn’t hold back, as long as it’s something he really wants and high quality (donut right out of the fryer, mone-made pasta, really stinky french cheese or a perfect woodfired pizza).

And so, he never feels deprived, his health doesn’t suffer, and he enjoys life. That’s what I call the win-win-win, my favorite strategy in life, and especially when planning events for my clients!

So how do you apply the 95:5 rule to events? 

There are plenty of ways, but a few of my gems below to whet your palate (see how I carried the food theme all the way there?!)

Gem #1:

• For those clients / brands who are afraid to take the moonshot, consider ONE bold idea that you want to try that only takes up 5% of the budget and 5% of the total resources that go into planning the event, and test it out while keeping the rest of the event plans similar to how they were previously.
  

• Why this works: First of all, I love science and this is a great way to tease out if a new concept is moving the needle.
  
  If you throw too many new ideas at a tried-and-true method, how will you know which one worked?
  
  Or perhaps too many ideas together will overwhelm your attendees, but just one great idea has the power to capture their attention?
  
  And if it doesn’t work, you’ve only sunk 5% of the cost/budget into this.
  
  I once had an idea to spice up the team-building breakouts in the afternoon by building some nostalgia into the afternoon with “yurts” that served as “breakout rooms”.
  
  We sent the C-level attendees into the yurts with trail mix and the assignment to brainstorm in teams and they loved the intimate camp-like environment so much we had rave reviews about the breakouts, a session that was usually the lowest-rated AND some pretty incredible ideas pitched as a result (probably because people are more creative when you put them in an outside-the-box setting)!

Gem #2:

• If you’re planning an event and wondering where to invest in a paid speaker, consider the two most important parts of an event: The “peak” moment, and the close and if you are paying a speaker, consider these two moments for placement.

• Why this works: If you maintain your speaker budget for 95% of the content by leveraging your internal experts, friends of your Exec team (ask me about how to do this graciously and effectively), and customers, but splurge on a special keynote speaker for the very end, the audience is more likely to remember it as their last impression of you, leave inspired, and in the right emotional state to take action, accept a request for a meetings, etc. (so long as the speaker was good!).

  Not only will the audience be more likely to remember the paid speaker by using them to close the event, but it will also motivate people to stick around until the end of the event rather than leave early.

  I once attended Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Health Event and she left the closing keynote in the agenda as “surprise celebrity guests”. I was a new mom and thought I had initially considered leaving the event early, I couldn’t resist the pull of who she might have on stage!

  She didn’t disappoint: It was not one but 3 A-List celebrity friends of hers and it was a peak moment AND the closing! The entire keynote was packed and I ended up sticking around for the afterparty as well because it had me so energized!

  
  Gem #3:

• Let’s close with budget. If you maintain a tight budget for 95% of your experience, you can use the last 5% on something truly magical.
  
  That one truly magical thing will probably make a much bigger impact than spending average budget on a lot of mediocre things.
  
  Example: For a big birthday celebration (let’s just say 40), you keep the food menu pretty standard, but splurge on having a very special vintage bottle of 1983 champagne served. It is an expensive, memorable treat that people wouldn’t usually expect but feels celebratory, and unique plus reminds people of why they are celebrating.
  

• Why this works: It’s ok to splurge occasionally as long as you run a tight ship most of the time. This is true for so many things in life - it just takes restraint, focus, and prioritization.
  
  I like to build some “surprise/delight” budget into my budgets with 5% of the budget held for this so when we get that big idea, we can actually make it happen. By actively cutting back on other costs so you can add surprise and delight, your guests win, and you are still in control. Win-win for the win!

A next-level event doesn't have to break your budget

Hi there!

This past week, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients that need help with creating VIP experiences on tighter budgets. Sound familiar? 

Lucky for you, I’m going to share some strategies for “smart luxury” with you in this week’s gems so you can create more of those win-win premium experiences while keeping you on-budget and driving the results you want! 

But first…I love this quote:

“Luxury means just giving more; hospitality means being more thoughtful”.

Take a minute to let that sink in. 

What does that mean? 

Example #1:

• Rather than spending $100 more on caviar for every attendee (p.s. Not everyone even likes caviar), investing in an “event concierge” who will sending a personalized email to every attendee before a special dinner to ask them if they have any special requests, dietary restrictions and also share with them who they can expect to meet at the event, what the format is, and how much you’re looking forward to making personalized intros to them. 

• Why does this work? If you take the time to invest in getting to know your attendees and showing you’re invested in their personal experience, they are
  
  1) more likely to show up
  2) be engaged
  3) remember you
  4) take the action you want them to take after the event…especially if you follow up with a personalized note afterwards!

Example 2:

• Rather than providing fancy but generic gifts for VIP attendees, do a little time “researching” them and their hobbies, families, passions, and personalize a welcome amenity to set the tone for the event.
  
  For example: I once bought out the W Hotel in San Francisco for an event at Google, and they sent up a “blind tasting” wine experience to my room when I arrived since I had recently passed the Court Master Sommelier exam.
  
  They had researched that about me. It was so fun to not feel rushed/stressed when I checked in before the big event, but to have a playful moment where I got to taste wine and guess what they had selected for me (it was a Robert Sinsky pinot gris and yes, I still remember 10 years later because it was so personalized and unique!)
  

• Why does this work? That bottle of wine cost them roughly $30, but the thoughtfulness that they put into covering the bottle, printing out a blind tasting test from the Court master sommelier site, and delivering it with some nuts/olives and a fun note made such an impact on me, I’ve shared this story so many times!
  
  They could have instead sent up a $150 bottle of champagne, but I probably wouldn’t have opened it and also probably wouldn’t have remembered it from all the other bottles of champagne I’ve received. Fancier isn’t always better and thoughtfulness counts!

Example 3:

• Invest in people and training vs “stuff”.
  
  When you go to a fine dining restaurant, they will sometimes research every guest in advance so they can address you by name as you enter the restaurant, have some knowledge about you, and customize the menu to meet your needs.
  
  At Eleven Madison Park restaurant, the staff was trained to listen in to their guests and if they mentioned something like “gosh, I have had such a great experience in New York, but I never got a chance to try a hot dog”, they had a staff on hand who would go buy a hot dog and present it (plated up nicely) as a surprise and delight to the guests.
  
  This hot dog only costs them $5 but you can be sure they felt it was magical and special because the restaurant was listening and cared about hospitality and providing the most top notch service.
  
  Similarly, I was once managing a Google Executive event where we weren’t serving soda in cans to be more sustainable, but I noticed in our event app’s chat one attendee was complaining that he was really craving his afternoon Diet Coke fix. So I went to the nearest vending machine on campus, and bought a diet coke to hand deliver to him with some help from ID’ing him from my Sales leads.
  

• Why this works: People want to be seen and heard from the time we are children through adulthood.
  
  That Google client was so surprised and delighted that we had seen his message and then delivered exactly what he was craving in the moment, that he booked a meeting with our SVP afterwards and ended up closing a major deal! Now the coke didn’t cause the deal to close, but it sure made him stick around the event and had we not gotten him that coke, who knows, he might have left, or at least not have been a happy guest. 

So you see…hospitality is about making your guests comfortable, it’s about anticipating their needs, or listening to them and then delivering a personalized and delightful experience.

It can involve luxurious treats, but doesn’t need to.
All it takes is time, intentionality and good old fashioned hospitality.

If you need more ideas or help with personalized outreach and “event concierge” service, reach out and I’ll help you make some magic happen: calendly.com/gianna-gaudini.

The ONE thing that will make your event successful!

Hi there!

90% of what makes an event or gathering successful is put in place beforehand. True or false?

If you answered true, you’re correct! 
By the time your event rolls around, you should be sleeping soundly knowing you’ve put everything in place for a successful event. 

That simply means you’ve taken the appropriate steps to de-risk it, and now have the mental bandwidth to quickly quash any last minute curveballs thrown your way (and we know there are always one or two!)

But how can you ensure the right plans are in place beforehand, you might ask?

So glad you asked because I’m about to share my secret sauce with you …

My planning process that builds the following:

• “Prime” your attendees before they get onsite so they know what to expect, what to prepare, and what you’re going to deliver.
  
  This ensures everyone shows up with the right intentions, goals, and also helps ensure you’re reducing day-of attrition by giving people a heads up on what is expected of them and what they will get out of the event. It’s an art, and I can help you with this.

• Plan a 2-hour attendee-journey session with everyone involved (key stakeholders, agency, cross-functional team members, an event consultant, etc.) to ensure you poke holes at every aspect of the experience. 

• Where might there be pain? If there are any pain points,  turn them into surprise and delightful moments instead.
  
  i.e. at registration offer people wellness shots and protein balls with conversation cards attached with toothpicks to assuage their hunger and boost their immune system (and also strike up a reason to get them chatting)

• Where are you lacking clarity? If there is anything left unanswered, make sure you figure that out onsite. You want to walk into your event knowing you’ve alleviated 100% of the outstanding questions so you’re not scrambling onsite.
  
  This can be as simple as: If the product team is demo’ing a product to attendees, knowing who’s taking notes and capturing the questions the attendees are asking so Sales can follow up. (hint: Maybe pair a member of Sales with Product demo-ers so they can take notes and follow up with more detail to close or accelerate the deal after the event).

• Think of your opening and ending with intentionality. It’s true - people remember the beginning and ending of experiences and a crucible moment, so get them right.
  
  (i.e. ask attendees to write a note to themselves that they want you to mail to them in 6 months. This gives you an excuse to reach out to them after the event while also reminding them of how thoughtful you are and what a great time they had at your event).

• Whatever you do, don’t start or end the event with logistics! There’s nothing that makes me cringe more than an Executive starting off their keynote with housekeeping notes!
  
  Take care of these before people enter the general session, or at the very minimum, have an Emcee handle them so the keynote can make a big slash at the cognitive hallowed ground that is the first 1-5 minutes of the session.

Need more help with your event?

I can audit your event plans, lead your attendee journey audit session, help you strategize how to intrigue people and capture their attention before, during, and after the event.

Reach out and book time to share what you need help with via my calendly here: calendly.com/gianna-gaudini.

Slow Down to Speed Up

Have you ever wondered why you suddenly get that “Big Idea” when you’re sitting at a beach on vacation?  Or while hiking in nature? 

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my clients around this phenomenon lately - a trend that people seem to be warming up to. Did you know both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are both famous for taking retreats where they totally detached to come up with their biggest ideas?

"Steve would be on vacation, and he would be pondering where the next product, the next direction for Apple, new technologies, things he's reading,"...He used that vacation as a time to kind of expand his thinking and get outside of the Apple day-to-day." - Tony Faddell, who invented the iphone.

His team shared that they expected not to hear from Jobs for the extent of his trips. But while that was true for the first 24 to 48 hours, vacation proved to ignite Job's creative juices more than anything else and they’d end up getting calls from him 5-6 times a day to research or brainstorm the big picture ideas he was coming up with.

So This Week’s Gianna’s Gem, just in time for summer is: Slow Down to Speed Up. 

Slowing down to speed up could mean being conscious of the many distractions that bombard you and keep you from getting to where you want to go in a shorter amount of time. 

Slowing down to speed up may mean eliminating a lot of unimportant things you do so you have more time for the important things.

It can also mean taking time to plan an event for your team, your leadership team, or your entire company to connect, spend time building relationships, and coming up with moonshot ideas or solutions to increase organizational efficiency and flow. 

What this looks like for companies: 

Spending just 2 days together at an offsite can end up generating your next big breakthrough product, eliminate major inefficiencies and improve team communication so that your company can improve how it works and drives business results (AND, a great morale booster)!  

Some might protest it’s too costly from a budget/team/resource perspective to invest in these kinds of events for their own teams, but I argue that’s a penny-wise, pound foolish approach. 

By slowing down to build the foundation RIGHT, you can build a higher building (or skyscraper if you have big dreams) on top. But a weak foundation will cause any new additions to your building to crumble, or at a minimum be unstable or unreliable. There are plenty of creative solutions if budget, time, location, etc. is daunting to you (just reach out and I can help you optimize what you are solving for).

What this looks like for events: 

Events have so many tasks and deliverables, it’s easy to get caught up in getting them all done and as quickly as possible. But when we move to “execute-mode” too often with events, we sometimes fail to see creative solutions and ideas that might end up saving us a lot of pain/budget/time and improving the attendee experience. 

I recently helped a client shave hours off their weekly planning and hundreds of thousands off their budget by auditing their event (EVERYTHING, I mean budget, team structure, timeline, contracts, staging and creative…) and rebuilding the foundation of the event for them even though they were midway through planning.  

We had to pause on the forward-movement and rebuild the foundation (estabish clear team structure, ROI measurement, budget structure, operating process, exec reviews, etc), but after two weeks of building a strong operating structure, we started flying! 

Decisions were being made swiftly because we had operational efficiencies in place, clear structure for reviews and clarity on which ONE person was the ultimate decision maker and which ONE person was performing the task, and clear objections which allowed us more focus and prioritization and ultimately a much more successful event.

What this looks like for you:

Many of us are Type A’s (guilty as charged) and never seem to have enough hours in a day to do it all. We are often overloaded these days with so much content, noise, activities, that it becomes distracting to our bigger-picture vision and ability to see clearly our real priorities each day, let alone each year. But like the slow-food movement, which encouraged people to stop eating on the go, and savor food with appreciation, I think people are finding the same to be true with how they are approaching how they connect and engage with the world and eachother.

Here are some tips if you can’t take a vacation TODAY (because honestly, that R&R is a good investment in your future success!)

Ground yourself in nature: Even 10 minutes walking in nature can reduce cortisol and help you take a step way from your screens and have space for creative solutions and ideas.

Sleep: You will probably be more efficient, creative and effective if you get an extra hour of sleep rather than spend an extra hour on emails (and we all know you’re also on social media - not helpful before bed!)

Meet: Spend time getting out with friends, going to events, museums, whatever nurtures your soul and connects you with others. It will pay off to take a break from your screen and share ideas and get inspired from being in a new environment. That’s why we all love events ;)

Predictions for the Events Industry 2024

My thoughts on key trends for the event and hospitality industry as we close out 2023

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2024 is going to be an exciting year for events and a busy one for event and hospitality professionals. In-person events and the appetite for experiences and travel will grow to pre-2019 levels. Below are a few of my predictions for 2024:

AI is now ubiquitous - it’s hard to imagine that just a year ago we were explaining it to our Mom’s at Thanksgiving and now there are fewer companies that don’t have or promote some type of AI-washing or integration. It will become more rare to attend an event that doesn’t use AI than ones that do leverage it in some capacity (seen or unseen). With so many people now using AI, companies will need to be more discreet about how they arousing it and leverage it in interesting ways that are truly helpful, not generic. Using Chat GPT to write an event script or invite no longer cuts it. Best use cases will be data synthesis and analysis that will help save planners loads of time rather than “doing their job” for them, and helpful ways of enhancing the attendee experience so they get more personalization and meet more of the people they want to meet rather than wasting time at events listening to session or meeting with people that aren’t relevant to them.

Virtual event platforms will need to specialize and find their niche in order to thrive. Whether that’s focusing on becoming a webinar content-generating machine (like Hubilo), or focusing on community (like Gradual), marketing very specific use cases will help the winning platforms focus and rise to the top. There will be consolidation in the industry and some key players who will be able to be full-service platforms, and also succeed for planners who want to reduce their tech stack and onboarding time for vendors. Virtual events will be hyper-targeted to top of funnel events that are more about brand exposure and lead gen than deep middle and bottom of the funnel engagement and deal-making. 

People crave in-person experiences and are willing to travel to them, especially if they are in a location that promotes other activities of leisure. “Bleisure” travel is surging and continues to motivate people to travel further to events that promise more experiences than just content. People who just want content will do that from their own homes or travel locally, but those who want experiences and to truly engage with others are willing to do so in unconventional formats and locations. Wellness is another key activity that is helping attendees maintain their health (or restore it) while traveling including everything from ice baths to meditation to healthier foods and group exercise programming. Many want to leverage events as a way to rejuvenize so we will see a lot more health-focused activities and inspiration and less of the unhealthy activities and food/beverages of former events.

People are craving more experiential activations rather than the standard corporate conference format in a ballroom or convention center. People have been starved of experiences during the pandemic and this combined with the explosion of social media has people craving experiences that they can remember, share, and revisit after they invest in attending them. Everyone is “press” at events now since there are so many influencers and social sharing is ubiquitous and must be built into the event experience before, during, and after the event. 

ROI must be proven for everything we do. There is never an excuse these days to not have benchmarks in place for success. Planners must be able to justify every aspect of their event/experience and how it supports their business goals. Planners are getting smarter by reducing more of the “fluff” and focusing on fewer key experiences that will really drive the ROI they need to prove success and ensure marketing budgets are maintained. Teams are relying on consultants like myself and freelancers more and more to support their teams and help with everything from strategy to budgeting to execution. Many corporate planners have either left the market and turned to contracting or have lost their jobs due to downsizing so event teams are being tasked to do more with much smaller teams. Thus many are budgeting sizable amounts of for external event support. AI is helping, but event portfolios are exploding since events are proving more and more ROI, so teams can’t keep up. Events are finally starting to sell out again as companies are willing to host larger and larger events and in new regions.

2024 is going to be exciting and will catapult the industry to new heights. I’m here for you event professionals - if you need me, you know where to find me! GiannaGaudini.com

How to navigate your venue contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Legal savvy to help navigate through COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty

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My program canceled…now what?!

With worldwide event cancellations in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, planners not only have to worry about how to re-think their events to ensure attendee health and safety, but they’re also left questioning what legal recourse they have when it comes to their hotel and venue contracts in the face of event cancellations. I’ve always had a passion for navigating venue contract negotiation for just this reason, and even included some of my contract negotiation pro tips in my book, The Art of Event Planning. For this blog specifically, I’ve outlined a few key clauses to help you navigate the unpredictable event environment so that you can minimize the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on your bottom line and responsibly move forward with any contracts that are pending. Please note that these recommendations are based on my own personal experience and do not reflect the recommendations of my company, SoftBank Vision Fund, and should also be reviewed with your own legal counsel.

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Force Majeure

If government bans travel or declares a state of emergency, then Force Majeure clause can be invoked, meaning neither a venue or contracting party can be held liable for nonperformance. Examples of this as it pertains to coronavirus include the US travel department banning travel into/out of China, which would make it impossible to host an event there for international attendees. Other instances of this are declarations of national emergencies, as in the city of Austin and its cancellation of SXSW. Always include a force majeure clause in your contracts so that instances like this will release you from losing additional money on an event that cannot happen. A sample clause I always use is pasted below:

The performance of this agreement is subject to any circumstances making it illegal, impossible or inadvisable to provide, use, or travel to or from the Hotel facilities, including, but not limited to, Acts of God, war, government regulations or intervention, disaster, strikes (except strikes by hotel employees), civil disorder, epidemic, or curtailment of transportation facilities.  This agreement may be terminated without any liability of any nature for any one of the above reasons, or based on any act of, or risk of, terrorism or other unsafe conditions, which cause travel to be impossible or inadvisable. Termination must be by written notice from Hotel or client. Following termination based on any of these circumstances, the Hotel will refund to client any deposits or other monies previously paid with regard to the terminated agreement.

Rebooking Clause

Hopefully, you’ve never dealt with a major event of yours canceling, but at some point in your career (and maybe soon), you will likely face this situation. I absolutely always make sure I ask for a rebooking clause in my hotel or venue agreement in case I do need to move the date of a program.  Typically, a rebooking clause will allow you to rebook your event within 1 year of the program date making use of the deposits or a percentage of the deposits you’ve already paid and/or owe the venue. A sample rebooking clause you is as simple as the below:

If the program cancels, 100% of the cancellation deposit and penalties will apply to a future program that operates within one year from date of cancellation.

Moving forward with booking contracts during an epidemic

To protect your event against any concerns that might make attendees reluctant to travel, such as a pandemic, it’s helpful to include a clause that allows you to reduce your guest count if you have attrition due to a perceived threat. An example of a clause like this that I use is:

Should the organization wish to continue with the event, but because of travel advisories as to health, security or terrorism, which might cause a reduction in attendance, the organization shall be able to reduce its guest count accordingly, without liability and without a reduction in amenities that are contingent on room block and pickup.

In closing, every planner right know is dealing with uncertainty and my heart goes out to every planner and attendee who has been impacted by the coronavirus. Though our health is the most important and must be protected first and foremost, we can still be smart about how we proceed and modify our event strategies given the current situation. If you have any additional suggestions for helping planners mitigate cancellations and protect themselves as they look to move or rebook their events, I welcome your feedback here!

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Letting Go of Sleep Shame

Why we should all start getting more sleep and bragging about it

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Let’s change the narrative

As a wine enthusiast, my motto is “squeeze the juice out of every day.” This was intended to be a personal reminder to live life to the fullest, but most days it just means crossing as many things as possible off my ever-growing to-do list. While I try to optimize every minute of each day, I’ve come to learn that the active part of the day is no more than 16 hours. This is immutable — there’s no cutting corners when it comes to getting enough sleep. Every time I try, the bill eventually comes due in the form of injury, illness, or feeling like my brain is clocking at half speed. I believe so highly in the correlation between sleep and a healthy, successful life that I addressed it comprehensively in the opening chapter of my recently published book, The Art of Event Planning: Pro Tips From an Industry Insider. There’s no “efficient sleeping” model that I know of, so for seven to eight hours every day, I accept the fact that I will not be active, but I’ll be preparing myself up to be my most productive and creative version of myself the next morning. 

This did not happen overnight. It took years for me to realize the importance of sleep and how important it is to staying healthy and being a successful mother, wife, and professional. And while I now make sleep a priority, I still admit to feeling sleep-shamed by those who brag about functioning on little sleep as though it’s a badge of honor to be paraded around. I’d like to share my story with the hope that together, we can stop feeling guilty about getting the sleep our bodies need and encourage others to do the same.

I’ve built a career in event planning, which is inherently stressful and consistently ranks as one of the top five most stressful careers. Due to the highly public nature of events, and the ever-ticking countdown to an event date, there’s constant pressure to deliver on time, on schedule, on brand and on budget — then rinse, repeat, start again. Before joining the SoftBank Vision Fund as Global Head of Events, I spent nearly a decade running Google’s highest profile events. I was passionate about the work, but there was so much to do that I often worked into the night, then would wake before dawn to tackle the day yet again. I was averaging five hours of sleep a night, some nights just three hours. Meanwhile, I was juggling a heavy project load: authoring my wine and lifestyle blog, “Decantress,” volunteering time on the board of a nonprofit organization, and training for marathons. Eventually my body started showing physical signs that this lifestyle was unsustainable. I’ll never forget being onsite running a very high profile CEO event, just weeks before producing our company’s largest global conference for 19,000 employees. I awoke in the middle of the night to find my lips swollen shut and puffy red hives covering my body. I couldn’t hide the intense stress and pressure I was under, it was literally written on my face! There was no time to see a doctor so I took some Benadryl, put on a long-sleeved dress, and soldiered on producing a successful event. Though the event went well, I was haunted by the fear that my body was failing me and I couldn’t push these limits without consequence.

Shortly thereafter, my husband and I decided to start a family. After six months of trying to conceive without success, I finally sought the advice of my OB/GYN. After undergoing rounds of testing, poking, and prodding, his conclusion was that my body was extremely stressed and exhausted. My lifestyle was essentially triggering my flight-or-fight system, and in order to conceive I needed my body to feel calm and balanced. So I grudgingly agreed to add some weight to my small frame (treating myself to nightly gelato and pasta in Italy, this was easy!), cut back on marathon training, and began sleeping more. For once in my life, I simply couldn’t achieve something by pushing myself harder, working longer, and doing more. I had to signal to my body that I was not in a stressful environment and could store enough in reserves to support a growing child. However, despite my best efforts at reducing stress and getting more sleep, I could still not conceive and had to turn to IVF. I thought this would be a surefire solution, but after hundreds of shots, four failed cycles, two miscarriages, and money down the drain, I was nowhere closer to my goal. I had to make even more drastic changes in order to become a mother. And for me this meant taking a break from work, where I could never really let my guard down enough to rest and destress. I instinctively knew my new job needed to be focusing on healing my body with rest, practicing restorative yoga, acupuncture, a minimum of eight hours sleep, and then attempt to conceive one more time. 

I was fortunate to have stockpiled enough vacation time saved and a supportive leadership team at Google, and could take off a month — others I know aren’t this lucky and I feel grateful every day that I was able to make this work. In the end, this worked, my instincts were right, and by taking this time to let my body rest, I was able to get pregnant. Seeing my son’s little heart beat for the first time, I burst into tears, and vowed my child would always be my priority moving forward. Through my pregnancy, I made sure I got enough sleep, hitting the pillow each night around 9:30 p.m., since I knew how important it was for the health of my baby. It occurred to me how strange it was that the only time we are not made to feel guilty about getting enough sleep is when pregnant, and that is because we’re bearing another life, so it goes back to the woman as giver first and foremost. 

After giving birth to my son, I experienced the tortuous and unavoidable sleep deprivation experienced by all new moms who breastfeed. Since newborns need to eat frequently and throughout the night, and I provided my baby’s only food source, I was never able to sleep for more than two hours at a time. My early weeks of motherhood brought on the brutal effects of sleep deprivation and this was entirely out of my control. I was emotionally drained, constantly hungry, stressed, and the smallest problem could bring me to tears. In my journey towards giving my body the sleep it needs — this was my low point. This all changed when my son was three months old and we hired a wonderful sleep consultant and soon trained him to sleep through the night. Amazing! I could now sleep around seven hours a night and ever since then I’ve fiercely protected my sleep like it is sacred. I am that person who schedules dinners for 6 p.m. so I can be home and in bed before 10 p.m. I awake every day at 4:30 a.m., so it’s imperative I get to bed at a reasonable hour if I plan to get enough sleep.

So where am I today? Running a high-octane events team in an industry that has endless deadlines and inherent pressure to perform, I feel waves of guilt when I sign off work to go to sleep. I know quite well that the mind is not as sharp late into the night and each later hour of work has diminishing marginal returns. And that I’ll be up before dawn the next morning, refreshed and ready and a better manager, leader, and creative thinker after a night of restful sleep. However, I somehow feel some pangs of guilt and shame around getting this rest. I have a feeling I am not alone in feeling guilt for taking care of myself.

So how can we collectively change our mindset and mantra around protecting this basic human need? Sleeping is not only the smartest thing we can do to sharpen our minds and heal our bodies, but getting adequate sleep prevents accidents in the workplace, leads to increased productivity, less sick-leave, and higher work output. My wish and goal for myself and fellow high-performers is that we change the narrative and start promoting and encouraging sleep hygiene. My hope is that someday soon, “Insta-bragging” will include photos of pillows and eye masks next to the ubiquitous photos of green juices and fit bodies. It’s up to us to not only change our sleep behavior, but to be champions of it, proudly evangelizing the importance of taking care and resting our bodies. It’s my personal goal and challenge to us all to stop feeling guilty about sleeping and keep spreading the word so that our children will grow up with positive role models and a new mindset around sleep.

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Moving forward after losing a loved one

A guide to bereavement and reintegrating into work and daily life after the loss of a loved one.

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The morning I returned from holiday vacation, my father texted me to let me know he wanted to come by to deliver something to me. Nothing could have prepared me for the news he delivered: The day before, my only sister and aunt to my son, had lost her battle with depression and taken her own life. I have never in my life experienced emotions this violent all at once - pain, shock, desperation, disbelief, grief. I couldn’t control my body from violently shaking and screaming out in anguish, and kept thinking I would suddenly wake up from this nightmare. The following days were consumed with sharing the tragic news with friends, family, and work, grieving and feeling waves of regret and “what could I have done…”, paying tribute to my sister by preserving every memory I had of her, and nights laying awake thinking about her final days, weeks, year, reliving every last encounter, text, and instagram post as though they would bring her back.

While nothing will every bring my sister back, I have made it my mission to be more empathetic, aware and understanding and to educate others to do the same. Mental illness causes 90% of all suicides and it’s helpful to learn more about it and be empathetic of those who have experienced it themselves or through loved ones. I have also realized that if there’s an opportunity to be kind to someone, to take a minute and help someone out or just listen, I will always take that opportunity. We need more of that in the world and I encourage you do join me in this mission.  It's so important to make the time to spend time with those you care about, and to share the things you love about them openly. It can make a difference in their life and certainly theirs, and maybe some day save one.   

Slowly, I’ve started re-entering the routines of everyday life: grocery shopping, swim class with my toddler, and returning to work. I am so grateful to my incredibly supportive network of friends and family and to my job for allowing me the bereavement time I needed. Below I share my experience and advice with others who may be going through a similar experience in hopes of raising awareness and understanding.

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Taking time off to grieve and process your loss

When processing grief like that of a suicide survivor, it’s important to give yourself ample time and space, maybe even more time than you think you may need to return to work. Ideally, you should return to work only when you feel able to cope, and you may also want to consider the possibility of working part-time for a period. Having experienced an intense state of shock and grief, you may initially have trouble with with sleeping, concentration, or even holding a conversation. I found that the first week after my sister’s death, I could hardly communicate in coherent sentences, and could barely bring myself to do the things that I was accustomed to doing so effortlessly. If you experience a short-term loss of efficiency and performance, be kind to yourself, and take things at your own pace. Just like you wouldn’t expect someone to come back from maternity leave at 100% capacity, a suicide survivor may also need weeks to return to their former state of functioning. Employers and colleagues should be aware and mindful of setting realistic expectations so as not to create extra stress, and understand that grief is unpredictable and can reappear erratically from time to time for months following the incident.

While you’re on bereavement leave

When processing grief like that of a suicide survivor, it’s important to give yourself ample time and space, maybe even more time than you think you may need to return to work. Ideally, you should return to work only when you feel able to cope, and you may also want to consider the possibility of working part-time for a period. Having experienced an intense state of shock and grief, you may initially have trouble with with sleeping, concentration, or even holding a conversation. I found that the first week after my sister’s death, I could hardly communicate in coherent sentences, and could barely bring myself to do the things that I was accustomed to doing so effortlessly. If you experience a short-term loss of efficiency and performance, be kind to yourself, and take things at your own pace. Just like you wouldn’t expect someone to come back from maternity leave at 100% capacity, a suicide survivor may also need weeks to return to their former state of functioning. Employers and colleagues should be aware and mindful of setting realistic expectations so as not to create extra stress, and understand that grief is unpredictable and can reappear erratically from time to time for months following the incident.

How to support a suicide survivor

Each person grieves at their own pace and isn’t always confined to non-working hours, so compassion, encouragement and understanding are key during the reintegration phase. If you manage a person dealing with bereavement loss, try asking how their grief is affecting them, what they would like their colleagues to be told in relation to the death, and how they feel they could best be supported at this time.  You could also check in via an in-person lunch or coffee a couple of days before they return to work to allow them to share the details in private and discuss concerns about not knowing what to do or say when their colleagues inquire once back at work.

Mental health, suicide and bereavement are all good topics for employers to discuss with employees in addition to counseling options, especially if offered through employment. If an employee needs to leave work to attend a counseling sessions, this should be supported.

How to approach “I’m so sorry” comments

Seeing co-workers for the first time exposes you comments like "I'm so sorry" which can open up the healing wound.  As difficult as these expressions of sympathy may be to hear, they can be better than no acknowledgement at all. There is no need to discuss anything you aren’t comfortable sharing, and a simple  "thank you" is a perfectly fine response. While you may worry about getting emotional or breaking down in front of colleagues, rest assured that many people will understand if they know what has occurred in your life and excusing yourself it totally acceptable. It might be helpful to share as much information as you are comfortable sharing with your work colleagues before you return to work and if you find people ask too many questions, you can share that you aren’t ready to go into it right now. You might find it helpful as well to keep your manager or one trusted colleague informed of key details and they can help message your boundaries to others.

I'm finding that recovering from the suicide of a loved one is an ongoing process that is likely unique for each individual survivor. Getting back into a routine and finding purpose through work, hobbies, giving back and social engagements can be an important step in the journey towards healing.

Keys to Planning a Great Company Holiday Party

It’s that time of year - lots of shining lights, champagne, goodwill, and office parties! I’ve been asked by many friends to help review and consult on their company holiday party plans and even though it’s getting late in the season, here are my tips and recommendations for planning a party that’s fun, on-brand, relevant to your attendees, and budget-friendly.

Know Your Demographic

Before you even start looking for a venue and brainstorming ideas, make sure you have a solid grasp on the demographic that’ll be attending your event. For instance, if you’re working for a tech startup where the majority of attendees will be trend-conscious millennials, you’re going to want to think of a very different experience than if you’re working for an established bank where the typical demographic is conservative and middle-aged. The demographic of your event will influence everything from the venue you select to the timing of the party, any activities, music and the food served. My husband works for a food delivery tech start-up, and their holiday parties are notorious for starting late and going late into the night and utilizing locally trending food trucks for late night eats rather than traditional caterers. 

Plan with Diversity and Inclusion in Mind

Along the lines of knowing your demographic, make sure you’re planning inclusively. I always advocate giving people a “plus one” to these events, but always advise against planning a seated dinner because that can make people who don’t bring a +1 feel self-conscious seated without a partner. It also makes it harder to plan for flexibility, which also takes into consideration people who may not be able to afford child care for a long period of time and can arrive and depart the party at the time that works for their family.  You can also consider giving ride-share and childcare vouchers to make getting to and from the event more affordable to your employees. Make sure that your entertainment is not offensive to any of your attendees, and that you’re considering all dietary needs when menu planning. When hiring vendors, consider diversity. For example, hire both male and female bartenders, and consider a mix of ethnicities, ages and races when hiring your photographer, DJ, and catering team. Having diversity baked into the fabric of your event will help make all demographics feel represented. Also be mindful to not make anyone uncomfortable. While having Santa Claus come to the holiday party may sound like a fun idea, it can make some with different religious practices feel uncomfortable, so err on the side of neutral when it comes to religious holiday connotations and references.

Consider Theme and Venue

Choosing a theme for the event can also help unite people and make standard holiday parties more creative and engaging. Stuck on a theme that applies to all? Try a decade in history. Asking everyone to dress up in 80’s or roaring 20’s attire can make a boring holiday party a little more interesting and also more inclusive. You can also look for an out-of-the-box venue to match the theme. Try a jazz club, speakeasy or a roller-rink to make the party unique!

Think About What Your Giving Back

Holidays are all about giving, so I always encourage building in a give-back activity or initiative into holiday parties. It can be as easy as having everyone bring a book, toy, or warm coat to donate, or can be an activity that everyone does together, like building bikes, teddy bears, wrapping gifts, or “health kits” to donate to local shelters. One year, for my team’s small holiday offsite, we decided to adopt several families that had lost everything in the Napa fires and fulfil their holiday wishes.  We divided our team into smaller groups, gave each the wish list and a budget, and let everyone spend three hours shopping in downtown San Francisco for gifts for their family. We then enjoyed cocktails and appetizers while wrapping the gifts. It was a great way to give back and also a great teambuilding activity. When planning a corporate event, also consider the vendors you hire. At my company holiday party this year, I specifically selected a caterer that uses only organic and sustainably sourced products. The food was beautiful and delicious, and also had a minimal negatiec impact on the environment.

Focus on Just Three Things:

There’s limited time at holiday parties, and people generally want the opportunity to socialize with as many people as possible. Limit the time you spend on over-thinking the activities, and focus on the top three things that you think are important to people at yoru company. For instance, if they really care about great food, make sure you hire an excellent caterer or have an out of the box creative culinary experience (live action, food trucks, make-your-own treats, etc.) If alcohol is particularly important, consider pouring more budget into that area and bringing in an interactive component (champagne tasting and pairing is fun and festive). Music can be a great way to add a memorable aspect to the event. Consider a surprise solo performance, live jazz band to kick off the night, or even a comedian if the atmosphere is right. If activities are important, plan one or two fun experiences to entertan guests. Photobooths or photo-ops are a great idea because they offer a way for guests to interact at the event,  and also provide a memento of the event, especially since people tend to dress-up for holiday parties. Remember, at the end of the day, geusts tend to remember just three things at any given event, so pick your three areas of focus and prioritize your budget and time!

Budget Saving Ideas:

The end of the year is often a time that companies want to give back, but are also mindful of cost-saving strategies as budgets are max’d out. If budget is particularly tight, consider a day-time event and position it as “family friendly”. You’ll save considerably on food, booze, and venue rental and also win many people by giving them an evening back! You can also consider post-poning your holiday party until January. Venue rental rates drop considerably after the holidays and it also gives people something to look forward to in the new year. Consider limiting options for food and beverage, but make them higher quality options. For instance, I had a budget for my wines but really wanted to make sure we had a good sparkling option. So I convinced the caterer to give us a great sparkling option, and just remove on of the white wines that was going to be offered. You can also cut back on expensive florals (nobody remembers these anyways) with fun, edible centerpieces like candy and confections that double as desserts.

In short, employing some strategy to your office holiday party planning can make the difference between a success or a flop. I’d love to hear about your successes (or areas for improvement) - send me your best holiday party stories!