eXchange by Allseated

Dahlia El Gazzar| Engaging Your Audience

In today’s episode of the exchange podcast, we are joined by Dahlia El Gazzar, a tech-therapist and events experience designer from Dahlia plus agency, which is a full marketing agency. 

The existing business models that enabled organizations to use events for marketing, sales, and revenue creation must be redesigned to thrive in the changing market environment. Learning how to handle these disruptions to create intentionally designed experiences in virtual and in-person events is vital in planning better events.

Dahlia's company specializes in helping event professionals figure out what hybrid means for them. They also develop empowerment hubs for professionals by pushing them out of their comfort zone to care more about their branding, leads, productivity, and professional well-being to improve their event performance. 

During the episode, Dehlia shares her vast knowledge and experience in hybrid and live events to provide you with powerful tools to plan your next event. She also talks about strategies that you can use to personalize attendees’ experience and increase hybrid engagement to remain relevant to your stakeholders.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

[03:50] What planners need in the form of tools, education, and perception to achieve hybrid experience

[05;22] How to incorporate empathy in event-user experience design

[06:57] Reinventing your business model to leverage strategic advantages in event planning and experience

[09:40] What is hybrid and how to balance on-site and virtual events to provide hybrid value

[11:24] How to tailor your events to give your attendees a perfect experience 

[15:32] Why planning everything internally is not an ideal process

[19:55] What to focus in designing content for new platforms to deliver value

[22:38] The winning sales and marketing perspectives in online and virtual events

[24:16] Embracing hybrid in the initial awareness of events to avoid stand by marketing

[28:40] How to connect with Dahlia

Notable Quotes:

“Understand your event participants and personalize their experience during the event and not after.”- Dahlia El Gazzar.

“Empathy is needed now more than ever; everybody has something going on, and you have to be very cognitive of that.”- Dahlia El Gazzar.

“We have multiple tools out there, and the goal is not to use all of them, just get a baseline understanding and be a good chef in choosing the right ingredients for your success.” Nick Borelli. 

“There is a lot of value in having marketers as designers from the beginning and not just add men.” Nick Borelli. 

Links:

Dahlia El Gazzar

Website: www.dahliaplus.com

LinkedIn: Dahlia El Gazzar

Twitter: Dahlia El Gazzar

Nick Borelli

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Nick Borelli

Twitter: Nick Borelli 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Upcoming Interview with Dahlia El Gazzar: Lighting Round Bonus Episode

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Asking The Right Questions

The next thing you ought to consider as a planner should be Hybrid; it’s the default event planning strategy that will help you take your events to the next level and improve your attendees’ experience. In this episode of the exchange podcast, we are joined by Timothy Simpson, a brand and engagement chief strategist from Maritz management design studio.

Timothy also worked in a variety of industries and practices as a change agent before going back to grad school to pursue his master's in financial poetry. From there, he worked with global Fortune 150 and founded his own agency: TS Creative Consulting. Timothy’s mission is to make a difference in people’s lives. He joined forces with the design studio to combine his expertise in brand marketing and change agent transformation skillsets to help clients make impactful experiences that touch people’s lives.

During the episode, Timothy talks about change and what you need to make edible changes in this era of disruption to provide clarity and prepare your next step in hybrid event planning.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

[00:34] Tim's career journey

[03:40] Why planners are not prepared for the level of hybrid demands their attendees will demand in the future

[06:28] Marketing trends in the event planning space

[09:35] How to use your experience to prepare for the next step

[12:53] Tools and strategies that you need to improve your clients’ experience

[17:52] Learn how to command success in your own organization

[19:50] Embracing face-to-face and digital symbiotic to deliver the greatest shared value

[23:05] The mysteries behind hybrid experiences

[25:10] How to rebrand your portfolio and prepare for an exceptional hybrid experience

[30:13] How to build trust and drive innovation in your organization

[32:38] How to use the two-way door decision-making strategy to beat the fear of testing new things and taking risks

[36:50] Creating changes that build your relationship with your attendees

Notable Quotes:

• “You can’t skip empathy in planning; people have different levels of comfort and feelings associated with different experiences, start with what they want and where they are.”- Nick Borelli. 
• “There is no one size that fits all; every organization, culture, and community, even from the same segment, are different.”- Nick Borelli. 
• “There has never been a kind disruption.” - Timothy Simpson 
• “The best scenario going forward is for each organization is to seek how face-to-face and digital can work in a symbiotic way.”- Nick Borelli.
• “Hybrid is not a destination; it's an effect that modifies your inputs.”- Nick Borelli. 
• “Disruption transform, just be transparent with your attendees when trying something new or when taking new risks.”- Timothy Simpson.
• “There is no doubt that at any moment, we are going to need to break the status quo to succeed.”- Timothy Simpson.

Links Mentioned:

Timothy Simpson

Linkedin: Timothy Simpson Linkedin

Nick Borelli

Email: [email protected]

Linkedin: Nick Borelli

Twitter: Nick Borelli 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy this teaser for this month's Interview: Timothy Simpson

Lighting Round Bonus Episode.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

People don’t live their lives going to events; they live in their experiences, and incorporating experiences that matter can increase their engagement and participation in any event. In this episode of the exchange podcast, we’re joined by Damany Daniels, a Chief imaginator at the event nerd, a boutique production management, and creative production agency. Daniel has over 20 years of experience in events, technical and production management, and engagement planning and strategy.

Daniel is also a co-host of the Casually Creative Podcast and a passionate event technical producer who is constantly seeking to create experiences that connect people with moments that shape them and change the world around them. His mission is to create engaging ways to integrate hybrid technology into your clients' event experiences to execute all your events successfully.

During this episode, Daniel shares how you can incorporate hybrid experiences in real-life virtual events to improve user retention while giving your attendees the power and opportunities to connect.

In This Episode, You Will Learn About:

[00:20] Daniel Back story

[01:48] The technology shift in event planning

[04:26] Real virtual events chronicles 

[09:07] How to create experiences that resonate with your experience

[10:43] Giving your attendee the power to connect through technology 

[16:18] Engaging your audience by integrating intentional sensory input

[22:28] How to tell your audience the most important variables in your events

[25:40] The recipe for creating shared user experience in events

[31:30] How to remove barriers and increase attendees’ retention

[33:30] Hybrid events and how to engage your audience online

[36:03] The future of the event industry 

[38:58] How to connect with Daniel

[40:27] Question and answer session

Notable Quotes:

• “Create an experience for people to engage; it doesn’t matter what the medium is”- Damany Daniels
• “Live event planners have to look at new technologies as enhancers and not the enemy.”-Damany Daniels
• ‘Hybrid is giving people the power and opportunity to connect.”- Damany Daniels
• “Our job is to listen and interpret the needs of our attendees and design for human inclusion.”- Damany Daniels
• “Hybrid can be anything as long as we’re looking into all the materials possible to determine the right mix.”- Nick Borelli

Links:

Website: www.nour.com

www.theeventnerd.com

Podcast: Casual Creative

LinkedIn: The Event Nerd

Twitter:  The Event Nerd

Facebook: The Event Nerd

Nick Borelli

Email: [email protected]

Linkedin: Nick Borelli

Twitter: Nick Borelli 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy this teaser for this month's Interview: Damany Daniel

Lighting Round Bonus Episode.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Exchange podcast, Nick has the pleasure to interview David Adler, the founder and chairman of BIZBash. David started his first media company, “Washington Dossier,” at the age of 21, a society magazine for the nation’s capital. He has also worked as the head of corporate communications for McMillan and Prime media, where he did all their event planning. 

At BizBash, David was the initial director for the state department; he created tons of programs, including the American Chef Corps, raised $25 million for the eighth floor of the state department, which is a museum, and helped turn the objects of art into a curriculum for education. David says that the biggest lesson he learned from his experience in event planning was that innovation and ideas bring event planning to hybrid.

During the episode, we talk about hybrid, and we dive into how innovation and ideas will help you maximize your resources to improve experience and success in your events.

Episode Highlights:

[00:34] David Adler career back story

[03:23] The two sides of the event planning industry

[04:37] Skill sets that you need most in event planning 

[06:53] The ultimate hybrid checklist for virtual and live events

[12:32] How to unlock hybrid experience by combining live and virtual experience 

[15:39] How to scale intimacy and conversation in live events

[18:13] Applying hybrid in the right way

[21:10] How to digitalize human experience through technologies to create different event styles

[25:33] The deconstructing large events to drive impact and provide the right experience

[27:22] Optimizing the quality of your program to improve people’s experience

[30:11] The secret tools to educating and connecting with your audience 

[33:26] Why Podcasting is the most intimate tool leverage that you can use to reach your audience

[35:08] How to use fiction to understand how people met and connect

[38:17] How to connect with David

[40:00] Ancillary content to amp your knowledge in hybrid event planning

Notable Quote:

• Life events are immediate trust accelerators, and once you meet someone in life events, you can do virtual events forever.
• Deconstructing your events into small groups will help design events to bring together people of the same feather. 
• Having the right chef that connects the right people at the right dinner is critical in moving the antiques and driving conversation.
• The biggest skill in event planning is hosting, the art of hosting and facilitating an event.
• Intimacy and democratization go hand in hand; there is no hybrid without the two in place; just putting your event on camera is not hybrid. 

Connect:

David Adler

Website: www.bizbash.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: David Adler

Nick Borelli

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Nick Borelli

Twitter: Nick Borelli 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enjoy this teaser for this month's Interview: BizBash's David Adler

Lighting Round Bonus Episode

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Each season of exChange focuses on a specific topical disruption impacting event planners ability to create intentionally designed experiences in both virtual and in-person events.

Industry veteran Nick Borelli of Allseated interviews thought leaders, educators, and practitioners for their critical insights in order to prepare planners for what’s next.

Disruption can be a powerful opportunity if you’re prepared. Consider this your prep course!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.