Great Events

Don’t underestimate the power of webinars. A well-built webinar program can create ongoing opportunities to educate audiences, build relationships, and support sales teams. 



In this episode, Felicia Asiedu sits down with Sarah Jordan Usher, Global Events and Field Marketing Manager at Mastercam, to discuss how they built a scalable webinar strategy from scratch. 

Sarah shares how Mastercam grew its webinar program from a brand-new initiative into a consistent channel for customer engagement. She covers how to create repeatable webinar processes, measure success beyond attendance, use audience insights to inform follow-up, and connect digital and in-person experiences across the customer journey. 

What you'll learn:

• How to build repeatable webinar programs that scale engagement
• Webinar success metrics beyond attendance numbers
• The importance of connecting webinars with broader event and field marketing programs

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Sarah Jordan Usher of Mastercam

(03:43) Understand your webinar audiences and goals

(06:31) Using field events to build brand connections

(09:09) How events build customer loyalty

(11:45) Measuring ROI and customer journey impact

(14:03) Building a repeatable webinar strategy

Great content isn't enough to wow audiences anymore. When every event can deliver a polished keynote, personalization becomes the real differentiator.



In this episode, Stephanie Sweetland sits down with Nigel Reeves, Senior Director of Event Operations at YPO, who runs over 500 events a year for 37,000 members worldwide. They discuss how member data should inform event design, how to use AI to move faster without losing the personal touch, and what it takes to get a whole team to adopt new tools.

What you'll learn:

• How to use data to create more personalized member experiences
• Ways AI can cut admin work for event planners
• Signals that indicate an event program has outgrown its process

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Nigel Reeves

(02:27) Moving beyond content to create connection

(06:08) Connecting event data across platforms

(07:44) Events for younger audiences

(08:47) Creating innovation teams for AI adoption

(11:43) Advice for navigating event evolution

A sold-out event does not always mean it’s successful.

Big registration numbers and packed rooms are nice, but those numbers alone don’t tell you whether an event achieved what it set out to do.

In this episode, Felicia Asiedu sits down with Mahoganey Jones, founder and CEO of Event Specialists, to discuss how event professionals can move beyond vanity metrics and focus on meaningful KPIs to measure performance. Mahoganey explains how she defines stronger event outcomes, evaluates the true impact of event content, and borrows ideas from other industries to create more strategic and memorable experiences.

What you'll learn:

• How to move beyond vanity metrics and measure event impact
• Why event goals should always connect to business outcomes
• How to use feedback loops to evaluate content effectiveness



Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists

(01:23) Moving beyond registration numbers and vanity metrics

(04:08) Measuring the real impact of event content

(05:53) Using the start-stop-keep framework

(09:00) Meaningful event performance benchmarks

(10:27) Borrowing ideas from other industries

Planning an event is hard enough. Without the right processes in place, it's chaotic and nearly impossible to scale.

For the Wounded Warrior Project, building a stronger event program meant replacing fragmented processes with clear systems, defined responsibilities, and leadership support.

In this episode, Felicia Asiedu sits down with Paige Marg and Sarah Lutz from the Wounded Warrior Project to talk about how their team built a robust events program from the ground up. They explain how standardized workflows, a two-planner model, and better reporting improved efficiency, strengthened trust, and helped leadership recognize the full value of the events team.

What you'll learn:

• Why clear ownership reduces friction between teams
• How to build processes that flex as your event volume grows
• How to use past event data to justify future budget asks

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet the Wounded Warrior Project event team

(02:08) How events rebuild community and camaraderie

(04:08) Building processes for an event program

(08:59) How the two-planner model works

(11:09) Reporting event value to leadership

(13:35) Becoming strategic subject matter experts

Your event had 1,000 attendees. Great. But how many showed buying intent?

Attendance, booth traffic, and badge scans only tell part of the story.

In this episode, Stephanie Sweetland sits down with Nick Bennett from Reachdesk, to discuss how marketers can connect event engagement to pipeline and prove business impact. Nick explains why events work best when they are treated as part of an integrated growth strategy rather than a standalone tactic. He shares which intent signals matter most, how sales and marketing can improve follow-up, and where AI can simplify reporting and analysis.

What you'll learn:

• How to connect event engagement signals to pipeline
• Why badge scans shouldn’t automatically become MQLs
• How AI can simplify event reporting and analysis

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Nick Bennett from Reachdesk

(01:29) Why traditional event metrics fall short

(03:36) Identifying the strongest intent signals

(08:11) Nick’s event impact tracker

(10:21) Turning events into a growth engine

(15:00) Opportunities for gifting to create memorable experiences

Impact tracker: https://event-impact.lovable.app/

TED is so much more than just an events company. 

Globally, their audience trusts them to spread big ideas, spark important conversations, and create meaningful experiences. In this episode, Rachel Andrews sits down with Monique Ruff-Bell, Chief Program and Strategy Officer at TED Conferences.

Monique takes us behind the curtain of their global ecosystem and world-class event strategy. She discusses their human-centered approach, their dedication to long-term speaker development, and their strategy for building loyalty among younger audiences.

What you’ll learn:

• How to design experiences that build real emotional connection
• The importance of speaker curation, topic development, and script refinement
• Why you need to serve audience segments through different stages of life

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Monique Ruff-Bell from TED Conferences

(05:37) The framework behind TED's event design

(09:02) How to create content around hope and optimism

(10:47) TED's three flagship events

(16:28) How TED filters 22,000 speaker recommendations

(18:36) How AI helps content curation and event strategy

(23:08) Using events for a year-round digital and community strategy

(27:17) Where to draw inspiration from as event planners

Events are getting smaller and smaller in 2026.

It’s got a lot to do with AI. Audiences are skeptical, overloaded, and craving something authentic. Intimate gatherings, personalized experiences, and IRL events foster real connection.

In this episode, Felicia Asiedu and Rachel Andrews sit down with new Co-host and Goldcast CMO Kelly Cheng for a mid-year trend check-in. They discuss why building trust is more crucial than ever as AI quietly transforms the events industry. 

What you’ll learn:

• Why in-person events are crucial for building trust
• The importance of intentional venue selection and design
• How events are evolving into a performance-driven channel

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Welcome Kelly Cheng, new co-host at Great Events

(07:20) Trust as a differentiator in the age of AI

(17:05) The rise of micro events

(22:03) Why unique venues are trending

(24:40) Event-led growth in marketing

(30:47) Practical advice for teams overwhelmed by event measurement

Can events be both data-driven and people-focused?

According to MPI’s Lori Pugh and Rachel Benedick, absolutely. In this episode, Rachel Andrews chats with industry veterans, Lori and Rachel, about how to design experiences that delight participants while aligning with revenue goals. They discuss what it really means to know your audience, how data can transform events into meaningful experiences, and why revenue is still the ultimate metric for success. 

What you’ll learn:

• The importance of understanding attendee personas and goals
• How to drive business outcomes without compromising attendee experience
• Why tried-and-true practices must be balanced with flexibility and innovation

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Lori Pugh and Rachel Benedick of MPI

(03:55) Understanding attendee personas and goals

(09:35) Meeting your attendees’ needs

(13:17) Aligning event goals with revenue and growth

(18:09) Quality vs. quantity when attracting attendees

(22:56) Opportunities for growth in the events industry

(26:59) Learning and adapting from attendee insights

Meet the woman who built the sponsorship strategy behind Fanatics Fest.

In this episode, Rachel Andrews and Felicia Asiedu sit down with Paulina Giusti, Director of Sponsorships at Fanatics Events. Paulina shares what it takes to craft activations, energize brands, and drive revenue for a festival that draws 175,000 sports fans.

She takes us behind the scenes of Fanatics Fest, revealing how internal alignment, strategic sponsor partnerships, and fan-first experiences can turn an event into a memorable and profitable venture.

What you’ll learn:

• How sponsorship activations are built from strategy to execution
• What B2B marketers can learn from B2C fan experiences
• Why relationships are the foundation of successful events

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Paulina Giusti of Fanatics Events

(03:55) The difference between B2B and B2C events

(06:22) What Fanatics Fest actually is

(08:13) Designing memorable fan experiences

(14:22) How sponsorship fulfillment actually works

(19:50) Measuring sponsorship ROI and event success

(22:22) Advice for event marketers moving into B2C

Daniel Murray on How B2B Marketers Earn Attention in 2026

What’s broken in B2B marketing? And how do we fix it?

In this episode, Camille Arnold and Daniel Murray, founder of The Marketing Millennials, discuss why earning attention is harder than ever before. 

In this age of AI, creating content is easy, but standing out feels impossible. Daniel shares why brand marketing is making a comeback, how events have evolved into powerful content and community engines, and why marketers need to rethink their approach to measuring success. Find out how B2B marketers can still stand out, build trust, and drive pipeline in today’s crowded digital landscape.

What you’ll learn: 

• Why the obsession with measurement may be hurting creativity
• How events can become year-round content engines, not just one-off efforts
• Why IRL experiences are becoming more valuable in the age of AI

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Meet Daniel Murray of The Marketing Millennials

(08:07) Why brand and demand need to work together

(13:41) Personality-led content and owning your audience

(16:55) Events as content engines and trust accelerators

(19:19) Should B2B marketers take Reddit seriously?

(25:41) How to make events stand out in a crowded market