Mayhem & Method

Ten thousand attendees. Millions watching online. One very important keynote. And absolutely no Wi-Fi. When the entire network at Moscone goes down, the backup plan turns out to be something nobody had on the run-of-show BINGO card: an event planner's phone hotspot.

Jen Santos sits down with longtime event-tech leader Paul Singh to unpack what happens when technology, executive expectations, and live-event reality collide. What starts as the story of a Fortune 20 keynote being streamed over a Verizon hotspot turns into a much bigger conversation about backup internet, badge-printing chaos, cybersecurity threats, last-minute agenda changes, and why "just move the bits and bytes around" is not an actual event strategy.

Paul also shares lessons from 12 years in event tech and explains why the support clients casually "opt out of" during planning suddenly becomes priceless when something breaks onsite.

Top Takeaways from Paul & Jen's convo:

• Your backup needs a backup. If the keynote depends on internet access, "the venue Wi-Fi should be fine" is not a resilience strategy.

• Cheap now can get expensive later. Dedicated tech support may feel optional during budgeting—right up until you're flying DevOps engineers to Vegas at 1:00 a.m.

• Event planners will find a way. When the network dies, badges stop printing, and executives start panicking, somebody will eventually say, "Have we tried my hotspot?" And occasionally, somehow, it works.

Links:

helina.ai

LinkedIn @psinghpdx

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

What do you do when a bottle of industrial-strength adhesive remover gets run over by a forklift and sprays your nearly finished exhibit? Or when you walk onto the show floor hours before opening and discover your booth graphics have gone full Salvador Dalí?

You fix it. Fast.

And preferably before the client finishes saying, "That's not supposed to look like that, is it?"

Jen Santos sits down with Chris Dunn, VP of Sales and New Business Development at BlueHive Exhibits, to talk about what really happens when trade show plans meet the chaos of the show floor.

This convo begins with flying Goof Off and melting vinyl letters and turns into a conversation about why relationships matter when everything goes sideways, how exhibit companies have evolved from booth builders into experiential marketing partners, and why owning a mistake earns more trust than pointing fingers ever will.

Chris also shares a vital lesson 30 years in the industry has taught him—the best exhibits actually support business goals, they don't just look pretty from the aisle.

Top Takeaways from Chris & Jen's convo:

• Your emergency plan might just be your Rolodex. When the show opens in two hours and you've got a crisis, the people you've helped over the years suddenly matter a whole lot more than whose logo is on their shirt.

• "Pretty" booths aren't enough anymore. Start with what success actually means—leads, recruiting, awareness, product launches—then design the space, messaging, and experience around that goal.

• If the activation has nothing to do with the brand, it's just free socks. Coffee carts, holograms, popcorn, games, and other "gimmicks" can absolutely work—if attendees remember you after they walk away.

Links:

www.blue-hive.com

LinkedIn @chrisjdunn1

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

You can build the perfect agenda, confirm every detail, and still discover at lunch that half the room refuses to sit down. Because sometimes the biggest event curveball isn't AV, catering, or weather—it's realizing important cultural rules everyone else knows but were never actually explained to you.

Jen Santos sits down with David Moore, Director of Fun at Moore Style Events, to talk about the particular brand of mayhem that comes with producing events around the world. What starts as a story about trying to seat 150 doctors at lunch in Tokyo turns into a masterclass in cultural awareness, adaptability, accessibility, and knowing when the agenda needs to bend.

David shares lessons from Japan, Buenos Aires, Spain, London, and Europe, including why 7:00 dinner may not actually mean 7:00, why site visits still matter, and why event planners apparently now need speaker vetting protocols nobody imagined 20 years ago.

Top Takeaways from David & Jen's convo:

• Culture beats your run of show. Meal times, hierarchy, seating, breaks, and social expectations can derail a perfectly reasonable agenda if you assume your version of "normal" travels with you.

• Accessibility requires painfully specific questions. "Are there stairs?" sounds simple until someone's mobility—or a very expensive piece of equipment—depends on the answer.

• AI is a tool, not your new event team. Use it for translations, comparisons, cultural research, and tedious admin work. Just maybe don't let it run the show unsupervised.

Links:

moorestyleevents.com LinkedIn @davidlmoore LinkedIn @moorestyleevents Instagram @moorestyleevents

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

You know it's going to be an interesting event day when someone checks in early, charms the registration desk, and casually walks away with your laptop. What follows? Badge swapping, security surveillance, and an accidental crash course in event security that feels suspiciously like an episode of CSI: Registration Desk.

Jen Santos sits down with longtime friend and event pro Kate Zurlo-Cuva to talk about the day a seemingly friendly attendee stole a registration laptop which basically kicked off a venue-wide investigation.

It started as one small exception to the registration schedule and quickly turned into security teams tracking badges, reviewing surveillance footage, and discovering that the thief had swapped credentials to throw everyone off the trail. Kate and Jen talk about what the experience taught her about holding the line on registration procedures, protecting attendee data, understanding just how much venue security is watching behind the scenes, and why event safety is everyone's responsibility.

And because one security story is never enough, there are also Parisian pickpockets, overcrowded venues, fire marshals, restricted football pitches, and a casual bomb threat thrown in for good measure.

Top Takeaways from Kate & Jen's convo:

• Registration rules exist for a reason. That harmless little exception can become a much bigger problem before you've finished your coffee.
• Your badge is basically a golden ticket. Photos, holograms, deactivated credentials, and access controls matter when people are surprisingly creative about getting where they shouldn't.
• Security is doing way more than standing by the door. From surveillance rooms to crowd control to emergency response, there's an entire operation happening behind the scenes while the rest of us are arguing about catering counts.

Links:

https:@kate-zurlo-cuva on LinkedIn

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

You can spend a million dollars on event Wi-Fi, replace every router in the building, and still watch an entire room of laptops suddenly decide they live in Germany. Because apparently, even the most sophisticated event technology is only one mysterious firmware update away from complete mayhem.

Jen Santos sits down with Josh Shepherd, VP of AI Solutions at Amego, to talk about the event technology failures that make planners twitch. Things like unreliable internet, overcrowded expo floors, broken badge printers, and integrations that become useless the moment Wi-Fi disappears.

What starts as a story about taking over a venue's entire internet infrastructure turns into a practical conversation about offline-first technology, backup systems, attendee experience, and knowing when the best solution is simply to let everyone into the keynote, badge or no badge.

Josh and Jen are quick to agree blame is useless during an event crisis, calm problem-solving earns client trust, and nobody—regardless of title—is ever too important to carry a box.

Top Takeaways from Josh & Jen's convo:

• Plan for the internet to fail. Offline apps, locally stored scan data, backup routers, and digital badges are not overkill. They are Tuesday.
• Solve the attendee's problem first. The broken printer is your emergency. Missing the keynote is theirs.
• Nobody's too good to carry a box. Great event teams skip the blame game, grab the box of lanyards, and fix what needs fixing.

Links:

amego.com

@jtshepherd on LinkedIn

@heyamego on LinkedIn

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

One attendee. One last-minute halal request. And one chef who turned a potential food-and-beverage scramble into the best hotel meal the guest had ever eaten. Because apparently feeding people at events requires more than ordering 400 identical boxed lunches and hoping for the best.

Jen Santos sits down with Tracy Stuckrath, founder and Chief Connecting Officer of Thrive Meetings and Events, to talk about the mayhem hiding inside event menus. What starts as a three-days-before-show dietary request becomes a much bigger conversation about food allergies, inclusive menu planning, surprise catering costs, wasted ketchup, lonely vegan appetizers, and why "they can just find something nearby" is not an actual event strategy.

Tracy shares how asking better registration questions, calling attendees directly, and designing menus around common dietary needs can improve the guest experience while reducing special meals, food waste, and unexpected expenses.

Top Takeaways from Tracy & Jen's convo:

• Design for inclusion early. A thoughtfully planned menu costs less than 200 emergency meals and the apology tour that follows.
• Pick up the phone. "White bread and pork" may sound like a catering riddle, but a quick conversation can reveal what an attendee actually needs.
• Stop feeding the trash. Smaller condiment bowls, smarter attendance estimates, and flexible ingredients can save money without turning lunch into a sad apple and crunchy water situation.

Links:

thrivemeetings.com eatingatameeting.com @tracystuckrath on LinkedIn @eatingatameeting on Instagram @thrivemeetingsevents on Facebook @eatingatameeting on Facebook @eatingatameeting on YouTube

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

What happens when the event app crashes, the Wi-Fi disappears, and the entire schedule lives inside the technology that just stopped working? Apparently, "blame the vendor" is not a contingency plan. Rude.

Jen Santos, host of Mayhem & Method, sits down with Vinnu Deshetty, founder of Event ROI Coach, to talk about event technology, data, and the very human chaos behind both. What starts as a conversation about a failed mobile app quickly becomes a deeper look at planning for tech outages, understanding how attendees actually behave, and choosing tools based on real needs instead of shiny features.

They talk about offline access, attendee communications, survey data, AI-assisted analysis, and why event tech needs a dedicated advocate before everyone arrives onsite and starts frantically refreshing.

Top Takeaways from Vinnu & Jen's convo:

• Plan for the app to fail: Offline access, backup schedules, and clear attendee instructions beat panicked printing every time.

• Use the tech you can actually support: More features do not automatically mean a better event. Sometimes gamification is just an expensive button nobody had time to configure.

• Collect data with a purpose: Digital surveys, paper forms, onsite conversations—use whatever works for the audience, then make sure the results do not quietly die in a spreadsheet.

Links:

@event-roi-coach on LinkedIn

@EventROICoach on YouTube

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

What do you do when the AV truck shows up… and half the gear is missing? Then the second truck shows up with the wrong cables. This is just one of the ways event production keeps everyone humble

In this episode of Mayhem and Method, Jen sits down with Elias Puurunen, founder of Tractus Events, to talk about the beautiful disaster zone where hybrid event production, in-house AV, missing equipment, fire alarms, and client expectations all collide. What starts as a fairly straightforward three-day conference with breakout rooms, cameras, confidence monitors, and streaming quickly turns into a lesson in why "preferred AV provider" does not always mean "show-ready."

Elias walks through how his team stayed focused, used the delay to troubleshoot what they could control, kept the client insulated from the chaos, and still pulled off a smooth show once the doors opened.

Top Takeaways from Elias & Jen's convo:

• Trust your AV Spidey Sense. If the boardroom quote makes no sense, the rest of the gear list probably deserves a very suspicious eyebrow raise.
• Control what you can, fix what you find. Waiting on missing equipment? Great. Time to test cues, signal paths, streams, and all the tiny gremlins hiding in the setup.
• Emergency plans are not optional decor. Even in the case of fire alarms, evacuations, VIP security, and internet outages, event pros don't panic. They plan, radio, reroute, and maybe emotionally recover later.

Links:

tractusevents.com

@eliaspuurunen on LinkedIn

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

You know your event app is having a moment when adoption drops from "everyone's using it!" to "does anyone have a paper guide?"

In this episode of Mayhem & Method, we get into what happens when a shiny new messaging feature becomes a sponsor spam cannon. Fun for literally no one.

Host Jen Santos is joined by Josh Vande Krol and Marty Choate, co-founders of Intrivium, for a story that starts with great app engagement and quickly turns into attendee mutiny. When sponsors and exhibitors discovered they could message and request meetings with basically everyone, they did exactly what event pros fear they'll do: they messaged basically everyone.

What follows is a very event-tech-flavored disaster involving overloaded calendars, abandoned apps, furious executives, 5:00 AM fixes, and the hard-earned realization that "engagement" is only good when it's not making people want to throw their phones into the nearest ballroom trash can.

Top Takeaways from Jen's convo with Josh and Marty:

• Uncontrolled features become chaos features. Messaging, meeting requests, notifications, networking tools—great in theory, disaster in bulk-send reality.
• Bad attendee experiences have a long memory. Even after the fix, people may not come back unless you communicate clearly, rebuild trust, and maybe give the app a fresh coat of "this is totally different now" paint.
• Mayhem makes the method. Rate limits, permissions, ticketing systems, sponsor controls, and better comms usually exist because something went sideways first. As is tradition.

Links:

www.intrivium.com

@JoshVandeKrol on LinkedIn

@MartyChoate on LinkedIn

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.

A 10-foot-by-20-foot seating chart, a 400-person gala, and a client casually adding guests up to the last minute. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty.

In this episode of Mayhem & Method, Jen Santos talks with Andrew Roby of Andrew Roby Events about a multi-day conference that turned into a master class in why "just a few more people" is never just a few more people.

What starts as a tightly planned awards gala — with assigned seating, sponsor tables, QR-code check-in, place cards, meal counts, and a massive printed seating chart — quickly spirals when the client starts handing over revised guest lists an hour before doors open. Then came the screenshots, the surprise attendees, the dietary restrictions, the sponsor table shuffle, and, because apparently the universe was not done, the wrong script in the teleprompter.

Andrew walks through how his team kept guests feeling respected, worked with catering to salvage the meal situation, called an emergency intermission to fix the program, and later made the hard but necessary call to walk away from a client.

Top Takeaways from Drew & Jen's convo:

• A plan only works if people follow it. Revolutionary, we know. But no seating chart, BEO, or run of show can save you from a client freelancing at the eleventh hour.
• Last-minute guests are not just "extra chairs." They are meals, linens, dietary needs, sponsor relationships, floor plans, staffing shifts, and one very tired planner doing emotional damage control in dress shoes.
• Post-event debriefs matter, especially when things go sideways. Andrew's process of gathering feedback from vendors, venues, AV, and the planning team shows the difference between blaming and actually learning. One is useful. The other gets you fired as a client.

Links:

andrewrobyevents.com

IG @andrewrobyevents | Facebook @AndrewRobyEvents | LinkedIn @andrewrobyeventplanner

This episode was produced by Audiotocracy Podcast Production.