Plan-tastic Events Podcast

One Community with Megan Carnell and Madison Navarro

Involving the community during festivals and events can not only help to boost community pride but also cut cost and time preparing the event. Learn about different ways you can involve your local community members and businesses for your next event.

This episode of Plantastic Events will teach you the benefits of involving the community and tips on how to increase community pride for your festivals and events. Our guests include Megan Carnell and Madison Navarro from the City of Sugar Hill. Megan and Madison manage the events at the City of Sugar Hill including the famous, The Bowl, which is a unique amphitheater located in Downtown Sugar Hill. They host a number of concerts with many famous celebrities and it has a capacity to seat 1,750 people! Megan and Madison also host the Sugar Rush, which has around 12,000 attendees!

Hot topics for episode 017:

1. The story of Sugar Rush and The Bowl
2. How to increase community involvement with your festival or event
3. Pros and cons of involving the community
4. Ideas on how to create and foster local community spirit

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: Sugar Hill, Sugar Rush, Fall festival, festivals, art festivals, cities, entertainment, volunteers, community involvement, event planning, event management. All for event professionals.

Duluth Fall Festival with Kay Montgomery

Learn more about the famous Duluth Fall Festival and how they host over 100,000 people for their festival.

This episode of Plantastic Events will give you an inside glimpse of the Duluth Fall Festival with our guest Kay Montgomery. Kay is a former Chairperson for the Duluth Fall Festival since its inception. Kay has been with Duluth Fall Festival for over 38 years! The festival is one of the most successful festivals in the southeast with around 100,000 people that show up. The festival has also earned many awards for Duluth Fall Festival including the 2015 Best Large Festival in Southeast award by the Southeast Festivals and Events Association. She is also the owner of Parsons Gallery since 2000.

Hot topics for episode 016:

1. What makes Duluth Fall Festival so unique
2. How and when Duluth Fall Festival started
3. Some of their creative Fall themes
4. The different types of entertainments

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: Fall festival, festivals, cities, entertainment, volunteers, event planning, event management. All for event professionals.

Pump It Up! with DJ Q-Tip

Having a successful event or festival is not just about having the best food or venue, it's also about finding the right entertainment. More importantly, you need to find the right DJ for your event. Learn about best practices in the DJ world and how to book a DJ for your next event or festival.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will you teach you about the DJing world and best practices to make a memorable event with our guest Gabriel Peck. Gabriel is a DJ based in Atlanta, Georgia with over 25 years of experience. He is also known as DJ Q-Tip. He plays for many festivals, events and many upscale corporate sponsors such as the Malibu Rum Spring Break Tour, Celebrity and NFL/NBA Sporting Events. You can be sure to hear the best in Open-Format tracks that include 90's, EDM, Pop, Top 40, Trap, Rock, Hip-Hop, Reggae, 80's, R&B, 70's, Dance and much more.

Hot topics for episode 015:

1. How to work with events on a tight budget and multiple decision-makers
2. Creative ways to attract and pump up the audience
3. How to deal with weather-related issues and festivals that can get messy
4. Tips and tricks for event planners when working with DJs

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: DJ, DJing, music, event planning, event management, throwbacks, parties, events, festivals. All for event professionals.

Every festival provides an experience but you want to give the best experience to all your attendees. Learn how to maximize your sponsorship exposure in creative ways to leave a lasting experience.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will you teach you how to improve your sponsorship game with our guest, Amy Doherty. Amy is the Events Manager for the City of Suwanee. Amy is responsible for over 40 events that are produced by the city and she has worked with the city for over 12 years. The events include privately planned events, festivals, races, food truck, beer/wine, bluegrass, jazz, and so many more events! Suwanee events have earned many awards under her leadership and continue to win. When she's not at work, she is spending time with her family in Suwanee and they've lived in Suwanee for over 20 years.

Hot topics for episode 014:

1. Creative ways to boost sponsorship exposure before, during, and after an event
2. Tips on getting your sponsors to participate and engage with attendees
3. Boost sponsor and vendor information by utilizing social media platforms
4. How to improve giveaway options at booths

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: city hall, Suwanee, event management, sponsors, vendors, booths, event planning, sponsorship, festivals. All for event professionals.

Learn about the event planning world for non-profits and fundraisers.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will teach you how non-profits host events for the community with our guest, Yotin Srivanjarean. Yotin is the Vice President at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS). CPACS is a private non-profit based in Atlanta, GA. CPACS is the first, largest and oldest organization in the Southeast to focus on issues and concerns of Asian Americans, especially women, children and families with low incomes.

Hot topics for episode 013:

1. Tips on raising money for a cause or current event
2. How to train and manage volunteers for a large event
3. Tips on hosting events for political awareness
4. How to work with different communities with different languages

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: non-profits, event management, fundraising, civic engagement, event planning, volunteer recruitment, T.E.A. walk, empowerment, political awareness. All for event professionals.

Learn about the ins and outs of hosting a beer festival that leave beer-lovers always coming back for more.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will give you a glimpse behind Atlanta Beer Festivals and how they partner with local breweries and different cities throughout Georgia with our guest, Mike DiLonardo. Mike is the Director of Operations at Atlanta Beer Festivals. He is in charge of all the Atlanta Beer Festival business operations, festival logistics, corporate partnerships, and marketing. They host over 14 events per year throughout Georgia including Atlanta Winter, Spring and Summer Beer Fest, Atlanta Brunch Festival and Wine Festivals too. Approximately 3000 or more people attend the festivals and they have over 150 different beers!

Hot topics for episode 012:

1. How to build a super team to help with all the logistical needs
2. How to find the best breweries and how to build partnerships with breweries in US
3. How to deal with sudden weather-related issues
4. How to partner with different cities for licensing

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: beer festival, brunch festival, event management, event planning, venue location, breweries, wine festival, food trucks, vendors. All for event professionals.

As an event planner, it is incredibly important for you to make sure that you create a safe environment for all your guests and have a secure venue.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will teach you how to improve your security planning to better identify security issues and to ensure a safe and secure event, with our guest, Courtney Spriggs. Courtney Spriggs is the Milton Community Outreach and Engagement Manager. She creates community engagement and builds relationship through many community events. Prior to her current role, she spent 15 years in law enforcement. Although she is not in law enforcement anymore, she still volunteers as the secretary to the board of directors of the Sgt. David P. Land Memorial Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 82. They aid officers and their families in North Fulton and Forsyth, Hall and Dawson counties.

Hot topics for episode 011:

1. How to build a team that focuses on security prior to the event
2. Ideas to improve coordination with law enforcement officers and city police departments
3. How to conduct an assessment of the venue prior to the event
4. How to be prepared for possible dangers such as extreme weather, intentional or unintentional attacks

Courtney also shares two important resources to help event planners: guide to plan and manage security for major events and a handy event planning checklist to stay on track and on budget from Georgia Tech.

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: security, risk assessment, emergencies, security plan, event management, event planning, emergency routes, and venue location. All for event professionals.

Want to be a better public speaker and boost your confidence, especially when you're organizing events?

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will teach you how to become a better public speaker and engage with your audience so that you leave a lasting impression with our guest, Jim Cathcart. Jim Cathcart is an entrepreneur, an award-winning motivational speaker, and an author. He is a TEDx presenter with over 1 1/4 million views and his videos are on Top 1% worldwide, was inducted into the Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame by Top Sales World Magazine, and an author of 18 books including the international bestsellers: The Acorn Principle, The Self Motivation Handbookand Relationship Selling. He has also delivered over 3,100 professional speeches around the world!

Hot topics for episode 010:

1. Tips to boost confidence while speaking
2. Ideas to better engage with your audience and how to make your presentation more interactive
3. How to flip your mindset to focus on helping your audience instead of your speech
4. How to respond when sudden security threats occur while on stage

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: public speaking, cathcart, motivational speaking, event planning, event management, networking, TEDx, presenter, sales, marketing, author, skill-building. Guest: Jim Cathcart from Cathcart Institute. All for event professionals.

Are you interested in hosting a comedy event? Hosting a comedy event can be very exciting but also challenging! You have to attract the right audience and the right talent.

This episode of Plantastic Events podcast will teach you how to successfully host comedy events with our guest, James Byndon. James Byndon is the president and CEO of JABB Pro Inc., which is a multi-media production company formed in 1996. He has produced seven short films and was called an Award Winning Producer by the film festival for his best short film. He is also a famous percussionist with an emphasis on drums and has been playing for over 40 years! Overall, James has a unique background as an entrepreneur, producer, videographer, editor and musician!

James will talk about the following topics:

1. Right venue to host a live comedy event
2. Topics for comedians and off-limit topics
3. How to find the right talent for comedy shows
4. How to do you deal with no-show performers

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: film production, event management, event planning, networking, venue planning, comedy shows, comedians. Guest: James Byndon from JABB Pro Inc. All for event professionals.

Startups are often built based on a bad experience and a founder just wants to fix it and not realizing how many people experience the same pain point. This is an episode of how Stooge started and why it all started.

This episode is an extra episode to give you a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes and you'll get an opportunity to meet our CEO, Aly Hussaini! Aly Hussaini is the CEO and co-founder of Stooge. He specializes in developing iOS and Android apps, platform design, web integration, database management, consumer thinking, and analytics enhancement to Stooge. Prior to Stooge, he led technology development in public safety and provided business intelligence and analytics consulting in healthcare and finance industries.

Aly will talk about the following topics:

1. Aly's childhood stories on programming
2. The inspiration to Stooge
3. Stooge company values
4. Stooge's first customers

Produced by Stoogeapp.com. Topics include: founder story, event planning, event management, event technology, event management software, stooge app, startup, CEO, event automation. Guest: Aly Hussaini from Stooge. All for event professionals.