Hey Ella!
Post #1
Your real competitor isn't the conference down the street.
It's Netflix.
Recently I keynoted an event. At the end of the day, I went back to my hotel room and did exactly what your attendees did after your last event.
Netflix and chill.
That's your benchmark now.
Every event you design has to have a KPI around enjoyment and engagement. You cannot just sell, sell, sell.
When someone chooses to spend 3 hours at your event instead of scrolling through their favourite show, you need to earn that decision.
The question isn't: "Did we get 500 people there?"
The question is: "Would I actually go to this?"
Because if you wouldn't, neither will they.
Post #2
Attendees are spending more on your event than you are.
Not in money.
In time.
At WPP Stream, we do three-day residential events. 300 media CEOs. People like Lachlan Murdoch, executives from Nike, Google, NVIDIA.
These are people who could be anywhere in the world.
Instead, they're in a field in Ojai, California. In teepees.
Why?
Because we treat their time as the most valuable currency in the room.
We design 90-minute sessions instead of all-day marathons.
We build in real breaks so people can manage their actual lives.
We make every minute count.
Last month, we hosted John M. Chu during his Wicked press tour. He had 4 hours. We made those 4 hours so valuable he actually showed up.
Your guests' time is expensive.
You're not even paying for it.
So honor it. Protect it. Make it worthwhile.
Design your next event like you're asking someone to give up their most precious resource.
Because you are.
Post #3
The selfie booth era is over.
I've spent 20 years creating events for WPP, building WPP Stream into what the Wall Street Journal called "the secret retreat CEOs and billionaires jockey to attend.”
And I'm watching our industry shift in real time.
Three big changes:
(1) From awareness to growth.
Events aren't experiences anymore. They're marketplaces. What's the value being exchanged? What outcome actually matters?
If you can't answer that, you're just throwing a party.
(2) From spectacle to substance.
Economic pressure has been good for us. It killed the fluff.
Clients don't want wow moments. They want business moments.
Today's CMO is actually the Chief Growth Officer. They're accountable for revenue, customer value, reputation.
Risk tolerance for nonsense has changed.
(3) From reach to relationships.
Stop counting attendees. Start counting connections.
My KPIs now include: How many people did I leave knowing on WhatsApp?
It's trackable. It's straightforward. It's what actually matters.
The question isn't "what did it look like?"
The question is "what did it do?"
Post #4
Going to an event is like falling in love.
You have such a short amount of time to make such a big impression.
The first 30 seconds count.
At our WPP Stream events, I staff the welcome desk with our leadership team. We go on it ourselves.
It's amazing what happens when someone arrives at your event and meets a leader who says: "Hi, how are you? Did you have a good day? Come, let's check you in."
That first impression sets the tone for everything that follows.
Our attendees are ambitious people. People who have more going on than just your event.
So we build in real breaks. Not 10-minute bathroom breaks with terrible coffee. Real breaks where they can manage their real lives.
The goal?
That they're actually with you in the room. Not on their phones managing crisis after crisis.
People remember being seen and heard more than being dazzled.
That's how you make them fall in love.
Post #5
When I was young, I told people I wanted to be the tea lady at the UN.
They thought I was mad.
But what I didn't have the language for was…
I wanted to be the person who said, "You've travelled a really long way to be here. How are you? Put your bags down. Now go do that really hard thing you have to do."
I love being the tea lady. I love helping people be better versions of themselves.
And I didn't learn that in a textbook. I learned it by watching other people do it. By being given the chance to hold the clipboard at events I had no business being at when I was 23.
Which brings me to this:
It is our moral imperative to take young people with us.
Whatever your KPIs are, whatever your CEO asks for, hit that number.
Then add 10-20% for young people.
Expose them to leaders.
Give them moments to learn their craft.
Let them MC. Let them give that lightning talk.
It costs nothing.
The value is generational.
This career is beautiful. We're lucky to have a vocation that matters.
Because when we gather well, we unlock intelligence, trust, and possibility.
You can't do it any other way.
The rooms we make today shape the relationships and decisions that shape tomorrow.
So make them matter.
