Better Events

In this episode, Logan and Mary are back with one of their favorite recurring episodes: what is saving their lives right now. Inspired by a practice from the Lazy Genius Podcast, they each come prepared with the tools, products, habits, and resources that have been making their lives easier this season. From protein bars and blazers to travel printers, sleep sprays, and AI tools they are actually...

In this episode, Logan and Mary tackle one of the hardest skills in the event business: saying no to a client. They get honest about why event professionals are wired to say yes, share real examples of times they held the line and times they wish they had, and talk through what actually happens when you say yes to something your team can’t deliver. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or still early in y...

In this episode, Logan and Mary sit down with Cynthia Mikimoto, a strategic advisor with experience in nonprofit galas, to talk about what it actually takes for small- and mid-sized nonprofits to pull off large-scale events. Cynthia walks through the biggest mistakes nonprofits make when trying to scale up, how to prioritize when you're working with limited staff and a volunteer-heavy team, an...

In this episode, Logan and Mary are back with a follow-up to one of their most popular episodes: Speaker Management 101. This time they go deeper, tackling the situations that don't show up in the basics. From setting tech check and rehearsal expectations to managing speaker nerves, egos, and last-minute changes, they cover what actually happens when speakers go off script, over time, or off t...

In this episode, Logan and Mary are back together for a long overdue life update. Mary shares what life has looked like since returning from maternity leave, including the honest realities of running a business with a new baby, whether her identity has shifted, and what has been harder and more rewarding than she expected. They also look ahead at what they're each hoping this next chapter brin...

Mary is back from maternity leave and she's catching up on every episode she missed. In this solo episode, she shares her reactions to some of the guest co-host conversations that aired while she was out, including her take on the business behind venue management and the public versus private event debate, dressing for comfort on event day, staying visible and relevant as an event pro, and wha...

In this solo episode, Logan pulls together three of her most practical production-focused YouTube videos and adds her own commentary along the way. She covers the audio files your A/V team actually needs before your next event, the three things she always checks before an event starts, and how to adjust on the fly when a speaker or segment runs long. If you produce events and want to feel more con...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Erin Leonard get into a question a lot of event pros have quietly wondered about: how do you actually break into big events? From trade shows like CES to the Olympic Games, they talk about how smaller companies and independent planners can find their way into large-scale, high-attendance events, what those opportunities actually look like, and how to positi...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Erin Leonard sit down with Shannon Werkhoven, a decade-plus event pro and venue sales manager at two iconic Live Nation venues, to talk about the one thing that separates planners who consistently book work from those who don't: personal brand. Shannon shares when she realized her own brand was actually working for her, what makes an event planner stand...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Erin Leonard have the AI conversation that's been on a lot of event pros' minds but not enough of their podcasts. Erin came in with some honest hesitancy about AI, and rather than gloss over it, they dig straight into it. They cover where AI still earns its place in their workflows, where planners are leaning on it in ways that might actually be hurting the...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Julianne get into one of the most sustainable — and most misunderstood — growth strategies in the event business: referrals. They talk about what a referral-based business actually looks like in practice, what it takes to stay consistently top of mind with the people who send you work, and how to handle it gracefully when a referral isn't the right fit. If...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Julianne sit down with Jackie Baker, founder of Spark Events and co-founder of Event Pro Suite, for an honest conversation about pricing. Jackie shares the mistakes most event planners make without realizing it, where she landed after years of trial and error across flat-fee, percentage-based, and hourly structures, and what finally made her start charging...

In this episode, Logan sits down with Julianne, a fundraiser-turned-event architect who specializes in nonprofit events, to break down one of the most high-stakes moments in any gala: the paddle raise. Julianne walks through how to structure giving levels, write and time the ask, and prep your fundraising host so the moment actually lands. Whether you produce nonprofit galas or just want to unders...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Lee Gimpel tackle a question that's been nagging at conference organizers for years: why do we keep defaulting to presentations and panels when there are so many better options? Lee walks through alternative session formats that most event professionals have never heard of and pulls cards live from his Conference Engagement Cards deck to show just how pract...

In this episode, Logan is joined by guest co-host Lee Gimpel and guest Vinnu Deshetty, the Event ROI Coach, for a conversation about one of the most misunderstood topics in the events industry right now: data. Vinnu breaks down what clean data actually means, where AI is genuinely helping event professionals versus where the hype is outpacing the reality, and what real personalization looks like v...

In this episode, Logan sits down with Lee Gimpel, conference engagement expert, president of Better Meetings, and creator of the Conference Engagement Cards, to dig into one of the most overlooked aspects of event planning: the agenda. Lee breaks down where attendee energy leaks out of even well-intentioned conferences, why the same tired formats keep showing up, and what a thoughtfully designed a...

This week, Logan shares one of the most important skills she's developed as an event professional: knowing what to ask before saying yes to a project. She shares why she became more intentional about evaluating opportunities, what she needed to learn about scope, budget clarity, and client fit before she could confidently take on new work, and how she uses soft holds as a tool that benefits bo...

In this episode, Logan sits down with Dana Pake, founder of Lalago Experiences and death doula in training, a personal conversation about grief and it's space at events. Dana shares what three decades of lived experience with grief has taught her about connection, why grief shows up in rooms full of people more than we realize, and what most event professionals miss when it does. Logan also op...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Vanessa Loney are back with another listener mailbag, tackling your questions across every corner of the events world. From what an event bible actually looks like to the best questions to ask your AV tech, F&B creativity, and how to celebrate your team without a monetary bonus, they cover it all. They also dig into the business side for freelancers, fr...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Vanessa Loney sit down with Brittany Carroll, Manager of Event Operations at the Library of Congress and former U.S. diplomat, to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to produce events at the highest levels of government. Brittany shares what most event professionals never see: the layers of protocol, the complexity of managing global delegations,...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Vanessa Loney tackle a question every event professional should be asking themselves: Are you actually staying relevant, or are you just staying busy? They dig into what relevance really means in an ever-evolving industry — from how you network and which conferences are actually worth your time to how intentional you're being about vendor relationships...

This week, Logan and guest co-host Peggy Katz tackle a question sent in by a listener who asked: how many events can you realistically manage at once? Logan and Peggy share how many events they're each currently juggling, how their capacity has evolved over the course of their careers, and how to spot scope creep before it derails your workload. They also dig into the systems and habits that h...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Peggy Katz sit down with presentation designer and graphics operator Cassy Albert to pull back the curtain on one of the key roles in live event production - the slides! Cassy breaks down what a graphics operator actually does during a show, the most common mistakes planners and speakers make when preparing decks, and the best way to receive and organize sl...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Peggy Katz, a veteran producer with seven Olympics under her belt, dig into what it really means to scale an event based on budget, from scrappy under-$10K productions to multi-million dollar international spectacles. They break down how budget impacts your role as a producer or showcaller, the unique pros and cons of working at both ends of the spectrum, a...

In this episode, Logan and guest co-host Ryan Criswell tackle one of the most honest conversations in the event industry: being great at producing and planning events doesn't automatically make you great at running an event business. They explore the gap between event skills and business skills — from the early moments that revealed what they didn't know, to the systems and habits that have helped...