Rodney Hart: Hello and welcome into another episode of Event Perspectives. I’m really excited about this one, joined by Adam Parry. I’ll give you a little bit of an intro, but we’re going to be talking about exhibitor engagement and how to get them engaged and also how do you kind of get them to see the value of those sponsorships? I’m really excited, Adam, about that conversation and jumping into that. But I’m sure you’ve seen all of our episodes, so you know that they start with an icebreaker question. So before I do anything, this is kind of where I’m already in the headspace of post-large event. You finish your large event and you’re done. What’s your favorite way to unwind after it?

Adam Parry: Crying into a pillow. Is that an acceptable answer?

Rodney Hart: I think it’s acceptable. So you hold the tears until the event is done and then you let them out.

Adam Parry: Absolutely. And you know what? There’s some truth in that. I think the time that I value the most, and this may be unique to me, but maybe other organizers can resonate with this, is after I’ve said goodbye to the team and we’re all going our separate ways, I have a two-hour journey, just me, my own thoughts, my own space. And I really value that time. It kind of gives me a decompression moment before I go back into family life, because as far as my wife is concerned, I’ve just been in London for a couple of days. She hasn’t experienced a major event. It doesn’t resonate with her in the same way. And that moment is my time to think about all the successes, the things that we want to change for next year, and to collect my own thoughts. And sometimes that is a bit emotional because there are so many thoughts and feelings and good points and bad points. There are ebbs and flows in emotions. But that two hours of my own space before I go back into family life is actually my favorite way to unwind after an event.

Rodney Hart: You know, it’s the icebreaker questions where we normally get so deep, Adam. That’s a great answer and I couldn’t agree more. It’s so interesting when you’re done with an event, the lack of awareness or understanding from people outside the event space. I’ve seen family text messages while I’m on site like, “Hey, can you help me with a quick project?” And it’s like you don’t understand, I’m in the middle of a tornado. But I do really love that answer and the ability to just pause and think. I was ready for you to say you’re going to the Maldives or something. But I mean, that all happens too. Let’s not lie about it.

Adam Parry: You know, everyone thinks the event stops and then you’re free for a few months. You’re not. You’re back into it like the next week. There are exhibitors to follow up with. There are questions from the team. There are people still chasing leads. So you get five minutes and that’s it. To me, it’s about three weeks after the event that I start to really feel like, okay, now is the time. Maybe you get a day immediately after. But I think some of the most challenging days of my life are that Monday coming back from the weekend off of an event, when you realize you have a hundred things you said you were going to do. My business partner once booked a vacation leaving London for the week right after an event and said it was the biggest waste of money he’d ever spent in his entire life.

Rodney Hart: That’s solid advice. We’re going to save it. I’ve got an advice question at the end, so maybe we bring that one back. Adam, I should properly introduce you. You’re the co-founder and director of Event Industry News. Before we get into the most interesting challenge, where we’re going to talk about exhibitor engagement and ROI and how exhibitors try to position that, I think we could probably talk for a really long time. But first, I want to talk a little bit about your path and career into events. I’m experimenting with something. I took a screenshot of your LinkedIn page, put it into ChatGPT, and asked for a fun question to kick off this interview. What it came up with was: did you intentionally set out to co-found the entire event industry, or how did you get into events? If you think it’s funny, give me credit. If you think it’s lame, blame a robot.

Adam Parry: I think it’s funny. And you’re not the only person to say, “Oh, maybe maybe the robot did this.” No, I think I’m that clear definition in the English dictionary, which is I fell into it, and literally fell into it. The events industry wasn’t something I set out on a path and thought, “I want a career in events.” And actually, events are really a byproduct of our media, which is the same for many media organizations. They have an audience, a customer base. That customer base wants to meet face to face. So an event is a natural evolution of that offering. Funnily enough, I co-founded this business with Paul, my business partner, who was actually my boss before that. So Paul was in charge of me, and kind of probably still thinks he is to be honest. We worked together on a publication predominantly for the outdoor events industry and we really saw an opportunity. We presented it back to the company we worked with to expand our readership, reach more people, cover more of the events industry using digital mediums: podcasts, interviews like this, written content online. And in all honesty, long story short, they really didn’t like the idea. So we set out on this path of, “We think there’s a better way.”

We also took a different tack at the time, which was to go whole market rather than focusing on a festival market or exhibition market or corporate market, because our belief has always been twofold. One, the events industry is intermingled and intertwined. Very rarely does one person just do one type of event. You yourself probably do conferences, trade shows, dinners, all these types of things. So why do I need to read ten different publications when I can read one? And then we felt that leaned into the value for our advertisers: they could invest fewer marketing dollars to reach a wider range of potential buyers. So you get involved in all sorts of things. I’m part of the AEO’s working groups, an adviser for various things. We’ve got multiple event types and media and all that kind of stuff. So LinkedIn is getting a bit ridiculous these days.

Rodney Hart: Yeah, there are a lot of founders and co-founders on that list. That’s what ChatGPT keyed in on. What’s interesting, though, I’m curious to get your perspective on this: what is it about events that so many people just fall into? Is there a magnetic pull that once people hit it, they’re like, “I didn’t intend to do this, but now I’m very much interested in this industry”? Any thoughts as to why so many people never set out to be in events, but here we are?

Adam Parry: Let’s preface that with, some people do set out to be in events. They’re fantastic individuals who add a lot of value to the industry, going through what I call the correct channels: university, further education, making sure they got the degrees, making sure they know how to keep people safe. I think it’s one of the greatest things about the events industry that it underpins every industry sector and vertical in the world. There is an event for everything and every organization, every business, every community, every group of people around a thought or an idea will at some point probably find a way to bring everybody together. So there’s very little barrier to entry. Anybody can spin up an event, go to Eventbrite, list it, and off you go. You’re an event organizer. This may be a bigger conversation for another time, but that is also a danger, and that’s where some problems arise. We’ve seen things like Fyre Festival and others that are the opposite side, and I wish there was a little bit more structure in place to safeguard people.

But I think what ultimately drives individuals through to being professionals is the emotion, the viscerality, the creativity of building something, bringing people together, seeing them connect, seeing them get value out of those connections, the education, the other people in the room, the business and the pipeline that drives through. And you know, when digital advertising and marketing took off, when Google PPC and social media allowed businesses to reach markets online, there were people at the time hailing the death of the events industry. Why put money into an event when you can reach all of those people from the comfort of your office? And actually, I think that drove people more to do events. The thing that drives people to fall into events is they find that passion for bringing people together and showing people a good time. And possibly, and I’ll say this very carefully, we all love pain in some shape or form. We have an attention to detail and, me included, a self-proclaimed love of pressure. I think the events industry is very good at providing a creative outlet for people who love that type of environment. You either love it or hate it, I think.

Rodney Hart: That is so well said. I couldn’t agree more with so many of the elements you just hit on, because I fell into it as well. For me, the gravitational pull was that I’d done an internship in internal marketing that felt like the same thing over and over again. And then there was this pressure of, “Hey, this thing is happening on a given date and whether you like it or not, it’s not going away.” And to me, there was something about that I loved. It allows you to have all of these planning cycles around that activity. That pressure of if you don’t solve this problem now, it doesn’t go away. You can’t just kick it off and say, well, we’ll solve that maybe next quarter. You need an answer. And maybe it’s the only kind of project delivery that has an immovable deadline, literally to the minute, to the hour. The doors need to open at 10 a.m., breakfast at 10:15, keynote at 11, the AV needs to work. Other divisions in a business, if they don’t quite get there, maybe it can happen tomorrow or next week. Events don’t work like that. They either happen or they don’t.

Tell me, you’ve hit on ROI, you’ve talked about the impact. I think something that is always interesting to address is the post-pandemic world. Were digital events going to be the death of events? And I think it’s been pretty clear that no, people crave getting together. There is value that happens when people get together in ways that are really hard to replicate online. It’s not that you can’t, and I think we’ve seen where digital events and digital engagement can be massively helpful. But before we get into that, tell us a little bit more about your current role and we can lead that into the challenge you’re thinking about now.

Adam Parry: One of the areas where I focus a lot of my time is the strategy around our events: what those events look like, the content we put on, and how we ensure that exhibitors are getting the most out of the event and that we’ve got the right companies at the event. I know many people think that selling space at events is very much just about filling as many spaces on the floor as humanly possible to drive the most value to the business. But the way we see it is, yes, commercially we want a big, healthy show with lots of exhibitors because that adds variety to attendees. But if those exhibitors don’t match with the attendees we’ve got, there’s a mismatch and nobody gets value. The companies attending don’t find the products, services, and solutions they’re hoping for, and the exhibitors don’t meet the people they can serve. You could have a huge audience and a huge trade show, but if they don’t want to speak to each other or they’re mismatched, you haven’t got a very good event.

So I keep an eye on that constantly: whether we’ve got the right mix of companies on the show floor with the right products and services to meet the desires and needs of the companies that will be coming. We look at that historically, look at trends in the industry, and survey people who pre-register. And trust me, it’s not all AI even though everybody probably thinks it is.

That’s part of my role. I also roll out things like our exhibitor masterclass, and I work with the marketing team to see how we can support exhibitors with pre-event promotion. For exhibitors who speak at the event, I work deeply with them on strategy about what that conversation is going to look like, who it’s going to resonate with, and whether we can bring in individuals from a buyer perspective to balance it. It’s all content to me in a sense. And then I still retain a number of clients and customers myself. I was arguably the first salesperson on Event Tech Live because everybody came to me to talk about it. There are certain companies I’ve built strong relationships with and I still look after them. It gives me an edge and helps me truly understand what those companies are trying to achieve from a revenue perspective and how we can align that with the event.

Rodney Hart: Let’s take that and transition into what you phrase as your most interesting challenge right now: exhibitor engagement, or lack thereof, as it relates to the event. And I’ll say, full disclosure, I am one of Adam’s customers as well. Talk a little bit about that challenge. I’ve got thoughts and questions, but I’ll let you kick off. What is the exhibitor engagement challenge?

Adam Parry: It’s not just one element. And I’ll be honest, some companies are way better than others. That’s not a reflection on the companies that aren’t as good. And believe it or not, it’s not to do with company size, budget, stand size, or how much they’re throwing into the event. It’s actually the strategy and approach going into, “How am I activating on this event in the leadup?” “How am I preparing my team?” “Do we understand what the objective of the event is?” Because it’s not always leads. It could be launching a new product. It could be meeting with existing clients. It could be just hosting a dinner in the evening. Is the entire team clear on this strategy? Other than the physical space, what are the other values we can gain from the show? Is there a media opportunity? Content opportunities? Partnership opportunities? Other companies exhibiting we can work with? It’s almost like the best approach is a long checklist of everything you could possibly do in the leadup, at the event, and post-event.

And there’s an element of, we can lead a horse to water but we can’t make them drink. The challenge is often twofold. Sometimes companies book into the show six or eight months out and then they totally forget about it. Everybody’s busy. They might not be at only our event either. They might be at IMEX, at other shows. So we’re kind of down the list a lot of the time. And then they get to three or four weeks out and it’s all hands on deck. When they lean on us at that point, that’s fine, that’s what we’re here for. But six weeks out, we have a hundred companies leaning on us at the same time. So we’re less available for deep-dive calls. It becomes more email-based: here’s the information, here are the assets, here’s what we can do. The earlier exhibitors start in the process, the better. The best exhibitors are like, “We’ve booked it, Adam, can we have a follow-up call right now? We want to get our team prepared. We want to understand every aspect of things.”

And one of the biggest things that companies overlook, especially established companies that do a lot of events or have been with us for ten years, is they skip our exhibitor masterclass. That’s dangerous in my opinion, because even though they’ve been to the event before, there’s always value there. There’s always something new, a new angle, a new tip, a new strategy. We bring in other exhibitors to talk about their approach. And sometimes we do manage to get long-standing exhibitors in, especially senior leadership. They walk away going, “Holy crap, I’m so glad we came to this. We wouldn’t have known that. We would have missed that.”

Sometimes companies have never really exhibited before and they have no strategy. They think, big audience, throw some marketing dollars at it, turn up, hope for the best. Others it could be, “We know how to exhibit, we’ve got this, we don’t need any advice.” And then there’s the post-event piece as well. The doors are closed and there’s still an opportunity for us to help you move the needle. Maybe you spoke to someone and forgot to scan the badge. We can help. Maybe there’s a content opportunity that came out of it. Maybe you’ve never done a follow-up strategy before. Do you go straight to the demo request or do you take a staged approach of provide value, provide value, provide value, then maybe ask for the call? The hard ones are the ones who book the show and then ghost you for six months. They’re the ones you really worry about.

Rodney Hart: Adam, there may or may not be an email after we booked Event Tech Live, months away, where Adam sent a great checklist that I will be honest, I saw, and then moved on to the more active items I had to solve for that day. And then I had the follow-up, “Did you see the list?” And I thought, uh, yes, I saw that you sent a list.

But you’ve hit on some really interesting points and I want to ask one more as it relates to your audience. I came not from the world of trade shows, but I’m responsible as VP of Events at RainFocus for our presence at trade shows. I constantly find value in having conversations with other sponsors to say, “Hey, how are you thinking about this?” For us, we’re more focused on accounts: who’s there, what’s the engagement, rather than trying to generate the most leads possible. We have a pretty well-defined process for evaluating who’s in our ICP and who we want to ultimately market to. And then you see really interesting activations on site and you go, there is a lot of value here.

From an audience perspective, and I also wear a hat of selling sponsorships for a user conference, what do you think the audience is looking for from sponsors? And what are sponsors doing, or not doing, to meet that?

Adam Parry: Let’s first talk about bad behavior because this is on the rise. Databases and attendee lists getting scraped, and then mass generic messages being sent to people. I get those myself. People even try to sell me my own audience database. Scrap that approach. Don’t do that approach. Yes, you feel better because you’re sending an email to a thousand people and thinking something’s got to stick, but the average read rate on something like that is sub-5%. A better approach is to get your team to really analyze that data, pick your ICP, filter it, and discuss how you’re going to approach each individual. LinkedIn messages are still great, but make sure they’re hyperpersonalized. And first things first: provide value. Don’t have an ask. Provide an article, a link, a piece of content, some data, some insight, something you think might be valuable to them. Follow up. Ask if they found it valuable and whether they’d like to see other things. You’re warming that person up to come and speak to you at the event. Just because someone is going to the event does not mean they’re interested in coming to see you. But if you’ve provided value, they’re a lot more likely to engage with you on the show floor.

I also think people have forgotten that in the mix of online messages and emails, sometimes there’s nothing more tangible than a letter through the mailbox. When was the last time you received a personal letter? From the VP of sales saying, “I’m sending this personally. It’s from me. I really would love to meet you. I’m not asking for your business right now, but I’d love to start building a relationship with you, understand what you’re about, and maybe offer value in other ways. You’re one of ten people I’ve reached out to in this way. I’ve got a little gift for you at the show if you can come and say hello.” That takes almost no effort and you can outsource it. That’s going to differentiate you from the fifty LinkedIn messages that somebody at a large company gets from exhibitors at the event.

Also think about how you can provide value in ways attendees don’t necessarily see on the show floor. You, Rodney, often host a dinner around Event Tech Live to take that opportunity to have one-on-one time with customers. As an attendee myself, if I see that my peers and counterparts at other businesses are also attending that dinner, that’s something I want to go to. I want to meet those people, build relationships, and honestly, I want to share the struggles and tribulations of organizing my events hoping that they’ve got some answers. So that’s another great outreach angle: “Hey, we’re hosting our top five clients. We’ve got a couple of spaces. I’d really love it if you could make it.” That gets them to come see you on the show floor and you’ll get dwell time with them later at the event as well.

Then, and I could give a million of these, I think there are two, well, three things on the show floor when it comes to sponsorship activations and attracting people to a stand. Give them something to remember you by. Giving people headshots is still a great way to get booth traffic. Everybody will happily have their badge scanned and a headshot done because everybody wants a new LinkedIn headshot. That’s a great way to get visibility and top-of-funnel leads.

Filtering down from that, an activation I saw at Inbound that was really good was focused on a specific demographic and offered attendees the opportunity to come in and create their own scent. They were taking that away with them. There was a memory of that with that organization. Every time they smell it, they’ll probably remember meeting at that event. Now, doing that for thousands of people takes a huge budget. But maybe you do it in a small, invitational way. Maybe it’s very intentional and you’re targeting twenty people you really want to meet. That’s actually a great use of budget rather than blowing a lot of money on something for the masses.

And the last one, which was a really smart approach from an exhibitor: their stand had a black wall that said, “We only want to meet three logos.” Aston Martin and two other car brands. That was the only thing on their stand. They got enormous engagement because people kept stopping to ask, “Why do you want to meet them and not me?” So they just got tons of people trying to figure out why.

Rodney Hart: Wait, say that again. How did they communicate this to everybody? So their booth, a black wall, just had three logos on it?

Adam Parry: Their booth, a black wall, and they had the Aston Martin logo and two other car brands. “We only want to meet with these three companies.” That was the only thing they had on their stand. They got tons of engagement because people were stopping and going, “Why do you want to meet Aston Martin? What do you do?”

Rodney Hart: It’s things like this that drive me crazy, because that’s the area, right? When you hear these ideas, there is something about subverting the normal experience that allows people to re-engage or feel a little more human and curious. Even as you say it, you go, “Right. They probably got more engagement.” It’s not necessarily about the stuff or the screens. I was at RSA conference and I mean we’re talking massive investment in every single booth. Every single booth is phenomenal to look at. But then there’s still a point as a human where you kind of go, “All right.” At a certain point it’s all the same. But there’s something that can be so simple and easy, and that’s probably frustrating to marketers because you didn’t even do anything. You just put up a wall. But connecting with the human is an art and not always a science.

Adam Parry: Don’t get me wrong, super bold strategy. I’m sure it took a lot of convincing. Maybe it was the CEO’s idea. By the end of the event, maybe they never even met Aston Martin. But if I saw my logo on that wall, I would 100% go over. Why do you want to meet us? It’s a very bold, in-your-face statement. And maybe that can’t be replicated every single time. Maybe that had a moment and a place in time. But that’s one example of how you can think differently rather than, “I have to spend $100,000 on the space and the big booth and fifteen staff because we want to impress the big corporates and look like them.” Thinking slightly differently, that’s hard, but you can do things, not gorilla tactics, this was done in a very classy way, you can think outside the box and get just as much impact if not more in a more efficient, more memorable way.

Rodney Hart: I’m going to try and squeeze this in. Now that we’ve talked about experiences, engagement, and setting everyone up for success, the reason we spend money to be at these places is ultimately to have business-generating activity on the back end. I’m guessing that some of this lack of preparation shows up in the results post-event. Let’s talk a little bit about ROI, which I’m also knee-deep in. Talk a little bit about the ROI problem as it relates to your world.

Adam Parry: Specifically with event technology, the decision-making process is not immediate. In some cases, companies are in contracts for multiple years. Those companies will start their journey assessing the market early on. They’re not going to wait until six months before the contract’s running out before they start looking at what’s on the roadmap for these organizations, trying to strategically choose what’s going to be the right product so they can do that change management piece. Collectively, among the event organizers who come to Event Tech Live, over a billion pounds is spent on event technology and software. Some single contracts can be half a million or more. They’re not going to meet somebody at Event Tech Live in November and be signing a contract in January. There’s no chance. And on that pipeline aspect of ROI, that’s where sometimes less experienced individuals expect an immediate return on their investment, not knowing it can take multiple touch points, multiple events, multiple years to nurture that relationship and be visible and keep meeting those people before they’re ready to transition to you as a supplier.

I’ve had a client who recently won the biggest deal of their career from an Event Tech Live lead from 2019. That’s where they first met that person. That person wasn’t ready to move until 2025. That’s a long time. Don’t get me wrong, that’s probably longer than most. But that’s an example of how long that pipeline can take to mature.

Rodney Hart: And I think that’s where we’re at Rain Focus as well. Many of our deals have really long life cycles. We had a customer we met at Event Tech Live, I think it was 2022, and it was a really big deal that ultimately closed in 2024. That was a touch point in the life cycle, and we can track that within Salesforce. But I’m having healthy debates now around, well, what can you count and what can’t you count? To me, it’s not just about saying, “Give me more money, I want to be at more events.” It’s wanting to understand academically what the value or impact was. Maybe a CFO says, “I’m not giving you any credit for establishing a contact in 2022 for something that closed in 2024; they’re so far removed.” But I think there is still a way. You look at the meeting point, you evaluate the potential value of that customer, and even at the 90-day mark, you see what changed. To me, there is still an overall measure when you look at the course of a year or multiple years. These event touch points are complicated. It’s not, “I met them at Event Tech Live in 2022 therefore I closed the deal in 2024.” But that could have been a very important conversation, or the first opportunity to connect with someone in person. And that might mean the next opportunity for a deal is sixteen months from now. It is what it is.

Adam Parry: What you’re saying to me is you need all your exhibitors signing deals on the show floor like Farnborough International Air Show.

Rodney Hart: Exactly. And Adam, I’ve had the same experience running our own user conference. We have key sponsors who I know our attendees want to meet, and I know they get business out of it. But I have these conversations all the time where I know it was a home run for them, and then months later the glowing feeling has gone away and people go, “Was it everything we hoped it would be?” And you kind of want to ask, “What were you hoping for?”

Adam Parry: Here’s my advice on that from an event organizer perspective on three aspects. One: that’s a natural part of things, and a good person digs into it and gets to the real root and pushes back a little. We hear people say “Event Tech Live wasn’t very good for us” and then six months later they’re booking into the show. Something’s changed. They felt that way immediately but then saw the value. If somebody says no, it just means not now. There’s always a new angle. There’s always a reason to stay in touch.

The other element is: what is the value across the entire chain? What’s the value of being brand-visible? I’ll say this too: we don’t hold hostages at Event Tech Live, but there is a conversation you have to have with people. If you’re not there and your competitor is, and your customer or that prospect you wanted to convert comes in, what happens? Your competitor could sway them in that moment and start that relationship with them because you’re out of mind and out of sight. That’s a difficult conversation to have, but it’s a true one. Imagine if your salespeople just stopped contacting prospects. Your competitors would still be on their back. You have to decide what your tier-one shows are, where it’s as much about being visible with customers and clients as it is about lead generation. CFOs don’t understand that. We’re talking a totally different language to them.

And then, this is not common knowledge to everybody but maybe they’ve had this experience: that’s why we have a rebook process that starts immediately while the show is happening. Some people hate that and find it uncomfortable. But for us as a business, it’s a strategy we have to implement to ensure we capitalize on how people feel in the moment, and also so they can secure exactly what they want at the show rather than deciding six months later and finding the perfect location or sponsorship they wanted is already gone.

And finally, people love an element of exclusivity. Would you rather be one exhibitor in a raft of a thousand or one exhibitor in a raft of a hundred? You’re fishing in a smaller pond so you’re more likely to capitalize on that. That’s actually one thing we’ve made a commitment to with our show: not to keep increasing it. Event Tech Live for the foreseeable future will stay at the size that it is. If you want to be there, you have to make a decision. You’re not going to be able to rock up to Event Tech Live in October and book a space. That’s our strategy. And same with RainFocus: think about it this way. We’re going to have ten sponsor spots. That’s your opportunity. That’s it. Because the value we deliver is providing a really good service to those ten, not spreading thin.

Rodney Hart: One of the ways that we like to close all of these is with some advice. One final question for you, Adam. The event industry: you hit on it earlier. There’s pain. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s often on those lists of most stressful jobs. What’s your favorite piece of advice for someone who’s either getting into the event industry or is in it now and isn’t sure if it’s for them?

Adam Parry: My piece of advice if you’re in it now and you’re not sure it’s for you: it’s not for you. Jump out quick.

Rodney Hart: I like that.

Adam Parry: And when it comes to, I’m not sure I believe myself these studies that say it’s more stressful than being a firefighter. I don’t know how they’re truly quantifying that. Are they taking heart rates? There isn’t a mortality rate that’s a key indicator here. My approach has always been that if you’re working super late into the night in the weeks leading up to an event, you’ve missed the opportunity to be prepared enough not to do that. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes things happen and you have to put those late nights in. But ensuring that you look at those things and ask yourself: can that wait till tomorrow? Is there any benefit to me staying up till midnight to box this off? I’m going to be tired tomorrow. I’m going to be lethargic. I’m going to be cranky. It’s going to affect my work.

The one thing I’ve learned as an event professional is you have to look after your health first. Your mental health, your physical health, the health of your relationships with your partner and your family. If all of that is in check, everything else fits into place. Work fits in around that. And I think we often in the events industry prioritize everything else over that. That could be being prepared for what you’re eating on site, making sure you carve out meal times, taking healthy snacks. Around event time it’s very easy to fall into three or four beers after work before the next day, the pizza, the burger. You get into those unhealthy habits and that really does affect how you perform on site. I think you should be meal prepping in the leadup to the event so you don’t have to think about dinner. Carve out ten minutes after every meal to go for a walk to clear your head before you get back in front of emails. Maintain whatever fitness routine you have. And over the weekend, switch your laptop off and spend that time with family. Work can wait till Monday.

Rodney Hart: And in this question, I feel like self-care has come up often. As someone who’s probably managed it well and not so well, the reality is you’re not as good of an employee when you’re on those long stretches. I’ve had weekends where I was stressed about work the entire time, said I was going to do a hundred things and never did them. But I had the weight of all of it all weekend. Giving yourself the weekend can present a much better, much more effective version of you on Monday than the one who tried to grind through stuff when you’re the only one working.

Adam Parry: Add to that: I think what is a real and unseen issue is that people don’t communicate this effectively back to the business, back to the stakeholders. I’m not suggesting going to your manager and saying, “I’ve got too much work, I can’t deal with this.” Senior leadership and owners of businesses want to support their team because they want the work delivered to the best standard it can be. Effective communication of, “I need support, I’m behind on this, that wasn’t the plan, but I need some help to move the needle,” whether that’s getting extra resource or just asking a colleague to help, that matters. It affects the entire business. We clam up, we shut down, we put our head down and try to motor on. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.

Rodney Hart: Nothing wrong with asking for help. I love that. Adam, thank you so much for the time and this conversation. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. If you’re interested in more of these, we’ll be continuing to do these. If you’re watching this and want to know how to get involved, there’s a link in the description of this YouTube video. That’ll come to me and we’ll work on getting it scheduled. Thank you, Adam, for your time.

I’m going to transition now into one last round. We use this more for social content. I call them lightning questions. I won’t respond back. You just answer with the first thing that comes to mind and I’ll jump to the next question. Ready?

Adam Parry: All right.

Rodney Hart: What’s the biggest trend you either missed or predicted, but it flopped?

Adam Parry: I think I was more bullish on digital events staying around stronger than they did initially, seeing them come back as a stronger part of the marketing mix coming out of the pandemic than they did. I really was more bullish on those.

Rodney Hart: What is the best sponsorship activation you’ve seen?

Adam Parry: Photo booth headshots.

Rodney Hart: What is a book everyone should read?

Adam Parry: “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a…” Yeah, I really like that book. Read it. It is great.

Rodney Hart: Window seat or aisle seat?

Adam Parry: Aisle seat. I’m 6’2″. I ain’t sitting in the window.

Rodney Hart: Networking sessions or educational workshops?

Adam Parry: Networking.

Rodney Hart: I’ve seen you at the bar. I knew it. A concert to close your event. Who’s your dream musical artist?

Adam Parry: That is a hard one. Last year I went to see a group called Crazy P. Unfortunately, the lead singer passed away shortly after that. I would love to see them perform live one more time.

Rodney Hart: That’s a first on here. I love that. What’s the most creative swag item you’ve seen at an event recently?

Adam Parry: I’ve just had one and it’s not creative, but it was fun. A sweatband. I feel like every event planner at some point needs a sweatband.

Rodney Hart: What’s your go-to comfort food during event planning stress?

Adam Parry: Chicken wings. I love a chicken wing.

Rodney Hart: What’s your current favorite mobile app?

Adam Parry: Field Day.

Rodney Hart: Audience, you can look that one up. True or false: you pack gym clothes when attending an event you’re planning.

Adam Parry: True.

Rodney Hart: You really do believe in this well-balanced health. Adam, thank you so much. This was a ton of fun.

Adam Parry: Absolutely, man. Anytime. Thanks for having me.