Plan Ahead Events Boulder

07/21/2026

"Inclusion must be designed, not assumed," is the main point of this great article The Center for Association Leadership. I agree, and affirm that cultural norms have to be factored in for this effort to be successful.

But I'd take it one step further, and say that the best event design is inclusive event design.

Many of the practices that create a better experience for attendees also make an event more accessible: Clear communication, realistic schedules*, multiple ways to participate that don't require you being on stage with a microphone, spaces for both high-energy networking and quieter conversations, and content that reflects a diversity of perspectives and lived experiences.

None of these are extravagant additions. I've found that when we stop asking, "How can attendees adapt to our event?" and start asking, "How can we design an event that works for more people?" the benefits extend far beyond accessibility.

People engage more deeply. They stay longer. They make stronger connections. They leave feeling that they belonged.

To me, that's not just an inclusion strategy, it's good event design.

* Yes, I'm saying it again! One of the simplest changes I've made over the years is building realistic transition times into agendas. It sounds like a logistics decision, but it benefits everyone: attendees using mobility devices, people who need a quiet moment to self-regulate between sessions, or anyone simply trying to navigate an unfamiliar venue without feeling rushed. When you design an experience for the margins, you often improve the experience for everyone.

Today, inclusion plays a critical role in determining whether an event feels welcoming, relevant, and accessible

07/14/2026

An article I read this week suggested that the FIFA World Cup is redefining the citywide event by extending the experience beyond the stadium - into neighborhoods, cultural institutions, local businesses, and community spaces.

I don't think that this is a new idea. The best conferences and events I've collaborated on have been doing this for a long time.

An event shouldn't exist in isolation from the place that's hosting it. When attendees spend all of their time inside a ballroom, they leave with memories of presentations. When they experience the community, they leave with a deeper understanding of the people, history, culture, and challenges that make that destination unique.

That's why I love incorporating field experiences, local partners, neighborhood venues, and community voices whenever possible. They're not just memorable additions to an agenda, they provide context that can't be replicated inside the generic four walls of a meeting space.

For example, at River Rally in San Antonio earlier this year, participants explored restoration projects, learned from the people and organizations that are shaping the region's waterways, and shared stories about Indigenous relationships with the land woven throughout the program. Those experiences helped connect the conference to the community in a way that no keynote presentation could.

The World Cup may be shining a spotlight on destination-wide experiences, but I hope the lasting lesson isn't simply to activate more venues, create bigger fan zones, and connect with bigger corporate sponsors.

I hope it's a reminder that events have the power to strengthen the connection between visitors and the communities that welcome them. That's the legacy I want to design for.

More than 68,000 fans packed Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field for Brazil's group-stage World Cup match on June 19, but the crowd that holds lessons The 2026 FIFA World Cup is turning entire destinations into activation platforms for sponsors, communities, and events. The lessons may outlast th...

06/23/2026

The most valuable part of an event plan may be the pages you hope never to use: the contingency plans.

In addition to the pandemic, we’ve navigated inclement weather, travel disruptions, budget reductions, and shifting organizational priorities in the past few years. Factors that have a major influence over the design and implementation of large events. To manage logistics through this uncertainty, you have to have flexibility built-in from the beginning. This includes clear communication channels, realistic timelines, and backup options for critical elements.

In my experience, this has evolved from trying to predict and accommodate every possible scenario, to creating enough structure that your leadership team can respond when reality inevitably diverges from your plans.

The organizations navigating this best aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets. The most successful events I’ve worked on weren’t the ones that followed the plans – they were the ones where change happened and attendees never felt the disruptions!

How do you/your team approach contingencies? Where and how do you leave room for pivots and adjustments?

05/26/2026

When people think about FIFA coming to the US, they usually think about packed stadiums and tourism. What interests me is everything happening around the World Cup.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-stadium-fifas-ripple-effect-meetings-events-merix-gustin-ypxrf/?trackingId=wM0QYn1fT2qkcNRccTh9RA%3D%3D

Hotel inventory shifts, venue demand changes. Infrastructure investments. New pricing dynamics. Corporate hospitality trends. And eventually, similar ripple effects from other large-scale global events.

Even organizations planning events completely unrelated to sports may feel these changes over the next few years. I took a closer look at how these mega-events could shape corporate meetings and event planning, and why I think longer planning horizons are becoming more important.

05/19/2026

I spent last week with River Network producing one of the largest conference projects I’ll manage this year, and I’m enjoying reflecting on everything that came together to make hashtag happen.

Over the week, we brought together 400 passionate water advocates in San Antonio for a program designed not just to convene attendees, but to connect them to each other and to the place itself.
The experience included:
• 50 breakout sessions offering opportunities to learn and collaborate
• Two plenary panels
• Field trips highlighting local projects and regional gems
• Affinity spaces, closed captions and translations
• Two offsite events we hosted in unique local venues featuring and protecting local ecosystems
• Stories woven throughout the program highlighting local Indigenous relationships with the land and sacred places

From the outside, conferences can often come across as an orchestrated moment filled with agendas, speakers, and rooms packed with people. Behind the scenes, they’re an intricate balance of logistics, timing, communication, partnerships, and hundreds of decisions that shape how people move through the experience.

What this week reinforced for me is that the most memorable events aren’t built around a schedule. They’re built around purpose, and around creating moments that help people connect more deeply to the ideas, communities, and places that brought them together.

Grateful for the opportunity to help bring it all together! And grateful for the team who worked so hard to make such a success - Kala Megrdichian and Hannah Mico in particular, who were in the trenches with me for several months. Wouldn't have happened without you!)

02/24/2026

I’m still processing my time working at Sundance, but a few things really stand out in my memories of our week in Park City.

First: the people.
Every staff member and volunteer I encountered was warm, engaged, and genuinely happy to be part of the festival. That kind of energy doesn’t happen by accident, and it shapes the experience as much as anything I saw on the screen.

Second: the complexity.
The precision required for loading theaters for multiple screenings in dispersed venues, sponsor activations, institute events, and all of the other nooks around the city where space was made for artistic collaboration and development is breathtaking. When it works, it’s invisible. When it doesn’t, everyone feels it. Watching that choreography unfold was immensely impressive.

And finally: the legacy.
The impact Robert Redford has had on this community is tangible. Nearly everyone I spoke with who had worked with or met him had a fond story to share. That kind of leadership leaves a mark—not just on an organization, but on a place and its people.

Still absorbing it all, and grateful for the chance to participate in and support an event where intention, coordination, and community are so deeply intertwined. Looking forward to what the next chapter has in store for this community.

02/10/2026

I watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony with equal parts awe and curiosity. But not just as a viewer, also through the lens of someone who produces large-scale live events. I loved the overarching theme of Harmonia: the attempt to weave culture, history, spectacle, and hope into a single, shared experience. Some moments really sang, and a few fell flat. (Pun intended…)

The "La Scala" opener immediately set a tone of reverence for artistry - exquisite dancers, emotional grounding, and a moving tribute to Italian sculptors. The cultural parade was highly entertaining. I was initially confused by the suspended paint tubes, but they ultimately became elegant anchors for the fantastic three-dimensional set, which I thought was a smart way to give structure to all of the chaotic movement. Many small cultural nods landed big for me, including the absolutely delightful Moka pot cameo! And the final color wheel was a stunning visual payoff - one of those moments where you can feel the design team collectively exhale. I thought Ghali’s call for peace, paired with spectacular 360-degree lighting and thoughtful choreography, was one of the most impactful segments of the night.

There were also moments that didn’t quite connect for me. Mariah Carey didn’t add emotional or narrative value in a way that justified her participation, and I thought the clips of Samuel L. Jackson disrupted momentum and distracted from the parade of athletes. As for the solar system segment, none of it landed for me - the outfits, the music, the concept. Maybe that says more about how dim my personal “hope for the future” is than the piece itself? And WOW did that untied silver boot lace in the history montage just about give me a panic attack!

From a production standpoint, I was deeply impressed by the logistics of dividing the athletes across four unique locations and integrating them into a cohesive experience. That kind of cue-to-cue coordination is no small feat (I would really love to nerd out over that run of show). That said, it’s hard not to imagine that it felt less powerful for the athletes who didn’t get to enter an arena together as full teams. I think this must have been an emotional tradeoff in service of excellent logistics.

For me, the all-female all-female honor guard was incredibly powerful, and helped the flag ceremony and national anthem land with true gravitas. IOC President Kirsty’s Coventry’s line that “...the best of humanity is found in courage, compassion, and kindness,” felt so sincere and rooted in the theme of harmony, and underscored what I want to experience when I watch Olympic events.

Overall, I found the ceremony to be the perfect celebratory tone to kick-off this global competition - ambitious, imperfect, and genuinely fascinating. Kudos to all of the producers and directors conceptualizing and implementing a hybrid* event at this scale. “Harmonia” isn’t about everything being perfectly aligned; it’s about appreciating moments of true connection.

I’m curious what resonated (or didn’t) for others. What did it make you think or feel?

*I know many of you cringe at this word after our collective experience navigating the pandemic. But yes, this was a large-scale hybrid event! One experience was produced for viewers watching on our screens, while on-site production was happening simultaneously for in-person audiences in several different locations.

01/27/2026

Before an event becomes a spreadsheet, I like to ask one grounding question:
If attendees remember only one thing from this gathering, what should it be?

If you’ve worked with me (or sat on a board or committee with me), you’ve heard my spiel about how establishing a PRIORITY means picking THE most important objective. Not four takeaways, or an exhaustive list of worthy outcomes.

One.

I know it can feel impossible! But when you focus on one thing that will truly matter, it guides everything - agenda decisions, speaker selection, budget priorities, and what gets cut when something has to give. When your priority is clear, everything else gets easier, and you will make an impact.

If you’re still in an early planning phase for 2026, try writing your intention for the event in a single sentence, and keep it visible as you plan.

What’s the ONE THING you want people to leave with?

01/20/2026

Not quite on stage, but sharing the magic with a global audience might be the next best thing!

This weekend I managed the livestream production for Resonance Women’s Chorus, working in the booth to ensure that audiences near and far could experience the performance in real time.

Hybrid events live or die by audio quality, visual clarity, and seamless coordination behind the scenes. It was a joy to collaborate with the artists and technicians to make sure the technology supported the music!

I'm grateful for the opportunity to help extend the reach of such powerful work, and for projects like this that remind me how meaningful thoughtful production can be.

01/13/2026

What do you think about when you hear about “Values-Driven Events”? This tagline gets used a lot, but I don’t like it because values don’t live in the program copy. They live in the decisions made by leadership and the planners supporting them.

Values show up in practical, sometimes invisible ways. Who feels welcome when they walk in? Is accessibility assumed or intentional? How are culture, music, and voices chosen to be represented? How are decisions made when budget, time or attention are at a premium?

This year, I’m holding myself (and my clients, gently) accountable to deeper alignment between stated values and lived experience.

What’s one value you want your events to actively embody—not just reference—this year?