The Two Year Hiatus

In January of 2023 I wrote my last blog post, until now. What happened? It turns out, life happened. I was so busy doing, I stopped blogging. Like the gorgeous leopard in this picture I took while on safari, it may appear I was at rest. Rather, I was simply focused on external work, travel and writing a second book.

WORK-LIFE. I have been in contact with many of you as I transitioned out of my leadership role with SITE and leaned into curating content with the IMEX team, delivering 170+ sessions at each show designed for the personal and professional development of meeting and event marketing professionals. I have seen many of you at our shows (and other events), have invited and encouraged you to share on our stages, and welcomed and been welcomed. I have traveled to spend time with the IMEX team in Brighton and to many other shows across North America and Europe. I travel to keep an ear to the ground, find fabulous new speakers and remain plugged into our incredible global event industry.

SPEAKING and TEACHING. I have been fortunate during this time to have been invited to share my perspectives and ideas at several conferences and appreciate the invitations to GoWest, SmartMeetings, BEAWorld, MPI Cascadia and Wisconson, Prevue, the Canadian Council of Convention Centres, SITE Incentive Summit Europe, to name a few, ranging from 30 minutes to 3 hours. I returned to teaching after a five-year hiatus at BCIT in their updated Event Management program and now instruct a 36-hour Event Strategy and Design course, now available online. I love the impact of teaching the next generation! I have taught nearly 1,000 learners over the first 20 years in the classroom in both Event Planning and Sustainable Event Operations courses and after having a long break, it is delightful to be back in the (virtual this time) classroom!

LEARNING. I am a nerd. I love learning, always have and always will. In May of 2023, I graduated with my Masters of Science in Creativity and Change Leadership from Buffalo State University after two years of being embedded with our wonderful Tiger Dogs cohort and an incredible faculty at the Center for Imagination. I attended numerous events focused on the business of creativity and events from C2 to the World Experience Summit, The Creativity Conference, Experiential Marketing Summit and BEAWorld and other event industry favorites, nurturing my love for our industry along the way.

TRAVELING, sometimes for fun! I am curious about the world and am fortunate to have family and friends who share my passion for the unknown. An absolute highlight was a trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana at the end of 2024, (thank you Walthers Travel for the incredible coordination) but there was so much more! New York, Mexico, London, Iceland, Slovenia were some of the stunning places we enjoyed. What it is all about, the people and the memories. Instead of writing about them, I kept the memories close to me and poured them into….

Our KPI is Joy, How live events catalyze happiness, productivity and trust. This book launches on March 21st on Amazon and in the blogs coming, you will get to see and hear some excerpts and more details! If you purchase the book online between March 21 and 31st, $3 from every book will go to support the SEARCH Foundation. Details coming soon.