This week, I am trying a new format of the newsletter. You'll find 2 new sections in this email. I'd love to know what you think - hit reply.

The secret sauce of event marketing is the energy you bring.

My favorite moment of a live event is in the after-hours magic. I’ve peeled off with “my people,” deep in conversation, lingering even after we’ve been kicked out of the space.

That’s what makes in-person events different. That doesn’t happen in a webinar.

That energy, the kind that makes people stay when they don’t have to, can’t be replicated online.

If it did, it would rely on two things:

1. Someone with immaculate follow-up game.
2. The other person actually responding.

Remember when we were all stuck in virtual events... and they sucked?

From 2020-2022, some events absolutely tanked when they went virtual:

• College campus tours
• Trade shows
• Launch parties
• Farmers markets & festivals
• Award ceremonies
• Weddings, corporate events, fashion shows, galas

Are you getting the picture?

These aren’t only about what’s on the agenda.

They’re about the energy in the room.

The whole experience hinges on… I hate to say it: Vibes.

PAUSE: Customer Experience IS NOT Customer Service

People love to throw around “customer experience” as a buzzword. As if it’s just “good service” or when talking about the UX/UI on a nice website.

Chick-fil-A knows it’s deeper.

Their entire mission revolves around the culture surrounding their people: Guests, Hosts, Staff, Team Leads.

They don’t just serve chicken — they focus on the experience:

• They say "My pleasure" instead of "You're welcome."
• They have People Leaders, not managers.
• They reframe the service industry to “We’re here to serve.”
• Their competitive Leadership Development Program is where they create and train future Restaurant Owner-Operators. Because they know a thriving restaurant starts with the owner, and the owner should reflect their culture — so why not train ‘em up themselves to be sure they’ve got it.

They sell chicken sandwiches. But their focus isn’t on selling more chicken.

It’s on making the experience of buying from them damn-near perfect.

How to create a perfect buying experience (even online)

Even if you’re not running in-person events, you can still design an experience that pulls people in:

• Look at your language & branding. Is it welcoming? Empowering? Are you genuinely in service of your customers?
• Rework your CTAs. Are you just asking people to buy, or are you inviting them into something bigger?
• Perfect the cold customer experience. People who don’t know you won’t trust your experience. You need to roll out the red carpet for newbies. And then do it every. single. time. they return.
• Handle problems with care. Tech issues? Fulfillment delays? What you do next matters. Do you: Play the blame game? Pivot on the fly? Follow up with something better than they expected?

If it matters to one customer, it should matter to your company.

Oh, and one last thing… 👀

For all my Atlanta marketing folks—I’ve got something big to announce soon.

I’ll drop details on LinkedIn in the coming weeks, but for now, let’s just say this refresher on event marketing was just as much for me as it was for you.

Stay tuned.

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🔦 Recent Project Spotlight 🔦

• 💼 Services: Digital Publicity (Custom)
• 👤 Client: Pamela Norsworthy, Author​
• 📱Channel: Squarespace Website
• 📦 What We Did + Why: Created an owned link in bio site on Squarespace instead of using Linktree or similar alternative.
  • Owned link in bio sites offer
    • ⭐️ Capturing your traffic, giving you the ability to retarget your audience later.
    • ⭐️ Full view of analytics and the customer journey (page views, button clicks, etc.).
    • ⭐️ Consistent branding with the rest of the website.
    • ⭐️ Full page functionality without paying for ANOTHER tool.

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What I'm consuming

Fun Reading: Cozy Mysteries A woman in her late 20s-mid 30s finds her way back into her small town where she becomes amateur sleuth solving the crime just in time to get caught in the culprit's crosshairs. Oh, and the romance is almost always the Sheriff or detective. I put on a cozy mystery book when I'm jamming on repetitive tasks I can do with my eyes closed (scheduling, pulling reports, emailing project updates, etc.) I cease to be in the office checking items off my to-do list, instead I'm sitting with a bookstore owner wondering who would murder the archivist from the library?!? These books are predictable and my personal brand of "here's how I turn my brain off at the end of the day".

Podcast: Industry Competitors Felly owns a content repurposing agency (very similar work to me), and has traveled the world while doing so. I love her insanely casual approach because it feels like what my podcast would lean toward if I launched one. While I err on the side of fine-tuning and highly-edited podcasts, the post-production for those episodes takes a lot of time and resources. This podcast is proof that you can be less than polished with production quality, but if the content is good people will listen. (Felly is also a seasoned speaker and keeps the episodes short.)

If you liked what was in this newsletter today, I'd love to know your thoughts on the new sections and what topics you want to hear next. Note: I used ChatGPT to edit this newsletter for brevity (I'm loquacious when I wannabe.)