In this episode of the Event Experience podcast by Bizzabo, host Rachel Moore welcomes Sarah Gannon, director of corporate events at MathWorks, to discuss key trends and priorities for the year 2025. They cover the importance of strategic measurement, addressing generational considerations in event planning, and incorporating wellness into events. Sarah shares her journey in the events industry and offers valuable insights on how to create impactful and memorable event experiences while also emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and community involvement in the industry.
Meet Sarah Gannon, a dynamic force in corporate experiential marketing with over 25 years of expertise in crafting impactful event strategies that leave a lasting impact and fuel company growth. She has worked with global giants like BMW, IBM, and GE, and now leads the Corporate Events Team at MathWorks, a Massachusetts software innovator accelerating the pace of engineering and science. Sarah serves as a Board Director for PCMA New England and has earned accolades like Meeting Professional of the Year from MPI New England.
Here’s what you’ll hear about in this conversation:
[00:00:00] Rachel Moore: Welcome to Event Experience by Bizzabo, the podcast where we bring the best and brightest event experience leaders together to share stories, tips, and lessons learned from creating some of the world's biggest events. I'm Rachel Moore, your podcast host.
[00:00:23] As we approach the end of another year of events, remembering the fundamentals is always a must do. Sarah Gannon, Director of Corporate Events at MathWorks, shares her extensive experience in event planning and dissects key trends and priorities for 2025.
[00:00:39] We're going to talk about measurement, generational audiences, wellness, and content delivery, along with other vital learnings to elevate your 2025 event experiences. Let's go. [00:01:00]
[00:01:00] Rachel Moore: Since 1999, and this may be the first time that I've hosted this podcast, I've referred to something pre Y2K. But since 1999, our guest has grown her career in events across real estate, health, marketing, and software industries.
[00:01:17] Rachel Moore: She is a self dubbed change agent, a data geek, which I personally love, and today serves as the director of corporate events for MathWorks. Sarah Gannon, welcome to Event Experience.
[00:01:29] Sarah Gannon: Hey, Rachel, thanks so much for having me. Happy to be here.
[00:01:31] Rachel Moore: Oh, it's great. And, uh, like I said, I, and you're both joking, cause I'm thinking of the Prince songs. I'm thinking of like, you know, references to Conan O'Brien in the year 2000, but, uh, you've got quite a career and I want to hand it over to you now and let you just tell us briefly about who you are, where you're at today, and just let you introduce yourself after my mini two sentence introduction, go for it, Sarah, who are you?
[00:01:55] Sarah Gannon: Absolutely. That's a party like it's 1999, right? Well, yeah, that makes me [00:02:00] feel old, but that's okay, we'll roll with it.
[00:02:02] Sarah Gannon: So I have been nearly 25 years now in the biz and happy to still be in it. Uh, it's clearly my passion. Started really working on things in the financial industry and then the health industry and really came into tech and sort of found my people.
[00:02:21] Sarah Gannon: And have been building out a really great career, focusing more as I evolve as a professional in the events world, more on strategy, more on the impact that events have on businesses, and how events can really be extremely wonderful tools to help drive growth to help with engagement, to help with awareness, to help with retention.
[00:02:47] Sarah Gannon: You know, there's a whole host of reasons behind really putting an emphasis on your events. And I'm happy to be here as a leader within the industry. And really look forward [00:03:00] to diving a little bit more into some ways to help others.
[00:03:03] Sarah Gannon: You know, one of my big drivers these days is not just to help my team and my company in terms of the evolution and innovation for their events, but also inspiring and mentoring the next generation of industry professionals. So happy to be here today. Hopefully helping to do just that.
[00:03:20] Rachel Moore: That is why we are here. That's why Alon Elroy, our CMO and co-founder was like, Hey, I, I want this podcast to be helpful. So you are already. We're setting forth on the right mission for this discussion.
[00:03:32] Rachel Moore: Well, let's, uh, let's segue into some, get to know you questions. And we ask these of all of our guests. So I always love the range of responses we get.
[00:03:40] Rachel Moore: So first, you're about to spend a whole day on the ground at an event. So 14 hour day plus, what are your go to on the ground event day shoes?
[00:03:49] Sarah Gannon: So shoes are very important. And, you know, the further along in my career I've gotten, the more I've relied on comfort, which is really sad. It used to be like, Oh, all [00:04:00] day fashion, six inch stilettos, here we go. Now it's more like what kind of sneakers are going to sort of look fancy? So I found, um, Skechers brand actually has this like LA line that is all blinged out with sparkles.
[00:04:15] Sarah Gannon: And so they're very, very comfortable, but they also have that kind of sparkly flash to them, which makes me still feel fancy, even though I'm wearing really comfortable shoes. So those are my on-the-ground go-to is sneakers.
[00:04:28] Sarah Gannon: I also like the whole idea, and this was something that was rampant all through IMEX, is the idea of your shoes kind of matching your blazer.
[00:04:37] Sarah Gannon: So you've got, you know, a nice blazer on and you're in the, the kicks are matching. So I actually did embarrassingly order like eight different pairs of sneakers off of Amazon to match this one particular blazer that I had. And end up returning seven of them, but came out with a, a fresh pair of Adidas that exactly matched the blazer I had on to do my speaking [00:05:00] session at IMEX.
[00:05:00] Sarah Gannon: So definitely sneakers.
[00:05:03] Rachel Moore: That, well, I love the care and logistics you took. You were deliberate with that decision. You like made sure, cause yeah, you can like order, Oh, I have a blue blazer, but it might not be the right blue, and you've got to make sure it's going to align. Um, I love, so I love this too. Cause I actually have like, my brand typically is green with purple, which usually my hair matches that, but it's not right now.
[00:05:26] Rachel Moore: But like I have green chucks and so yeah, I, I love that people were doing that, that they were, they were coordinating their sneakers to be the same color as their blazer. That's amazing.
[00:05:36] Sarah Gannon: Yeah. It's a little embarrassing that I actually just said that out loud for all to hear, but it's true.
[00:05:40] Rachel Moore: Hey, people, you know, you lead the masses, you know, you lead by doing, and people are gonna be like, well, wait, I could do that too. Let me do that. I can make sure I've got that because, hey, there it is. It's all about that brand. And you just, and you know, people are gonna remember that and it'll stick out and whatever you need to do to stay sticky in people's minds.
[00:05:57] Rachel Moore: It's really important.
[00:05:58] Sarah Gannon: You just also have to be very [00:06:00] cognizant of the return window for Amazon. You don't want to get stuck with eight pairs of sneakers that you're not going to use.
[00:06:05] Rachel Moore: Now there's the soundbite. That's what we're going to make sure everybody here is like, just be mindful. Do not get stuck with those sneakers. I love it.
[00:06:14] Rachel Moore: Is there anything that you're listening to, watching, or reading these days that you can't put down?
[00:06:19] Sarah Gannon: Oh, that's a, I mean, I don't want to give a shout out to other podcasts, but I definitely have been listening to some, you know, I'm obsessed with podcasts now, especially cause I have a little bit more of a commute. Um, so I've been listening to Will Curran and the Event Tech podcast. That's a good one.
[00:06:36] Sarah Gannon: Of course the Bizzabo, obviously Bizzabo podcast is, is number one, but that's another good one that I'm listening to. But I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks too.
[00:06:45] Sarah Gannon: And came to find out I was paying for Audible and then I realized that a lot of the books that I liked on Audible are also on Spotify, which I was listening to. So double paying.
[00:06:56] Sarah Gannon: So now I've consolidated, but the seven [00:07:00] husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a one I just read. It kind of gets a little racy at some points. I'm gonna be honest with you. But it's a good sort of reset read. You know when you're just like I have listened to too many event related things, I need to just sort of depart from that for a little bit. That's been a really great read that somebody reckoned my friend Nicole recommended to me.
[00:07:21] Rachel Moore: I like that you're giving advice that keeps people out of trouble. Cause like also if they're like, Hey, if you know, go check your, the book, you're listening to an audible, they might be on Spotify, save yourself some, some bling and you know, some, uh, some cash and, uh, and make sure you're only doing one of those. I love that, but great, great recommendation.
[00:07:38] Rachel Moore: Is there a particular social post or a piece of media or even a hot take about events that you found interesting lately?
[00:07:45] Sarah Gannon: I mean, I always am a big fan of sort of influencers and watching, you know, things come through on LinkedIn.
[00:07:53] Sarah Gannon: I think Julius Solaris that we're all very familiar with always has an awesome nugget of [00:08:00] information. And certainly, you know, just watching his feed, there's always something that's valuable coming out of that.
[00:08:06] Sarah Gannon: Most recently someone was asking me, or introducing me to someone at GES, and I was like, hey, didn't they just get sold to a venture capital company? People were like, what? I had no idea. And I'm like, yep, out on Julius's feet. So, you know, I think always just kind of, I keep my finger on, on the pulse of, of what he's putting out there too.
[00:08:23] Sarah Gannon: And then, you know, Nicola Kastner, who's the CEO of ELX, she always has some really great content too. And actually to talk about my measurement talk earlier. She's putting a lot of the content that we discussed at ELX out on her LinkedIn right now. So if that measurement piece is important to you, I definitely suggest linking up with her, following her on LinkedIn. She's got some really great content as well.
[00:08:44] Rachel Moore: Excellent. Thank you for that. Absolutely.
[00:08:47] Rachel Moore: at the time we're recording this, we are fairly fresh out of IMEX 2024, and where we know we're among everything being discussed in large and small conversations there, was the topic of trends for [00:09:00] 2025.
[00:09:00] Rachel Moore: I cannot even believe I'm saying that out loud that we're about to hit 2025 already. What did you come away with knowing that you need to prioritize for the next year out of what you learned from IMEX? What are things you're going to be focusing on and prioritizing?
[00:09:14] Sarah Gannon: Yeah, I think there was so much fantastic content coming out of IMEX this year, not just from a content perspective from the actual sessions, but also just in mind share and in networking and, you know, there were record numbers this year. So I got so much out of it.
[00:09:31] Sarah Gannon: But if I had to deduce it down into sort of like the top five list, I'd say that the things that I'm going to prioritize going into 2025 is certainly devising a very strategic measurement plan.
[00:09:46] Sarah Gannon: So, certainly coming out of the executive meeting forum and the executive leadership exchange, both that were hosted a little bit before officially kicked off, coming out of that. It's clear [00:10:00] that having a strategic measurement plan where you're thinking about measurement, even at the onset, at the ideation of your event.
[00:10:08] Sarah Gannon: So when you're building out your strategy and thinking about the why, why are you doing an event, which everybody should be asking, you should never just say, okay, let's do this event because Joe in sales wants it. But what's the true motivation and what are we trying to really glean out of the results of this event?
[00:10:27] Sarah Gannon: And so building that measurement strategy with KPIs and objectives in mind, and how we're going to build out the experience and design the event to support that throughout.
[00:10:38] Sarah Gannon: And when you're talking about how you're going to capture that information on the back end, or during your event, whether it be sentiment, you know, using AI to capture people's people's sentiment during a keynote. Or whether it be with your post event survey, a more traditional way to capture people's responses of how they consumed your event, you know. [00:11:00] Keeping that in mind in the initial stages is, is going to be really important to me and my team as we go into this year.
[00:11:06] Sarah Gannon: So definitely something that I saw coming out of IMEX that people are really, uh, have some great ideas and great ways to do that as we go into 2025.
[00:11:15] Rachel Moore: Excellent. Yeah. Um, gosh, I mean, it really does all boil down to measurement. I think we all know we need to be measuring those things. But just like you said, you don't just throw an event. Just, oh, let's just do it, you know. There's always a reason why. And then you need to, you know, Well, did, did we hit it? You know, did we do it effectively afterward? And following that through the line there.
[00:11:33] Rachel Moore: How about other trends or predictions that you think event profs at large should have in front of mind as they prepare for next year, in addition to measurement? What are some of those other areas?
[00:11:43] Sarah Gannon: Absolutely. So I think one of the other things that was abundantly clear was generational considerations.
[00:11:49] Rachel Moore: Ooh, yeah.
[00:11:51] Sarah Gannon: By that, I mean, when you, when we think about the Gen Z's that are now entering the workforce and that have some really great innovative ideas that we want to be sure to include [00:12:00] them in our events, are we designing programs that are appropriate for that the next generation?
[00:12:06] Sarah Gannon: You know, I interviewed a couple of folks on site at, you know, casually interviewed a couple of folks on site at IMEX that were really talking about the need to have a memorable experience that was far beyond just content. So not wanting to sit in some ballroom with a talking head, but have some unusual experience they could never get themselves.
[00:12:29] Sarah Gannon: So maybe it's a presentation, but maybe it's in, you know, some unusual location on the bow of a ship or, you know, something really sort of outside of the box that would create that memorable lasting experience. That would be a positive brand association for them. It was something that I really came away with.
[00:12:47] Sarah Gannon: Also, just when you think about how people are consuming content these days, you know, we all have the scrolling finger. We all go through and look at short bites of content. So I think thinking about that in relation to how we're [00:13:00] presenting content is important.
[00:13:01] Sarah Gannon: Not saying that there's not always a need for, you know, maybe we need that 60 minute keynote. But also thinking about Pecha Kucha, thinking about TED Talks. Thinking about ways that we can make our content more bite sized and more consumable in certain situations, I think is something that we want to be thinking through as we're designing our agendas going into 2025 for sure.
[00:13:24] Rachel Moore: I know there are probably a couple more trends, but I want to pause there too, because just driving it back to real life too. Like me, I'm actually planning my father's 75th birthday right now. Um, and, I'm planning an afternoon, like a lunch birthday, because something I've seen, and this, this actually, we'll get into this, uh, with some of these, some of the get to know you questions as well.
[00:13:44] Rachel Moore: But, I see repeatedly like people like Jamie Lee Curtis, you know, who's also, you know, she, she's kind of a, I guess a boomer age, but there was asking like, why are events, why are some of these great events like at eight o'clock or after at night?
[00:13:56] Rachel Moore: Like, that's not when I'm awake. That's not anymore when I, you [00:14:00] know, I'm, I'm, I'm in pajamas or on a bed at that point. So just kind of looking at that flip side too, cause there's Gen Z, but then there's also like, well, there's still like maybe there's Gen X and boomers and stuff like that. And then there's one in between.
[00:14:10] Rachel Moore: And so, really trying to make sure that you're catering to each demographic or segment of your audience. And again, based on who you're targeting as well.
[00:14:19] Rachel Moore: What were some other, uh, any other trends that you think that we should be, you know, event profs should be thinking of our listeners should be thinking of as they're looking ahead for the next year.
[00:14:28] Sarah Gannon: Yeah, I think one of the big things that was sort of a trend residual from 2024, but that clearly is, is gaining a lot of traction in terms of the offerings to support this. But the idea of wellness at events, I think, is still very prominent.
[00:14:44] Sarah Gannon: And wellness, not just like, oh, hey, we're going to throw a 6am yoga class onto our agenda that nobody that I know of, certainly not myself, would be interested in attending. But really incorporating that throughout the design of your event.
[00:14:58] Sarah Gannon: So, for [00:15:00] instance, consider doing a sound bath in the afternoon to sort of reset people's heads after they've been through all of these, you know, sessions. Thinking about adding, you know, a pickleball court into your after hours event. Thinking about non alcoholic options was a big thing. There was even like a non alcoholic party that literally had no alcohol whatsoever, just really cool, funky, non alcoholic options.
[00:15:25] Sarah Gannon: Because I think that's really important too. It's not just like, oh, your non alcoholic options are soda, water and orange juice, or like whatever other mixers we have on the bar. But really being thoughtful about not like super sweet, you know, heavily sugar laden drinks, but creating some nice, fresh, locally sourced options is really important as well.
[00:15:48] Sarah Gannon: So I do think that wellness is still very relevant and something that we need to be taking into consideration as we're designing our programs.
[00:15:55] Rachel Moore: I'm so glad you pointed out it's more than just a yoga session. I [00:16:00] mean, those are great. Not going to lie.
[00:16:03] Sarah Gannon: Right? But maybe offer them at, like, 8:30 a. m. or, you know, thinking about, like, you know, or offering them in the afternoon or over lunch, you know. Allow, allow, maybe it's a 90 minute lunch, you get 30 minutes to grab something to eat and then go off and do something else. Or having a fun run or, you know. There's so many things you can do besides just sort of tacking something on again.
[00:16:24] Sarah Gannon: It's, it's the idea of not making it feel like an afterthought, but being mindful of it as you're designing your program. That's the biggest part of it.
[00:16:34] Rachel Moore: Well, and yeah, like you said, being intentional, putting more thought into it. Just so it doesn't appear like, oh yeah, and just by the way, now we can say we have wellness because there's a six a. m. yoga class that wow, everybody's going to wake up for.
[00:16:46] Rachel Moore: And you've had some new experiences this year as well.
[00:16:49] Rachel Moore: Can you tell us how the IMEX leadership track? Because I know you referenced that before. How did that help you as an event professional? Today's current event trends and tactics. What did you come away [00:17:00] with from that?
[00:17:00] Sarah Gannon: Yeah. I think what I realized, there's a lot of great content, of course, coming out of that, coming out of BLX. But what I realized is that being surrounded by like minded individuals, being surrounded by event leaders, was so, I didn't realize how much I needed it until I was there, sort of.
[00:17:18] Sarah Gannon: It was like, once I was in a room with my tribe, with my people, it was like, wow, this is so refreshing. Because you start to learn, like, I'm not alone. Because sometimes as event leaders, you know, we're expected, we're looked at to be the ones that are chartering the course, that are going through and doing the research and presenting the options.
[00:17:38] Sarah Gannon: And, you know, you're at the helm, and oftentimes there's not somebody above you that really understands what events are. And the impact that they could have on the business. And so sometimes you're left to your own devices.
[00:17:49] Sarah Gannon: But when you're in a room full of like minded people, you now have people that are experiencing the same pain points as you, that are under, you know, going through the same types of challenges, that have [00:18:00] gone through a challenge and have come out the other side and have great ideas that they can share with you.
[00:18:05] Sarah Gannon: So the mind share of being around like minded individuals was probably the biggest value of coming out of both of those sessions for me. And making sure that we have a way to continue those conversations. So, you know, the networking is great on site, but then continuing that conversation, maintaining those relationships, cultivating deeper relationships with people that truly understand what we're going through, I think is important.
[00:18:29] Sarah Gannon: I think that's important across any, regardless of where you are in your tenure. You know, if you're just starting out, if you are somewhere in the middle and trying to figure out your path, or, you know, if you're in the leadership roles, it's certainly important to be surrounded by like minded individuals. And to get out there and become a part of the associations or organizations that support that.
[00:19:34] Rachel Moore: And just a follow up question on that. Meeting in person. I mean, I know we, we know we always, and I'm sure there's ways you can probably still connect with those same people that you were part of the IMEX Leadership Exchange in person there. And you're going to be able to connect with them virtually after, but how important was it to have those connections in person at that event?
[00:19:54] Sarah Gannon: Oh, it was, it was of the utmost importance. I mean, being there in the same room, [00:20:00] understanding, you know, people's. It's just feeling people's vibes, not to be, you know, too out there about the whole thing, but really just kind of vibing with people and understanding how people's personalities kind of play into how they lead their teams and how they manage their workloads.
[00:20:18] Sarah Gannon: You know, that was really important. And I think we sometimes miss those nuances in a virtual environment. So really sitting down next to people, realizing that you're chuckling over the same jokes or you're, you know, have a visceral response to some content, you know, those are just those little nuances that you don't necessarily get in a virtual environment.
[00:20:36] Sarah Gannon: So definitely being together in rooms with these folks was huge.
[00:20:41] Rachel Moore: Well, and that leads me to ask this next question because, you know, we often hear from guests on this podcast, you know, events no longer are about a single moment or, you know, a phase of moments in time. Like it's, you're planning a one day conference or a two hour webinar, or a [00:21:00] three day trade show. It's not just about that set of time and dates.
[00:21:05] Rachel Moore: The entire calendar now figures into today's experiences. So based on that and on what you've learned, do you think that all event profs, especially people listening to this podcast, should we all be mindful of going to 2025, knowing that it's way more than just that one event's time and date stretch.
[00:21:24] Sarah Gannon: Yeah. I think that in and of itself, I think the understanding that events should be part of a much broader communication. You know, it is not just one moment in time, but it's what you are doing beforehand.
[00:21:38] Sarah Gannon: And to the, one of the other things I see coming out of IMEX that I'm gonna be mindful of going into 2025 is, it's sort of this almost de emphasis on content and emphasis on experience.
[00:21:50] Sarah Gannon: And so what are we doing beforehand to make sure that people are getting that content? It's not about the elimination of the content. It's the way in which we're getting that content to [00:22:00] people. So what can you do beforehand?
[00:22:02] Sarah Gannon: What can you do in those preliminary stages when you start talking about your event to seed some of those ideas, and maybe even to show virtually some of that content? So that by the time they get to your event, they already feel like they're part of, you know, to this point of, of kind of this tribal knowledge of like, you feel like you found your people. You know, they already feel like they're a part of the community because they've already been immersed in some sort of content.
[00:22:27] Sarah Gannon: So, I think beforehand, it's important to sort of see that along the way and think about what you can be doing to better engage people, especially first timers, right? We talk about what, what are first timers doing at an event? How do they listen to things, or see things, or become involved in communities on LinkedIn or, you know, special invite only VIP areas that they can connect with people online, so that by the time they get to be on site, they have people that they're looking for. They don't feel like an outsider. They feel engaged. They're [00:23:00] fully tuned in to your event.
[00:23:02] Sarah Gannon: And then post-event, making sure that you're summarizing and providing that content to them, so that they can share it out. And so that your event expands far beyond just that one attendee, but they're sharing with their teams. They're putting it on their LinkedIn. They're sending it out on their social media. You know, so then the impact of your event far grows just beyond that one person.
[00:23:24] Sarah Gannon: So it's important for the attendees, but it's also important to you as an organizer to understand that the event, to your point, is far beyond that moment in time. And that there are things you should be doing post event and pre event to really expand the value of that program.
[00:23:38] Rachel Moore: Yeah. And I think, you know, we look at people's natural tendencies as well, where, you know, it's a lot easier if, you know, if you're already, and even just thinking personally, if you're already texting with a friend a lot and they're like, Hey, let's go meet up for coffee.
[00:23:54] Rachel Moore: Well, you already have that context beforehand. You're like, yeah, because we've been chatting about this online, let's go, let's [00:24:00] meet up and, you know, change those ideas over coffee, and then after.
[00:24:03] Rachel Moore: Same thing applies to events where it's like, you're far more likely to get somebody to say, I'm going to invest my time, energy, and even money to go to this event in person if there's already some established relationship, rapport, conversation, context, that's able to take place before and then after, right?
[00:24:20] Sarah Gannon: Hundred percent. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:24:23] Rachel Moore: Yeah. Gosh, we've gotten a lot of really great things for us to keep in mind. And be aware of, you know, about to wrap up another year in the events industry and head into a new one.
[00:24:34] Rachel Moore: Finally, the easiest question of all, where can our listeners find and follow you online?
[00:24:40] Sarah Gannon: Oh, well, I am on LinkedIn. And I like to post. I don't post as frequently as I'd like to, to be honest with you. But I definitely am trying to be more mindful of putting things out there that are helpful to me. And sharing that with the folks that follow me.
[00:24:54] Sarah Gannon: So definitely find me on LinkedIn. It's Sarah E. Gannon and a [00:25:00] whole bunch of letters after my name. So, so look me up, follow me, hit me up, connect with me, whatever floats your boat, but I'm happy to connect and share the love.
[00:25:09] Rachel Moore: Well, after 25 plus years, you better have a lot of letters after your name. So we'll be looking for you there.
[00:25:17] Sarah Gannon: Absolutely. Yeah. Ongoing. I do. You know, we're all ever evolving. So ongoing education is really important to me. I'm so really happy. And that's why I, you know, want to make sure to share it back as well.
[00:25:29] Host: In the face of career uncertainties, Sarah's skill up advice is just what we need to make our skills relevant to new opportunities.
[00:25:46] Rachel Moore: My number one priority as an event professional has always been to be involved, get involved with the industry. Whether that's joining an association, but don't just join the [00:26:00] association. Join a committee, volunteer, get on the board, you know.
[00:26:04] Sarah Gannon: Because the best thing about volunteering in this association is that you get to try things without anybody really fully judging you. You're not going to get fired. They're not going to oust you from an association if you try something.
[00:26:19] Sarah Gannon: So, for instance, you know, if you don't really hold a leadership position, or you want to get more familiar with how to lead a group of people. You know, you can be a chair of a committee and start to lead, you know, learn how to lead people through trying, through doing, which I think it might not be an opportunity that you would have normally in your day to day.
[00:26:39] Sarah Gannon: So, you know, the other benefit of that is obviously you're starting to build out your network, right? I can't tell you how many times I've accomplished something really, really meaningful in my career because of my relationships, because of the people I knew, because of the favors I was able to pull in. Because of the, you know, smile and eyelashes, I was able to [00:27:00] bat, uh, to get somebody to please, please, please do something because of those relationships.
[00:27:05] Sarah Gannon: So, you know, that benefit is twofold. It's that you're, you're getting that ability to sort of try things that might be a little bit outside of your comfort zone or that you wouldn't be able to do normally in your day to day.
[00:27:16] Sarah Gannon: But you're also building that bench of people throughout your career. I mean, some of my best friends are people that I met 20 years ago, 25 years ago when I first started out. And, you know, the lines are now completely blurred between, you know, professional and, and personal, which is great. But, you know, those are, that, those are folks that I'm able to now lean on. And that have all also helped me along the way. You know, in terms of things that they've done or things that they've seen or people that they've introduced me to.
[00:27:44] Sarah Gannon: So that's the biggest benefit of the world. Just get involved. And get involved in a level that, you know, is really going to be meaningful to you and to your continued development as an event professional.
[00:27:55] Rachel Moore: Thanks again to Sarah Gannon for joining us on event experience. And [00:28:00] thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love to hear it. Connect with us on social and subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you're listening. Also, don't forget to share the show with your colleagues and friends. You can find transcripts of each episode and key takeaways on bizzabo.com/podcast. [00:28:17] On behalf of the team, thank you. We'll gather again soon for a new episode of Event Experience.
