The Barefoot Event Professor

Author: Linda Robson, Barefoot Event Professor

  • Beyond the Pandemic: 4 Permanent Shifts Reshaping the Events Industry

    Beyond the Pandemic: 4 Permanent Shifts Reshaping the Events Industry

    I’m not sure how others feel, but I am tired of hearing about Covid.  It’s likely because my students bring it up constantly when doing assignments.  They point to it as the reason for whatever they have identified as “wrong” or a “challenge” to events and hospitality.  Covid devastated our industry, no question. But dwelling on what we lost isn’t helping anyone.  In this posting, I want to offer what it transformed—and how we adapt moving forward.

    The first change that I noticed is who works in events. So many people had to leave the industry, according to a report from the Events Industry Council, over 1.6 million jobs were lost between 2020-2023.  When restrictions were lifted and I started going to association meetings again, this loss was very evident in that I didn’t know a lot of people who were there.  My Facebook and LinkedIn feeds were full of people announcing their new jobs outside events.  This exodus created a labour shortage that’s being filled by a new generation. Individuals entering the industry are younger (typically early 20s), nearly all college-educated, but with limited industry experience—internships and jobs weren’t available.  Several event professionals I have spoken to have talked about changing their expectations for new hires.  They realize they will have to spend more time and money on training these new hires. The good news is that the majority of new hires are college graduates, bringing educational experience in risk management, financial analysis, and data collection—skills that were often learned by trial and error in previous generations. They’re also digital natives, positioned to aid the technological transformation the industry has undergone. I’ll talk more about this later.

    This leads to the second change, event industry education.  Historically event professionals have “fallen” into the industry; they didn’t go to school for events or hospitality.  Instead, they got their education from associations. During Covid, a lot of associations offered online courses, typically free to their members and for a fee to non-members.  These consisted of stand-alone courses (project management, anti-trafficking and communication) and certificate courses (AI, emergency preparedness, and data analysis).  This has created two distinct education pathways: professionals with hands-on experience and association credentials, and college graduates with formal academic training. Does this create challenges in evaluating qualifications? Absolutely. The great news is that professional development has become an expectation, with associations offering online education, colleges with event management programs, and companies budgeting for training.  While we may not have standardization yet, we have agreed that we need to move away from ‘figure it out as you go’.  This is a huge step toward being seen as a profession.

    The third change in the industry is the increased use of technology.  For years, the events industry was very slow in adopting technology—most professionals relied on Word, Excel, and maybe Cvent for registration. While floor planning software (AllSeated, Social Tables) and additional registration platforms (Eventbrite, Bizzabo) existed, adoption was spotty at best.  Covid shut down the world and resulted in a forced adoption of technology platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. Technology companies flourished, expanding services to include virtual platforms with avatars, venue sourcing, registration management, and collaborative planning tools.  When restrictions lifted, the technology didn’t disappear. Event professionals recognized its value beyond crisis mode. Virtual and hybrid events became a tool for professionals to offer clients, noting its expanded reach while reducing costs and environmental impact. Cloud-based collaboration made planning more efficient and dynamic. 3D floor planning tools (Prismm, Social Tables) now let professionals share designs with clients through integrated vendor offerings connecting venues, rental companies, and caterers.  So, what does that mean for the future?  In short, events are able to be more global by removing travel barriers, clients can be shown designs, and team collaboration is significantly more effective.  Virtual technology offers sustainable, cost-effective options for a variety of events.  Additionally, this technology is aiding marketing capabilities and data analytics, which allow more personalized experiences for attendees; more on this in the next section. The use of technology is connected to the increase in data analytics, the fourth change.  Prior to use of this new technology, we relied primarily on experience, conversations with other professionals, observation and survey that provided limited results.  Programs like Cvent give us the ability to collect so much data.  We can get information on which session had the highest attendance, and satisfaction ratings.  This data gives information about which formats and topics are attendee favourites. This helps with our overall education, increasing our ability to provide high quality events, and allows for changes to be made in real-time, both financially and logistically.  Specifically, we are using this data to develop budgets that are making the best use of funds, including when to pursue sponsorship opportunities.  As mentioned previously event design is getting a boost by allowing us to work side-by-side with clients to create layouts.  Additionally, we are using this technology to enhance the flow of people, which not only increases the comfort of attendees, it also improves safety if people need to be moved in case of an emergency.  The use of technology to encourage attendee engagement is significant.  This is done through real-time surveys, that can be done on smart phones throughout the event instead of at the conclusion.  This makes it easy for us to make changes to improve attendees’ experiences.  Gamification is another powerful use of technology, both for us and attendees.  It allows attendees to engage with us and other attendees before, during and after events.  Not only does this increase engagement, it also adds a social element that can appeal to people who are more introverted.  What this means is greater personalization not only for attendees but for us as well.  We can create marketing that directly speaks to attendees, including sessions and potential connections that will increase their ROI.  For us it means that we have the ability to find technology that is tailored to our needs, versus having one program to choose.  We can learn about attendees in order to make more informed recommendations to our clients on session topics, networking options and overall layout.  This is just the beginning, as AI and predictive analytics advance, we will be able to anticipate trends, optimize pricing, and design experiences that adapt in real-time to attendee behavior. This is another area where upcoming event professionals can shine, they bring analytical skills and data literacy that previous generations often developed late in their careers, if at all. Data fluency is now as essential as project management skills.

  • When Not Everyone Speaks “Event”: Lessons in Patience and Perspective

    When Not Everyone Speaks “Event”: Lessons in Patience and Perspective

    It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The beginning of the semester is always busy, but this year has been more so than others. I’ve taken on a new position, Faculty Lead, and one of my responsibilities is a new course titled “First Year Experience”. This course is for all the first-time Freshmen in the School of Business, there are 202 of them. It is the brainchild of my esteemed colleague Kristine Kelley, and is aimed at helping Freshmen acclimatize to the College environment. The course runs one hour a week for 15 weeks and covers topics like professionalism, time management, self-awareness and mindfulness.

    Why am I telling you about this course? The course is set up like 14 weekly events, which is my wheelhouse. It has been quite a learning experience for me in that it’s been quite some time since I worked with non-event professionals or students. I waiver between wanting to handhold my colleagues through the process, like I would with students, or expecting them to know what needs to be done. Neither of these approaches is productive, leading to frustration on my part and likely on my colleagues as well.

    As any event professional worth their salt, I am constantly evaluating the course and my approach.  So, what have I learned so far?  First creating an event for 200+ people that focuses on creating a community as well as helping them navigate their first year is difficult.  Endicott College prides itself on having small classes, which I love, but it means we are severely limited on the spaces we can use for this number of students.  The spaces we can use are either set up in theater-style, making interaction difficult, or very open, making it loud and difficult to hear.  Second, how do we keep 200+ 18-year-olds engaged for 50 minutes with a limited staff (16 people)?  The key component of this class is not to lecture at the students, instead we want to have an interactive experience.  Third, how do we provide content that is meaningful in an interactive way and assess them?  We need to be able to assess how effective the content is without giving them another paper to write.  Specifically, we want to give them something that encourages reflection and awareness.  At the moment I don’t have an answer to these questions, I would love to hear opinions.

    Personally, I have learned that I need to be clearer in my communication and expectations.  I also need to learn not to get frustrated when people question my decisions.  I have spent the better part of my life justifying my career choice as being substantive, which explains part of my frustration when working with non-event people.  In my class I harp on being open-minded and not taking offence to a client who micro-manages; it’s clear I need to heed my own advice.

    As the title states, I need to remind myself we are all on the same team even though we have different perspectives.  The hard part for me, I can hear my family laughing already, is patience.  It was pointed out to me long ago that I have no patience, instead I have discipline.  It’s time to start using it.

  • Boston and the World Cup: A Win or a Worry?

    Boston and the World Cup: A Win or a Worry?

    The FIFA World Cup is coming to Boston in summer of 2026.  Most of the information surrounding it focuses on its benefits.  I’ll admit I didn’t really know much about the FIFA World Cup previously, so of course I was excited to have a chance to do some research.

    I started by looking at the appeal of hosting the FIFA World Cup.  The organizing body promotes the World Cup as having dramatic economic and social impacts.  This is due to the international attraction of the sport; it’s a chance for a country to show off to the rest of the world.  They state on the Inside FIFA website that 3 million people attend the World Cup, which means opportunities to improve the country’s image as well as developing infrastructure, adding revenue and creating jobs.  Interestingly they do acknowledge there are negative impacts to hosting.  Specifically, increased use of the existing infrastructure, depletion of natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions.  They acknowledge these issues can negatively affect the people living in the host city.  With the exception of acknowledging the negatives, this information is very similar to what the organizing board of the Olympics uses, which made me suspicious about the actual impacts.

    I looked into the economics of FIFA; guess what, there is no consensus related to the revenue or the costs.  Some sources predict 6.5 million in attendance, which is significantly higher than the 3 million that FIFA predicts.  The cost of hosting previous World Cups ranges from $4-$11 billion.  This is dependent on what the country has to construct or renovate to meet FIFA standards.  For the 2026 World Cup, FIFA is predicting revenues of more than $10 billion.  When you also consider the number of visitors that will spend money hotels, transportation, food, and souvenirs, it makes the World Cup very attractive.

    This seemed too good to be true, I know I have trust issues.  It took some digging, but I found information that suggests the individual host cities for the 2026 World Cup will receive a net impact of between $90-$480 million.  The $480 million is based on 450,000 visitors attending.  The cost of hosting the World Cup in Boston is estimated between $75-$100 million.  This still looks positive, until I found an article about British Columbia, one of the Canadian cities involved, and they are predicting costs of $532-$624 million.  It makes me wonder if this could/is happening in other host cities and not being reported.  There were also a few articles about a request for $625 million from the federal government to cover security costs, which will be paid for by each host city.  Finally, any revenue from the World Cup will be split between the host cities as well as a large percentage that goes to FIFA.

    Okay, I’ve been throwing a lot of numbers at you.  It probably has your head spinning a little.  Let me look at the World Cup from another perspective, the allure of increased visitors.  While Mega Events definitely attract large numbers of people, there is some disagreement as to the benefit of this increase.  Some experts argue the impact of these visitors can be devastating to the daily lives of residents.  I live in Salem, which attracts roughly 1 million visitors throughout the month of October.  Like most Salem residents, I avoid the downtown area until the month is over.  Now consider three times that number of people in a 2-week period.  Everything will be overflowing, especially transportation.  We all know how bad traffic is in Boston; now picture what it’s going to be like with people travelling to Foxborough every day. 

    There are some researchers that suggest that a Mega Event can discourage people from traveling; they don’t want to deal with the large crowds so they pick somewhere else to go.  There is evidence that the number of visitors actually decreases when a Mega Event is held.

    Finally, I want to talk briefly about the job creation that is used as an incentive.  There will definitely be a need for more employees; however, this will be limited to the time of the event.  Likely people will be hired 1-2 months before the World Cup to accommodate training, work through the event, but with the drop off at the conclusion these people will be let go.

    While the World Cup is an exciting event, and offers global attention for Boston, I wonder if it’s really a win.

  • Dear Media:  Event Professionals Deserve Better

    Dear Media:  Event Professionals Deserve Better

    Now that I’ve gotten off my soapbox about Astroworld and risk management, I thought I would offer a rant on how others perceive the events industry.  This has been a constant source of aggravation in my adult life, and I know I’m not the only one.  Early in my career when I told people I was an event planner, I would get one of two responses: “what is that”; or, “that must be fun”.  I thought when I got my PhD it would change, and it did a little.  Now I get “you can get a degree in that”. 

    I’ve thought a lot about why people either don’t know about the industry or don’t understand it.  There are several reasons, but I think they can be boiled down to two primary reasons.  The first is that people who are familiar with events being a career it’s because they have known someone who has been involved in planning events.  This is usually through their job, where someone is responsible for planning events.  So, they know it is a job, but have no understanding of what goes into it.  I believe that is due to the fact that when they arrive at an event, they see the end result only.  They don’t see the months/years of work that goes into it.  Event professionals are experts at making things look flawless, even when things go wrong.

    The second reason is the way the events industry are portrayed in the media. The Netflix documentary Trainwreck. The Astroworld Tragedy, is the latest in a long history of the events industry being portrayed negatively.   When I say “media” I don’t just mean documentaries, but also news outlets and popular media (sitcoms).  Most news outlets today focus on sensational stories, the phrase “if it bleeds, it leads” is well earned.  This means that news stories focus on things like Astroworld, Woodstock 99, the Las Vegas shootings, and many more.  It is common when something bad at an event for media within the industry to reach out for my comments.  It is extremely uncommon for other news outlets to do the same.  The interview that I did with NewsNation Prime was the first time this happened.  When I watch coverage of these types of stories, I never see an event professional as someone that was included.  This leads to incorrect conclusions.  For example, there was a shooting at a Garlic Festival in California shortly after the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas.  A man cut through a chain link fence to enter at the back of the festival and opened fire.  On-duty police, who were at the event, responded within a minute and ended the violence within 2 minutes.  This was horrific, but is it reasonable to plan for someone to cut through a fence?  I can confidently say it is not reasonable; which was my response to the question “what did organizers do wrong?”.  If someone is determined to do evil, they will find a way.  It is clear to me organizers had a strong plan in place based on the response time; this is a good thing.  This is not an isolated incident, when you look at any reporting of tragedies at events, there are a lot of judgments based on having the whole story.

    If the media isn’t portraying the events industry negatively, they are making fun of it.  Think about shows like Friends, or The Big Bang Theory, there are numerous references to being a “party planner”.  It is always in a dismissive way, suggesting that it is a joke, not a real job.  The movie The Wedding Planner put events on the map; I had so many students state that movie as the reason they wanted to be in events.  You have heard the sayings “any publicity is good publicity”, and “there’s no such thing as bad press”.  I wholeheartedly disagree with these statements because if the portrayal is wrong, which is the case, it’s even harder to correct people.

    I understand many people, including myself, “fell” into the industry.  That doesn’t mean we haven’t spent our careers learning our craft.  Anyone who is an event professional has spent hours in education through associations or courses, conversations with each other, and learning from their mistakes through deep evaluation.  Even when an event is successful these professionals will strive to find ways to be better.  I wish the media would focus on this side of the industry.

  • Astroworld Soapbox 2:  If I Had Planned It.

    Astroworld Soapbox 2:  If I Had Planned It.

    I’m back on my soapbox for Astroworld Part 2.

    The last post focused on what went horrifically wrong with Astroworld.  This post is going to focus on putting my money where my mouth is; I’m going to outline what I would have done in a few areas: contracts; layout; and, risk management plan.  There are a lot of other pieces that go into organizing any event, but I chose these areas as I believe they are the core of the problems that occurred.  Of course, there is a bias in what follows as I have the benefit of knowing what happened and having examined what was done.  The counter argument to that is that I am a responsible event professional who has done the work to learn how to keep events as safe as possible.

    Let’s start with Contracts.  When most people hear the word “contract” it makes them cringe.  I happen to love them, partially due to one of my mentors, Dr. Tyra Warner, who let me help her with research on contracts. 

    The first thing to do when signing contracts is to make sure the parties with whom I sign contracts were capable of assuming the responsibilities and liabilities.  This means researching the companies and asking for credentials, training processes, licenses, certifications, permits, and so on.  Specifically with a security company I want to see their license, how long they have been in business, the types of events they have done in the past, their training practices, and their hiring practices.

    The second thing about contracts is reading them carefully.  When a contract is signed it becomes binding, each party is expected to do what is outlined in the contract.  Saying that you didn’t see that in the contract is not an out.

    The third, and final part about contracts is negotiation.  Typically, a contract is provided by the supplier (security firm, venue, F&B vendors) and favours them, which is understandable.  Everything in a contract is negotiable and you should be making sure that contracts protect both parties and is equally fair.

    Next up, Layout.  The event needed a scale model, which includes all aspects of the events from the staging area (where attendees gather before coming in), to the vendors, the stage, the quadrants, medical tent and vehicles.  The layout should be in several formats, a master copy and close-ups of different areas, and is created in collaboration with everyone that will be on-site. 

    For Astroworld, the command center for Houston PD was set up in a parking lot a mile away from the stages, I would have insisted it be inside the gates.  That reduces the response time as well as removes the visibility of police which can be a deterrent for problems.

    The entrances were a nightmare.  They were clearly too small to accommodate the expected 50,000 people.  They also needed to consider the Covid protocols that were to be used.  The size of the entrances created a bottleneck, which lead to people pushing forward and breaking down the gates. 

    Along with making the entrances larger I would also have used a queuing system that lined people up with a switchback like you see in the airports.  Having a single, long line tends to make people anxious and more prone to pushing; using stanchions and switchbacks give the illusion of movement. 

    The stage, wow it was a bad idea to have 2 stages but only use 1 for the majority of the festival.  I would have advised using a single stage; it would have avoided people moving in the dark through the trees and coming into the quadrants from one side.  If 2 stages were required, I would have used corrals to direct people to the middle aisle so the areas would fill more equally; more on this in the section on the risk management plan. 

    The layout of 100-foot quadrants with partial corrals, was not thought out.  The metal corrals block access from all directions.  In the documentary you could clearly see that people were crushed against the corrals. 

    Another thing that surprised me was no designated mosh pit.  Travis Scott concerts are known to result in mosh pits, not having a designated area(s) meant they happened in the quadrants.  There was already not enough room, now we are adding people bouncing off each other to the mix.

    Finally, lighting, there needed to be a lot more.  There should have been lighting so that people could see where they were going and how crowded it was getting.  The lighting would have been dimmed during the performance so as to not interfere with the pyrotechnics, but could be turned up when problems started happening or to let people know the event was over and it was time to leave.

    Finally, Risk Management Plan. Astroworld had an emergency plan, but not a risk management plan.  An emergency plan is reactive to specific problems.  A well-done risk management plan is proactive, identifying potential risks before the event; allowing for modifications to be made that will reduce the potential for the risks to manifest. 

    To outline a full risk management plan for Astroworld is beyond what I can do here, so I will focus on the crowd movement, which was absent from the Astroworld emergency plan.  First step is to identify how you want the crowd to move through the space.  This is an ideal, but you need to keep in mind that people rarely do what you want.  That means considering all the ways they could move through the space.  A good friend of mine, Ed Slapik, calls this thinking about the lowest common denominator of stupid.  I refer to it as remembering groups of people are stupid and will follow without much thought.  In order to move people from the second stage to the main stage, in the dark, through trees, screams risk to me.  Add to that the 100-foot quadrants, with corrals, and general admission (no assigned seating).  If you talk to any responsible event professional the phrase “general admission” will make them faint of heart, it is known to cause pushing, which leads to crushing.  General admission makes people crazy, they rush to get the best spot because they can.

    If the quadrants and corrals were something that security and medical staff insisted on using, I would have enclosed the quadrant on all sides, widened the aisles, directed the people down the middle aisle and had staff at each entrance counting the number of people entering.  The corral would be closed when the capacity was reached.  There would be staff and signage directing people to different areas. 

    The access aisles needed to be much larger, allowing for vehicles to enter the area if needed.  When problems started occurring people were pulled into the access aisles, but not moved out of them.  Some people needed to be treated immediately, but after treatment there was no way to move them to the medical tents.  I recognize that even with wider access aisles vehicles may not have been able to safely enter the area, but at least there would be space to move people out of danger more easily.

    Individuals with medical training were woefully lacking at Astroworld.  A general rule is 32 individuals with medical training per 10,000 people, meaning there should have been approximately 1500 medical staff on-site.  This rule comes from the Medical Utilization Rate (MUR) or Patient Presentation Rate (PPR), and needs to also consider the specifics of the event to determine the appropriate number.  I found one article that mentioned the medical company hired by Astroworld had 70 people on-site.

    It is clear there was no communication plan for the event, even though communication is a crucial part the overall event, but especially for a risk management plan.  There needed to be identified staff with radios and headsets on a dedicated channel giving updates on a regular basis to the organizer, medical staff and Houston PD.  This staff’s only responsibility is to monitor the crowd looking for indications of problems so they could be dealt with quickly.

    I’m going to end with this thought:  there is no such thing as a risk-free event.  No matter how good someone is, things will go wrong even with a well thought out risk management plan.  While I cannot say definitively say that deaths and injuries were preventable at Astroworld;  I can say that implementing basic risk management protocols would have helped and it’s shameful that it didn’t happen.

    I’m going to get off my soapbox, for now.  You can bet I will bring it out again.

  • Soapbox Alert: What Astroworld Should Teach Every Event Professional

    Soapbox Alert: What Astroworld Should Teach Every Event Professional

    Fair warning—I’m getting out my soapbox.

    Some of you may have already watched the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it—but be prepared to be angry. You should be angry, whether or not you work in events. There’s so much to unpack, I’m breaking this into two blog posts. This first one is focused on information you may not know—bear with me, it’s a lot, but it matters.

    The Start of the Spiral

    When the tragedy at Astroworld happened, I was interviewed by News Nation Prime. It was my first time being interviewed on national news and I was nervous. So I leaned into my superpower: research.

    It took less than a minute to find red flags.

    Let’s start at the beginning: there were no proper entrance procedures, and the entry points were far too narrow. In the documentary, you see people literally pushing down fences. Once that happened, any ability to control crowd numbers was gone. I was honestly shocked no one was seriously injured right then and there—although reports say a security guard and four attendees were treated for injuries.

    Want to know how they staffed security? At 6 a.m., someone posted on social media asking for more help; around 100 people volunteered. They were given a t-shirt, but no training. By 8 a.m., Houston PD had already requested riot gear.

    Meanwhile, the official Astroworld website promised COVID protocols, wristband checks, and full bag and body searches. None of that happened because of the surge through the gates. By 2 p.m., entrance protocols were completely abandoned. The headliner, Travis Scott, wasn’t even scheduled to go on until 8:45 p.m., but the problems had started 12 hours earlier.

    What You Didn’t See in the Documentary

    There’s confusion about the actual capacity of the venue. Some say 20,000; others say 200,000. Here’s what I found: the 20,000 is for the stadium (which wasn’t used for the festival). The outdoor venue was theoretically capable of holding 200,000 people—if there was nothing else in the space.

    But there was a lot else: food vendors, rides, medical tents, two stages. Each one takes up space—and not just their footprint. You also need safety clearance zones around them. For example, a ride’s footprint includes not just its base but the full area it occupies while operating. All of that eats into your usable capacity.

    At the time, Houston didn’t require an occupancy permit. Live Nation, the promoter, sold 50,000 tickets. But with so many people jumping fences, we honestly don’t know how many were actually there.

    Design Flaws and Dangerous Layouts

    Let’s talk layout. If you look at images of the festival, here’s what stands out:

    • Minimal signage
    • Poor lighting
    • Only two water stations
    • Limited exits
    • 100-foot-wide quadrants
    • Narrow access aisles

    And the main stage? Not used all day. So when it was time for Travis Scott’s performance, everyone moved toward one focal point, funneling into those 100-foot quadrants—with no crowd monitoring and no signage to direct people across the space. Security started pulling people over fencing into narrow aisles—essentially making things worse.

    By 4 p.m., 54 people had already been treated for injuries. Houston PD had flagged dangerous conditions. The Chief of Police met with Travis Scott to voice concerns. That’s four hours before the show even started.

    Security—In Name Only

    There are lots of conflicting reports about security numbers. Some say there were over 1,000 personnel, including Houston PD and two private firms. Technically, that aligns with the industry rule of thumb: one security staff member per 50–100 attendees.

    But numbers aren’t everything.

    You must match staff to your event. Peer security (a.k.a. untrained volunteers) requires more oversight. And guess what? Neither of the security companies hired were licensed in Texas. Some workers said they didn’t even know who to report to.

    Who Was in Charge?

    A lot of attention has been put on Travis Scott. And yes, his past behavior is a problem—he’s been charged twice with inciting crowds, and there was a crowd surge at his own Astroworld event in 2019.

    That said, he hired Live Nation—the “world’s leading live entertainment company”—to run the show. He states in the documentary that he wasn’t qualified to plan the festival, so he hired a company that did have the expertise.

    Let’s take a look at LiveNation:

    • 200 deaths and 750 injuries reported at their events since 2006
    • 10 OSHA violations between 2016–2019
    • No certification requirements for project managers—just 3 or more years of experience

    Yes, there was an emergency plan. It included scenarios like severe weather, active shooters, missing children, and unruly fans. But guess what it didn’t include? Crowd surges. One of the most common risks at concerts.

    Even worse: the only people authorized to stop the show were the “concert’s executive producer and festival director.” Their names were not listed in the plan. That’s a massive oversight.

    Back to the Layout

    The layout was approved by the City of Houston and the Fire Marshal. Permits were issued for tents, pyrotechnics, food vendors, and street closures. But again—no capacity permit was required, just a safety plan filed with property owners.

    So what happened during the show?

    It started around 9 p.m.—a little late, but not unusually so. Within 15 minutes, Travis Scott stopped the show briefly for a distressed fan (we see this in the documentary). Reports say he paused two more times. But by 9:40 p.m., a mass casualty event had been declared by the police. Still, they didn’t stop the show—for fear of triggering a riot.  My question is, aren’t they trained for that?

    The concert finally ended at 10:15 p.m.—more than 30 minutes after that declaration.

    Final Thoughts (for Now)

    There’s still so much we don’t know. And if you have insights—please share. If you spot something I missed or got wrong—tell me. I’m here to learn, too. Most of all, I want to hear what you think. The good, the bad, the ugly. Let’s talk.

    Your turn. GO.

  • Passion and Profession: My Life in Event Management

    Passion and Profession: My Life in Event Management

    I’ve always been an event professional—long before I even knew it was a profession. I was the one who organized everything: school dances, parties, sports tournaments—if something needed organizing, I stepped in. I loved the challenge and thrived on the recognition that came with a job well done. Growing up in a traditional, old-fashioned family, my ambitions were often dismissed and ridiculed. I was constantly told I should want something “normal,” and any deviation from that was met with criticism. I’m sharing this because it helps explain why I’ve spent the last 30 years studying, working in, and advocating for the events industry.

    My professional journey began in 1994 at the University of Guelph, where I worked part-time as a secretary for an environmental computer science professor. One day, after returning from a conference, he told me he’d agreed—along with two European colleagues—to host an international conference. They needed someone to manage it. I had no experience, but the promise of a trip to Whistler, British Columbia, for me and my family was enough to get me to say “yes.”

    Over the next eight months, I undertook all the aspects of planning a conference—from negotiating hotel contracts and managing registrations to creating schedules and coordinating transportation. All this with just a desktop computer, dial-up internet, and a fax machine. I felt grossly unqualified and made plenty of mistakes, like booking hotel rooms for attendees who left early meaning the organization had to pay. But I discovered something even more valuable: I loved the work.

    From 1994 to 2010, I worked as an international conference manager, traveling to Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Italy, the U.S., and Switzerland, among others. I “fell” into a career I hadn’t known existed, and being a natural researcher, I began digging into the field. I found associations, and educational opportunities that deepened my understanding and expanded my network. Although I lived in a small town and couldn’t attend regular association meetings, I went to annual conferences where I finally found a community that understood me. These professionals didn’t just speak my language—they lived it and accepted me.

    Those experiences inspired me to formalize my training. I earned a Special Event Coordinator certification from the Ontario government, completed an Event Management certificate through George Washington University, and eventually enrolled in their Master of Tourism Administration (MTA) program. Going back to school as a single parent with a full-time, travel-heavy job was no small feat. But I loved what I was learning and earned my degree in 2007.

    After graduating, I worked as a teaching assistant in the MTA program and attended an alumni event where a professor encouraged me to pursue a PhD. A week later, I had submitted my application to the University of Waterloo’s Recreation and Leisure Studies program—at his insistence. I was at a crossroads: continue as an event professional and possibly start my own company; or pivot toward education. As much as I respect entrepreneurs, I never had the desire to be one. Teaching allowed me to combine my love of events with my passion for research and mentoring. I completed my PhD in 2.5 years—1.5 years faster than average in Canada.

    When I joined the faculty at Endicott College, I found the perfect fit. I could teach, research, and still plan events. I developed a risk management process for events, traveled to speak about it, and eventually published a book. I also deepened my involvement with industry associations and grew my global network.

    Today, I continue to study the events industry not just because it’s my profession, but because it’s my passion. It has shaped my life, challenged me, inspired me—and given me a place where I finally feel I belong.

    I know there are many more people out there with a similar experience and would love to hear your story. Maybe we can encourage others to become more active.

  • Untitled post 3

    Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the events industry. Since the early 2000s, I’ve been talking about it, living it—as an international conference planner—and now teaching it as a professor.

    I’m excited to expand the conversation. I’ll be sharing insights, trends, and reflections on all things events—and I’d love to hear your thoughts along the way.

    Let’s keep the conversation going!

  • Rethinking Work-Life Balance: A Generational Perspective

    Rethinking Work-Life Balance: A Generational Perspective

    Over the past year, I’ve had numerous conversations with students about work-life balance. While it’s far from a new topic, the recent surge in curiosity has been a bit puzzling. As a geek, I decided to dig a little deeper into why this topic seems to matter more than ever.

    I’m part of the generational bridge between Baby Boomers and Gen X. That in-between space might explain why I view work-life balance differently than many of today’s students. I was raised with the belief that work was what you did to pay the bills. There was a very clear separation between your professional responsibilities and your personal life. Most jobs were nine-to-five, and no one expected you to take your work home. That’s not to say we didn’t care about doing a good job—but our jobs didn’t define us. Work was what we did, not who we were.

    As society evolved, so did I—especially when it came to the expectations placed on women. I grew up in a time when the standard path for a woman was to get married and focus on her family. Careers weren’t really part of the plan. In fact, my generation was one of the first to be actively encouraged to pursue post-secondary education. We didn’t have many female role models in leadership, and the underlying message was clear: family came first.

    I followed that path and got married. But when it became apparent that my husband couldn’t financially support us, I had to find a job that would allow us to get ahead.  After bouncing around a few jobs, I became an international conference planner—and found something unexpected: I loved working. It wasn’t just a necessity; it became a source of identity and fulfillment. I was fortunate to encounter strong, inspiring female mentors who taught me that wanting more than the traditional role of wife and mother wasn’t just okay—it was powerful. I realized that I spent far too many hours working to not enjoy and find meaning in what I did.

    So, how does this all relate to work-life balance? For me, the concept was not a consideration. I didn’t just have a job—I had a passion. I loved the challenges, the growth, the community, and the opportunity to make a difference. That passion led me to dive deeper into the events industry. I joined professional associations, earned two certificates, and eventually completed both a Master’s and Doctorate.

    When you Google “work-life balance,” you’ll find countless definitions. Most can be distilled down to one core idea: separating the stress of work from the things that matter most to you. But what happens when work is one of those things that matter most? When your career isn’t a burden, but a source of joy?

    This brings me to what I see in younger generations today. They’ve been raised to follow their passion, to seek careers that are meaningful and fulfilling. And yet, we’re still telling them: “Do what you love—but not more than 40 hours a week.” That’s a confusing and, frankly, contradictory message.

    If you truly love what you do—and ideally, we all should—then maybe work-life balance shouldn’t be about separation at all. Maybe it’s time to rethink the whole idea.  What if balance isn’t about dividing your time evenly between work and life? What if it’s about alignment—ensuring that how you spend your time reflects your values, your passions, and your goals?  For some, that might mean clear boundaries and rigid schedules. For others, it might mean embracing the blur between work and life because both bring purpose and joy. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

    And maybe that’s the point.