The Event ROI Question Every CRO Asks and Nobody Preps For

[00:00:00] Most event teams aren't badly run. They're just badly wired. Three teams doing the same job in three different directions, nothing grounded and everybody acts shocked when it sparks. Our guest this week trained in motor control design at a technical high school. She just didn't know then that the motor was going to be an org chart in her future. She walked into a company right after I walked out of it. Same silos, same short circuit.

[00:00:29] The difference is she rewired it and I just got shocked. It's Event About It with Sarah Ann Straw. Hey, everybody. Welcome to Event About It. I'm your host, Megan Martin. And our guest this week is best known for walking into fractured event organizations and putting them back together.

[00:00:56] She's led global events at some of the fastest growing tech companies in the world. She's the creator of the SAS framework and her new book, The Experience Executive, is out now. Welcome to the studio, Sarah. I have been waiting so long for this. I am so excited to be here and this is just, I think we're going to have a lot of fun today talking about some stuff. And yeah, I'm ready to jump right in.

[00:01:21] Me too. I'm so glad you're here. Okay. So before we get into all the like fun event things, I have to start with your technical high school degree, which most people in events didn't necessarily go to a technical high school, but you have a certificate in motor control design. So walk me through how does someone who knows how to build motors and wire motors end up running global events?

[00:01:46] Yeah. So, you know, like any high schooler or kid, you know, your mind of what you want to be when you grow up changes million times. My dad was an IT guy. My mom was a nurse. So I thought at one point in my life, I was going down both of their paths. And in Buffalo, New York, where I grew up, we have, you know, normal run of the mill regions, high schools, but we also have specialty schools that you take an exam to get into and all of that.

[00:02:13] And I decided to go to Hutchinson Central Technical High School. And you could pick from multiple majors where you do your core classes and then your major. And I don't know why, but I thought electrical engineering would be a lot of fun. It was pretty, you know, pretty different. And I was really good at it.

[00:02:32] I was able, I know how to like build and wire with all of the, you know, resistors and soldering, et cetera, my own radio. I can build my own computer. I know how to wire a house if I really need to. I've learned all of these things. And then when it came time to graduating, I had a 98 out of 100, you know, average. So I was pretty good at it. I couldn't see myself wearing like an electrician's belt or doing any of that.

[00:02:59] So then I thought I'd be my mom and I'd become a nurse. So I went to school for nursing, worked as a nurse's aide, realized I cry over everything. So that was not going to happen. And then I just kind of started seeing and I always sang and I really love theater. So I ended up going to school for theater and I got my bachelor's in both biology and theater management. I mean, completely reasonable to very related skills.

[00:03:27] Yeah, because I didn't know and I wanted something to fall back on. Moved to New York City. I was stage managing musicals while also in the, you know, bartending restaurant like most people are when they first moved to New York. Worked as a casting assistant, all of these fun things. But I really love stage managing. And I love the production elements of organizing all of the chaos that goes into a musical or a theater production.

[00:03:50] But I couldn't deal with the emotions behind it. I was like, I need, I need, like, I need it to be a little bit more sane and structured. And my one friend was like, hey, we're hiring an EA at our company for the CMO. I know you want to get out of what you're doing. Why don't you apply? I got the job. Within two months, the boss was like, you are way too talented to be my executive assistant. We need someone to run events and, like, trade shows here.

[00:04:17] Would you want to do that? Because of my experience doing the musical production. And I said, sure, why not? Well, then as I'm running, you know, trade show booths and stuff, I knew how to do the schematics for where the electric needed to be dropped. I knew how to set up the production of a keynote room because I know gobos and lighting and electrical and all of that stuff because of my high school degree. So at the end of the day, it all came... And your theater experience, too. Like, you get lighting and rigging and all that from being in the theater area.

[00:04:45] Exactly. So at the end of the day, everything came full circle. And while I might not be working in the exact degrees I got, I ended up getting my master's in marketing and all of this. And so I'm touching every part of my educational journey in the career I decided to make my life. So it all actually worked out. Yeah, so fun. So where does nursing fall into all of this? Is it like, are you first aid certified? Like we can come to you on show site? I am first aid and CPR certified.

[00:05:14] I did that when I was a babysitter. And I just, you know, I'm really good in like really high stress environments. Like I don't get too frantic. I just couldn't handle, you know, people passing. That just, I get attached to people. So it just was not for me. Yeah, I get it. I have a lot of nurses in my family. So I certainly understand the emotional side of all of that. Okay, well, that makes a lot of sense.

[00:05:42] I mean, it also is interesting falling into events. I mean, almost every guest we've had on did not go to traditional like hospitality school and get trained to do what we do. So I think that's fascinating. And it gives you such a different perspective, especially as you said, like putting in a trade show booth and knowing where the power should goes and how much power. Like that's all. I don't know any of that stuff. So yeah, it's fascinating. Amazing.

[00:06:09] Okay, well, here's some of the things I am excited to talk to you about today. And one of them specifically is the book that came out that you wrote. We're going to get into it in the after show. But one thing that really stood out to me in your book is that we've basically spent our entire careers being rewarded for the wrong thing. You know, you do the responsible thing. You follow through the things that keep the show running. Everyone's clapping. And then someone else gets the strategy job.

[00:06:39] And we're wondering, like, why didn't we get it? So today we're going to play a game called Executor or Executive Move. Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to read you a real moment, a real thing that happens in an inside organizations. Someone probably did this this week. And you have to tell me if that's an executor mindset or if that's an executive strategic thinking mindset. On the hot seat. Okay, let's do it. Okay. The first one.

[00:07:10] 12% budget increase, but nobody can say why. That's you strategic. You need to have that type of conversation to know what you're doing with that investment. Yeah, agreed. Planning your regional dinner without telling the global team. Executor. And what would make that change to like a strategic? Really asking the question why you're even planning that regional dinner. What is it actually doing for the business?

[00:07:40] Or do you just want to go to the Cubs game? Both answers can be great. Yeah. Could be good. Okay. Asking the CFO which number they already track. Executive. 40 slide recap sent on Monday after the event. Executor. Contingency line carried forward five years out of habit. Executor.

[00:08:07] How would you change that one to an executive mindset? Because I mean, every budget needs a contingency line. Correct. But how are you looking at that contingency line and understanding what has changed over the five years? Because that contingency is going to have to change too, right? So your contingency five years ago was having to shift fully virtual because you didn't know the status of the C word. You know what I mean? Now that's not so much the case.

[00:08:35] Now there's other geopolitical things that could be affecting, you know, travel and this and that. So your contingency line might be not necessarily going virtual. But do I need to split my conference and host one in the U.S. And one globally and internationally that people can get to a little bit easier? So you do still have to revisit it. And I think it's a strategic mindset overlooking the whole program as a whole that comes in to do that versus the, well, this is what we've always done. So this is how it stays. Love that. Next one.

[00:09:04] Saying no to a sponsor who wants a keynote slot. That could be a mix of both. In my opinion, it could be a natural reaction of an execution. To say no because we have no keynote spots. A more executive thinker would be like, oh, but wait, what's the logo of this sponsor? Is it like a big name? And if so, is there something else maybe we can displace off the keynote because it would actually resonate more with our audience than this person on stage?

[00:09:32] So are you asking the right questions as to why it might make more sense for this to be on the keynote stage versus just shutting it down right away? Or another reframe on strategic thinking is, is the content of that sponsor going to benefit the overall theme and content of the event? And if it's not going to make sense or not enhance the experience of the attendees and what they're learning, maybe isn't time to say no and redirect to something else. Exactly.

[00:10:03] Okay. Okay. Registration, pacing, checked weekly by segment. It is very executive, but executives want to know a little bit more than just by segment. Like we want to see how much actual pipelines in the room. You know, I mean, I guess I want enterprise customers in there and mid market, but if I have over 20 million of mid market and only 5 million of enterprise, well, you know what I mean?

[00:10:29] So I think it's, you know, very much executive thinking, but the actual reporting of it can get to an executor level role. Agreed. Volunteering for the event nobody else wants. Executor. Really? That one surprised me. I would have thought executive on that. Why did you give it an executor tag? Some of us think we're just these yes, we're yes people. We don't even want to say no because you think that, because this is going to go in, I'm sure,

[00:10:57] into our discussion of why we're recognized for the wrong things sometimes is we're often seen as like the people who say yes, because we, you know, we don't get that spotlight. We don't get this. And we want to be people that just make these experiences and make our sales org happy and make this. So I've, I volunteered a million times for things I didn't actually want to do. My executives tend to push back a little bit more and do things like that. So I personally do think it is, it is more of an executor to be more of that yes, yes person.

[00:11:27] I think there's a balance, but I would agree. Yeah. Theme picked before the objective. I mean, it would be the executor that would be kind of moving towards a theme before any sort of objective is set, but that executive should come in and, you know, be able to guide that a little bit for you. Yeah. Agreed. Okay. Last one.

[00:11:54] Writing down why the agenda decisions were made. Just the physical writing out. I mean, that's executor. Just, you know, kind of, kind of seeing why it was made and tracking it. Um, I think on an executive level, you're, you're asking more of the questions and you're more hands-on in it. So I guess it can be kind of a mix there. It could be. I mean, I think sometimes writing it down, a lot of times those meetings or things don't get recorded.

[00:12:24] And then you're, you know, months down the road and you're like, wait, why do we even have this session or something? And then you can be like, well, remember on this meeting or this day we said. Yep. Or I never approved that. Oh, but you did. And now we're, you know, in the weeds of doing it. Yes. Yeah. We just decided to do this all on our own with no decisions at all. Okay. Well, that was a fun game of executor or executive.

[00:12:53] And we're going to talk a lot more about the answer, the questions in the after show, um, all about the book, because I just can't wait for everyone to read it. It, I read in one sitting, it was so good. Uh, okay. Well now it's time for my favorite session of every episode, the vent of the week, because sometimes the only thing tighter than a load in schedule is our patience. So this is your safe space to let it all out.

[00:13:19] All the pet peeves, planning pains, and things that make this industry just a little too eventful. So you can let it all out. What is your event of the week? Is it okay to have a couple actually? Yeah. Let it out. This is therapy time. Um, I think one of my biggest pet peeves in our industry and something that I'm even just going through now is the constant push and pull right between sales and marketing

[00:13:46] and that, you know, the scapegoating of who did what and who, you know, the blame. And I, I mean, I'm living in it right now and I've lived in it in every single job sense, but I think cause it is so in the present moment for me of, oh, you're not delivering the quality of leads. Well, oh, the SLAs to first touch are not being met. And then you touch once and because you don't hear, you never touch them again.

[00:14:11] Um, it's something before you keep going, explain when SLA is just so for folks who don't know acronyms. Yeah. So standard like lead time pretty much is basically, you know, the agreement. Um, so usually you want to set an SLA that, you know, sales follows up with hot leads within, you know, 24 hour business hours of, you know, receiving the lead. Let's say those leads, those SLAs are just not being met. And it, I've had this across orgs, right?

[00:14:40] Where we see anything that's not met within 24 hours, usually drops about 33% in conversion rate. And we're in that issue, you know, where a lot of, you know, leads aren't being touched, this and that, but it's being blamed on, on marketing for quality of leads. When you look at the leads though, they're, they're pretty good. So that's probably one of my biggest, um, you know, having to navigate that can be a

[00:15:07] little, little hard and you have to be sensitive because you never want to, I'm never someone that's going to say it's all somebody else. Like we could always be doing stuff better. Are we enabling you guys well enough? Like, are we being communicative on when the leads are in there? What can we do to make it easier? But I'm big on accountability. And I also need the other side to take accountability on where they might be dropping the ball. So this is something I'm kind of going through now that I'm just shaking my head, you know,

[00:15:36] banging my head against the wall to get, to get push and pull and to get things figured out. So we're recommending some, some options on how to make it better. So we'll see, we'll see what happens there. I think every organization can relate to that. And it makes me think about, um, we had Mark Killens on, he works, uh, he used to work in the events industry. Now he's now, but he's an incredible marketer. And he talked about how one of his pet peeves is the word alignment because really sales

[00:16:04] marketing events have to be unified. Like they have to be operating from the same place. So like, it's one thing to be aligned and understand what you're doing, but when you're unified as a team working in the same motion and the same rhythm, it changes the dynamic of the team. And I think he said there was more accountability had when it's unified, not aligned. No, I love that. Boy, that goes, that goes against my A of my SAS framework. A little bit.

[00:16:34] I mean, it's the same word. It's the same word. It just takes it another step deeper. It makes so much sense though, for sure. Um, and then I would have to say another thing is, you know, this goes off of something that I've been a part of a million times, right? You know, oftentimes as event managers, you get hotel brands, you get these venues reaching out to have you come view their venue. They'll give you a free trip for whatever many nights to tour, almost like a fan trip, right?

[00:17:02] Like to go actually experience, you know, there. So then ultimately you host an event there. And it's so funny because I think there's such a missed opportunity. And this is not even like a selfish thing for me. It's to help these brands and stuff. There's such a missed opportunity they have because I'm coming, I'm spending my time, which yes, usually I make it into a whole vacation, but I'm spending my time viewing your venue, this, that. Zero follow-up comes from that. I have noticed.

[00:17:31] So I'm here, I'm looking, I want to do something, but I get go back to work and I get caught up in my day to day. I don't remember to reach out and be like, oh yeah, can you please, this just recently happened. I went to an event when we were at SEMA Summit with a brand and I mentioned, I want to look at your venues for these events for next year. Oh yeah, we'll send you something to me. I have not heard. And it's a week and a half later. And now I'll probably follow up tomorrow.

[00:17:59] But if I was on the other side, I'd be very much, that's a hot lead now that you're not acting on. So it ties with what I'm talking about that I'm dealing with, like sales organizations, we're giving you these hot leads. If you don't follow up on them, you're going to lose them because now I can go and call another brand and say, hey, I haven't heard from this one. I'm coming to you because you've been communicative. So it's just one of these things that I'm kind of just like, why are we not following up

[00:18:27] with our leads people on both sides of the spectrum here? I hear this all the time from planner friends and people who are sourcing and people just like not following up and being like, I sent you the RFP. I sent you the inquiry for the business and then nothing happened. Just follow up people. Like that's the first step. Like just got to follow up. Exactly. Well, those are some great events. I think it's just good advice for anyone.

[00:18:57] Like just follow up with people. My goodness. And especially planners. And we think about advisory boards and the fam trips. Like people will give the testimonials. You just have to ask them. Like I'm sure you would have shared photos like from your trip or done a little thing about, you know, what you experienced at the property, but like no one asked and we all are busy. And so like, unless someone's going to ask me for it, I'm not necessarily going to like take the time to volunteer. So like, just ask the question, do the follow up. Like people will do it.

[00:19:27] Oh, crazy. Okay. Well, next up, let's event about it. This is the part of the show where you get to spill the tea on a memorable event moment. Whether it was a huge success, a total disaster or just chaos, we want to hear it. So give us some of your craziest event stories. Yeah, I would say one that stands out to me the most is a few years back. Well, where are we going now? We're almost four years back.

[00:19:54] I joined a company about three or four months before their annual sales kickoff. It was a 2000 person event taking place in Las Vegas, have flying people in from all over the world. I mean, it was amazing, you know? And at that time, the team was very contractor based. It was like all contractors everywhere. An old leader of mine from another company was working there.

[00:20:21] She brought me in and I kind of started taking over the planning of this sales kickoff experience. And we were doing great. We were using a production vendor. Everything was going pretty good. Well, about six weeks before sales kickoff was taking place, unfortunately, my leader was part of a round of riffs. Okay. She was let go. Well, our production vendor was very much loyal to that leader.

[00:20:50] And once she went, they went. They no longer wanted, even though I was there and my leader was my mentor. And she was like, no, no, they didn't want to be part of it. So here I am six weeks out from a 2000 person event. I have people flying in. I have this activation happening. I have zero production, no keynote, no expo, nothing. And I'm not using the in-house because we all know some in-house, you know, the cost, woof, not using that.

[00:21:15] So I call up a good friend of mine, hoping over at Bellwether. I call Richard and I'm like, hey, any chance you can help me out? Zero hesitation. Got on a call the next day, started going through everything. I had a member of my team come in. And now, meanwhile, too, I'm hiring new people. I'm kind of removing the contractor style roles and really bringing a team in-house to

[00:21:43] form that unity and all of that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of movement, right? And so he jumps right in. We start talking everything. And lo and behold, we had an amazing event that people to this day still talk about being the best sales kickoff they ever attended at this company. And it was thanks in part to one, trust that you hire a vendor, which I don't even like the word vendor.

[00:22:10] I definitely always say partner, but you hire a partner to come in who is genuinely an extension of your team and cares about the success of your event. It's so big when you're evaluating who those partners are that you can have that trust and trusting that they are going to handle what they need to handle. And so I was able to offload what I needed to and they stepped in. I mean, I didn't have enough. I couldn't even get enough crew on site because it was just so rushed and last minute with

[00:22:37] everything that I mean, Richard is managing the door for people coming into keynote and ushering them to their seats. And he's the head of sales over there. You know what I mean? So it was truly showing that when you pick the right partner, your event really, it can make a difference for your event. And I will never forget that partnership. And just the way they all just jumped in and helped us make this so successful. And I'll talk about it a million times.

[00:23:04] So that's probably to me the biggest, one of my biggest events that had a little bit of a hiccup. Um, I'm very fortunate. I've never had major, you know, natural disasters or anything too, too crazy. I've had rain in San Diego, but we were able to pitch a tent and make it, make it work. But I'm, I'm very fortunate. I've had a very lucky streak with, with events over the last 18 years. Yeah, very lucky.

[00:23:31] I've got stories for days of wild, wild things that have happened over the years. But I think to your point, there is a huge difference between a vendor and a partner and those relationships, they last you years. I mean, imagine if you had always just kept your kind of kept your head down and didn't network in the industry, you would have probably had to use in-house because there was no one else to call. And those relationships last a long time.

[00:24:00] And I think that's the blessing and curse of sales in our industry. Like sometimes the cycle can be so long, you know, you had, you had, you had, you kind of have to wait for, for the opportunity to come back around, but they always do. Like we always remember. Oh yeah. The second I chance I can work with them again, I will. So yeah, I love that. Love it. Okay. Well, thank you for the amazing story. This was a lot of fun, but that's it for today's episode of event about it, where we

[00:24:28] prove that live experiences aren't just logistics. They are a growth strategy. And Sarah's book, the experience executive is out now. The link is in the show notes. And if this episode made you think differently, get it in the hands of the person on your team who's tired of being excellent at the wrong thing. And if you've got event or a story or a moment from the field that deserves to be unpacked, you can submit it at eventaboutitpodcast.com. And don't forget to subscribe.

[00:24:55] So you don't miss the after show where Sarah and I go deep into her book. We get honest about what it actually costs to price yourself correctly. And there's a Bravo conversation that I've been holding in this entire episode until next time. Keep laughing, keep growing and keep eventing about it. Bye.