Event Architects To Know in 2024 - Melanie Endert, CMP, M&A Leadership Council
Melanie Endert, CMP, of M&A Leadership Council, discusses how she builds and plans meetings and events in the evolving hospitality landscape of 2024.
Luke Whalin
Dec 12, 2024
Welcome to the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series, where we highlight event professionals making waves across the events industry to share lessons learned and raise awareness of their invaluable contributions.
Name: Melanie Endert, CMP
Company Name: M&A Leadership Council
Job Title: Vice President Operations
Can you briefly tell us about your background in event planning and how you got started in the industry?
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to lead a volunteer charity golf tournament, and I jumped at the chance. I had all kinds of ideas for taking the existing annual event to the next level, and I couldn't wait to implement them. The incredible success my volunteer team and I experienced quickly led me to realize that this was the profession I needed to be in.
How do you go about selecting the perfect hotel or venue? What factors weigh most heavily in your decision?
For my events, the hotel or venue selection is first about location, which translates to proximity to my audience. It needs to be in a city that my attendees can easily reach, and it has to be near an airport. Next, the pattern I prefer, during the month I need to offer my event, is super-important. Is the meeting space offered to me appropriate to our event size, within my budget, and pleasant to be in — with windows, high ceilings, and close proximity to our guest rooms, if possible? Finally, can we bypass the meeting space rental fee with a reasonable F&B minimum?
What does the initial planning phase of securing a venue look like for you? Could you walk us through your initial steps?
What common financial challenges often arise when organizing an event, what strategies do you use to mitigate them, and how do you avoid them?
I make a calendar of the overall timeframe within which we plan our programs, spacing and blocking out the events to allow for marketing, registration, etc. I then designate our program topics, determining which ones are appropriate for the locations we're planning to use.
Food and beverage are fast ways to blow up your event budget! For example, when planning menus, it's tempting to choose an elaborate, multi-item "AM Break Package," but I've found my attendees are perfectly happy mid-morning with a simple bag of grab-n-go trail mix. A good way to keep a lid on costs for our evening receptions is to offer a generous selection of beers and wines rather than a full open bar.
How do you leverage technology to boost efficiency during the planning, execution, and post-event stages? What does your “event tech stack” look like? (For example, using Survey Monkey for surveying attendees post-event)
- Since our organization offers CPE credits for our courses, we employ a platform called "Conferences i/o" during our virtual events. Through a series of questions asked to the audience and answers given back through polls and other methods, attendee engagement is measured and recorded.
- We employ the "Guidebook" Event App for our in-person events, which helps attendees connect with presenters and peers onsite, access group exercise materials, etc.
- Our post-event surveys are sent out through a platform called "Zoho," which is also integrated into our website and allows us to chat with current and interested potential registrants.
Do you use frameworks, templates, or other tools/documents to help you stay organized and manage the event planning process?
I don't know where I'd be without Trello! I make a list for each day and add a card for each task I have to do. The platform is completely flexible, so I can move the cards around, delete them as I complete the tasks, duplicate the task cards, and/or push them over to the next day. And this is just the free version—who knows what great things can be done with the paid upgrade?
Do you have any specific strategies or insights for enhancing the attendee experience at your events?
Igniting discussion amongst attendees at meal and break times is nearly always an enhancement to the event experience. Taking the conversation away from "business" is often a welcome relief from a full day of the topic at hand and lets people "talk about themselves"—which is usually something they like to do.
Effective communication is crucial in any planning process. How do you ensure you and your event stakeholders are always on the same page?
I send out the event documents (production timeline, agenda, PPT decks, links to shared folders, etc.) and schedule essential meetings as early as possible. Specific assignments of speaking positions, leadership roles in group breakout scenarios, etc., help avoid ambiguity or doubling of efforts.
How do you facilitate networking opportunities among attendees? Are there any specific tactics or strategies that you recommend?
What's your go-to plan for handling emergencies or unexpected situations during an event?
Evening receptions are great occasions for networking, and they can be fully organic or more organized. We've put topic cards on high-boys or low tables and let interested parties gather on the topic of their choice. We've played with the idea of setting up a "speed-networking" arrangement during a reception, but we still aren't convinced that would work how we envision it!
We enter onsite emergency contact information into our event app and print it on the back of our name badges for immediate access to attendees. There is always at least one team member in proximity during our entire event, and we've got direct and immediate access to hotel staff.
What are the typical steps you take in the post-event phase?
We've learned that we need to send out an event evaluation DURING (toward the very end of) the program because attendees get distracted once they walk out the door and often don't do it at that point. We send out course materials (PPTs, other docs) and an offer to meet with their company's executive team as a follow-up to what we presented onsite.
What key performance indicators (KPIs) do you use to evaluate the success of an event?
We pay very close attention to the course evaluation results and look to the numerical scores as indicators of areas for improvement. The free-form comments in the evaluation are essential feedback, and we often make future decisions based on those remarks. We constantly tweak the evaluation's verbiage to get more thorough and candid responses from event attendees.
What advice would you offer someone just starting their career in the meetings and events industry?
I recommend starting out by volunteering in a small nonprofit setting. You can learn while you go without knowing it all when you get there. The pressure level is probably low, and the appreciation level is probably high. You can also make decisions you might not be able to make in a company role where you're an employee with a boss and a bigger budget. Try it out and have fun!