Event Architects To Know in 2024 - Sherry Huss, Freeman
Sherry Huss, of Freeman, discusses how she builds and plans meetings and events in the evolving hospitality landscape of 2024.
Luke Whalin
Jun 25, 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: Sherry Huss
Company Name: Freeman
Job Title: Head of Community
Can you briefly tell us about your background in event planning and how you got started in the industry?
I got started in events through ZD Events (Ziff Davis). I transferred from the publishing side of Ziff Davis (Ziff Davis Consumer Media Group), where I was the head of Electronic Publishing (creating CD-ROMs that were inserted in magazines - during the multimedia era (early 90's) and developing community on Compuserve AOL & Prodigy). ZD Events signed an agreement with Sun to deliver their first JaveOne in 1996, and I joined to run that event. The rest is history... and more info can be found here:
How do you go about selecting the perfect hotel or venue? What factors weigh most heavily in your decision?
This is an interesting question. I tend to look at "alternative venues" - or venues that add something special to the gathering. Of course, the factors that I consider include the usual items: price, contract terms, and flexibility - but the big thing that always seals the deal for me is the people that I will be working with (do they get what I am trying to do with my program, how open are they to new ideas, and will they be good collaborators).
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?
The planning phase around securing a venue looks like this:
* Understanding the goals and objectives of the program
* Develop an overall strategy for the program and define the desired outcomes
* As part of the initial planning, this includes developing a budget, the number of attendees, and more
* From there, I start my venue research:
* what cities/venues would be appropriate (based on a variety of factors: timing, weather, culture, city/venue reputation, and, of course, what would be unique or bespoke for our audience
1. Scope creep (the program starts growing from what was originally spec'd out)
2. Last minute decisions (which could include rush fees and more)
3. Unexpected costs
How they are mitigated:
* Have a detailed budget
* Regularly review the budget (and make sure all budget owners of the program are doing the same)
* Be sure to have a contingency fund
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)
Great question, and there are many tech tools that we use (based on the department and/or the task). Here's an overview:
PRE-EVENT:
- For everyone - we use BOX to file share. Each event has a master BOX folder set up, and it is organized by function and/or department. It is where all of the event details live.
- For registration & housing, we have been using Cvent (the internal teams use most of the functionality - especially for communication around housing and registration
- For planning, we use a combination of Microsoft 365 tools (and I am super anxious for our organization to roll out Co-Pilot) that will change the game for us.
- For budgeting, we use Procim
- To survey attendees, we use Qualtrics
DURING THE EVENT:
- Our team is also working off of a ROS (Run of Show) for the general session and another one for the overall event
- Team communication is done through group texts .
POST EVENT:
- Attendee Survey using Qualtrics
- BOX to load all of our documents, photos, post event wrap notes, and more
- Microsoft 365 (various tools - spreadsheets, word processor, PowerPoint and more) - again, I can't wait to use Co-Pilot
- Procim - to wrap numbers and compare with accounting (who uses SAP tools)
Do you use frameworks, templates, or other tools/documents to help you stay organized and manage the event planning process?
Yes - these are rolled out at the beginning of the process. Some of these are Freeman designed tools that all teams use. I think that this is pretty standard these days.
Do you have any specific strategies or insights for enhancing the attendee experience at your events?
I try to lean into trends that we are tracking around attendee experience and work them into the event. For example, for the last event, three trends were identified:
1. Alternative Formats: (we leaned into theatrical storytelling and blended SoPro (social/professional) activities
2. Thoughtful Networking: (the core elements for our last event were "out and about town" and a "real rock and roll party"). Out and About town gave attendees to take over the downtown area of Boise for planned activities and chance encounters, and at the rock and roll party, our attendees got to jam (i.e. they were the talent) in a garage band setup - where we hired a professional bass player and drummer to keep the jams going!).
3. Balanced Content Programming: (from the opening of the event - which was a block party on the Basque Block, to various dine arounds, to special programs and team building, we built the program with the attendees in mind, and they were never in a session longer than 90 minutes (one each day) and everything else was designed to be experiential.
Effective communication is crucial in any planning process. How do you ensure you and your event stakeholders are always on the same page?
We have weekly team meetings (leading up to the event) to ensure that everyone is on the same page and to give them a chance to report. Once onsite, I stay close to the delivery team - be it team meetings, dinners/drinks, and checking in with the leaders throughout the day. I also work to stay a step or two ahead of the team and try to problem-solve for them. Meals (which I view as fuel) are also a priority for the team - feed them well and listen.
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?
Can you share an example of a significant challenge you faced while planning an event conference and how you overcame it?
I try to plan a variety of activities (so that there is something for everyone). I understand that everyone may not like or appreciate all of the activities, but they are programmed throughout the event, and when possible, I try to make the activities "hands-on" so that everyone can participate. My "secret sauce" here is that if the activity worked in kindergarten, it would work for business leaders (it isn't something that they expect, and through play, they are learning, interacting, and having shared experiences with their colleagues - which helps the overall networking process.
I have our Safety Office involved from the very beginning. We work with our partners (venues, transportation companies, vendors, etc.) and meet with them in advance, onsite and then follow-up after the event. We have security briefings and a very clear channels of communication and command set up. As much as possible, we try to be over prepared here.
My biggest challenge has not happened at Freeman but happened when I was producing Maker Faire. We couldn't afford large venues (based on all of the requirements, union rules, and types of activities that we were doing onsite -- i.e. fire arts, soldering, and more), so I had to look at alternative venues (which I started out using fairgrounds), but as our event grew, I needed to get creative, and I forged relationships with venues (The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan and The New York Hall of Science in Queens). I got them to think of their properties as sites for Maker Faire - which took some alternative thinking (taking over parking lots, fields, and adjacent properties - which they had never done before). I had to help them envision the opportunity and work with their teams and local officials (the police, fire departments, and city planners) to make it happen. No one was doing this back in 2006. I think that we will see more of this (as we are starting to see it as an outcome of the pandemic).
What are the typical steps you take in the post-event phase?
- Internal follow-up:
* Get an attendee survey out to attendees
* Get a crew survey out to the crew (what worked, what didn't, what's next)
* Create a top level summary deck to be shared with:
- management
- the board
- the team
* Have a wrap meeting with the crew and capture their feedback in a "living document" that is shared and saved
* Work on wrapping up with the vendors
- A debrief
- Thank yous
- Following up/reviewing final invoices
- Work on wrapping the event (which usually takes about 90 days)
What key performance indicators (KPIs) do you use to evaluate the success of an event?
The key performance indicators for the internal events that I am producing for Freeman are:
* Overall event rating (1-4, with 4 being the highest)
* Session feedback (highlighting the top-performing sessions)
* Breakout feedback (highlights and lowlights)
* Pre-survey priorities vs. post-survey results
* Top 3 favorite activities
* Event in one word (creating a word cloud)
* Post-event sentiment:
- Excited to be a part of Freeman
- Left the event feeling energized
- Recommend Freeman as a great place to work
What advice would you offer someone just starting their career in the meetings and events industry?
* First off, you will either love events or hate them, so get some experience and make sure that events are for you
* Events are constant problem-solving, iteration, and a lot of collaboration and creativity - and even better, they are time-based (so there is an end, which is a time to evaluate, iterate, and plan for the future)
* For those that are motivated, and love events, the sky is the limit for your career. You will have many chances to continue to learn, develop, grow and become a leader. If this excites you, and you aren't afraid to make decisions, travel, work hard and have a heck of a lot of fun (not to mention the network you will be building) then this is the career for you.
I often tell those that are starting out to create a personal manifesto, and determine what is important to you (and of course, update it often).
Also, don't be afraid to dream big, and to fail sometimes - both of these things help make us better at what we do.
Go for it!
By the way, for more of my Maker Faire background, here's a link to a Life Hacker article from 2018 that you might find interesting. https://lifehacker.com/im-maker-faire-co-founder-sherry-huss-and-this-is-how-1827018715
Also, sorry for the delay in getting this submitted - January was a crazy busy month. Keep me posted on what is next or what you need from me. Thanks, Sherry