Planner Resilience: Gina Litterini, SunRoc Events
Read how the founder and lead planner Gina Litterini of SunRoc Events adapted to the challenges that COVID-19 has brought to the events industry.
How were you able to adapt during COVID-19 when the meeting and events industry got disrupted?
I was the Director of Events for a national law firm, my team and I were laid off in March of 2020 due to Covid-19. I decided to look at my situation as an opportunity to follow my long-held dream, to take my passion for event planning as well as my expertise in the industry and open my own business, SunRoc Events.
I launched SunRoc Events in October 2020 and haven't looked back! With traditional events taking a back seat, I first decided to continue my education in the virtual event space and received my certificate in Virtual Event & Meeting Management, allowing me to further help my clients navigate in an ever-changing environment. I was excited to learn something new and have the ability to provide my clients solutions in this new normal. Because businesses still had the same challenges, but needed a new way to solve them- How do they connect to the customers now? How do they continue to grow their business when they can't meet face to face? I’ve had the opportunity to do some really amazing virtual events with speakers and guests that may not have been available to me previously.
As we all continue to move forward in this new environment, I realize that the effects have made a lasting imprint. In the short term, I need to help my clients connect virtually, but in the long term, I am learning to embrace a hybrid event model, which combines the advantages of both in-person and virtual events.
Seeing this as an opportunity to grow and learn has given me the strength to move forward. The biggest takeaway for me has been about embracing change and keeping a positive spirit.
This post is part of the HopSkip Planner Spotlight Series where we celebrate the positivity and optimism shown by planners across the industry when navigating the turbulent waters that COVID-19 has brought the meetings and events industry. Keep an eye out as we release more stories like this over the next few months.