💭 My six steps to plan a meaningful event

Hope you enjoyed the long weekend! I booked a trip to Paris and Barcelona over the holiday, so I'm starting this week extra excited. 🗺️📍 

In case you missed the last newsletter, I'll be breaking down how to host what I call an "intentional gathering" over the next three editions.

Since our clients are top executives across industries, this "behind-the-curtain" look 🪄 focuses on hosting events for executives.

Today's edition covers pre-event planning.

Below, I'll walk you through my six-step process using a real example: an impactful breakfast for top-level executives. This isn’t just a theoretical example — I recently held this event (see photos here!) Not only is it fresh in mind, it was a verified success. ✅

Step 1: Identifying the purpose

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you’re bringing people together to serve yourself, you’re doing it wrong. For this breakfast, I wanted to bring together some of the executives that I know for a delightful experience that resulted in new relationships.

Why?

Because I’ve been fortunate to meet so many incredible people, and because I know there’s a magic that happens when people get to make new connections: the opportunities that those connections can spring forth are endless! That’s MY unique value that I can — and love to — provide to others.

Now, do I also know that by bringing these people together and providing them with an incredible experience, I’ll be appreciated as a friend and be remembered for the work that I do? Yes, of course I do. 😉 

But any potential benefit to me was not the purpose of the event. The purpose was to use my unique gifts and network to provide benefit to other people in a way that they don’t often experience.

Step 2: Choosing the theme

Once we had our purpose — in this case, to connect executives from across industries for interesting conversations and new connections — we needed to get specific on our theme.

Since I regularly interview top Activators (superconnectors, community leaders, and movement leaders), I know plenty of them. I recognized that by bringing these types of people together, all in attendance could:

1. Learn about the big, bold initiatives we were each working on

2. Tap into each other’s networks

3. Potentially collaborate — or come up with bigger, better ideas together

As such, the theme of the event became “Visionaries and Superconnectors.”

Step 3: Assembling the guest list

Ahh, the guest list. After an event guest list is compiled (no easy feat), I always take a moment to admire how delicately prepared and uniquely intertwined it is — not unlike a baker meticulously creating the perfect croissant, and then admiring all its beautiful layers when taking the first bite. 🥐🤌

In addition, when it comes to these types of intentional gatherings, I never host more than 12 people. That ensures quality in every aspect.

I began by writing down my “first picks” — the people I knew I wanted to invite. They may have been my first pick for a variety of reasons: because they matched the profile, I had a desire to deepen my relationship with them, or maybe just because they were interesting and I knew they’d make a good addition to the conversation.

Let’s say my “first picks” were an AI tech company CEO, a real estate developer, a conference producer, and a wealth advisor for high-net-worth individuals. Based on that set of picks, here’s how I filled in the rest of the guest list:

• Complementary: I added in an interior designer that works with projects similar to the kinds the RE developer builds.

• Tangential: I added in another tech founder, this one in the finance space, which was tangential to both the AI company and the wealth advisor.

• Themed: Our theme was “Visionaries and Superconnectors,” so I added in a leader of a global community and a consultant that has built a world-class network through their work with Fortune 500 companies.

• Interesting: Finally, I added a publicist to the stars, the founder of a luxury magazine, and a conference producer. They all matched the theme, their work was interesting, and it was something that tech, finance, and real estate execs don’t normally interact with. They had still achieved the same level of success and experience in their fields, so everyone was a star in their own right.

Step 4: Setting the time and place

To nail a location, date, and time of day, you have to know your audience.

This event focused on top executives in their fields. That meant…

• They were likely not in their 20s, and likely no longer enjoyed long happy hours. (Anyone else remember going to happy hours in their 20s that lasted until 9:00 pm, or is it just me?!)

• They likely have families and want to be with them in the evenings after a long day.

• They are high-performers who only make time for something that provides an immense return on investment of their time.

As such, a breakfast at the Four Seasons was the best choice — not just to confirm the type of people attending, but the quality of the event. (The quality of the food and beverage, included!)

I elaborate more on what it means to know your audience in this post.

Step 5: Reaching out to guests

It’s time to send out invitations! In each, let it be known why the recipient was invited and the reason for the gathering — not just the theme, but the “why.”

Here’s an example of personalized message sent to an attendee:

Step 6: Organizing the logistics

I put this step last on purpose — not because you put the least amount of effort into it, but because it’s the least affected by the overall strategy.

While I do not enjoy spending time on logistics (I am the first to say I’m not an event producer!), it is necessary. My advice? Outsource this to someone who wants to do it and can do it well.

I leaned on the Four Seasons team for everything, because that’s what they do! That also meant I would pay a hefty price for add-ons like flower bouquets or special menu items, but to me that was absolutely worth it. My time is best spent engaging with people, not shopping around for the best price on a menu or floral arrangements.

I chose the menu, told them I wanted two floral arrangements, and told them I needed to get there early to take photos so everything needed to be setup by a certain time. Outside of that, I let the Four Seasons team take care of everything else, and they handled it spectacularly. A non-luxury brand may not have delivered; when it comes to executive events, I don’t take chances on logistics by using anything but the best.

Given our clientele, intentional gatherings like this are just one facet of the Activation approach we use to support executives and their big initiatives. These gatherings are strategically designed to build meaningful relationships, unlock new opportunities, and catalyze momentum—not just to host an event.

I’ve shared this six-step process to make this momentum-building tactic accessible to all. However, if you're looking for help on the larger Activation puzzle, my team and I are here to help.

With gratitude,
Nicole

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