We invite you to explore the significant achievements, milestones, and trends that defined our journey this past year. Read on to see the highlights of our collective efforts and the innovative solutions that set us apart.
As we reflect on this year, I am filled with gratitude for the remarkable strides we have made together at Event Garde. 2024 has been a year of innovation, connection, and impact, thanks to the trust and collaboration of our clients, partners, and team members. This year-end report celebrates the milestones we achieved, the challenges we embraced, and the values we upheld as we continued to prioritize equity, learning, and community. Thank you for being an essential part of our journey—I invite you to explore the highlights and stories that define our collective success.
We are excited to highlight four key areas that contributed to our achievements:
Not only did we gain new clients in 2024, but we’ve consistently supported long-term relationships with current clients and supported pro-bono work.
We managed dozens of events and facilitations in 2024.
The Event Garde team hosted several learning courses.
Designed by Aaron Wolowiec in collaboration with Lowell Aplebaum of Vista Cova, this course is the first and only certificate program specifically created for association facilitators. Tailored for association professionals of all experience levels, this course equips participants with the tools, techniques and confidence to facilitate transformative, inclusive and results-driven meetings while earning a credential that sets them apart.
In this course, we explore three proven facilitation methods: focused conversation, consensus workshop and action planning. Exploring the very same facilitation techniques the Event Garde team uses with clients, participants grow their facilitation knowledge, skills and confidence through this engaging, two-day course. Through hands-on practice, they learn and apply facilitation techniques to real-world scenarios to help move any group from conflict or confusion to consensus and commitment.
This ERACCE Workshop-hosted, Crossroads-facilitated training event provides an opportunity for participants to develop a shared language for talking effectively about systemic racism, explore an introductory analysis of systemic racism and examine basic strategies for dismantling racism within their organization. This in-depth workshop includes a discussion of the socio-historic development of institutional racism; the definition of racism, how racism and racist institutional values have been legally codified and institutionally perpetuated throughout U.S. history; how racism manifests on individual, cultural and institutional levels; and how long-term organizing informed by antiracist values can lay the path toward institutional antiracist transformation.
We spent plenty of time out in the community at industry events!
And connected through podcasts and webinars.
We shared plenty of educational content through email in 2024.
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New this year, we partnered with Gather Voices, a platform that helps organizations collect and edit videos. Using this tool, we created short, 90-second videos featuring our Gardians answering the question: “What is a resource that has been valuable to you in your work, and what makes you appreciate it?” The responses highlighted a diverse list of resources that have made a meaningful impact in their roles—and which you may be curious to explore, as well.
With so much valuable content to share with you all, we saw a significant boost in website traffic—especially in our weekly Gardian Blog which features illuminating topics and issues of importance to our community related to learning, meetings and facilitation.
FACILIT8me is a safe space for facilitators of all knowledge and experience levels— regardless of industry—to learn, network and transfer their takeaways and lessons learned.
Healthy by Association is a progressive health and wellness movement for busy professionals to connect around shared goals.
As a remote team that is spread across the country, we offer Lunch and Learns to stay connected and foster collaboration. These quarterly, 45-minute sessions provide a casual space for professional development and knowledge sharing, where team members can present on work-related topics, industry trends or personal growth while enjoying food and drink. Lunch and Learns keep the team engaged while expanding our skills and insights.
Every team member also participated in self-selected professional development opportunities to foster continuous learning and growth.
Our very own Aaron Wolowiec received two outstanding rewards in 2024!
The Chairman’s Award is given each year by the outgoing TSAE Board Chairman to a person who has helped them in their year serving as chair. This person may be a mentor, staff member, colleague, or anyone else who has served as inspiration or assisted the chair throughout their service on the board. Aaron was awarded this recognition by outgoing TSAE Board Chairman Trevor Mitchell.
The Star Award is presented annually by Committee Chairs for the most outstanding committee member. Each committee chair may choose the most outstanding volunteer in their group. Aaron was awarded this recognition for his service to the Programs & Education Committee.
With team members across multiple states, we make teamwork a priority. Our team comes together twice a year for retreats that are instrumental in shaping our future. In the first quarter, our director team met to review goals and action items, fostering a roadmap for the year ahead. Then the full team gathered for a day-long experience of team building, learning, collaboration and company updates. We also met virtually mid-year to check in, celebrate achievements, make course corrections and reinforce the cohesive spirit that defines Event Garde.
To foster relationships even further, we had Virtual Happy Hours as a fun and relaxed way to connect outside of work. They allowed us to unwind, share stories and enjoy lighthearted conversations while strengthening our team dynamic.
Event Garde supported seven organizations in 2024.
The Event Garde team values feedback not once a year but every day. It’s a conscious choice to create and sustain a culture of feedback. We see it as a gift of another person’s time, consideration and genuine interest in our long-term success. Using our core values as the foundation for the questions we ask, we created a new client satisfaction survey in 2024 and received stellar client feedback on our performance.
