Testimonials

Larry Alexander

Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau

“Aaron Wolowiec has been a colleague and a friend to Detroit from his earliest days as an ASAE DELP Scholar where he was certainly a standout in that crowd of high-achievers for his vision and creativity. When we began planning for ASAE 2015 we knew right away that we wanted Aaron on the planning team. As an ASAE volunteer on the committee Aaron was instrumental in the development of groundbreaking EduTours that truly distinguished and elevated this community in the minds of our customers. We can’t thank Aaron enough for his exemplary leadership.”

Bonnifer Ballard

Michigan Section, American Water Works Association

"The board was very pleased with the work done. People are excited about being on the program planning committee. A home run!"

Jay Bennett

Michigan Association of School Boards

“The Event Garde webinar series has truly been a highlight of my ever evolving professional development process. I’ve enjoyed the flexibility of both attending the webinars as a live event and then having the recording available to reference after. The presenters have been fantastic! They are a professional, knowledgeable and entertaining crew for sure. I look forward to what they have in store for the future.”

Julie Metty Bennett

Great Lakes Fishery Trust

“Aaron and his staff at Event Garde provided first-rate service to our nonprofit organization. Their professionalism and dedication to delivering a thorough and comprehensive analysis of our team’s annual conference planning process was present from start to finish. Event Garde fostered a focused and creative environment for our team to discuss problems that had been head-scratching and stressful. We were encouraged to brainstorm solutions, outline the future of our conference and were motivated to take the lessons we’ve learned to improve our process for next year’s event! We appreciate the timeliness and promptness of Event Garde’s staff. They were crucial to making sure we stayed on schedule and made the best use of the time with our team.”

Janelle Best

Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce

"Aaron’s presentation was engaging, unique and tailored to our needs. Everything that was presented was extremely helpful and applicable to all those that attended. Everyone left with at least 2-3 take-aways."

Jared Burkhart

Michigan Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics

“Aaron and Lindsay were amazing in helping my board of directors boil all of our ideas for our organization into one actionable vision for the future. It has redirected our work in a meaningful way.”

JodieAnn Cady

Michigan Realtors

"Aaron conducted two knowledge sessions for our association at our Achieve conference. The attendees loved his teaching style and his ability to take them through the process of change while providing them with a plan they walked out of the room with to implement. Several of our local associations/boards are also going to bring Aaron in for additional training with their leadership. Excellent, professional work!"

Shelley Cardenas

Michigan Townships Association

“Our association teamed up with Aaron to hone the presentation skills of our staff trainers. He used practical examples to demonstrate how adult learners process information and offered strategies to enhance participant memory retention. The session was interactive, thought-provoking and fun. We added lots of great tools to our trainer toolbox!”

Commpartners

“We had the privilege of partnering with Event Garde and Aaron Wolowiec on a recent webinar entitled Creating Personalized Journeys. It was Aaron’s assessment that today, there is an opportunity for associations to address the learning needs of our stakeholders through more customized and relevant learning pathways. Aaron co-presented our webinar on the topic and provided a tool kit that enable organizations a blueprint for considering this approach.

We are grateful to have Aaron as a thought leader to team with us for this presentation. We look forward to future opportunities to partner with Aaron and the Event Garde Team.”

Kim Corcoran

Destination Michigan

"Aaron is a very detail-oriented meeting professional that will work tirelessly to find creative alternatives for your conferences and educational offerings. He is professional, courteous and consistently meets deadlines. It is a pleasure working on projects with him!"

Emily Crane

Georgia Motor Trucking Association

“There are just not enough kind things I can say about Aaron and his expertise! He spoke at a luncheon and training I attended in February of 2013. I learned more in the four hours I spent at that event than I think I have since I started my job. He has new ideas and excellent inspiration for the course attendees. Outside of the seminar he has also helped me in preparing for my CMP exam in August of this year. He is a true expert in his field!”

Angel Davis

Michigan Association of School Boards

“Aaron Wolowiec isn’t afraid of hard work. In fact he embraces it. A ‘challenge accepted’ type of mentality that quickly turns into ‘challenge completed’. Aaron’s commitment to seeing associations and their leaders succeed is humbling. The fact that Aaron is a true ‘partner’ is something that cannot and should not go unrecognized. It takes a special person to make such a positive impact on so many. Aaron is that person.”

Melissa Farley

Midland Business Alliance

“During this unprecedented time Aaron provided us with invaluable insight and guidance. As an organization who regularly hosts 100+ events a year, we were scrambling to figure out ways to continue to offer these events virtually. Aaron helped us brainstorm new and innovative ways to host these events while also keeping attendees engaged.”

Andrew Cronin Finn

New England Society of Association Executives

“It was an absolute pleasure working with the Event Garde team to develop a session for our virtual Emerging Leaders Summit! The team helped bring our vision to life in the form of an engaging and thought-provoking session. Aaron, Lindsay, and Krista were wonderful facilitators who not only shared information, but engaged the participants in meaningful dialogue and well-planned exercises and activities. We can’t wait to partner with the Event Garde team again!”

Kathryn Gleesing

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

“I look forward to reading pertinent information from the Event Garde newsletters as it relates to meeting management trends and new technology that will help support and enhance our member’s experience for our Association. The information is timely and relevant and another great resource for meeting professionals.”

Rick Grimm

NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement

“Since 2015, Aaron has been a committed leader on NIGP’s Talent Council – the governing body that is responsible for recruiting and assessing the association’s volunteer leadership. His expertise in the value of multi-tiered volunteerism within a non-profit association has been immeasurable as we work to engage more than 200 leaders based on talents, passion and purpose. His leadership in constructing a universal application for volunteers was particularly critical to our recruitment process. Aaron offers a unique perspective on the human capital necessary to engage the right volunteers for the right positions; consistent with our commitment to inclusion and diversity.”

Cally Hill

Event Garde

"With more than eight years of experience in client relations, I am dedicated to making sure that 100 percent of all client interactions with Event Garde are executed at the highest level and result in complete satisfaction. I’ve always been passionate about people and I love the satisfaction that comes from helping clients solve a problem. Going above and beyond is my motto. Let me show you how great it is to work with Event Garde!"

Jenny Hill

Event Garde

“It is a privilege to see how passionate Aaron is about training others not only to learn, but for them to be excited about doing it as well. He is highly motivated to see that Event Garde is successful and his enthusiasm carries through to the rest of our team. I feel very lucky to have a role in this journey and am proud to be a part of this team of truly wonderful people.”

Julie Hutchinson

Baha’i National Center

“Lindsay Gross is a phenomenal facilitator and trainer, who has an incredible serene and non-judgmental energy, while at the same time getting the objectives met and helping everyone to feel welcome and encouraged to participate. I benefited a great deal from her leadership and guidance throughout the course and was able to immediately put into use the skills I learned to facilitate a focused conversation with my team at work.”

Dennis Jennings

Technology of Participation (ToP) Network

"In his Social Media 101 presentation, I particularly valued Aaron’s demonstrating very practical ways that I can ease into the application of social media; for example, re: platforms “limit what you can manage”.  Similarly, I appreciated his style and content that made it very approachable. His parting suggestion: “Just try adding one thing”."

Jean Jernigan

Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce

“Aaron Wolowiec and the Event Garde team provided calm and confident direction helping us remain focused. The marketing plan we developed together has become a daily process we follow and it has proven successful. Part of the benefit of working with Event Garde is the professionalism. They are excellent at handling challenging tasks, finding ways to minimize the stress all while keeping the rest of us at ease knowing things are under control.”

“Aaron Wolowiec’s presentation skills are second to none. He provided a presentation with immediate takeaways the entire audience could go back to the office and implement with positive impact to the bottom line. He is a consummate professional.”

Reine Kassulker

FacilitationNation.com

"Lindsay and Aaron knocked it out of the park in their workshop entitled Method’s for Millennials. They were engaging and enthusiastic as they presented content that has helped me take my business to the next level. The mix of stories, supporting data and discussion inspired me to rethink the way I serve and work with people of all ages. Special thanks to the team at Event Garde!"

Wendy Kavanagh

Georgia Society of Association Executives

“Aaron Wolowiec delivered an outstanding keynote presentation for our February 2013 GSAE Luncheon. Our members have high expectations to receive actionable and yet strategic information from our keynote speakers. Aaron met these expectations easily. He presented key findings from a groundbreaking meeting and education survey conducted with our colleagues from Michigan Society of Association of Executives.

“As a note, our members are picky and exacting and expect a lot from our professional development schedule. Aaron and his team made GSAE look wonderful. I would recommend his services highly. He is a high energy, focused and engaging professional who will deliver great results.”

Shana Killips

Michigan State University

“Since March 2010 I have had the pleasure of serving MSAE with Aaron in many volunteer roles; CMP Prep Course Facilitators, ORGPRO Planning Committee, Emerging Professionals Committee and Peer MI Committee. I am continually impressed and inspired by Aaron’s style, passion and knowledge.”

Limin Kinsey

Michigan Public Health Institute

“I’m sure you and Aaron hear it all the time but I’ll say it anyways… the two of you REALLY make the ToP Facilitation training inspiring, energizing, and light-hearted - all the while packing in the “real punch” of invaluable learning. I felt like a human sponge the last two days and I’m still “wringing out.”

Katie Kiter

National Association of College and University Food Services

​“I look forward to receiving the Event Garde e-newsletter each month. It’s one of the few e-communications that I take the time to read from start to finish. It’s filled with cutting-edge meeting and educational design information and I am constantly learning at least one concept to implement, or to at least give some further consideration. Our members have told us that networking is highly valued, and I appreciate the variety of tips shared to explore different ways to approach this. The information provided is applicable to so many aspects of our organization and I find myself transferring the newsletter to different colleagues each month, depending on the relevance to their job function.”

Elyse Kopietz

Michigan Manufacturers Association

“It was a wonderful experience to work with the Event Garde team! Not only were we able to dramatically improve our event, but we also gained an improved understanding of how to engage members in the event planning process. Event Garde is an extremely professional and knowledgeable team with superior communication and project planning skills. More than a contract service, Event Garde is a true partner—continuously seeking out opportunities to share information and to support their clients.”

“Working with the Aaron and the EventGarde team gives you more than consulting, it gives you the understanding and knowledge for what makes a successful program.After years of working with the EventGarde team, I continue to be impressed by their superior communication,awesome response time and knowledge. From building a mission statement and metrics, to selling sponsorship—the EventGarde team knows how to help their clients and offer tools to develop a program that will build year over year. Every interaction with Aaronand the EventGarde team is invaluable! In working with them, I not only get the tools and support for event planning, consensus building, and sponsorship development but also gain a true understanding of how to apply those tools across the whole organization!”

Janet Korn

Experience Grand Rapids

“Aaron was very helpful in providing guidance and suggestions to my ‘Ignite’ format presentation. This is the first time I’ve attempted this type of presentation and his thoughtful, friendly and constructive feedback has been very helpful in my professional development and with the speech.”

Lisa Lemler

University of Minnesota

“We had the opportunity to work with a large non-profit and EG to host an industry conference. As a host site we wanted to deliver an exceptional experience for the attendees. Aaron is consummate, dedicated professional who knows how to lead a team: he’s organized, establishes clear roles and expectations, and he knows when to nudge—but only because he expects and delivers excellence. I learned from Aaron and his team. They inspire people to do great work, and ultimately, produce amazing results.”

Trish Lopucki

Northview Public Schools - Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program

“Aaron was able to give me quality attention, asking thorough questions about what makes us great and where we need to go. From there, he crafted a day’s worth of processing, leading our group to determine what we really wanted from our own outcomes. Watching the team reflect upon their work was beyond rewarding.”

Holly Madill

National Charrette Institute

"Lindsay and Aaron recently provided a ToP training for me and colleagues within MSU Extension, who are highly skilled facilitators and educators. Watching Aaron and Lindsay model facilitation and teaching was just as valuable as learning the methodologies. We’ve incorporated the methods into almost everything that we do now and they’ve inspired creativity, fun and innovation in our work."

Michelle Manas

James B. Henry Center for Executive Development

“Aaron is one of Michigan’s pillars in the CMP community and event industry. Aaron has been an inspiration to myself and many other CMPs by his constant devotion and passion that he pours in to events and various projects. In addition to his dedication to the industry, he is a compassionate person and strives to help others succeed by challenging them. Aaron truly is a #CMP30 Influencer and deserves to be recognized for his outstanding service to the industry!”

Michelle Mason

Association Forum

“Event Garde provided thought, content rich and application based presentation for an Association Forum Shared Interest Group meeting. We are so pleased that we are collaborating on another program for broader exposure.”

Kathleen Mennillo

International Hearing Society

“We’ve been working with Aaron and Event Garde for several months now and IHS has already benefited greatly. I highly recommend Aaron and his team for event and educational projects. This has been a great experience for us.”

Donna Oser

Michigan Association of School Boards

“Aaron has already had a tremendous impact on the association and meeting planning industries – and he’s only just begun! His creative and intentional approach to adult learning is a shot in the arm for today’s associations as they struggle to be relevant to their members and grow non-dues revenue. On the meeting planning side of things, Aaron has helped dozens of industry professionals obtain their credentials - officially as a facilitator and unofficially as a mentor. His recent collaborative project with MSAE, The Meetings Report, is helping association and meeting professionals across the country think differently about professional learning experiences.

“Aaron is an incredibly talented, motivated young leader. There is an unusual, thoughtful inventiveness about his approach to work. For Aaron, learning design is a rich alchemy of science and art, which he combines to ensure that participants engage deeply and experience real learning. Aaron backs this artistry with good, old-fashioned hard work and a remarkable attention to detail. Lots of people have good ideas but few have the work ethic and the know - how to make those ideas a reality. Aaron Wolowiec is blessed with a rare combination of vision, creativity and the ability to execute.”

Ann Parker

Small Business Association of Michigan

"The Event Garde team helped the Small Business Association of Michigan reimagine our Annual Meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Like many others at the time, we needed help understanding the possibilities and Aaron kick-started our project.  The engagement opened our eyes to new tools and provided actionable ideas that we used to create an engaging virtual experience.  Event Garde’s client onboarding, billing and project evaluation process are also impressive.   You walk away feeling like the whole team has you supported throughout the entire process."

Kristen Parker

Event Garde

“As digital content manager for Event Garde, I’m honored to have the opportunity to communicate with, educate and transform our audiences. I’m proud to be part of a team that practices what it preaches, constantly striving for growth, success and professionalism for the meetings and events industry.

Kate Pojeta

Four Points Consulting

“I’ve worked closely with the Event Garde team on three major conventions so far. The professionalism, creativity and extremely high standards continue to impress me with each event. The thoroughness they show when working with clients is incredible. It’s not often that I have found others who treat clients with such a personalized touch. The staff is close-knit, and while everyone has their areas of strength, the collaboration among them creates quite a powerful working atmosphere. I’m very proud to work with them and their clients!”

Katie Riggs

American Alliance of Orthopaedic Executives

“Aaron and the Event Garde team are always a pleasure to work with. They provided detailed and prompt support information to allow me to get all of the session details arranged. Aaron always provides valuable content and guided our attendees through a process to help them make more of what they engaged in during the conference. We would welcome him back at any time!”

Kelly Romeo

American Land Title Association

"Aaron has been working with ALTA’s Land Title Institute to edit existing training documents for programs geared towards beginner and intermediate students in the land title insurance profession. He's tireless in his enthusiasm to understand the profession and demonstrates a strong desire to make our training products shine. It's a pleasure to work with Aaron."

Cheryl Ronk

Michigan Society of Association Executives

"Aaron Wolowiec worked in the association sector and saw the need for more advanced knowledge regarding adult learning. Since associations provide more adult education than any other segment, it is essential that associations have processes, perspectives and programs in place that encourage the best in adult learning practices. He has championed this for the past decade. The best part is that Aaron has worked with peers in the industry to make changes. He has been very involved with MSAE, ASAE and a number of other state and local societies throughout this time.

"Aaron is a DELP scholar, active on both ASAE and MSAE committees, a leader in creating the EduTours for the ASAE Annual Meeting held in Detroit, and is involved in teaching CMPs to earn their designation. This last effort is the one that is the most dramatic in directly changing the meeting professionals from thinking about room design to thinking about strategic educational design. There is no doubt about it Aaron Wolowiec is a generous visionary leader."

Sarah Rosenberger

Indiana Society of Association Executives

"Aaron Wolowiec was the closing keynote at the 2012 ISAE Annual Convention on July 19 in Muncie, Indiana. His presentation "Return on Learning (ROL): More than a Boring Statistic" was inspiring, informative, and a great way to end the full day of education. The convention saw over 150 registered participants and Aaron was able to not only engage the audience with his expertise, but also with his dynamic and inspirational message."

Adrienne Segundo

Limitless Association Solution Resource

“Limitless ASR over the past few years has had the opportunity to partner with Event Garde on multiple client projects and prospects. Our interaction with Event Garde has been remarkable. The Event Garde team members are truly professionals within the association industry. They handle each client with the upmost professionalism. They always meet and exceed expectations, and they deliver the end product above and beyond that of what the client could ever have imagined. We are grateful to call Event Garde a preferred partner of Limitless and we look forward to continued partnership in the years to come.”

Donte Shannon

Specialty Advertising Association of California

“The Event Garde staff are truly experts at their craft; meeting whisperers in a sense. They inherited my meeting at the final hour, immediately identified the flaws and worked tirelessly to implement small changes that had a major impact on my stakeholders. I am so excited about working with this group to improve the stakeholder experience at my future meetings. It’s refreshing to work with a group of professional as dedicated to their work as I am.”

Alexis Simoneau

Map Dynamics

“The recent Event Garde webinars have covered topics that are exactly what I need to be learning right now - I particularly enjoy the way the presenters engage and respond throughout the presentation to questions asked in the chat. I look forward to participating in the upcoming sessions!”

Alexa Stanard

Michigan Meetings + Events

"Aaron is an invaluable member of my magazine’s editorial advisory board and my go-to expert for insight into the meetings industry. He offers a wealth of knowledge on industry trends and topics and is a consistent source for excellent, timely story ideas. Aaron understands that meetings done correctly help people to learn and to connect with each other in meaningful ways, and he is passionate about helping our industry become more effective and forward-thinking. Finally, perhaps what I value about Aaron most is his ability to ask meaningful, thought-provoking questions. He is a true collaborative partner."

Bill Staples

ICA Associates Inc.

“ICA Associates Inc. of Toronto, Canada, considers social media to be an important tool for our training and marketing across the country. In only one session Aaron has added a new level of practicality and useability to all our social media plans.”

Jeannette Stawski

Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education

“Event Garde, under Aaron’s leadership, exceeded all of my expectations. It was an incredible experience working with Aaron and his team for my non-profit, and I particularly enjoyed his optimism, work ethic and professionalism. Aaron’s expertise in event management and facilitation is second to none.”

Erin Steward

Michigan Health & Hospital Association

“Lindsay Gross helped the Michigan Health & Hospital Association facilitate a focus group and was extremely helpful in question development. It is obvious that Lindsay and the team at Event Garde are highly skilled in the areas of facilitation, from establishing goals to synthesizing outcomes. I would recommend Event Garde with any level of involvement in facilitation.”

Gina Sutherland

California Society of Association Executives

“He got you thinking about what we can do that is different and unique.” That’s the type of feedback we love to receive from participants! Aaron Wolowiec designed and facilitated an action item-focused experience for our ELEVATE conference closing luncheon. He was flexible with the design, adapting the concept based on feedback from our committee. Aaron is a creative facilitator and content leader who has a solid understanding of lifelong learning concepts, the importance of deliverables, participant engagement and learning environments – that’s a powerful combination of skills and talent! We’re eagerly anticipating our next opportunity to learn from—and with—Aaron!”

Joan ‘JT’ Tezak

Colorado Society of Association Executives

"Aaron speaks from experience, combining theory with best practices.  But most of all ... he listens. He understands. With ease he provides solutions to today's association challenges." 

Bob Thomas

Michigan Chamber of Commerce

“Aaron’s vision for association excellence is known in professional and association circles across the country. He embodies the philosophy of continuous improvement, bringing new tools and resources to his clients as well as his own professional development. However, his impact is felt strongest at home. Aaron is a driving force to help Michigan association professionals think more clearly, act with purpose, and achieve results when leaders thought the well was dry. Michigan associations have thrived because Aaron has shared tools, resources, and inspiration with the community unselfishly.”

"Aaron and Lindsay were an outstanding addition to our professional development curriculum. Their intentional delivery and attention to detail were part of a total package coupling experiential learning and instruction.  The group fully participated and engaged in a thorough Q&A session that left them ready for more. They brought one of our most highly valued programs in a long time."

Karen Tracey

The Image Shoppe

"Having worked for Aaron for years as a vendor, I had set my expectations extremely high for the workshop he was planning for us on the topic of Diversity & Inclusion. In true superstar fashion, Aaron knocked it out of the park. He not only exceeded my expectations, but our entire team was so impressed with the content, execution, and most of all, the results. When Event Garde says, “Learn. Network. Transfer.” it’s not lip service—they mean it. We left the session with 90-day work plans that we’re already making progress on. Thank you, Aaron for helping us up our equity game at TIS!

Alyssa Trongaard

BOMA Dallas

“The Dallas/Fort Worth Association Executives has worked with Aaron Wolowiec and his team at EventGarde for the past several years for DFWAE’s Annual Association Day. Aaron has presented several sessions that continue to receive great feedback from attendees. His team is such a delight to work with, and they are on it! From submitting a great proposal, setting up the session and executing an amazing presentation, I couldn’t ask for a better group to work with. We look forward to continuing the partnership with Aaron and his team at EventGarde, not only through DFWAE, but within the association community.”

Christopher Urena

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

“I continue to be impressed by Aaron’s servant-leadership skills and ability to facilitate meaningful change on our Council. He’s known for establishing ambitious goals and objectives, but doesn’t stop there. Aaron’s got a real knack for building manageable work plans to achieve these goals, and fosters a positive culture of collaboration, inclusion and comradery. This combination makes our time on the Council both enjoyable and outcome-oriented—the ideal volunteer scenario!”

Donald Wotruba

Michigan Association of School Boards

“We hired Event Garde to facilitate work with our staff of 28 to come up with an agreed upon set of common values and shared culture statements. This was scheduled prior to the pandemic outbreak and we were really pleased that Event Garde was able to pivot to completely virtual. While I was skeptical about how well group work of this size would do, it went extremely well through both of our three sessions. By the end of our work we had new culture statements with great buy in from staff and also strategies for implementation so the internal work could begin in earnest.”