Gardian of the Month: Katie Gadulka

Our Gardian of the Month is Katie Gadulka - VP, Learning at Michigan Association of CPAs!

Learn: What's one subject you'd like to learn more about?

Professionally, I would say Leadership Development and personally, I’d like to learn how to play the piano.

Network: Some people are wallflowers while others are natural networkers. Which are you (or are you in the middle)? How does this play into your networking experiences?

I think I fall in the middle. While I certainly consider myself an extrovert and I love meeting and getting to know people, at times I also like to just sit back, listen and absorb my surroundings. So for me, it definitely depends on the situation and the type of networking experience.

Transfer: Think about a topic in which you feel you're quite knowledgeable. How would you use this knowledge to better your industry?

With almost 19 years working in Meetings/Events and the Learning space within an Association, I love to work with our members in the CPA profession to help design programs that provide resources and opportunities to network with their colleagues and content that will allow them to gain the skills needed to stay up to date in the profession. I also enjoy collaborating with our colleagues at other CPA state societies to support each other in our efforts to educate our members and share our ideas, successes and ways we can improve.

Please share with us a resource your love and why you can’t live without it.

I really enjoy anything by Brene Brown, specifically her Dare to Lead podcast. I strive every day to become a braver and more vulnerable leader while continuing to build trust with my team and colleagues. Her podcast has become my favorite thing to listen to while I walk my dog and I always learn something new to put into practice in my personal or professional life.

Just for Fun: If you could only eat one food for a week, what would it be and why?

Tacos! I love them in all forms and it’s something that my husband and I enjoy making at home together.

By: Kara Nacarato | Jun, 2 2023
Meetings

Tackling Your Food and Beverage Challenges

Wouldn't it be nice to have a secret formula that would magically select the perfect F&B that would accommodate all attendees and ensure everyone was happy with every meal? Unfortunately, we haven't found that quite yet, but here are a few tips and considerations you may find helpful while planning your next meeting or conference.

By: Kate Pojeta | May, 26 2023
Meetings Technology

Seamlessly Transitioning Presentations with Pre/Post Slideshows

Kate shares some solutions to the challenge of having “pre-session” rotating slides to show before a presentation and having to swap slideshows for the presentation itself - which often looks and feels clunky. Here's her solution to this big little issue!

By: | May, 19 2023
Knowledge Transfer Learning Networking

Gardian of the Month: Katie Gadulka

Katie Gadulka is our Gardian of the Month! Find out something she'd like to learn more about, if she considers herself a natural networker, how she makes her industry better, that one things she can't live without and what food she would choose if she could only eat one for a week!

By: Yesenia Murillo | May, 12 2023
Health

Prioritizing The Tender Parts of You

Why is it that we often have reservations about sharing the tender parts of our soul, heart, and mind? Tenderness and vulnerability are not foreign to the human experience, they’re in fact universal core characteristics. Yesenia shares some promising ways to prioritize the tender parts of you.

By: Krista Rowe | May, 5 2023
Diversity & Inclusion Organizational Behavior

(Re) Committing to Our Values

The Event Garde team is committed to holding ourselves accountable to our core values. These values serve as the foundation for how we work with one another, our partners, and our clients and it’s important that they continue to be an accurate reflection of who we aim to be. Here's what happened from the intentional revisiting of these values.

By: Aaron Wolowiec | Apr, 28 2023
Meetings

Stop Boring Your Meeting Attendees: 10 Recommendations for a Better First Impression

I recently attended an industry conference. I sat in the opening general session patiently awaiting the keynote speaker to take the stage, but what followed was a 15-minute laundry list of announcements and appreciations that very few people were interested in. As I sit in the audience on this particular day, not as a planner but as an attendee, I realize how this opening has landed – and it’s not a great first impression. So, what’s the resolution? Following are 10 recommendations that you can mix and match to stop boring your meeting attendees and set a better first impression.

Gardian of the Month: Katie Gadulka

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Tackling Your Food and Beverage Challenges

Seamlessly Transitioning Presentations with Pre/Post Slideshows

Gardian of the Month: Katie Gadulka

Prioritizing The Tender Parts of You

(Re) Committing to Our Values

Stop Boring Your Meeting Attendees: 10 Recommendations for a Better First Impression