Blog FPO

Gardian of the Month: Shannon Lockwood

Our Gardian of the Month is Shannon Lockwood, Founder & CEO for Lockwood Collaborative and Event Manager for Event Garde.

Learn: What's your favorite part about learning something new?

I love puzzles, so for me, the best part of learning something new is the challenge of figuring it out and determining the best way for me to implement it. Whether it’s developing and utilizing my personal leadership skills, expanding my knowledge of an industry or a new technical tool, or testing a new recipe, I’m always interested in developing and refining the process. Once I’ve learned something new, continuing to improve upon past attempts is what keeps me most engaged in my work.

Network: Some people are wallflowers while others are natural networkers. Which are you (or are you in the middle)?

While the last two years have put me a little out of practice, I’d say I’m a natural networker. I’m genuinely interested in finding out more about others, their work, and their passions. There are incredible individuals on this planet and I’m honored to meet and learn from many of them throughout the course of my work and travel within the events industry.

Transfer: Tell us about an experience in which you learned something new and then applied it to your personal or professional life.

I am currently in the midst of learning several new things! I’m just 3 months in to starting my own business, so there’s a ton of new things there! And recently, a client asked me to support their work within eLearning. While it’s not my primary skill set, the process to design an eLearning course – assessment, design, development, implementation, and evaluation – is very complimentary of the one we use to design events. Embracing both of these new endeavors simultaneously reminds me about the power of being curious and the excitement that can come from connecting the dots for that eventual ah-ha! moment. This curiosity mindset continues to open doors for new and exciting opportunities, and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s next!

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

I just finished “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker. Parker presents a compelling case for going beyond an event designer’s common refrain of “design with the end in mind” and insists that we go deeper, in the pursuit of truly personal connections and meaningful interactions that have the power to change the world. It is a must-read for anyone hoping to deliver events with impact.

Just for Fun: Which three adjectives best describe you?

Energetic. Passionate. Dedicated.

Event Forecast 2023: The Top Trends You Can’t Miss!

Get ready to experience the future of event planning! As we enter 2023, the AV and event planning industries are embracing new trends and technologies to cater to the ever-changing needs and preferences of attendees and planners alike. This year, personalization, AI-powered event technology, sustainability, and immersive experiences take center stage.Get ready to experience the future of event planning! As we enter 2023, the AV and event planning industries are embracing new trends and technologies to cater to the ever-changing needs and preferences of attendees and planners alike. This year, personalization, AI-powered event technology, sustainability, and immersive experiences take center stage.

Read More >

Equitable Practices to Consider before Establishing Indigenous Land Acknowledgements

One of the main goals in doing an indigenous land acknowledgement is to respect and honor Indigenous People and their Tribal Nations and acknowledge the indigenous traditional lands where we do our work. However, one begs the question – is this enough; is it performative?

Read More >

Our Member’s Decisions to Engage are Evolving

If it seems more difficult to engage members these days - you are right. But don’t worry because Amanda Kaiser has got a whole passel of solutions for you!

Read More >

Gardian of the Month: Michael Williams

Michael Williams is our Gardian of the Month! Find out what he'd like to learn more about, his favorite personal network, how he thinks mentorship aids in knowledge transfer and which season represents him best!

Read More >
By: Kate Pojeta | Feb, 17 2023
Technology

Calendars are Organized! Organized Chaos…

Online calendars are our daily guides. Their ability to sync and be accurate is vital to our ability to effectively manage multiple clients, travel around the country for events, and easily schedule meetings at appropriate times. These calendars are needed to sync to a variety of places without having to enter things in 10 different places. If you have multiple calendars you are trying to wrangle, here are some tools that may be able to help you out.

Read More >

Creating Community Agreements

Community agreements are guidelines or norms created by a group to establish a mutual understanding. They can be used to ensure that a group’s behavior aligns with its values, they may be referred to when conflicts arise, and help set the tone and focus for your time together. Here's how the Event Garde team addressed this recently:

Read More >