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.