Who’s Next Door?

Working in meeting and events is never boring. Or, very rarely boring. When I planned a multi-day event for a nonprofit organization, one of the things on my site visit check list was to ask what other groups or events would be utilizing the space either before, after, or at the same time as my group. This was especially important for my faith-based and religious clients. It would be really awkward to have a bikini contest happening in a portion of the building the same time I had pastors meeting in the other.

Not only from a conflict of interest stand point, but also for customer service. As I worked an event recently, there was our event in the A/B sections of this long, narrow convention center, and another group in the I/J sections. There was a little construction in between, and for the first few days, nothing else. Our event was on the end closest to the headquarters hotel, so pretty much anyone staying in town would walk from the hotel, through our event and onto the rest of the convention center. No big deal, the foyers were very wide, and everyone had plenty of room.

What was funny was that our group consisted of mild-mannered, well-behaved educators. 4000 of my closest friends who got together once a year for education, fellowship, and to see what new resources were available in the exhibit hall. The event on the other end, however, served a much different clientele. Think Pokemon, meets Nintendo, meets, Anime, meets any other superhero or cartoon character you can imagine.

The juxtaposition between the two audiences was jarring as we watched people with full-face masks, tails, swords, unicorn horns, platform boots, claws, body suits, painted cardboard boxes, and truly just about anything they could come up with, stroll through the hallway of the straight-laced, suburban K-12 educators. As I sat at the service desk, it was obvious to me who was here for our event, and who was here for the other one. The looks on the faces of both groups as the characters stopped to see if they were in the right place to check-in, and those in the right place stopped to see if these were people on their staff.

What we learned early on was that we needed to train the volunteers working check-in not to assume everyone who came up to the self-check-in station knew they were in the right place. Our wide-eyed, innocent volunteers tried to help everyone with a barcode get a name badge to no avail. After a failed attempt or three, they sent them to the service desk only for us to ask the guest if this was the conference they were really looking for.

To add to the confusion, two days in, a financial planners event (or something of the like) started in between the two groups. Now we added folks in business attire who actually DID blend into our natural habitat to the check-in lines. These imposters were harder to spot.

The lesson here is that as the host organization, you need to fully understand the schedule and access privileges of other groups who will be occupying the same convention center or hotel spaces as your event. It helps mitigate conflict of interest issues, allows you to provide better customer service, and wards off a potential security risk. Luckily what we experienced were things like a conversation between Deadpool, Princess Peach, and Mrs. Crabtree, the 3rd Grade teacher from Middleton, and others taking photos with Darth Vader, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Son Goku.

Do you have a shared-space story? Share it here or send me an email.

Let me know you’re out there! Leave a comment, like, and share this blog with those you know who like comics, Anime, superheroes, Big Foot, cartoons, TV personalities….

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Beyond the Parking Lot

Here in the US as the weather gets nicer, in parking lots all over the Midwest, especially at burger joints and ice cream stands, you will come across a car show. These are gatherings of vintage or refurbished cars. Owners bring their cars to a specific location for others to oooh and awe over as they nosh on their red hots or swig their milk shakes. Most of the time there is retro music being played to draw the crowd in, and occasionally, you’ll see girls in poodle skirts and guys in leather jackets with their hair slicked back as if they just re-entered in doc’s DeLorean from the 1950s.

This type of car show is usually casual. There might be a schedule, or not. There might be a sign-up sheet or registration on a web page, or not. They might be just “drive-in” kind of events. These shows are often accompanied by lots of folks sitting in lawn chairs, coolers of cheap beer, tents with lights strung on them over picnic tables of potato salad, chips, and carrot sticks. They pop up in neighborhoods, in rural downtowns, and anywhere the local farmer can arrive in his overalls, driving his tractor to get there. It feels very Midwest America to me – a lot like the town I grew up in.

However, I know that there are car shows out there where the planners and car owners take things a lot more seriously.

I have been to some car shows where the owners are buffing their beauties with cloth diapers every fifteen seconds. As soon as someone’s breath reaches their mint metallic green Chevy, out comes the rag and wax. These car shows are indoors so the paint and interiors won’t fade and weather is not an issue. Cars in these shows would never be driven to the show floor, Lord have mercy. They’re trailered in, pushed around, and drained of their fluids to meet indoor safety standards. And, many of them are for sale. They have won ribbons and trophies which travel with them; displayed for any prospective buyers to behold. They are parked over mirrors so guests can see how clean the undercarriage is and hoods are popped open to display the chrome engine that was meticulously lowered into place. An attendee or a prospective buyer might even have to be qualified before being issued a badge of entry for a show of this nature.

But, what I discovered as I researched for this blog is that the US is not the only country who hosts car shows. They can actually be found in varying formats in places like the UK, across Europe, Australia, and in Asia. 

A quick internet search produced these shows as the favored ones:

  • Goodwood Festival of Speed (West Sussex, United Kingdom)
  • Retromobile (Paris, France)
  • Summernats (Canberra, Australia)
  • Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (China)
  • Bangkok International Motor Show (Thailand)

Do you know what else I discovered? The event planning checklist for these events are exactly the same everywhere. The order in which tasks are accomplished might be different, but clearly a car show is a car show is a car show.

As with any event, you need a vision or to determine the goals and objectives. You’ll need a budget, a date, and a venue. There will need to be registration for the cars and most likely ticket sales for attendees. Definitely marketing and advertising are important if anyone is going to hear about the event. Food and beverages, bathrooms, parking, safety, and audio/visual support are on the list. I am certain there will need to be permits, risk assessments, some type of insurance, and site inspections. It also seems like there are awards and prizes for these events so judges and categories need to be established if they’re not already in place.

The specifics of these steps will obviously be nuanced based on the country in which you are planning a car show. I can’t imagine that the permitting process for an event in Columbus, Ohio, in the US, is going to be the same for obtaining a permit for the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. What this tells me is that research must be done ahead of time and all of this will need to be factored into your event planning timeline. If it takes six months to obtain a permit in China, then not only should it be one of the first things you do (if you can) it may determine how soon the car show can be scheduled.

Being from small-town USA outside of Chicago, my personal preference is the car show that pops up in a random parking lot on Thursday night at an ice cream shop. These are the cars that guys have worked on in their garages for years. They’re proud of their work and are finally taking their baby out for a spin. They’ll share war stories of getting their car in drivable condition, nobody’s in a rush, and there’s no agenda.

Being from outside of Chicago, I also am within driving distance (or preferably a 1-1/2 hour train ride) to the Chicago Auto Show which happens to be North America’s largest auto exposition. I have attended this show before. I can’t imagine the logistical coordination to get all of those cars into McCormick Place. If you haven’t been, this venue is enormous; the largest convention center in North America. For other event nerds such as myself, here are some flyby stats: it has 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, 600,000 square feet of meeting space, 50 foot ceilings, assembly seating for 18,000, and is connected to nearly 3,000 hotel rooms.1

The next time you see a car show in the parking lot of your favorite non-dairy, gluten-free, low-fat, frozen yogurt, ice cream substitute joint, check it out. Who are we kidding, places like this won’t have a car show in their lot. You want a full-fat, tasty, creamy, dairy-filled, decadent, sweet, real ice cream shop. Here is where you’ll meet some great folks and see some cool cars.

Have you planned a car show, whether at home or abroad, casual or formal? Share something you learned with us here or send me an email.

Make sure you comment, like, and share this blog with everyone you know who drives a car!

Visit tracybaer.com for great planner resources!

1.Choose Chicago. McCormick Place Convention Center. 2026. https://www.choosechicago.com/meeting-planners/mccormick-place/mccormick-place-convention-center/

I don’t represent nor do I promote McCormick Place, I just think it’s a fascinating venue. Be aware, Illinois is a Union state.

Take Me Out to the Derby

I live in a horse town and have seen horse jumping competitions for years. Even though there are horses here, there isn’t a horse race track in the area, and I have never planned a horse race. I happened to be visiting Louisville, Kentucky, recently, and had the opportunity to visit Churchill Downs. This got me thinking about what it takes to plan a horse race. It feels like they are steeped in tradition, especially one like the Kentucky Derby. As we arrived at Churchill Downs, we were met by a bugler in his formal red jacket, cap, and riding boots; then escorted through the underbelly and out to the course, where we got to meet a champion racehorse. As we sat in the owner’s booths near the track, I wondered what was unique to planning a Derby.

What I learned first was that a horse and rider don’t just want to win the Kentucky Derby. There is the coveted “Triple Crown” to be had. This honor is given to a single horse that wins a series of three races within a five-week period. They include the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The Kentucky Derby kicks off the races. Then, onto Baltimore, Maryland, and the Pimlico Racecourse, where the shortest of all three races is run; the Preakness Stakes. After which, the longest of the races is run in Elmont, New York, at Belmont Park; the Belmont Stakes. In the over 150-year history of the Triple Crown, only thirteen horses (as of 2022) have earned this achievement.1

There are very strict parameters for a horse to win the Triple Crown, the first being that the horse has to be three years old and the second, that it has to be a Thoroughbred, which means a horse can only win a Triple Crown once. The Jockey, however, can go on to win multiple times. The most wins for a jockey is two by Eddie Arcaro in 1941 and 1948.1 This just tells me that it is an incredible feat to win at all, let alone twice.

Before beginning the planning process, I would want to understand the traditions of the sport. Knowing how important these are to the derby are paramount to a successful event. Traditions for the Kentucky Derby include: the Garland of Roses, the Twin Spires, the song, “My Old Kentucky Home,” Mint Juleps, and the Trophy.2 You can read some fascinating trivia and what each one means at the Kentucky Derby Website. Traditions associated with the Preakness Stakes include: the Black-eyed Susan Blanket, Painting of the Weather Vane, the Alibi Breakfast, and the Tiffany Woodlawn Vase.3 There are fascinating facts on the Preakness Website. At the Belmont Stakes, traditions you will see include: the White Carnation Blanket, the August Belmont Memorial Trophy, and the singing of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” as the horses head to the starting gate.4 

It seems like a theme song, a signature cocktail, a unique flowered winner’s blanket, and a one-of-a-kind trophy are all very important to these races. Knowing this, even without knowing how to plan a derby, I can tell you that there will be pomp and circumstance around each one that needs special time and attention. The right version of the theme songs needs to be played. A specific mixture for each cocktail and a traditional way to serve them needs to be identified, and the same companies who have made the flowered blankets and trophies need to be contacted (or gather the trophy that is passed from one winner to the next).

As with any event where animals are involved, there are many additional tasks for the planning list which include things like holding pens, warm up rings, feed, straw, stalls, and trailer parking. I was going to recommend a veterinarian, but when I went back to the Kentucky Derby website, I read about the Equine Medical Team that is on-site. This team includes not only veterinarians, but an equine surgical team as well for those incredibly critical injuries. I didn’t research this, but I assume there is also a human medical team there as well. If the horses get a physical before entering the track, I assume the jockeys do too.

I imagine there is another level of planning needs to consider when betting is involved. I would want to consult with a planner who has worked with a horse race before, ideally a derby, to understand the ins and outs of handling money in this way. I am certain there is a lot of oversight and money management needed. There has to be online security and accountability, tracking, and redundancies, and so much more that I’m not even aware of. And comprehending what I believe must be an intense audit process will be very important.   

The list continues with jockey ready-rooms, horse owners’ suites or hospitality tents, and the usual food and beverages, parking, people moving, audio/visual needs, security, and the race itself. Even before a horse’s hoof hits the dirt, there are hotel rooms, flights, meeting spaces, dinners, limos, and a large variety of rentals to secure (all things the local CVB can help with).

If you ever have the opportunity to plan a horse race, let alone one of the Triple Crown Derbies, be sure to seek expert advice, surround yourself with an amazing team for support, and don’t forget your fascinator.

Have you planned a horse race? What is one thing we need to know? Share it here or
send me an email.

Make sure you comment, like and share this blog with everyone you know who likes horses, racing, betting, or mint juleps!

1.DKHorse.Triple Crown Races. 2026. https://www.dkhorse.com/triple-crown
2.The Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs Incorporated. 2026. https://www.kentuckyderby.com/living-traditions/
3.Preakness 151. Preakness Tradition. 2026. https://www.preakness.com/preakness-tradition
4.Belmont Stakes. History of the Belmont Stakes. 2026. https://www.nyra.com/belmont-stakes/history/

Even MORE Outrageous Hospitality

I wrote a blog called “Outrageous Hospitality“ where I couldn’t say enough about the book I read on a group of people who always pushed the boundaries of what it meant to provide the most out-of-this-world, never-experienced-before hospitality to their restaurant guests. There was no off switch on this team. They would scrutinize what they were doing, watch what was happening, observe the guest experience, then evaluate how they could improve, yet again, on the hospitality they provided. I’m someone who doesn’t require a lot of sleep, and my mind rarely shuts down, but I can’t imagine the minds of the people on this team. Wow!

As I said in the previous blog, I’m not much of a book reader. I find it takes too much time. I’m a fast mover and like to digest my information as quickly as someone can tell it to me. I imagine most event planners feel the same. If I were a car, I think I’d be running at warp speed, taking corners on two wheels, stopping only when I needed gas, food, or a bathroom break. However, when a book captivates me, I tend to ravage it, underlining statements of interest, making notes in the margins, and dog-earring pages. Well, it happened again!

Funny enough, this book was written years before the other one. It’s from 2017. You might think that these days it would be irrelevant, but you’d be wrong. It’s called The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. It amazed me how closely these two books went hand in hand. I probably should have read them in the reverse order. Again, just reading the title as a CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) got me excited. When planning meetings and events, isn’t that what we do? We build agendas that allow attendees to engage with content or with one another. We help attendees identify moments when they feel as if the event was tailor-made just for them.

Most of the time, moments happen to us. It’s our birthday or our anniversary, and there is a moment when someone celebrates us. Or we have an annual review at work where our supervisor sets aside a moment to give us feedback on what we’ve done well over the past year and areas for improvement in the coming one. Sadly, we may lose a loved one, which can be an incredibly sad and life-changing moment in our lives. And just as life-changing is getting married or having our first baby or grandbaby.

The book, however, talks about ways to create moments, not just let them happen to you. It takes intentionality just like providing over-the-top hospitality. Seeing some similarity here? Of all of the time’s you’ve eaten dinner at a restaurant, which ones stand out to you? The ones where you experienced a moment, for better or for worse, right? If someone asks you for a restaurant recommendation, you may talk about the food, but you will definitely talk about something you experienced. Case in point: You loved the surprise of the solo violinist who strolled through the restaurant on your honeymoon. Can’t remember if the food was good or not, you but would recommend this restaurant to anyone. Couldn’t stand the mariachi trio at the restaurant on your vacation as they hovered over your table relentlessly while you screamed at each other over the noise to carry on a conversation. Do you think you’d ever recommend this place?

Both of these restaurants intentionally created moments. Both, I’m sure, appealed to different audiences. The restaurants intentionally created the interruption you paid attention to during dinner so that even if you forgot the how the potatoes were prepared or if the steak was done to perfection or not, you’d remember how the musical experience made you feel. That’s the moment you will tell others about.

I truly can’t explain the more in more outrageous hospitality any better than the opening story of the book. It totally encapsulates the fundamentals of creating a moment. If you were looking to book a hotel in LA, California (at the time this book was written), you probably wouldn’t have selected the one which looked like a small two-story 1950s, canary yellow apartment complex with bare furnishings and a small pool, except that it’s online reviews outranked the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills and the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles. Why? The popsicle hotline.1

This was a Disney hotel. They knew then and still know how to create moments you will never forget. People overlooked the small rooms, little pool, and stark decor because they could pick up the cherry red phone next to the pool to hear “Popsicle Hotline.” You could order not only popsicles but anything off the hefty Snack Menu and it arrived in mere seconds. There was also a Board Game Menu and a DVD Menu (this was 2017). There were many other moment-makers, but you’ll need to read the book to see what those were.

This book goes into the many types of moments you can create. These are not phony, superficial, fabricated moments we’re talking about. Some of these are deep, life-altering, community-changing, country-improving moments. It’s weird to find myself recommending a second book in the same year, but here we are. I think as events continue to evolve and people expect a more customized experience, flexing our thinking muscles to focus on moments will certainly move us in the right direction.

Do you have an experience creating a moment? Share something you learned
with us here or send me an email!

Don’t forget to like and comment on this blog and share this with everyone you know who needs to experience a moment today!

1.The Power of Moments. Chip & Dan Heath. Simon & Shuster. New York, NY. 2017.

Sit in the Attendee’s Chair

My friend Joanne Dennison, CMP, helps others work towards the goal of sitting for, and earning their, CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification. One of the things she is passionate about is having the planner sit in the attendee’s chair. So much so that it’s the name of her podcast (which is great and you can listen to episodes on your current podcast platforms). It is a fundamental practice that many event planners overlook during the planning process because they’re often too busy running ahead, looking at the task lists in front of them, and concerning themselves with details. However, as Joanne emphasizes, you literally need to sit in the attendee’s chair. Like….get a chair, put it in the room, and sit down. Look around. Are you comfortable? Can you see the stage? Do your feet dangle? Is your back starting to cramp? Would you need a table to take notes? Is there a column blocking your view? What is the attendee actually experiencing in this room from their seat? This blew my mind.

I’m not going to give away all of Joanne’s tips here, but I do want to draw your attention to one of the resources she mentions in her class. It is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.1 If you haven’t thought about this in reference to event planning, you’re missing out. This will take your planning to the next level. Maslow proposes that people function at maximum efficiency when their basic needs are met, but those needs must be met in a certain order. 

At the most basal level, our basic physiological needs must be met for us to function: water, food, shelter, clothing, etc. Moving up the pyramid is knowing that we’re safe. This includes predictability, order, and control in our lives. After this level is love and belonging. Do we have friends and family or community? Are there people we are doing life with? Next are esteem needs, which include self-esteem, confidence, achievement, and recognition, etc. And at the top of the triangle are self-actualization needs. This level is about personal growth and meeting one’s full potential. You have figured out your gifts and talents, are using them, and feel contentment in life.

Joanne took these concepts a step further and applied them to event planning. Genius. You can visit her website, The Meet Guide, for the full details, but she gave me permission to share the highlights here. If you are actually sitting in the attendee’s chair, let’s say in a breakout room, two of the basic physiological needs you want to consider might be room temperature and chair comfort. An attendee will be much more apt to focus on what’s being said if they’re not shivering or sweating, or thinking about the cramp in their back from an uncomfortable chair. At the safety level, one thing to consider is how crowded the room is. Did you exceed the capacity for the allowable number of chairs in the room? Are the aisles wide enough for someone to walk through them with their bag?

The next level up the pyramid is belonging. Here you might want to review how new attendees are welcomed into an annual event where other guests are returning, know one another, and could potentially make a newcomer feel like an outsider. If you treat a new attendee well, you will have covered the next level, which is esteem needs. People want to know they belong; that they fit in. If a new attendee is invited to a “New Here” reception the night before the event starts, by the time they sit in the first session, they will have had the opportunity to meet others, hear from the host organization’s leaders, and set proper expectations for the event.

And finally, if the event did what we all hope an event will do, you will have set an attendee up for success at the top level, self-actualization. They should have gleaned something from a session or speaker that either affirms something they are already doing or brings to light a talent they could use to a higher degree.

Seasoned planners are most likely to put themselves in attendees’ shoes. They can visualize what it might look like for a new attendee to drive onto the property, walk in, need to find where they’re going, and determine where directional signage should be placed. They can think through registration or check-in to determine how many lines, what types of signage is needed, and where to set up so attendees can move quickly through this process and begin their event experience. And they can brainstorm with their teams about the content arc that takes attendees on an intentional journey, so they leave with something practical, whether it’s a motivational event, a new product training, or an educational session. 

But, I’ll bet very few planner think about putting themselves in the attendees’ chair.

Does this thought blow your mind too? Share something that came to mind here or
send me an email.

Joanne Dennison, CMP, has a wealth of information to share! Visit her website The Meet Guide or subscribe to her EGuide Newsletter.

1.Abraham Maslow. A Theory of Human Motivation. 1943.