The Art of Asking the Right Questions in Event Production with Julie Leithoff

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Welcome to the Event Pro show, your ultimate guide to the world of corporate

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events. Whether you're a corporate event planner, experiential marketing

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pro, producer, technician, or anyone involved in creating exceptional

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events, this podcast is your go to resource for valuable insights,

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expert tips and inspiring stories from the industry's leading professionals.

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Well, thank you for joining us on this episode of the Event Pro Show. And

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guys, I have one of my favorites, one of my absolute production

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favorites with us today. So I'm excited to introduce Julie.

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And Julie, if you don't mind. Mind. I'm going to try to, to do justice

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to your bio here as we kick. As we kick it

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off. So today I have Julie

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Lydoff. She has nearly 30 years

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experience in live events, starting in Kansas City

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where she rose to Vice President at Vista Productions. And that's where Julie and I's

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path met at that point. But for the last 18

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years she's been based in Omaha, Nebraska, managing audiovisual

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components for events nationwide. She's known for staying

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on budget while focusing on details. Julie's calm demeanor and

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creative problem solving make her an in demand show producer

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and a strong leader for the event team. So her vast knowledge in

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all aspects of event planning, event production, event roi, and

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her ability to manage production budgets from, I don't know, 50,000 to 2

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million, put all her venues, vendors and clients

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or all her stakeholders at ease. Building long term

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relationships is her top priority and she cares about the people

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who she works for and the people that work for her. Please

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welcome to the show, Julie Lightoff. Thank you,

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Julie, for being here. Hey, thanks for having me. Okay. I think

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somebody else wrote that for me. I don't know. It's pretty cool. Thank

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you. Yeah, but it's all, it's all

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true. Your skill set is unique

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as I come across people because a lot of, a lot of times people will

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focus on maybe just planning or just av. You're

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one of the rare people that could speak both languages, which I

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think makes you, that's like your competitive advantage out there

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that you can kind of see both sides of it because not everybody can.

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Yeah. And I, I mean I just like to know the whys and how

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comes so that I can be, I'm not an

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expert in the details. I

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trust the teams that I'm going to put together or the information

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that I'm going to pass along from the clients to

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the engineers and to the people

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doing it. How do I know

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enough about it to make it all seamless for everyone?

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You know, the right questions to get Answered

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and you know the right people to ask. Yep. And I also

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believe, Seth, sorry, get off it. I also believe that sometimes you may

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not ask the question the way the client understands it

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initially, and then it's up to me to say,

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okay, I don't think they really understood. An

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example someone else had asked, had advised

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a client about pixels in an LED wall. And, well, you're not

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going to do big graphics or anything. Right. Get on

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site. Their presentation that was on an

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LED wall. And this is many years ago, so, you know, not the mills

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that we're talking about nowadays, the anything. And it was

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like, well, I told her, making sure that she wasn't doing. I

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was like. But she didn't understand why you were asking that. So

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maybe you have to be a really, really good listener and go, well,

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I don't think they still understood my question. I'm going to ask it

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in another way to clarify. And

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I, I, I've literally sat in meetings with you while you're talking to your

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client, and you have a way of asking the

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right questions at the right time, kind of getting to the heart of what they're

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trying to do. I think, again, that's just such a skill that you learn over

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time. Uh, some of that's just like school of hard knocks, but you

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learn over time how to get to the heart of like, what are you asking

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for here? Mm. Yep. I. Okay, so before I get

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too deep into your story here, I want to go way back. I want to

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go way back, Julie. Way back. What was the first event

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that you can remember attending? Just, like, maybe as a kid or

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just way back. So, you know, it was like

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the state fair, and it was a concert at our, you know, little

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Douglas County State Fair. And I'm sure no one listening probably

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even knows who this artist was, but it was Ray Stevens and he was famous

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for the song the Streak and all of it. I have four,

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four sisters. I'm the oldest, and we were, you know, in front of the

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stage, just in awe of watching a concert.

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I love it. I love. You're the second state fair in

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this podcast series. So, yeah, it's like state

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fairs and church and those. It's very similar

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themes, you know, that people have, people have done. That's awesome.

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So that it's like one of those magical moments when you're a kid. And

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I. My similar moment for me, it

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was, you know, early on, I went to school as an audio engineer and I

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wanted to do recording, but I remember being really little and

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in my grandparents house. We'd walk down the block and they'd point at this

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house on the corner and be like, they have a recording studio in there. I

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had no idea what that meant, but I knew it was magical, you know, and

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it's like, that's that moment as a kid where you're like, I don't know what's

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going on up there, but I like it. It's a cool thing. That's

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cool. So, like, if you fast forward a little bit,

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when's the first time, when was the first time that you can remember that you

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wanted to be involved in events as a career? You

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know, the interesting part is I didn't know that it was a

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career in. And it kind of

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goes into a process, probably another area. But my first stuff was

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doing employee events and stuff at

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my. Well, my second or third employer as a

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young person. I. I worked there at Clarkson Hospital from

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16 to 27.

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And when I. After like three years

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when I was in the medical side of some things, then I moved into personnel

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and marketing and I helped corporate coordinate

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their employee annual events,

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a couple of their medical conferences and. But there wasn't a

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position, you know, but wherever I went in

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a couple of positions that work, those, those

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couple of events annually followed me. And I've always loved it.

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So. Right. I'm the. Or you were, you were making

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up. Yeah. You were making it up as you went. Yeah,

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absolutely. You know, just I think it's attention to

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details, people, places and

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things is what I say that, you know, and making sure

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that all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted and you're taking

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care of all the people along the way.

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Yeah. That's awesome. So that, that ended up kind of being

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one of your first jobs in events. You just didn't know it. Yep. It was

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happening. It was happening. You didn't even know it was happening. Yeah.

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I think Steve Jobs says something like, you can connect the dots going

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backwards. Like, it's hard to do it going forwards, but you can kind of see

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how your path came to this point, you know. Absolutely.

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You have a really unique approach,

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like I mentioned, but you have a unique approach to event planning because of

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your deep knowledge of av. And, and when

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I say that to your point before, you have a deep

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knowledge of how AV flows in and out of venues,

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what on site personnel need,

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what it takes to set up an AV team

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successfully. I think, you know, it's not, it's not like I'm calling you

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to like do deep tech work like Operate a

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complicated switcher. But you understand what that video group

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of people need to be successful in,

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you know, production technology. So how do you think that affects

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your workflow when you're planning an event?

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Hopefully positive with my clients, you know,

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some people are. May

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wonder why are you asking so many questions or why do you need to know

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that? But I am here to partner with them,

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whether the clients, the, the venue, the vendors, all of the above.

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And the more that I can help with

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additional knowledge of when do we get the venue, what are their rules and

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regulations, when does the event start? And so you, you kind of

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backtrack on. Here's the, here's when we start and here's

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what we need to get to that point.

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And understanding everyone,

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every, every part of it has to work

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together to make it happen.

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When are the tables and chairs being set and

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not letting. Encouraging the venues not to do it

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before we load in per se, because then we're going to move things and then

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they're going to have to redo them. I don't like making people have

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to redo things that we could if we schedule it right and

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communicate properly, you don't have to do things more

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than once. Yeah. So I liked. I

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just like to know what others need to do their jobs

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well and then we're all on the same common

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goal. And a lot of that would you say? I mean that just

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comes from experience. Right. Because you experience an

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event where the venue comes in and puts in tables

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and chairs before were done working on lighting and

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all of a sudden now you got to move a bunch of stuff to get

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the lift in and yeah, I'll. Can I

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share a story about my first big osh

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factor similar to that? I would love for you to share a story.

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It was a. You know, so Vista had done

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Sam's and Walmart for many, many years. It was my first go to

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Sam's as the, you know, the client account

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manager. And everybody was like, oh, we've been there every year

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for whatever. We're in the Tampa Convention Center. It's real simple.

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Well, the challenge was that we're in an exhibit

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hall that's set up like the Sam's Club with all their

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merchandise and stuff. But then the general session area is

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just separated with bleachers and

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then floor seating and then the stage. And

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come to find out all those bleachers and chairs are stored behind

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where our stage is set up. So we have stage setup, we

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have cable runs, we have all sorts of things and

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then they're like, oh, we got to get all this stuff out backstage.

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And so what that path was going to be. And it just became a challenge.

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So again, so to be clear, for listeners that are. That are

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following along, those cables, sensitive

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cables are run out either side of the stage, but you've

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got tons, literally of material that

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has to be rolled out onto the main floor. How are you going to

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get that over that sensitive cable if you didn't think about that?

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Yeah. And it was also a lot of it was with forklift, so it was

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even more sensitive of the type. So, yeah, the

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next year it was like, all right, let's have the bleachers staged.

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And they're just going to be together, not pulled out where they're going

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to go on the drawing again, drawings and all those things are imperative

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to have those plans ahead of time and just. Yeah. Learning

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all those things. But then after that it was like, nope, I'm going to

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learn all those things ahead of time. Right. You

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ask better and better questions every time. Yeah, yeah.

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I would say any young planner or producer listening,

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find yourself a Julie to follow around for a year or

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two and you'll probably save yourself a few years or

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decades of learning really hard lessons if you just

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listen to how Julie approaches site surveys and clients

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and show prep. I would love that. Yeah.

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So if you, when. If I say the term, I'm gonna ask

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you for another story, because I like the stories. The. That

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might have been an example of one. But when I say staying calm under pressure,

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that concept, you know, because I think that you do do that, what's the first

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story that pops in your mind? It was the.

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It was the following year at that same venue where we

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went with all the plans and, and then,

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you know, the bleachers, I think the

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bleachers didn't have the seats in them. It was like you pulled them out, they

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were raked seating and then they put regular folding chairs on top of

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them again. So it's a schedule and it's like, all

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right, so at 6 o'clock when we leave today, I need you guys

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to the venue, the house to pull the bleachers and

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get the seating done. So then the next day we can focus lights, we can

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make sure the sound is covering all the seating appropriately

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and blah, blah, blah. And I get there at, you

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know, 4:00 in the morning and it's not done.

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It was like, what? And

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I think that might have even been the second time that it wasn't done.

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And on original schedule, like

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the first one was Kind of a combination like, okay, we

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overestimated our time to do this, so can

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we, Whatever. And the

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lovely person in charge of

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pulling those bleachers, the overnight person, was kind of not

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as friendly, not as fun,

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but some single case was in his

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way in one small segment that was on wheels,

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nothing hard to move. And so therefore they didn't move it.

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They didn't call me. They just didn't do it.

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So. So then you're left with a then what, now what.

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Yeah. And honestly, it just

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also, that created. Again, this isn't my

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first 12 to 18 months

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of doing live events with not

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experience prior to me walking in that door.

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Learn to know who those individuals are though, too, and respect them for who they

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are and make friends with them, because if you treat them

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with kindness, they will do things for you.

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I mean, I'm not asking them to do things that they aren't supposed to do.

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I'm just asking them to do their job and being kind, respectful

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for who they are. Yeah. And so, yeah, it

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just got better from there on out. It was like, okay,

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and you were better for it. Yeah, that's one of them here. Those were

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the early ones. So you. One thing I didn't

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mention before, Julie just took a position with

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Stratum. They're an event production company based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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They're a growing production company. So congratulations on that.

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Thank you. That job. But on that note, I

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think just such a great, great hire for them, and they

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look like a wonderful company. So on that note of what

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you're doing right now, how can event planners set up their AV

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partners for. So you're approaching an event. What. What type

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of things should you be providing so that your Ava partners can do their job

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and your event ultimately goes smoother and it's a better experience,

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transparent partnership. You know,

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we. Me, yes, I.

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I could. I plan the event side of things

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potentially. I certainly am not an expert, don't know all the

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details and great things that the event planners know.

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But I'm there to be a partner with them and

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we need to be in it together. Common

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goal. Let us be the

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experts in that component of the

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event. It's not a matter

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of what's more important or less important. It's all equal

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importance and it all needs to work together. And

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information and sharing is so

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valuable. There's a lot of times where I've been invited to be

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on, you know, most of my clients calls, I'm like, on everything.

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Even though it's like, I don't know that you need to be there.

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But I call it catching butterflies because maybe someone

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else on the team might say, oh, we're going to bring

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a horse on stage, which, you know, horse or a motorcycle. And you're like, well,

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the what you. Because not that we can't do it. I

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am not an. I don't say no, but you have to

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be a solution provider. And what's it

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mean physically, logistically,

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safely to do those things? And that's all of the,

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you know, even finding out,

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like, okay, you're in a ballroom with multiple sections,

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and that's what we're told is we're in the ballroom, but then

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down the road they decide they want to break off a section of the

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ballroom that they just

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didn't think we needed. It didn't affect us.

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But the challenge is finding out where that airwall storage comes from,

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because you may think it's coming from here, and so it should be an

289
00:17:52,526 --> 00:17:56,118
easy shot, but it's not. It's coming from somewhere else. And that's where we've

290
00:17:56,134 --> 00:17:59,710
got cabling and tech world or whatever. So

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00:18:00,090 --> 00:18:02,990
again, those are just being

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teammates. Absolute teammates.

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00:18:07,050 --> 00:18:10,866
Transparency teammates. I think I know how you're going to answer this,

294
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but would do you. Are you an advocate

295
00:18:14,786 --> 00:18:18,434
of providing your a budget range when you're putting a

296
00:18:18,442 --> 00:18:21,858
project out to rfp? As an event planner, I think it's very

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00:18:21,914 --> 00:18:24,670
helpful. At least a range. You know,

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there's a huge difference between, you know, a $10,000 show

299
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and $100,000 show. And it's just,

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00:18:32,794 --> 00:18:36,482
it's being. We can help you better

301
00:18:36,586 --> 00:18:39,030
if we do have a range.

302
00:18:40,170 --> 00:18:43,730
I will not share exact numbers or

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00:18:43,770 --> 00:18:47,394
past. Sure. With. I won't

304
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share past vendors informations because I just. That's

305
00:18:50,658 --> 00:18:53,720
integrity. Yeah. I think

306
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as you know, being the producer, hiring the vendors

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for the last 18 years, that's also a goal is to be

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transparent. You know, that I wanted to work, I

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00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:09,120
was the nucleus for client and vendor,

310
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and one side isn't more right than the other or more wrong

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than the other. You know, if there's a change, I think we equally need to

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recognize who's responsible for the cost associated

313
00:19:20,506 --> 00:19:23,830
to that change, whether plus or minus. And just being,

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00:19:24,370 --> 00:19:28,218
again, very detailed on and aware of those things. So,

315
00:19:28,354 --> 00:19:31,230
you know, finding out the budget includes. Yeah,

316
00:19:32,290 --> 00:19:35,386
that's a good one. You just. That little thing at the end there. Yeah. Defining

317
00:19:35,418 --> 00:19:38,874
what it includes, making sure that you're, when you're comparing it's apples to apples

318
00:19:38,922 --> 00:19:42,746
comparison from one vendor to the next. But I, I, I do agree I think

319
00:19:42,818 --> 00:19:46,592
a range gives any vendor, it doesn't matter if it's

320
00:19:46,616 --> 00:19:50,352
AV or food and beverage or whatever, whatever you're,

321
00:19:50,416 --> 00:19:54,192
you need. It gives you a target, you know and you can

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do most, most vendors, most service providers in

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00:19:58,056 --> 00:20:01,504
this, this industry that I know that are, that are worth working

324
00:20:01,592 --> 00:20:05,328
with. They, they will design

325
00:20:05,464 --> 00:20:09,312
to your, your budget range. They're not trying to upsell you in

326
00:20:09,336 --> 00:20:12,192
a way that's like we're trying to get as much money out of you as

327
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possible. We're trying to actually create the best experience that you can afford, you know,

328
00:20:15,826 --> 00:20:18,590
within this, in this budget range. Yep.

329
00:20:19,890 --> 00:20:23,722
I, I have another. I'm going to keep keep

330
00:20:23,746 --> 00:20:27,450
going on with challenging questions for you. I

331
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would only ask someone that I believe has great answers.

332
00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:35,578
So here you go. So you know, venues in

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00:20:35,634 --> 00:20:38,970
house issues it comes

334
00:20:39,010 --> 00:20:42,634
up, you know, I speak at different places, I'm in

335
00:20:42,642 --> 00:20:46,470
different networking things. It just seems to come up in a lot of environment

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00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:50,796
in house expenses in house, av, food and beverage

337
00:20:50,828 --> 00:20:54,284
minimums, load in time, union expectations, these types of

338
00:20:54,292 --> 00:20:58,044
things. How, how do you create win wins and venues

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00:20:58,092 --> 00:21:01,932
with challenging rules? Because I mean you, you, you know, you

340
00:21:01,956 --> 00:21:05,676
would. I don't think the answer is just avoiding a region.

341
00:21:05,828 --> 00:21:09,372
I think there's another answer. So what are your thoughts on

342
00:21:09,396 --> 00:21:12,998
that? Yeah, I mean so I had the pleasure and have for

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00:21:13,164 --> 00:21:16,738
of number of different clients over my tenure is

344
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being a part of a selection site selection

345
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committee like before it was decided. And the one

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00:21:24,186 --> 00:21:27,730
thing I would tell venues is don't try to

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sell me on what you think I want to hear so that you'll get our

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business. Like I mean I literally had one venue say oh

349
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yeah we have a union rule but oh we won't make, we'll make sure

350
00:21:39,066 --> 00:21:42,898
it doesn't work need to happen for you. That's not true. That's

351
00:21:42,914 --> 00:21:46,530
like a used car salesman trying to tell me no,

352
00:21:46,570 --> 00:21:50,210
that's not going to happen. So I, anytime I am on

353
00:21:50,250 --> 00:21:54,050
site visits and doing my due diligence

354
00:21:54,130 --> 00:21:57,842
to find out all those questions is just tell me

355
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the rules, regulations and

356
00:22:01,690 --> 00:22:05,426
we will. It's my job to inform

357
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the client of what those costs may be

358
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and how we may have to work differently in

359
00:22:13,084 --> 00:22:16,200
you know, certain cities, certain venues

360
00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:20,740
and just be aware again, it's putting then an apples to apples

361
00:22:20,820 --> 00:22:24,596
comparison together. Not just this cost, but it's all of the above.

362
00:22:24,628 --> 00:22:27,800
That would be related to audio, visual and production.

363
00:22:28,460 --> 00:22:32,036
Right. Right now Julie might get a little frustrated if somebody

364
00:22:32,068 --> 00:22:35,852
changes the rules of engagement on her and like oh well you

365
00:22:35,876 --> 00:22:39,532
can't Use that doc. It has to be

366
00:22:39,556 --> 00:22:43,388
this or whatever it's like. And I also document. So there's lots

367
00:22:43,404 --> 00:22:46,940
of things in writing to

368
00:22:46,980 --> 00:22:50,492
detail those things. Because also changing the guards happen at

369
00:22:50,516 --> 00:22:53,280
venues. So it's,

370
00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:57,612
it's doing your due diligence, creating a relationship with them to

371
00:22:57,636 --> 00:23:01,218
know that you're there to follow the rules. At least that's my

372
00:23:01,274 --> 00:23:05,042
guidelines. I'm an ask for permission person. I know there's some

373
00:23:05,066 --> 00:23:08,834
people out there that are like, well, ask for forgiveness, Julie. Forgiveness.

374
00:23:08,882 --> 00:23:11,070
Yeah, yeah. I'm not really that person.

375
00:23:12,650 --> 00:23:16,162
Have, has your documentation saved you before? Like

376
00:23:16,266 --> 00:23:19,282
you. I have seen how you document a lot. Yeah,

377
00:23:19,426 --> 00:23:23,170
yeah. Again, someone tries to change the rules, you can go

378
00:23:23,210 --> 00:23:27,052
back to your documentation. Well, I think the first time working with your

379
00:23:27,076 --> 00:23:30,844
team last year, they experienced

380
00:23:30,892 --> 00:23:34,636
Julie is what I would say the wrath of Julie for a moment

381
00:23:34,668 --> 00:23:38,476
with the venue. Just because they weren't following very

382
00:23:38,548 --> 00:23:42,172
detailed things that we were talking about, had planned, had

383
00:23:42,196 --> 00:23:45,372
had many conversations with teams. It was, you know,

384
00:23:45,396 --> 00:23:49,148
ballrooms being three together separated into

385
00:23:49,204 --> 00:23:53,020
three separate ballrooms back together where the cable paths and things were

386
00:23:53,060 --> 00:23:56,420
with the main stage and the side stages. And

387
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,400
they weren't following it. It was just leadership. Had not passed it

388
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,660
down to all the, the staff. And then

389
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,272
they got the gruff of me for a moment. But then they were also.

390
00:24:09,376 --> 00:24:13,000
Again, I don't want them to have to do their job twice or three

391
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,872
times. I don't want you to have to move your, the those tax chairs

392
00:24:17,016 --> 00:24:20,680
multiple times. Right, right. So,

393
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,266
yeah, just again, pulling back from experience and

394
00:24:24,338 --> 00:24:27,830
like, you know, I'm doing, I'm asking these questions for a reason

395
00:24:28,450 --> 00:24:32,282
and that's how I, it seems to be, you know. What's your approach to

396
00:24:32,306 --> 00:24:35,002
a site survey? I think a lot of these things are that. But when you

397
00:24:35,026 --> 00:24:38,762
go into a site survey to venue that you've never worked in, what's your

398
00:24:38,786 --> 00:24:42,362
approach when you're, when you walk in, you know, walk me through your,

399
00:24:42,466 --> 00:24:46,202
your thinking. For the most part, I do have

400
00:24:46,226 --> 00:24:49,978
to tell them a little bit about me

401
00:24:50,114 --> 00:24:53,882
so that they know my, my level of

402
00:24:53,906 --> 00:24:57,290
understanding and the deep of who I am and what I

403
00:24:57,330 --> 00:25:00,230
know. And then what I'm looking for.

404
00:25:03,250 --> 00:25:07,082
I don't know if it's sadly or ironically. I, I'm, I say I need

405
00:25:07,106 --> 00:25:10,410
the meat and potatoes. I'm not a fluff

406
00:25:10,490 --> 00:25:14,000
girl and I just, I

407
00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:18,260
want to know the details and if

408
00:25:18,300 --> 00:25:22,020
it's challenging or not challenging, you know, tell me the

409
00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:25,668
real stuff. Right. And

410
00:25:25,724 --> 00:25:29,572
most everyone respects that and appreciates that because they're,

411
00:25:29,636 --> 00:25:33,252
they hopefully know for me then that I'm going to be on the lookout for

412
00:25:33,276 --> 00:25:36,916
them, not just myself or our team. That it's. Again, those teams

413
00:25:36,948 --> 00:25:40,382
work together. Right. So I get the

414
00:25:40,406 --> 00:25:43,662
impression you just don't like to be sold to. It's like, can you cut the

415
00:25:43,686 --> 00:25:46,782
BS and just tell me how it is one way or the other? Just tell

416
00:25:46,806 --> 00:25:50,574
me what it is transparently. So that pretty much go through. I

417
00:25:50,582 --> 00:25:54,238
don't need the marketing material. I need to know the facts about this

418
00:25:54,294 --> 00:25:57,646
thing. Yep. And you know, that's probably a similar

419
00:25:57,718 --> 00:26:00,690
approach that I have to selling.

420
00:26:02,150 --> 00:26:05,758
Right. It's actually a very refreshing approach to selling. I'm

421
00:26:05,774 --> 00:26:09,462
gonna be honest with you. I'm not going to sell you something that

422
00:26:09,486 --> 00:26:13,142
we can't do. I've had

423
00:26:13,166 --> 00:26:16,690
to say no, we can't do that

424
00:26:17,310 --> 00:26:20,582
to high end CEOs. You

425
00:26:20,606 --> 00:26:23,930
know, I'm sorry

426
00:26:25,070 --> 00:26:28,726
I met you at, you know, I, I picked up this golf

427
00:26:28,758 --> 00:26:32,086
cart in the middle of your exhibit floor at 3:00 in the morning to drive

428
00:26:32,118 --> 00:26:35,450
it through the path that you want to take it onto stage

429
00:26:36,070 --> 00:26:39,854
while 3,500 people are cheering and dancing in the aisles

430
00:26:39,902 --> 00:26:43,454
while the band is playing. And I can't safely even

431
00:26:43,542 --> 00:26:47,310
turn the corners with it when there aren't people on the aisles. I would

432
00:26:47,350 --> 00:26:50,926
suggest this path and it was like, okay,

433
00:26:51,118 --> 00:26:54,958
you know, but isn't. That ultimately like that's

434
00:26:54,974 --> 00:26:58,622
the relationship you want with a client because you're the consultant, like that's why

435
00:26:58,646 --> 00:27:02,350
they're hiring you? You know, I think people respect that, that you

436
00:27:02,390 --> 00:27:05,648
can come and you can say it and communicate well,

437
00:27:05,704 --> 00:27:08,860
articulate why they would want to know that

438
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,392
that is the goal. Yeah, that's my purpose again. And none of this is

439
00:27:13,416 --> 00:27:17,216
about me. None of it's about me. It is about their

440
00:27:17,288 --> 00:27:20,928
event being successful, not

441
00:27:20,984 --> 00:27:24,752
having any challenge,

442
00:27:24,816 --> 00:27:28,656
whether that's safety first, of course, and

443
00:27:28,808 --> 00:27:32,182
what the experience is for their attendees. Budget, all of the

444
00:27:32,206 --> 00:27:35,570
above. What's best for them.

445
00:27:36,670 --> 00:27:40,518
Okay, so you've talked about events and your process, but just one last question.

446
00:27:40,574 --> 00:27:44,294
What's. What's the favorite event you've ever been involved with?

447
00:27:44,382 --> 00:27:46,770
What's your favorite? I don't know.

448
00:27:49,310 --> 00:27:52,410
It's a tough one, right? It's a. I mean, because I've,

449
00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:57,392
it's very humbling. I have, I've had a

450
00:27:57,416 --> 00:28:00,140
great, great life with this.

451
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,432
You know, I came into this without a single bit of knowledge

452
00:28:06,496 --> 00:28:07,940
about live events.

453
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,952
I think I was hired just again, because I, I was known for taking care

454
00:28:13,976 --> 00:28:17,632
of people in the video production side of the world in

455
00:28:17,656 --> 00:28:20,860
Kansas City for a couple years. And,

456
00:28:22,530 --> 00:28:25,418
you know, there was people that are like, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I'm

457
00:28:25,434 --> 00:28:29,162
not here to change your life. I am here to hopefully make your life

458
00:28:29,266 --> 00:28:32,430
better by giving

459
00:28:33,010 --> 00:28:36,410
client crew, everybody the

460
00:28:36,450 --> 00:28:39,510
tools, information, resources to do their job good.

461
00:28:42,450 --> 00:28:46,058
So having. Being welcomed in all of those in

462
00:28:46,114 --> 00:28:49,780
this world and that those relationships are just

463
00:28:49,820 --> 00:28:53,540
huge. The client relationships that I've had,

464
00:28:53,660 --> 00:28:57,380
I mean, my past 18 years of being on my own. Seth, I made

465
00:28:57,420 --> 00:29:01,188
one phone call and the rest was referrals. It's amazing.

466
00:29:01,364 --> 00:29:05,044
It's just. Yeah, it's, you know, I

467
00:29:05,052 --> 00:29:08,900
have, I. Have a, some insight into this. And you,

468
00:29:08,940 --> 00:29:12,324
you, you've talked about that before with me, like, it's a mystery, but I think

469
00:29:12,332 --> 00:29:15,060
I figured it out. Okay, so I'm going to tell. I'm gonna share a little

470
00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:18,868
story about you. So Julie has in the past

471
00:29:18,924 --> 00:29:22,560
and a client and on an event, I was not

472
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,032
on site, I was told this by some leadership on

473
00:29:26,056 --> 00:29:29,264
site that one of the young guys that was there

474
00:29:29,352 --> 00:29:33,072
had talked to Julie about wanting to

475
00:29:33,096 --> 00:29:36,736
be, I think, in, in like it or, or some

476
00:29:36,808 --> 00:29:40,512
field. And Julie knew that one of the speakers at

477
00:29:40,536 --> 00:29:44,320
the event, like one of the main stage people, was in that

478
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,552
field and a leader in that space. So she went out of her way to

479
00:29:47,576 --> 00:29:51,150
set up a, a meeting between the two of them, let the young

480
00:29:51,190 --> 00:29:54,702
guy know, hey, you're going to meet with this person. Go back, get ready in

481
00:29:54,726 --> 00:29:58,094
your hotel, and you're going to meet with them. Set up a meeting. Just

482
00:29:58,182 --> 00:30:01,598
so the only. There was no reason to do that other

483
00:30:01,654 --> 00:30:05,294
than Julie cares about people. And I think what happens

484
00:30:05,342 --> 00:30:08,830
is, like, people that are like, that don't understand, but

485
00:30:08,950 --> 00:30:12,590
people love that. You know, that's, that's why people keep calling you, because you care

486
00:30:12,630 --> 00:30:16,452
about people and it really doesn't matter, matter who, you know, like, you

487
00:30:16,476 --> 00:30:20,292
treat CEOs the same as you treat anyone else

488
00:30:20,356 --> 00:30:23,844
in the building, and you treat them with that respect. And I think that's a

489
00:30:23,852 --> 00:30:27,172
big secret of your success, is just treating people,

490
00:30:27,276 --> 00:30:30,804
fellow humans, with respect. It can go a really long

491
00:30:30,892 --> 00:30:34,468
way. So that's one thing I appreciate about you. Thank you very

492
00:30:34,524 --> 00:30:38,228
much. I thank you.

493
00:30:38,364 --> 00:30:41,822
Yeah, I appreciate that. Oh, absolutely. Okay.

494
00:30:41,886 --> 00:30:45,486
So if someone wants to, if our listeners want to find out more about

495
00:30:45,558 --> 00:30:49,262
you, how can they do that? I know they can connect with you on

496
00:30:49,286 --> 00:30:53,022
LinkedIn. Yeah, LinkedIn. Julie Lightoff.

497
00:30:53,086 --> 00:30:56,894
L E I T H O F F Not like we used to tell the

498
00:30:56,902 --> 00:31:00,334
pizza guy. L I G H T O F F Because it was just easier

499
00:31:00,382 --> 00:31:04,126
when you ordered pizza. Yeah. I

500
00:31:04,198 --> 00:31:07,822
mean, I've not been good at promoting myself or doing anything, so this is a

501
00:31:07,846 --> 00:31:11,620
little awkward for me, but I love it. I mean, I

502
00:31:11,660 --> 00:31:15,220
still love sharing all the experiences and, and

503
00:31:15,260 --> 00:31:18,372
goodness that my life has had because of this business.

504
00:31:18,476 --> 00:31:20,920
So. And then. Yeah.

505
00:31:22,060 --> 00:31:25,040
All right, well, thank you, Julie. And

506
00:31:25,660 --> 00:31:29,284
like, this has been an episode I. I've been really looking forward to having,

507
00:31:29,372 --> 00:31:33,012
so I don't want to breeze past. Thank you. Really, thank you for taking the

508
00:31:33,036 --> 00:31:36,862
time with us. And congratulations on the new job with Stratum. Thank you

509
00:31:36,886 --> 00:31:40,590
very much. It's always a pleasure to talk with

510
00:31:40,630 --> 00:31:44,366
you and share information and I know that's going to continue

511
00:31:44,438 --> 00:31:48,238
as well. You know, Seth, at lemg, you guys have a great

512
00:31:48,294 --> 00:31:52,030
team and I know our paths are going to continue

513
00:31:52,150 --> 00:31:55,810
to work together as well. So thank you, Julie.

514
00:31:56,790 --> 00:32:00,324
It is. It's all about we're in a people business and

515
00:32:00,492 --> 00:32:04,100
listener at home. Thank you for joining us. Be sure to follow us on

516
00:32:04,140 --> 00:32:07,956
your preferred podcast platform. I think we're

517
00:32:07,988 --> 00:32:11,492
on them all and if we're not, let us know. We're trying to get on

518
00:32:11,516 --> 00:32:15,076
all of them and we will see you next time.

519
00:32:15,148 --> 00:32:18,932
Thanks so much. The Event Pro show is

520
00:32:18,956 --> 00:32:21,924
a production of LEMG video by Nick

521
00:32:21,972 --> 00:32:25,092
Barrett, audio and post production by Prince

522
00:32:25,156 --> 00:32:28,970
Thompson. You can learn more about us at LEMG Live.