Do More With Less Using AI (Issue 06)

Webinar 1: Build Your AI Event Twin (Advanced Demo)

Wednesday, July 16th at 2:00 PM ET with Northstar Meetings Group (featuring Dahlia El Gazzar & Michael Shapiro)

THE PROBLEM: Your decades of event knowledge is trapped in scattered documents, excel spreadsheets, your own brain, and even maybe a binder! Every question, every crisis, every "quick" consultation requires your direct involvement or sorting through a mass of documents/sheets.

THE SOLUTION: Watch me transform institutional knowledge into an AI assistant LIVE. No powerpoint slides, just me creating an event assistant in front of your eyes.

What You'll See Me Build:

• Create an AI knowledge base from actual event/company documentation

• Create an AI that starts to think through problems like you do

• Build interactive tools your team can use 24/7

• Move from "information storage" to "intelligent assistance"

After I talk about building an AI Event Twin, AI aficionado Dahlia El Gazzar will be going deeper into other amazing AI tools like Notebook LM.

Webinar 2: Strategic AI Integration Without the Overwhelm

Thursday, July 17th at 11:00 AM ET with Guidebook (featuring Nathan Meyer & Richelle Westhafer)

THE STRATEGIC CONVERSATION: While Wednesday is all hands-on building, Thursday is about smart implementation. I'll be joined by Richelle Westhafer from Docebo (who featured in Edition 04), who's transformed her entire events operation through systematic AI adoption.

What We'll Discuss:

• The AI Spectrum Framework: The spectrum of where event tasks lie from 1-100% AI-capable (and how to identify where yours fall)

• Real Implementation Stories: How Richelle went from zero to AI-powered in 12 months

• The Compound Effect: Why 30% automation across 10 tasks beats 100% automation of one

• Common Pitfalls: What to avoid completely (spoiler: AI-generated venue layouts)

As I recently shared: "The best thing AI does is help with tasks that you can't outsource because they're too important, but also just take you a lot of manual time doing it."

Who This Is For: Event professionals who want practical strategies without the technical complexity. Perfect if you're feeling AI-curious but overwhelmed by where to start.

Choose Your Path:

• Want to see me build something live? → Northstar (Wednesday)

• Want strategies you can implement tomorrow? → Guidebook (Thursday)

• Want the complete picture? → Attend both!

Building on what we'll discuss in Thursday's webinar, here's a deeper look at how strategic AI implementation actually works in practice.

Richelle started her AI journey at Docebo with performance reviews. But what began as a single use case has evolved into what she calls "this crazy baseline relationship" with AI that touches nearly every aspect of her events operation.

The Multiplication Effect:

Starting with one successful implementation created a domino effect. Once her team saw AI handle performance review analysis effectively, they began identifying similar pattern-recognition tasks across their workflow. Within a year, they'd automated everything from venue research to stakeholder communications.

The Strategic Advantage:

Rather than adding headcount, this approach demonstrates how AI enables smaller teams to operate at higher capacity while focusing human energy on the irreplaceable aspects of event experience.

Key Takeaway: Start small, prove value, then systematically expand. This is exactly the framework we'll explore in Thursday's session.

The Original Consumer AI Pioneer: From "Impossible" to 2 Billion Users

Before ChatGPT, before Siri, before most people even knew what AI could do, Chris Barton was building the impossible. His creation? An app that could identify any song playing anywhere—eight years before the iPhone even existed.

The Shazam Story That Rewrites Innovation Rules:

Every "expert" told Chris his idea was impossible. Stanford and MIT professors said the technology couldn't exist. But Chris had something more powerful than expert opinions: an obsession with eliminating friction.

Watch Chris's Framework in Action:

In this must-watch video, Chris breaks down the exact principle that drove Shazam, Google, and Dropbox to billions of users: the ruthless elimination of friction.

Key Insights from the Video:

"The difference between 1 and 0 is infinite" - When Dropbox eliminated the single step of uploading files (creating automatic sync instead), they transformed an entire industry by improving the customer experience.

The Surprise Party Principle: Chris compares eliminating friction to planning a surprise party. You must think through every single moment of the user experience, identifying what they have to do, think, or wait for, then systematically remove each barrier.

Speed as Friction: Google's obsession with milliseconds shows that any type of friction increases cognitive load and wait time. They built data centers and fiber optic cables worldwide just to shave off milliseconds.

Why This Matters for Events:

As Chris notes: "Friction is ultimately the barrier to adoption and growth." For event professionals, this means:

• Every extra registration field reduces attendance

• Every decision point in your app loses engagement

• Every moment of confusion costs you satisfaction scores

The Challenge: "We have a tendency to simply accept friction and we don't push hard enough." Chris urges us to spot the friction we've become blind to, then move mountains to eliminate it.

We're thrilled to add Chris to our roster after my co-founder Robert Strong met him at a recent San Francisco event and was blown away by his ability to make audiences rethink what's possible.

Want Chris to inspire your attendees to eliminate friction and create magic? Book him through Speak About AI or reply to this email for details.

🎯 Senior Event Planner @ Deloitte (San Francisco, CA | In-Person) – Lead regional events including trainings, client programs, and trade shows. Manage logistics, budgets, vendor negotiations, and stakeholder relationships. $73,900-$123,200 annually. Apply here

💼 Assistant Director, Development Events @ NYU Stern (New York, NY | Hybrid) – Oversee high-level donor events from concept to evaluation. Collaborate across departments, manage vendor logistics, and steward relationships. $70,000-$84,000 + NYU tuition waiver. Apply here

🚀 Sr. Event Planning Manager @ Bon Appétit (Mountain View, CA | In-Person) – Lead on-campus corporate events including C-level and VIP programs. Manage planning team, coordinate creative concepts, and oversee financials. $95,000-$106,000 + full benefits. Apply here

⚾ Special Project Coordinator @ Major League Baseball (New York, NY | In-Person) – Support All-Star Game, World Series, and international events. Manage hotel logistics, VIP experiences, and vendor coordination. Up to 50% travel. $22-$24/hour. Apply here

Check out the full spreadsheet with 100+ up-to-date event jobs here.

Are you hiring? I can spread the word. Reply to this email with any job opportunities and I’ll add it to the sheet!