Do More With Less Using AI (Issue 10)

THE PROBLEM: You need a photographer for Saturday's gala, but you're Googling blind, texting "does anyone know a good..." in three group chats, and crossing your fingers that whoever responds isn't booked or ridiculously expensive. Meanwhile, you've got 47 other tasks that actually need your attention.

THE SOLUTION: The Event Vendor Directory helps you find the right fit with 50+ verified vendors across 10+ categories. Completely free, zero middleman fees, transparent pricing upfront. No algorithm hiding the good ones behind premium placements. Just direct connections to vendors who've been vetted.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Instant Access: Browse the full directory immediately after signing up—no waiting, no sales calls, no credit card required.

2. Smart Filtering: Search by category (catering, photography, AV, entertainment, venues, and more), location, and budget range. Find exactly what you need in minutes, not hours.

3. Direct Contact: Connect directly with vendors—no middleman taking a cut, no platform fees eating into your budget or inflating their prices.

4. Transparent Pricing: See pricing ranges upfront before reaching out. No more awkward "what's your budget?" conversations before you even know if they're the right fit.

WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT:

Unlike platforms that charge vendors for premium placement (pushing quality options down the list), every vendor in our directory gets equal visibility. You find the best match based on merit, not marketing budgets.

The directory includes:

• Catering & F&B: From intimate dinners to conference-scale service

• Photography & Videography: Capturing your event's key moments

• AV & Production: Technical support that actually shows up prepared

• Entertainment: Speakers, performers, and interactive experiences

• Venues: Spaces that fit your vision and budget

• Event Services: Decor, rentals, staffing, and logistics support

THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE:

Every hour you spend researching vendors is an hour not spent on strategy, attendee experience, or the hundred other things only you can do. The directory doesn't just save time—it eliminates friction in the discovery process so you can focus on creating exceptional events.

Start browsing vendors now - it's free, and you'll wonder why you didn't have this resource months ago. If you’re a supplier, you can also apply to be listed via that link as well.

Wylie Hiner isn't a developer or an AI expert. He's a project manager at ConferenceDirect handling the time-consuming but critical work that makes events run smoothly. And he found a way to reclaim half a workday every time he needs to create event signage.

THE OLD WAY:

Building signage copy meant:

• Reading through the event deck multiple times to capture brand voice

• Drafting copy for directional signs, welcome materials, room drops, and schedules

• Sending drafts to stakeholders for approval

• Incorporating feedback across multiple rounds

• Reformatting everything when timezones or venues changed

• Total time: 4-6 hours of work you can't delegate

THE NEW WAY:

Wylie's process is beautifully simple:

Step 1: Upload your event deck to ChatGPT with a clear prompt: "I'm uploading a client event deck. Can you review it and note the style and tone so we can create signage copy. Act as an expert copywriter and event planner."

The key here? He's not asking AI to guess the brand voice. He's teaching it using the actual source material, the deck that already captures the client's ethos and messaging.

Step 2: Provide his signage print grid (the list of what signs are needed: welcome, directional, schedule, room drops, etc.) and ask ChatGPT to take a first pass at all the copy.

Step 3: Iterate with specific instructions like "Change to include Eastern Standard Time and Central Standard Time" or "Make it even warmer and quirkier."

The AI handles the tedious work; pulling the right tone, formatting consistently, adapting copy across multiple signs. Wylie focuses on the judgment calls only a human can make.

Watch Wylie's full walkthrough here to see exactly how he does it.

THE MAIN TAKEAWAY:

This isn't about AI replacing copywriters or designers. It's about AI handling the systematic, repetitive parts so you can focus on refinement and stakeholder management.

As Wylie notes: "I love how I can refer back to it and find the copy, love how I can have it access the print grid, and just another good way that AI is simplifying some of these once-mundane tasks."

WHY THIS MATTERS:

Wylie identified three key elements that made this work:

1. Good source material (the event deck with established voice)

2. Clear structure (the print grid showing what's needed)

3. Simple tool (ChatGPT, not custom software)

The same framework applies to dozens of event tasks: RFPs, speaker bios, session descriptions, attendee communications. You already have the source material. AI just helps you repurpose it faster.

Outside of client work, Wylie co-chairs PCMA's NextGen Southwest & Pacific Chapter and sits on the membership committee at LGBT MPA. If you're looking to get more connected in the industry or need support on your next meeting (venue sourcing, event tech, registration, or just getting things off your plate), reach out to him.

Through my conversations, I’ve found that a lot of the best AI implementations don't come from tech experts. They come from people like Wylie who refuse to accept that tedious tasks need to stay tedious.

If you've studied AI anywhere in the world, you've probably learned from Peter Norvig's textbook.

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, co-authored with Stuart Russell, isn't just popular—it's the definitive text used in over 1,500 universities across 135 countries. It's how an entire generation of AI researchers learned the field. Including many of the people now building ChatGPT, Claude, and the tools event professionals use daily.

This is why enterprises and international conferences book Norvig. Not for hype, but for credibility. When you need someone who can explain AI to executives, boards, or technical teams with equal authority, you call the person who literally wrote the textbook.

But Norvig isn't locked in an ivory tower. As Distinguished Education Fellow at Stanford HAI and researcher at Google (where he previously directed Research and core search algorithms), he's on the front lines of a critical question: Now that AI can write code, how good is that code actually?

His findings should change how you think about AI tools.

The Lake Wobegon Effect:

In a talk at Google, Norvig conducted a "code review" of AlphaCode's output, an AI system that solves competitive programming challenges. The AI got the right answer. But Norvig noticed something fascinating:

The code had unused variables. Verbose logic. Confusing naming conventions. One-letter variables everywhere.

His diagnosis? "Half the programmers are below average, so half the output code is below average."

AI trained on all available code produces... average code. Not terrible. Not excellent. Just solidly mediocre.

Why Event Professionals Should Care:

This isn't a bug, it's a feature you need to understand.

When Wylie uses ChatGPT to write signage copy, he's not getting Shakespeare. He's only getting writing as good as what’s available out there on the internet. The writing you receive is the average writing samples it’s been given, so it gives Wylie a solid first draft, but it’s still up to him to focus on refinement.

That's exactly what Norvig advocates: Collaboration over instruction.

From his talk, Norvig outlines where we're headed:

1. Programming as Conversation, Not Command

"It's not the programmer telling the computer what to do. It's the two of them working together to explore the space of the problem."

For events: Imagine describing your sponsorship strategy in plain English, having AI generate three approaches, then iterating: "Make this version more data-driven" or "Show me the obviously correct approach, even if it's inefficient."

2. Compression Encourages Generalization

Norvig's insight: "If there were too many parameters, the model would just memorize the input exactly and would not be able to generalize. If there are too few, useful information starts to drop out."

Translation: The AI that writes your event copy has seen thousands of event descriptions. It's compressed all that knowledge into patterns. That's why it can adapt your brand voice after seeing one deck. It's not memorizing, it's pattern-matching.

The "Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data" Principle:

Back in 2009, Norvig co-authored the paper that synthesized the guiding philosophy for LLMs:

"Invariably, simple models and a lot of data trump more elaborate models based on less data."

It’s not about technically building an elaborate program, but instead about training a model on broad parameters and a lot of data.

That’s what creates the foundation for ChatGPT, Claude, and and all of the other models we know and love today.

Want to bring Norvig's perspective to your event? As someone who's been at the forefront of AI for four decades—from autonomous spacecraft to coding assistants—he delivers keynotes that bridge cutting-edge research with practical business application. Book him through Speak About AI or reply to this email for details.

🎯 Event Planning Manager @ Hyatt Regency (Long Beach, CA | On-site) – Act as primary liaison between clients and hotel operations for meetings, conferences, and banquets. Manage event lifecycle from contract to final billing, coordinate F&B/AV needs, and ensure seamless execution. $68,640–$86,600/year. Apply here

💼 Corporate Event Planner @ Bandwidth Inc. (Raleigh, NC | On-site) – Lead internal and customer-facing events with creative concepts and executive collaboration. Manage budgets, vendors, and end-to-end execution with strong negotiation skills. Generous benefits include 100% paid health and wellness perks. Apply here

🚀 Senior Tradeshow/Conference Planner @ Gilead Sciences (San Francisco Bay Area | On-site) – Manage end-to-end congress and tradeshow participation including registration, booth development, vendor relations, and budgets. Lead internal workgroups and mentor junior planners. $117,895–$152,570/year + bonus, stock, benefits. Apply here

🎭 Meeting & Events Planner @ Eurest USA (Mountain View, CA | On-site) – Manage daily conference center operations and events for 10–2,000 guests. Supervise 2–15 associates per event and oversee AV, catering, and production coordination. $80,000–$85,000/year + benefits. Posted 1 week ago. Apply here

💡 Event Planning Manager @ Cooley LLP (Washington, DC | Hybrid) – Lead external client events from planning to ROI reporting. Negotiate vendor contracts, manage budgets, supervise staff, and integrate with Salesforce/marketing systems. $115,000–$145,000/year + full benefits. 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!