Drew Dambreville is the COO of the Seattle Seawolves Rugby Club and co-founder of the Seattle Polo Party and Seattle All-Star Classic. Drew shares his expertise in crowd engagement, revenue growth in spectator sports, and how to create unforgettable event experiences. From the planning process of the Seattle Polo Party’s 10th year to his tactics for enhancing fan experiences at rugby games, Drew offers insights into the dynamic world of sports events and highlights the importance of listening to attendees to continually improve events.
Resources Mentioned:
- Drew Dambreville: LinkedIn
- Seattle Polo Party
- Seattle All-Star Classic: Website and Instagram
- Seawolves Rugby
- Alysse & Libby: Bios & LinkedIn
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- Website: www.beatsworkingpodcast.com
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Transcript
The following transcript is not certified. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. The information contained within this document is for general information purposes only.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:00]:
I started thinking about the ladies and their hats out in the field, and I’m like, I would be the one person that would land right in the pie. Like, I would. I would be that person.
Drew Dambreville [00:00:10]:
So I’ll give you a polo fact on it. On our polo field, you can fit nine football fields.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:16]:
Well, that’s big.
Drew Dambreville [00:00:16]:
It’s 300 yards. It’s 300 yards by 155 yards. If you find the dog, play the whole field. Yeah, those horses are flying by at over 20 miles per hour. You got to give them space.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:29]:
Yeah, that’s true.
Drew Dambreville [00:00:30]:
Slow down.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:31]:
Okay.
Drew Dambreville [00:00:31]:
You’re right. So when you’re looking at it from the sideline, you know, it doesn’t look. It’s. But when you’re on the field and you walk out there and look up, you’re like, oh, wow, it’s far. It’s big. But, yeah, I bring that up to. To let you know, at least if you step in dung and you have all that space, it’s definitely on you.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:51]:
Yeah, that’s definitely on me.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:52]:
It’s on you.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:52]:
Or maybe I should go straight to the casino. Like, I don’t know. Like, I don’t know.
Drew Dambreville [00:00:56]:
But there. There’s that. That part to. That part.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:59]:
Welcome to Beats Working Winning the Game of Events, where we share stories and strategies to turn any event or life moment into something unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:01:09]:
Events are wild, and the people who work in them are some of the most resilient humans on earth. If you know, you know.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:16]:
So come with us behind the curtain for a look at their most memorable experiences.
Libby Sundgren [00:01:22]:
As they say, the show must go on.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:24]:
So.
Libby Sundgren [00:01:24]:
So let’s get on with the show.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:32]:
Welcome back to yet another episode of Beats Working Winning the Game of Events. My name is Elise Bryson, and I’m here today with my trusty sidekick and work wife for life, Libby Sundgren. We’re so excited about today’s guest, aren’t we, Libby?
Libby Sundgren [00:01:48]:
Oh, the most excited.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:50]:
The most excited because we’ve been rolling with this guest for almost two decades, right?
Drew Dambreville [00:01:58]:
It’s been a while.
Libby Sundgren [00:01:59]:
Oh, my God. Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:01]:
Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:02:01]:
Which makes.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:02]:
I mean, we all did start in the business, like, when we were 10, so that mathematically tracks.
Libby Sundgren [00:02:07]:
But child.
Alysse Bryson [00:02:08]:
Ladies and gentlemen, yes, today’s guest is True Danberville, chief operating officer of the Seattle Seawolves Race Rugby Club and co founder of both the Seattle Polo Party, which is super fun. Get your big hats ready. And the Seattle All Star Classic. Drew specializes in crowd engagement and revenue growth in spectator sports. With a talent for crafting Unforgettable event experiences and a key eye for innovation. Drew has turned Seattle into a hub for sports sports entertainment, bridging the excitement of rugby, polo, and community driven sporting events everywhere. What’s he passionate about? He loves building events that not only thrill fans, but also leave lasting impressions and meaningful impacts on the local community. Yes, I double down on that for sure.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:03]:
Let’s dive in and learn from one of Seattle’s masters of the spectator sport experiences. Welcome to the show, Drew.
Drew Dambreville [00:03:11]:
Hey, ladies. This man, like, first of all, it took y’all long enough.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:18]:
Second of all, podcast or to call you. Which one?
Drew Dambreville [00:03:21]:
Both. Both. Both. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to both you at the same time, but congratulations. Love what you guys are doing. Excited for what you guys are doing.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:31]:
We’re the right people in Seattle to do an events podcast, don’t you think?
Drew Dambreville [00:03:35]:
I think so. I definitely.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:36]:
You always call us like, the Ryan Seacrest of Seattle of events.
Drew Dambreville [00:03:40]:
Absolutely. I did literally. I did call you that. Yes. I learned a lot from you too.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:46]:
Well, we learned a lot from you because we’ve been partying for, like I said, two decades now.
Drew Dambreville [00:03:50]:
Pretty too. Wow. Thanks for aging me.
Alysse Bryson [00:03:53]:
Okay, Drew, we like to start at the beginning of events because, you know, all events have the three parts. The beginning, the middle, the end. Well, arguably they have the pre beginning, which is all the planning, and then the post ending, which is all the wrapping. But we’re just going to start at the beginning right now. So when you’re creating a brand new event concept like the Seattle Polo party, what’s your process for developing a compelling vision that’s going to resonate with both the participants and the spectators?
Drew Dambreville [00:04:25]:
Wow. So the vision, it’s. I. I did a lot. So if we’re talking about something like the Seattle Polo Party, I did a lot of research. The first year we’re in, we just completed year nine of the polo party. So it’s been around for nine years. Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:04:40]:
This year will be year ten. And I have to confess, the first polo party I ever attended was one that I put on. I’d never. I. I didn’t know what to expect. So I was online googling and speaking to polo friends that actually played. And we was trying to figure it out. Right.
Drew Dambreville [00:04:56]:
We did have a vision. The vision was, you know, garden best, taking the. The Kentucky Derby, meshing it with polo, meshing it with, you know, getting Seattle lights out of the house to do something that’s different and catering at that moment in time. I didn’t actually know who our demographic was going to be. Right. It was year one. It was, let’s put out something that’s different for Seattle and then we’ll react to, you know, how it goes. So year one, it was like, you know, okay, catered food.
Drew Dambreville [00:05:28]:
We want to do high class, but we don’t want to price people out. We want to do like, we’re trying to cater to too many people because it’s a one time event or once a year annual event, which you treat a lot different than you do a sporting event where it’s week after week. So it’s like we’re trying to figure out who our audience was and what. So year one, we, we, we got through it. We did it. And then based on feedback based on who attended, then we started scripting our audience and, and tailoring it towards them.
Alysse Bryson [00:05:58]:
And it happens in August, right?
Drew Dambreville [00:06:00]:
Yeah, the second weekend in August.
Alysse Bryson [00:06:01]:
Okay, that’s what I thought. That’s what I thought. I was at year one. I remember being at Year one. I remember my outfit.
Drew Dambreville [00:06:07]:
In fact, I have photos.
Alysse Bryson [00:06:10]:
Yeah, I have photos as well. It was a great event. It was a great event. I don’t know that I had been to a polo party before that either.
Drew Dambreville [00:06:18]:
We were new for the Northwest. It was, you know, there was a group that did it in Portland, Polo Noir. Other than that, you had to travel down to, you know, the desert. People don’t realize. So Indio Coachella. So if you’ve ever been to Coachella, those are polo fields. There’s two polo clubs. Yes, two polo clubs across the street from each other.
Drew Dambreville [00:06:39]:
That’s where all the grass comes from. That’s where all that grass and greenery comes from. There’s like the Empire Polo Club and El Dorado Polo Club and across the street from each other. And that’s where all that greenery comes. If you pull into Coachella about a month prior to March and it’s polo matches, they all pack up, leave, and then the, the tractor trailers come in and start setting up stages.
Alysse Bryson [00:07:02]:
And then when they’re Stagecoach after Coachella.
Drew Dambreville [00:07:06]:
Yep. Then Stagecoach happens. And then they reside and redo all the grass and then it takes place and then next year they come back and do it all over again.
Alysse Bryson [00:07:14]:
Oh, wow.
Drew Dambreville [00:07:15]:
Yeah.
Libby Sundgren [00:07:16]:
So every year. So you’ve been doing it for nine years. This is the 10th year. And I mean, you have a concept. You’re not reinventing the wheel every year, but how do you figure out what you’re going to do to make it fresh or to add some new elements or you know, keep people, I mean, clearly people like what they see and like what they experience because they keep coming back. But how does your planning process as an established event, how does that, you know, how do you do your planning for it?
Drew Dambreville [00:07:51]:
Now we listen. Listen to your sponsors and your partners. Listen. When I’m at the event, the cool thing is like I build it and then I get to switch hats and emcee it and walk around. So half the people there probably don’t realize like I’m the guy, you know. Cameron Smith, who’s the owner and founder, bought the property and we partnered down years ago. We planned this from top to bottom. There’s no big committee.
Drew Dambreville [00:08:14]:
There’s. It’s just us. And we’ll look at what we did last year, you know, and it was like, hey, how do we maximize the real estate we have? And then we added, I want to say four years ago, we added luxury boxes. So we have boxes that hold up to 20 guests. And then corporate company or companies that wanted to entertain started purchasing them and we’re like, oh, wow, okay, this works. So every year it’s like looking at what we do, how can we improve upon it? You know, the food experience, the beverage experience, seating, the, you know, even the little things. It’s like, you know, how we do the, how we do the entrance, right? The halftime for our main. For we have two polo matches, an early match and then the main match.
Drew Dambreville [00:08:56]:
And at the main match is when everyone takes to the field for the divot stomp and a hat parade. We’ll have over 600 women out there. Just the women alone out there. Hats.
Libby Sundgren [00:09:06]:
That’s bananas.
Drew Dambreville [00:09:07]:
Oh, it’s, it’s amazing. Our halftime takes almost an hour to get everyone on and off the field. It’s. That’s why everyone shows up. It’s for that, like that I ask. People have come to that event for five or six years and have probably never even watched the polo match. They showed up for the halftime for the.
Libby Sundgren [00:09:25]:
That’s phenomenal.
Drew Dambreville [00:09:26]:
So every year we look at, you know, from, from a attendees perspective, what can we do better? Right? Food. You know, I look at it one year we had, we’ve had great partners from Ascend to SDK Steakhouse. We had a chef this year. But we look at like food. There’s long lines for food. How can we make that better and change that? You, you know, liquor and bar sales, there’s lines. I try and eliminate lines. I’m always trying to figure out how to make the experience better so that you do want to come back because you know how people are.
Drew Dambreville [00:09:59]:
If they come and they have a bad experience, you probably lose them.
Alysse Bryson [00:10:01]:
Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:10:01]:
And they tell the whole world about it. So every year we, we look at it and while I’m walking around, people are saying like, oh, it’d be amazing if you guys. Da, da, da. And, and sometimes I’m like, you know, one, we’re in a, we’re in a farm in the middle of Ingham Claw. Some of that stuff isn’t going to track. Like, let’s just be real. It’s not a five star, you know, it’s we’re on a farm. So anything you request or want, I have to figure out how to get out there, pay for it and then make it actually functional.
Drew Dambreville [00:10:28]:
But there’s some ideas people throw out and you go, you know what? That’s not art. Let’s do it.
Alysse Bryson [00:10:34]:
What’s your favorite activation or partnership sponsorship that you’ve done over the nine years that was like out of the box, not something that you would expect.
Drew Dambreville [00:10:43]:
Oh, favorites. We did a 360 photo booth a few years ago when they, when it first hit the market. But the backdrop was our partner at the time was Rolls Royce and we had the dealership there has Rolls Royce, McLaren, Lamborghini and Bentley. So imagine your 360 booth and around is luxury cars. So you’re standing in the middle and the backdrop is luxury cars. The line for that was insane because it’s just a once in a lifetime. You don’t get to, you don’t get to do that that often.
Alysse Bryson [00:11:16]:
That’s really fun. That’s really fun. And of course you had them when they were first out and popular. Of course you did. Yeah, of course you did. Of course.
Libby Sundgren [00:11:26]:
Cutting edge events, cutting edge event activations. You know, I think listening that is such good advice and it is so hard for me as somebody who couldn’t sell campfire candy without crying. I know I tell this story like every week probably, but every week. This is just who I am. A little sensitive. Sometimes it’s scary to listen to that feedback or to actively look for the feedback because something always goes wrong, you know, and some, there’s always going to be something that somebody’s annoyed with or bummed about and it’s just, you know, it’s just going to happen. So by listening, I mean, yes, you are inviting the complainers, but you’re also inviting a lot of really good ideas. And I just think that you are particularly so good at that, at taking feedback from people and really not taking anything personal and just.
Drew Dambreville [00:12:27]:
No, I take it personal. I do take it personal. I’m not going to show it. I, I, so I, I’ve learned to live life by the. It’s like the 8020 rule, the 8020 rule. 20% of people will find something to complain about all the time. They will, no matter what. This was cold or this was that, or I would have did this different.
Drew Dambreville [00:12:46]:
I, I can’t be concerned that you still listen to a degree because there might be a gem in there that you can pick from it in between all the complaining. But it’s the other, like, if I do an event and 80, 85%, even 90% of people are having a great time, I did my job. Right. That other 10%, if I put all my attention into them, then I’m distracted by taking care of the masses. Right.
Libby Sundgren [00:13:09]:
Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:13:10]:
Who knows? They could have came to the event upset or angry or ready to complain. I’m not going to change your mind, you know, if you didn’t want to be there and someone dragged you there, I’m not going to change your mind. And it’s not my job to change your mind. My job is to make sure that from when you park your car to when you get back to your car that you had a fun and engaging time. That’s my job.
Libby Sundgren [00:13:29]:
Yeah, it’s true. And, you know, a lot of times people just want to, they just want someone to listen to them. They just want you to be like, oh, that must have been really frustrating. I’m. Yeah, I hope you’ll come back next year.
Alysse Bryson [00:13:41]:
And then has there ever been, like, any accidents that happened with anybody, you know, stepping in, anything that the horses might have left behind?
Drew Dambreville [00:13:52]:
Probably. I don’t hear about it. That’s on you.
Alysse Bryson [00:13:58]:
I started thinking about the ladies and their hats out in the field, and I’m like, I would be the one person that would land right in the pie. Like, I would. I would be that person.
Drew Dambreville [00:14:08]:
So I’ll give you a polo fact on it. On our polo field, you can fit nine football fields.
Libby Sundgren [00:14:13]:
Well, that’s big.
Drew Dambreville [00:14:14]:
It’s 300 yards. It’s 300 yards by 155 yards. If you find the dog, they play the whole field. Yeah. Those horses are flying by at over 20 miles per hour. You gotta give them space.
Libby Sundgren [00:14:27]:
Yeah, it’s true.
Drew Dambreville [00:14:28]:
Slow down.
Libby Sundgren [00:14:29]:
Okay.
Drew Dambreville [00:14:29]:
You’re right. So when you’re looking at it from the sideline, you know, it doesn’t look, it’s. But when you’re on the field and you walk out there and look up, you’re like, oh, wow, it’s far, it’s big. But yeah, I bring that up to let you know, Elise, if you step in dung and you have all that space is definitely on you.
Alysse Bryson [00:14:48]:
Yeah, that’s definitely on me. Or maybe I should go straight to the casino. Like, I don’t know. Like, I don’t know.
Drew Dambreville [00:14:53]:
But there, there’s that part.
Libby Sundgren [00:14:55]:
Okay. So Drew, you are a crowd engagement expert. I will say that every event we ever worked with you on, whether it was your own event or our event and you were one of our partners, you’re so good at work in the crowd and making sure people are like having a good time and keeping them engaged and, you know, like we said, coming up with new activations and new things for people to do. But can you share some specific tactics or examples of things that you’ve done either during the Seattle Arsenal All Star Classic, which is at Cheney Stadium, or the Seattle Seawolves rugby games to enhance the fan experience. And those are different, as you said earlier when we were doing a little prep conference convo, because one of those is a one time a year and the other, the other one is a whole season. So what is, what are some like, strategies that you have for.
Drew Dambreville [00:15:54]:
For both of those, it’s knowing your audience, right? So when you’re doing a one time, one time a year event, you’re bringing a lot of celebrities out, right? We know your audience. They want access, right. They don’t want berries. They want to be come out, get autographs, especially kids autographs. So we look at, as Elise said, I look at an event as your pre game or more or less even the fan experience to a pre game, to end game, to post game, right. If you break it into four sectors. So a sporting event, for instance, so your fan fest, like what kind of games or interactive opportunities do you have at Cheney Stadium? The ballpark there is amazing. They have a kid size wiffle ballpark attached to the main park.
Drew Dambreville [00:16:37]:
So like, and a full jungle gym. We, we do autograph sessions, giveaways, things. All of the concourse pre before the event, all the celebs come out and we have a backdrop where we, they do like a meet and greet. Started off for sponsors and everybody started coming and we just let people watch and take photos. So you have access to the Geno Smiths and DK Metcalfe. Typically those guys, if you’re in Lumen field there are like 200ft away from you, right? You got to, you know, drop to the field, go over. These guys are right in front of you and they’re signing autographs and they’re taking photos and having fun. So it’s about access, right? It’s about creating that access.
Drew Dambreville [00:17:15]:
And when we go to rugby, what we’ve done is rugby is a very niche sport. It’s growing in the U.S. huge, internationally. But what I came into was a situation where the rugby fans were rugby enthusiasts, right? It’s like, you came, you watch rugby, you’re passionate about rugby. And I’m like, all right, how do I make this more into sports and entertainment? You know? So we reimagined our fan fest area again, leading into, if you get to a game early, what kind of gaming situations, we do pre autographs with players that are not playing that game. Come out and do some autographs, we’ll do T shirt giveaways and, you know, everything that we call the big boys do if. And I refer to like the Seahawks, the Mariners, the Kraken is the big boys. They’re the guys with the major budgets and they do a lot of things very well, right.
Drew Dambreville [00:18:00]:
So you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can look at what they’re doing, scale it to your size and then be very purposeful with it.
Alysse Bryson [00:18:08]:
Yeah. And I think, I think that’s so much of, if you’re in the event industry, like that’s the game, is to be paying attention to all the events that you go to that are not yours. Because everything is scalable when it comes to events, whether it’s a house party of you and your 50 friends or, you know, a much larger party of 10 to 15,000 people. Like, it’s just. It all scales. It all scales usually.
Drew Dambreville [00:18:35]:
And it’s all. Events to me is how you make people feel, right? That’s our job. Our job is how do you make people feel, right? Essentially you’re going to a stadium and there’s a person playing music and there’s a sporting event taking place, whatever that sporting event, the people who win know how to make people feel a certain way. Right. And create those experiences so that families have memories and they want to come back. Or fans. So it’s. That to me, that’s what the fan engagement and crowd engagement’s about.
Drew Dambreville [00:19:02]:
It’s like knowing your audience and what’s important to them. You know, what I found is access. We live in a world where social media has given us access that way. But how often do you get to actually get autographs or meet or shake hands with and get FaceTime? With, with celebrities there’s always barriers in a way. So it was like, how can we eliminate some of those still keeping a safe environment, but give, you know, you know, from bringing in. We brought in last year Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 2022. Came out of Ohio State, plays for the New York Jets.
Drew Dambreville [00:19:39]:
Right. Played in the games. If you’re a football fan, you know who he is. How often are you going to get to come over and hang out with them? You know, we’ve had some of the Seattle greats, Cam Chancellor, Lofa Tatupu, Marcus Truffant and those guys, you know their name, you see them. But these guys come out. You know, one of the cool things we’ve done with the softball game is we let kids on the field at the end of the game. So at the end of the game, you know, we put a, you know how fans can be. We make sure the parents are like, no, you can stay right here.
Drew Dambreville [00:20:09]:
But if the kids want, if the kids want to come out and we’ll give them softballs and they can run around and get autographs from all the guys and run around the bases and have fun and it’s that controlled environment. But how cool is that for a 10 year old kid to go out and get autographs from?
Libby Sundgren [00:20:24]:
So rad.
Drew Dambreville [00:20:25]:
So that’s how come back and create those, those experiences for people.
Libby Sundgren [00:20:31]:
So I mean you see the smiles on the kids faces and I mean you get the feedback. But what is your best or favorite metric for gauging success in an event?
Drew Dambreville [00:20:44]:
Revenue.
Alysse Bryson [00:20:47]:
Show me the money.
Drew Dambreville [00:20:49]:
End of the day you gotta sell units. So I mean, right, because even in my role, in my role now, you know, we have partners, we have paid partners, we have ticket sales, we have retail sales. It’s all about revenue. Right? Right. More excited bodies in a building hopefully leads to more purchases in our team shop, you know, more food and beverage purchases and things along that line. So.
Alysse Bryson [00:21:15]:
Well, and it goes back to if you’re making sure that they have a great experience all the way through, then your retention rate year over year or week after week, regardless of which one it is, it should be, it should be good. Do you think that, that, you know, we did have that little thing that happened for a few years, the pandemic, when then there was. We went from all these events to no events to then this slow drip that of events coming back online. Do you think that we are all the way back or do you think that we’re still building?
Drew Dambreville [00:21:49]:
We’re Back. But what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard is people purchase differently now as a result of that. Whereas pre pandemic, most teams around the league will tell you they probably sold a lot more in season tickets. People just purchased out all the way and like, hey, I’m just going to do this and do that. Post pandemic, people are last minute to games. It’s like, hey, I’ll decide to go week of. You know, you probably see what RSVPs with events as well. People aren’t planning as far out as they used to.
Drew Dambreville [00:22:18]:
So that’s one of the challenges that I’ve seen. But in terms of us being back, yeah, we were back a while ago. People were so itching to get out. We did not in 2020, we obviously canceled and did not do Polo 2021. Everything opened around, I want to say March or April or so. And I had a conversation with Cameron like, hey, do you want to do it this summer? He’s like, you know what? Let’s just see. You know, let’s do it. We tried to scale back.
Drew Dambreville [00:22:47]:
We winded up doing the largest number we ever did. We actually did about.
Alysse Bryson [00:22:50]:
Really?
Drew Dambreville [00:22:51]:
Yeah. That’s really ready. Yeah, people were ready.
Alysse Bryson [00:22:54]:
Well, it’s also.
Drew Dambreville [00:22:54]:
I mean I do think it’s an outdoor event.
Alysse Bryson [00:22:57]:
Outdoor events. It’s. There’s you. The outdoor events had an advantage on. On of all the events in the events world. For sure.
Drew Dambreville [00:23:06]:
For sure. It. It just re confirmed that like yeah, people are ready to. To do stuff. Yeah, they. You want to be smart about it and, and social distance or whatever we were doing back then. But terms of us being back. Yeah, we’re.
Drew Dambreville [00:23:19]:
We’re back.
Alysse Bryson [00:23:20]:
You know, I think that something that you and Libby have in common that you both do really well, that is not a strong suit for me is when things go wrong at events, you’re both very calm, cool and collected. You know, Libby is very much like we. She always says this. She’s like a duck. Just looks like she’s just calmly smoothing soothing across the pond. But really her little, you know, her little web feed are going like crazy crazy in the background. How do you. I know that you look calm on the outside, but like that takes a toll.
Alysse Bryson [00:23:56]:
I know it takes a toll. So like how do you. What tips do you have to the people listening that might be new to the industry on keeping that cool demeanor no matter what curveballs get thrown your way.
Drew Dambreville [00:24:08]:
One have an outlet. So for me, I know my significant other knows we have a term event hangover so the day after a large event, I get, everyone knows, to just leave me be. At least the first half of the day. Just leave me be. Because the physical event being over does not mean the event is over. We all know that as event professionals, there’s still bills that need to be paid, reconciliations. There’s probably emails from someone who’s that 20% that’s pissed off that you got to respond to, you know, or. I’ve had people forget things.
Drew Dambreville [00:24:41]:
You got to meet up with them. Because I. I lost my. The funniest. Someone lost their car keys at the polo field, and I found them.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:47]:
Oh, wow.
Drew Dambreville [00:24:48]:
And so they emailed in all that space.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:51]:
Were they. Were they next to the horse leftovers?
Drew Dambreville [00:24:54]:
No, they were in the vip. They were bougie about it.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:56]:
Of course they were.
Drew Dambreville [00:24:57]:
But. But you know, that. But that turned into a great experience because I was able to get that person, meet up with them, get them back their keys, you know, verify it was their car, get back their keys, and make everything great for them. But decompressing after an event, working out. But I think alone time, it’s. I just need my brain to catch up to all my activities and what I have going on. So my answer to most people is, like, if you have a huge event, especially when you’re dealing with thousands of people or even hundreds of people that next day, find some me time just to disappear, however you choose to fill it. I like to go to the gym.
Drew Dambreville [00:25:35]:
Some people like to do paperwork or what. But just find alone time.
Alysse Bryson [00:25:40]:
Yeah, you know, this isn’t the first time or that this has come up in the episodes we’ve recorded. And we’ve. We’re not that many episodes into the season yet, but there is this underlying theme of people really, like, do not forget to plan to take care of yourself for that day after. For the event hangover. I personally am someone that if event goes really well, I cry. If an event goes really bad, I cry. Like, I’m gonna cry no matter what. And.
Alysse Bryson [00:26:07]:
But it’s like, it’s a really cleansing cry. And I. At first, I used to be upset and scared by it, but then I was like, oh, no, this happens every time. Just lean into it and let it. Let it rip, you know? But yes, kind of like giving yourself that. That, like, whatever amount of time that you can. And sometimes, like, depending on how many events you’ve got going, you might be on to the next, like, pretty immediately. But just giving yourself that grace and that is really, really cannot be spoken about enough.
Alysse Bryson [00:26:37]:
And I think it was in the episode with Katie Mac where she actually said, if you don’t do that, you’re actually stealing from your next event.
Drew Dambreville [00:26:45]:
Oh, you’ll burn.
Alysse Bryson [00:26:47]:
Yeah, yeah, you will. You just will totally burn yourself out. And so you both. You both keep a calm demeanor much better. Much better than I do.
Drew Dambreville [00:26:57]:
That’s why you. That’s why you kept this around. We were the calm for you.
Alysse Bryson [00:27:00]:
That’s exactly right. That’s exactly right.
Drew Dambreville [00:27:03]:
Teamwork. Teamwork.
Alysse Bryson [00:27:04]:
Teamwork makes the dream work. Do you have. I know that all your events are your favorite and your babies, but are there any standout moments in your event career? You’ve had a very long. A long run in the event world. Do you have any standout moments where you’re like, oh, that was an awesome. Like, I really feel good about this one. Like, it was kind of like a bucket list thing that you’ve done.
Drew Dambreville [00:27:30]:
I mean, being part of the group that. That did the Richard Sherman celebrity softball game. Big bucket. We had Kobe Bryant playing that game, Kevin Durant playing that game. I mean, it helps when those guys win a Super Bowl.
Alysse Bryson [00:27:41]:
Yeah, yeah, it’s helpful.
Drew Dambreville [00:27:42]:
Fresh off a Super bowl, you get a. You get. You get a lot of more celebs out. But that was, at that moment in time, probably one of the largest events I’ve done since then. Polo. Like, I can pick a couple. Polo in 2019, the year before COVID 18 or 19. I’m of Haitian descent.
Drew Dambreville [00:28:00]:
My parents both came here from Haiti, so we had the opportunity to bring the Haitian national polo team out here to play the Seattle Polo Club. Oh, wow. So that was. That was a cool thing for me where that was, like, a moment where I had a little tear because it was like a proud thing. Like. Yeah, like, they had the American flag and the Haitian flag come out, you know, behind the Rolls Royces. And to me, that was a moment. And then I.
Drew Dambreville [00:28:24]:
I don’t know. I treat each one as, you know, rugby. For instance, it’s my first season with the rugby club. We’ve done a lot of upgrades, a lot of cool, new, innovative stuff to try and drive revenue and enhance the fan experience and attract new fans. So I’m excited to see where that goes and how that pans out. But I’m one of those people that suffers from. I’m never. I never really take the time to just be like, yeah, I did that.
Drew Dambreville [00:28:51]:
It’s always, all right, cool. On to the next one. And my friends are telling me, like, you know, you should celebrate it and all that I’m like, I’m too busy, man.
Alysse Bryson [00:28:59]:
Like, time for that. Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:29:02]:
It’s like, well, well, what are we celebrating? Because to me, it’s the way I was raised. You know, ex athlete in me is like, I prepared myself and planned for it to do that, so why should I act surprised that it was that?
Alysse Bryson [00:29:15]:
Sure. Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:29:17]:
Does that make sense?
Alysse Bryson [00:29:18]:
It totally makes sense.
Drew Dambreville [00:29:19]:
So if you. If you planned an event and you executed on what you planned, like, what do you, like, Like, I feel like you shouldn’t be surprised that it did well. You should just be like, all right, it did well. Take your notes, figure out what went wrong to make it better next time and keep it pushing.
Alysse Bryson [00:29:36]:
Do you feel like you go to less or more events outside of the ones that you participate? Right.
Drew Dambreville [00:29:44]:
It’s less.
Alysse Bryson [00:29:45]:
It’s hard because you. When you’re in the events world, you end up with a lot of access. Right. You have a lot of connections. Everybody always has, like, oh, I got an extra pair of tickets to this or to this. And early in, I think I was like, gobble, gobble, give me. All right. But as.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:01]:
As I got, you know, a decade in, I was like, I. I just want to be at home on my couch sometimes because I. I’m just like. I mean, you know, I’m anti people.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:12]:
I’m.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:13]:
It’s.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:13]:
To me. So it’s the. I’m the most introverted extrovert you’ll ever meet. If you see me out, it’s like, oh, Drew. Yeah, Drew’s out and about. And Drew’s always out. And I’m all like, you have no idea. Like, I go home and turn the ringer off and.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:28]:
And disappear from people. But I do events different. I’m. If. If I go to an event with you, most people are watching the crowd. I will disappear and walk off. I want to see what the DJ is doing or what. What equipment the sound guys are you.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:41]:
I’m that guy. I start walking.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:43]:
You are that guy. You’ve been my plus one a lot of times.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:46]:
Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:46]:
Over the years. And you do disappear. That is true. I’m like, where did he go? He was just right here.
Drew Dambreville [00:30:51]:
I’m curious. Like, I go to a gala, and everyone’s like, oh, look at the drapes. And I’m walking around, trying to get a peek around. Oh, that’s how you guys did that. Okay, noted. Or what company are you guys? Let me grab one of your cards in case I’m. So that’s how I do events anyway. I’m kind of Boring to go to events.
Drew Dambreville [00:31:06]:
Events with.
Alysse Bryson [00:31:07]:
I would disagree as someone. You. You were my plus one bunches of times. Like, more times than I can count.
Drew Dambreville [00:31:12]:
And wait, going back. Going back. One of my favorite events. I didn’t do the event, but one of the favorite events I ever went to, I went to with you when we went to the Chihuly Museum.
Alysse Bryson [00:31:23]:
Oh, the glass blowing studio on South Lake Union. Oh, that was super fun. We had a lot of fun. I have a picture of you in Dale Chihuly’s bathtub, if I remember correctly.
Drew Dambreville [00:31:33]:
I have it. Yep. A Chihuly. Yep. I got it. Yep.
Libby Sundgren [00:31:36]:
That.
Alysse Bryson [00:31:37]:
Yeah, that was a very fun night. That was a very. Yes, I. That. That is a fun place to have a party, for sure.
Drew Dambreville [00:31:44]:
I was just trying to figure out still how they got that table in there. There was like, the one one tree.
Alysse Bryson [00:31:51]:
One very long.
Drew Dambreville [00:31:53]:
One long tree that’s like 100ft long. I mean, you’re like, trying to figure out how they got it in there.
Libby Sundgren [00:32:00]:
You two are kind of the same at events, though. You’re kind of the same type of a guest because you’re both connectors. You’re both very good at meeting people and introducing people and, like, connecting the web. When you’re in the room to figure out, well, you know, how you’re. How you know someone six degrees away.
Drew Dambreville [00:32:20]:
There’S two types of people, people who were born with access and. And people who know how to develop. And I think Elise and I both come from the second part, where you. You understand your network is your net worth. Right. So I’ve learned that when you navigate certain rooms and shake hands and kiss babies and if you mean, if you move in a meaningful way, that you’ll attract the right people. And that’s been my business model. Can I tell you, over 20 years of.
Drew Dambreville [00:32:51]:
Of doing H 206 events and consulting and all that, I’ve never once had a website either. I’ve done it.
Alysse Bryson [00:32:57]:
You don’t have a website?
Drew Dambreville [00:32:59]:
No, I’ve never had. I had. I bought the URL. I own a URL. I just never put up a website because either you know me or you don’t. Yeah. And I was okay with that.
Alysse Bryson [00:33:09]:
That’s true. I’m like, scratching my head going, he’s not wrong. That’s true. Well, and it’s like you and I both love the thrill of the hunt, the hustle, like, but it’s also about you and I both, I think, are good at. Like, no one’s ever going to remember what we say but they are always going to remember how we make them feel 1000%. Well, we haven’t talked about. As we start to wind this amazing conversation down, let’s talk about how you close event. You talked about the hangover and the day after.
Alysse Bryson [00:33:41]:
But are there other things that you do around the metrics or things that you do so you make sure you’re set up for the next event, whether it’s a couple of weeks away or a year away. Like, how do you. What else do you do in the capturing and winding down of an event besides resting yourself?
Drew Dambreville [00:33:58]:
I’m an Excel sheet guy. Like, if I don’t script it out, I’ll forget about it. So, for instance, with sporting events, we have vendors, you know, from food trucks to photographers to, you name it if we have halftime shows or what. I make sure that, you know, for instance, we had an event on Friday night. It was a interactive practice where we, you know, a couple players were mic’d up, fans came to come out and got autographs, but got to watch them practice live and see what it’s actually like for those guys when they’re running through all their drills and, and doing stuff and live speed and all. And I wake up, get in the office today I gotta pay people. You know, I’ve got game day staff, all our operators that help us set up all the games and all that. We have vendors, and I got bills to pay.
Drew Dambreville [00:34:47]:
So, like, first half of my day is paying. So post event, depending on event is typically reconciling invoices or emailing people. Like, get that invoice over to me. And then again, we’re two weeks out from our home opener. So while I’m doing that, we’re, you know, planning on. Okay, where are we sitting on ticket sales? What do we need to do to move the needle? You know, what’s our marketing, our marketing look like in terms of social media posts and what we’re. We’re pushing? You know, I got a bunch of new merchandise in, so we gotta put together a plan on get. So there’s always moving parts, right? So we get done with an event and we’re already 30, 40% into the next event.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:25]:
So you’re good in the sheets. That’s what you said.
Drew Dambreville [00:35:28]:
I mean, you know, I just saw that.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:33]:
I actually just saw that Excel joke on the Internet the other day, and I was like, how have I never seen this before?
Libby Sundgren [00:35:38]:
Yeah, I’ve never heard that either.
Drew Dambreville [00:35:39]:
In the sheets.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:40]:
Good in the sheets. Good in the sheets. They were literally, they were sheets and it was like a whole I rolled comforter. I know. She’s totally rolling her eyes. It was a whole comfortable comforter bedroom setup that was all Excel branded. And I was like, it was all good in the sheets. And I was like, that’s clever.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:57]:
I’m going to use that.
Libby Sundgren [00:35:58]:
Wow.
Alysse Bryson [00:35:58]:
Apparently I shouldn’t because it didn’t really land. So anyway, I got you.
Drew Dambreville [00:36:02]:
I picked up what you were saying.
Alysse Bryson [00:36:04]:
Thank you.
Libby Sundgren [00:36:04]:
It was good. Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:36:07]:
Okay, well, this. Yeah, this is Libby snacks on set and I make bad mom jokes, so there we go.
Libby Sundgren [00:36:17]:
Okay, before we end, I do want to skip to a very fun segment we have called Winning the game of Events. I want you to tell me. Okay. So events inevitably have moments of chaos behind the scenes. Elise and I have shared them on the show. I have. I mean, I could just spend every show talking about them because there’s always something. But can you share a memorable the show must go on moment from any event in your history of events? Any of them just like your favorite one or your best one, or the show must, you know, like, something happens.
Libby Sundgren [00:37:00]:
And you’re like, well, you know, something always. We don’t have forks. We just got to keep. Just gotta tell people we’re eating with our fingers tonight.
Drew Dambreville [00:37:09]:
So a few years back, I’ll go with Polo Cameron. I bring his name up. He’s a good friend. 20. We start set up, like events on Saturday. We start full set up on, like, Thursday. Right. We have all these tents that have to go up and do stuff.
Drew Dambreville [00:37:24]:
I get a call from them on Thursday night. I leave the the property and head home. And he stayed out there and it was with the team and still doing extra stuff. And I get a call from him and he’s like, I’m headed to er. I’m like, what happened? He had a kidney stone. This guy passed a kidney stone.
Libby Sundgren [00:37:41]:
Oh, those hurt really bad. I’ve had them really bad. Not painful.
Drew Dambreville [00:37:48]:
So pass the kidney stone. And then still made it back out to where he played then two days or a day day later? Two days later. Two days later.
Libby Sundgren [00:37:58]:
Oh, that’s commitment.
Drew Dambreville [00:37:59]:
But that was because. But again, like, he was leading the team that was getting tense up and all that because he stays on property. And I was just like, you know, are we canceling? What are we doing? Like, are you going to be okay? Like, he’s like, no, I got this. And I’m just like, oh.
Libby Sundgren [00:38:14]:
Oh, my gosh, what a trooper.
Drew Dambreville [00:38:16]:
Yeah. I’ve had a year where volunteers would partner with nonprofits and a profit partnership Is essentially, we will give you a percentage of liquor sales and then make a donation rather than go pot, go pay for labor to do this. So you bring me volunteers on Friday to set up tables and chairs or whatever. You bring me volunteers on Sunday. Whatever. And then on the day of, I need like at least 8, 10 bodies. Do registration and little things. It’s like light lifting stuff.
Drew Dambreville [00:38:46]:
Morning of, they no showed, so I called friends and I got a group of friends to come out last.
Libby Sundgren [00:38:52]:
Oh my gosh. That would throw me into a straight like stress, sweat panic. I would have smelled so bad.
Alysse Bryson [00:39:00]:
Stressed right now. Yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:02]:
Hey, you’re already outside and it’s like 100 degrees. What are you gonna do?
Libby Sundgren [00:39:05]:
We’re already sweating. It’s okay.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:07]:
We’re already sweating. Yeah, I mean, things happen. You just, you figure you, you adapt.
Libby Sundgren [00:39:12]:
Kidney stone and no volunteers the morning of.
Alysse Bryson [00:39:16]:
That’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:17]:
Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:39:18]:
I’ll take a self serving moment. What is your favorite event that you’ve done with myself and Libby? I know there’s so many.
Libby Sundgren [00:39:27]:
So many.
Alysse Bryson [00:39:29]:
There actually is a lot.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:30]:
I know there is so many. Oh, man. Okay. The 10 year with the plane.
Libby Sundgren [00:39:40]:
That one was pretty fun.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:42]:
The.
Libby Sundgren [00:39:44]:
We had a. We had a 10 year anniversary for a magazine that we worked at and it was in the Delta airplane hangar and there were, I don’t know, like 2,000 people there.
Drew Dambreville [00:39:58]:
Ish.
Libby Sundgren [00:39:58]:
Maybe. Yeah, it was, it was kind of bananas. I mean, you really couldn’t yell across the hangar to somebody. You had to. It was walkie talkie, phone call, run. I’ve never gotten so many steps. I think I got like 30,000 steps in a day. Never, never got close to that again.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:14]:
The events we did at the computer science center.
Alysse Bryson [00:40:17]:
Generosity.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:18]:
Generosity. Generosity.
Libby Sundgren [00:40:19]:
Those were really fun.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:20]:
Awesome.
Libby Sundgren [00:40:21]:
Generosity was good.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:23]:
Yeah, I’m trying to. There’s been so many. I mean, that’s a lot of.
Libby Sundgren [00:40:27]:
Those are some hits.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:28]:
So I. Those are like the, the big hits that I can think of where it’s like, oh, yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:40:33]:
Remember that one time we got you on the COVID of a magazine?
Libby Sundgren [00:40:37]:
Oh, yeah.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:38]:
Calling me to go camping.
Alysse Bryson [00:40:39]:
To go camping. And then all your friends totally made fun of you. That was.
Drew Dambreville [00:40:43]:
Oh, gee. They were like, yo, black butt, don’t camp Drew. What the heck you talk about? Yo, I posted that. If you read the, if you go back and read the comments from that post, we’re talking like, like it almost went viral. Like the post on there, like, ain’t no way in heck they got you.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:01]:
Nobody that knew nobody was lots of people bought the issue. To be clear, lots of people bought the issue. None of your friends were buying it.
Libby Sundgren [00:41:08]:
I think it was one of our best selling covers, actually. People really loved that one good one. It was you, Drew. It was you.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:16]:
Yes.
Drew Dambreville [00:41:16]:
It could have been the scout, that jeep that you put the jeep that was out there with me.
Libby Sundgren [00:41:22]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:23]:
So where can our many, many, many, many listeners find you if they want to find you?
Drew Dambreville [00:41:30]:
I mean Seawolves game.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:32]:
Okay.
Drew Dambreville [00:41:35]:
Rugby or seattle all starclassic.com that event will happen July 12th this year.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:42]:
And what about the polo party? The big ten year second.
Drew Dambreville [00:41:45]:
That’s the second of second Saturday in August. I forget.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:49]:
And is there anything you can share with us that is going to be special about the ten year?
Drew Dambreville [00:41:54]:
Nope, I don’t. You got to show up. I’m one of those you got to show secrets.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:58]:
You got to show up for it.
Libby Sundgren [00:42:01]:
Well, if your volunteers don’t show up that day, you can call us. We’ll come.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:04]:
Yeah, you can come and call us. We’ll come.
Drew Dambreville [00:42:07]:
We can yodel and you’ll hear his yodel. Exactly.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:13]:
Oh dear. All right, well, that is a wrap.
Libby Sundgren [00:42:16]:
For this episode of Beats Working. If you’ve got an idea you want to reach out, email us at info Beats Working show. And remember, every detail matters, every moment counts, and no matter what, the show must go on.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:32]:
Thanks for listening to Beats winning the game of events where we explore what it takes to make moments unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:42:39]:
If you’re leaving with a little more inspiration, a little more perspective, and a big sideache from all of the laughing at our funny jokes, then we’ve done our job.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:48]:
Beats Working is a work P2P production. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review us on your favorite podcast platforms.
Libby Sundgren [00:42:58]:
Your support helps us keep the magic going.
