Episode Summary:
Lisa Schulteis — founder of ElectraLime Marketing and executive director of the Northwest Event Show — joins BEATS WORKING hosts Alysse Bryson and Libby Sundgren for an insightful look behind the curtain of strategic event planning. Drawing from her background in neuropsychology, Lisa shares science-backed strategies to boost attendee engagement, memory retention, and belonging, whether events are live, virtual, or hybrid. Discover practical techniques, the power of surprise, the importance of thoughtful space design, and why taking care of yourself matters most in the high-stress world of events.
Timestamps:
[00:00] – Lisa Schulteis on creating inclusive events
[02:25] – Neuropsychology in event design: Start with the brain, not the agenda
[05:43] – Alleviating attendee mental load: The power of the welcome experience
[09:33] – Tactile and multisensory activities for memorable events
[13:26] – Hybrid events: Serving two audiences with intentional engagement
[20:04] – Producer & attendee neuroscience hacks for better retention
[30:03] – It Ain’t Bragging if It’s True: The evolution and future of the Northwest Event Show
[38:39] – Surprises, mocktails, and meeting attendees where they are
[42:45] – Lisa’s #1 advice for newcomers to the events industry
Resources & Links:
-Lisa Schulteis: LinkedIn
-Design Smarter Events: Book Lisa to Speak
-Alysse & Libby: Bios & LinkedIn
Connect with Us:
-Website: www.beatsworkingpodcast.com
-LinkedIn: @BEATS WORKING Show
-Instagram: @beatsworkingshow
-Facebook: @Beats Working Show
-YouTube: @BEATSWORKINGPODCAST
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BEATS WORKING is a platform on a mission to redeem work—the word, the place, and the way. We believe that work is the most honorable act in the universe, and through inspiring stories and practical insights, we want to transform the way people think about work and help them discover greater fulfillment in their lives. We invite you to join us as we build community through sharing and actively demonstrating what we learn.
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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.
Lisa Schulteis [00:00:00]:
You have the extroverts in the room that man, they can go from 8 in the morning until 2am in the morning. I don’t know how, cause I’m in my hotel room hiding, right? You have the introverts in the room. You have people that have different neurodivergent attributes, right? So we have all these different people in the room. And anytime that we can do something that is a little bit more community driven, where people kind of have the choice to deep dive in or they can kind of sit back and watch but still participate, right, that gives them, it’s a safe space, right, where they can kind of be where they want to be. And those community driven activities are great because it gives them that sense of community while giving them the permission to play in the way that they want to play.
Alysse Bryson [00:00:44]:
Welcome to Beats Winning the Game of Events. Where we share stories and strategies to turn any event or life moment into something unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:55]:
Events are wild and the people who.
Lisa Schulteis [00:00:57]:
Work in them are some of the.
Libby Sundgren [00:00:58]:
Most resilient humans on earth. If you know, you know.
Alysse Bryson [00:01:02]:
So come with us behind the curtain for a look at their most memorable experiences.
Libby Sundgren [00:01:07]:
As they say, the show must go on. So let’s get on with the show. Welcome back to another episode of Beats Working Winning the Game of Events. Today you are meeting Lisa Schulteis, the founder of Electrolyme Marketing and your event marketplace and executive director of the Northwest Event show, which we are mega fans of. With a background in neuropsychology and a passion for event design, Lisa specializes in crafting strategic live, virtual and hybrid experiences that not only engage audiences, but transform them. She’s a sought after international speaker and a trusted partner for Fortune 500 companies, associations and mission driven organizations looking to elevate their events into powerful platforms for connection and growth. That is key. She is the wizard of connection and growth at any type of event that you’re planning.
Libby Sundgren [00:02:08]:
Whether she’s applying neuroscience to increase audience retention or building sustainable and scalable event strategies, Lisa is here to help us all remember, when it comes to meaningful events, how people feel matters just as much as what they hear. Welcome, Lisa.
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:25]:
Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. I’m very excited to be here today. Yay.
Libby Sundgren [00:02:29]:
We’re excited to have you. Okay, so your background in neuropsychology is so unique in this industry. Share with us. How does that scientific lens change how you approach planning events from day one? So from the very, very beginning.
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:46]:
Yeah, so we actually kind. You know, my focus is to start with the brain and not the agenda, which is a little bit different.
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:54]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:54]:
So, you know, my first question to my clients is always, what is the goal of the event?
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:59]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:02:59]:
Like, why in the heck are we even having this? But once I know why we’re having the event, then we, we really start looking at what’s going to happen with the brain. So I don’t only ask, you know, what do you want attendees to do? But I’ll ask them, how do you want them to feel, how do you want them to react? How do we design for memory or motivation or meaning? So it’s taking kind of traditional event design, but adding on this additional element to it. So I’ll look at everything from cognitive load that’s really important. How our attention is, how our rhythms are. So, you know, we, I know as a speaker, right, about 18 minutes in, I’m going to start seeing everybody glaze over, right. It’s just what happens. So how can we space our keynotes out? Or how can we move breaks around to really get, you know, those intentional peak focus windows? How can we move things to increase retention? All kinds of different, different questions that I’ll ask in different viewpoints that I look at. And you know, as we know, you know, there is no one size fits all event design.
Lisa Schulteis [00:04:15]:
You know, every event is different. And even some of my clients, who I do repeat events for, every event is still different, right? Your attendees are different, your expectations are goals. So we can’t just have like this design in a box that people kind of want. We really need to look at these different, different viewpoints. And our, our attendees are showing up and everything that they carry with them, all their baggage, all their attention, everything else that they carry with them. So much baggage.
Alysse Bryson [00:04:48]:
So, so much baggage.
Lisa Schulteis [00:04:49]:
Well, if you think about it, right, I mean, we walk into an event that we, you know, some of us have little kids, some of us have big kids.
Lisa Schulteis [00:04:58]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:04:59]:
Some of us are parenting our parents. You know, some of us have a task at work that we just didn’t get done. So that’s still in our head. Totally.
Libby Sundgren [00:05:07]:
There’s that like, mental load that you bring with you into an event, whether you want to or not.
Lisa Schulteis [00:05:13]:
Yeah. So there’s a lot of different things that we have to look at is, you know, how do we want them to feel, how do we want them to react, how do we want them to remember this? You know, what are those memories going to be?
Alysse Bryson [00:05:26]:
What is a trick that you’ve used that does really transform that intendee experience that when they walk in it helps alleviate some of that mental load that they may be carrying with them. Do you have any tips or tricks of things that you know, like this is tried and true?
Lisa Schulteis [00:05:43]:
Yeah. You know, that welcome experience is really important.
Lisa Schulteis [00:05:46]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:05:47]:
So anything that we can do to capture their attention and kind of give them that wow moment. And it doesn’t have to be some big amazing circus act, Right. It’s just something to catch their attention. And we know that, you know, we. We map our emotions around the people that are around us, right. If I walk into an event, let’s say even a networking event, and I’m an introvert, so networking for me is horrendous. If I walk into an a networking event and everybody’s welcoming and everybody’s smiling and everybody’s having a great time, I am much more likely to get that same energy and be smiling and be having a great time versus if I walk into a room and you know, like a breakout session and there’s no music and lights are kind of low and everybody’s just kind of sitting that, right. You’re draining that emotion before you even have the speaker open their mouth.
Lisa Schulteis [00:06:43]:
So we look a lot at what even, you know, the reception area looks like, what the energy is in the reception area, what the energy is in the room. If I walk into a room and there’s no music playing, I. The first thing I do is walk to AV and I’m like, I need something and I need something upbeat. And oh, wait, now it’s 2pm I need something even more upbeat, right? So we spend a lot of time looking at those different elements. And then the other thing that I’m a huge advocate of is multi sensory. So pretty much every event we go to, we use our ears and we use our eyes, right? We’re watching what’s happening, we’re listening to what’s happening. But we don’t really use our other senses that often. We don’t use taste or touch or smell.
Lisa Schulteis [00:07:27]:
And so if we can bring in those different elements in another way and we don’t have to do all five, right? We don’t want to inundate people, we don’t want to overwhelm. But if we can just bring in one additional or even two additional elements where it’s a different experience for them, it’s going to make it more memorable. Because now I’m not only hearing it, but maybe now I’m tasting it or now I’m smelling something. And obviously we want that to be a pleasant smell. We all.
Alysse Bryson [00:07:55]:
I was Just going to jump in and ask about smell specifically. Like, I love really yummy smelly things, but some people are very sensitive to that. So you have to be very careful. Right. And I don’t even know where allergies play into all of that, so.
Lisa Schulteis [00:08:10]:
Correct. Yeah. You have to be very sensitive, and you have to be very aware whether it’s sound.
Lisa Schulteis [00:08:15]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:08:16]:
I’m super sensitive to sound. I can do Vegas for three and a half days. That’s it. Because the constant sound of the slot machines and the constant energy and everything I’m done by, like, the night of day before, I’m like, peace out, I’m gone. Smells are the same thing. I went to an event. There was an exhibitor who actually was promoting the fact that they use scent.
Lisa Schulteis [00:08:39]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:08:39]:
They had these little things that you could put all over your event that was creating smell. And every time I walked by the booth, I was like, right. Because for me, it wasn’t pleasant and it was a little bit too much. So you, you know, you have to be careful with it. But just bringing in and infusing some light scents can be really, really helpful or even just, you know, simple things of, you know, think about it. When we pick up a. I’m going to say mocktail, because I’m also a huge advocate for mocktails at events. If I pick up a mocktail, I’m not only tasting it, but I’m smelling it before I take that sip.
Lisa Schulteis [00:09:15]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:09:17]:
So anything that we can do to bring in multiple different senses, that’s going to help our memory and help how we actually pay attention and help how we react to that moment versus just a single kind of flatline experience.
Alysse Bryson [00:09:33]:
One of the things I noticed at the event show earlier this year, maybe this is not new, but to me, it felt like I hadn’t seen this before. As far as when you talk about tactile things, I’m like, I’m okay if I don’t see another photo booth again. Right. And we’ve seen every possible variation of a photo, and people love photos, and they’re great for social media and all of that, but that can’t be the only thing you have anymore. I noticed there were a lot of, like, crafting art, community murals or things like that. Are you seeing any trends like that that are very tactile? Get in and play more.
Lisa Schulteis [00:10:08]:
Absolutely. You know, and we’re really kind of seeing that creative economy come into events as well.
Lisa Schulteis [00:10:14]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:10:14]:
You know, that’s the one thing with the event industry is we’re probably one of the industries that is has more fingers out touching different areas than probably any other industry. So if we can bring that in. Absolutely. And it’s multipurpose, right? So one, it’s different, it catches people’s attention. Two, a lot of times it can be community driven. So community driven murals, for example, you know, that’s something that I can walk up to, I can do my little paint by numbers and I’m participating in that with other people.
Lisa Schulteis [00:10:47]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:10:47]:
So it’s a little bit more of a community driven. But even beyond the crafts, when I was at one of the events I was attending in London and Trace is a software program for sustainability and they had a booth and actually I think they had one at Imaxis last year as well. And they had this really cool tactile experience where instead of just they wanted to ask a poll, I think it was four or five questions. So instead of having, you know, the little checkbox that we all fill out the poll, right. They had taken this huge eight foot wall and the first question was, are you a planner? Are you a supplier? Are you other.
Lisa Schulteis [00:11:25]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:11:25]:
And so you start with this string and then you go to the next question and they want to know, you know, are you a decision maker about sustainability? Are you just a player? Do you have no, you know, opinion or, you know, decision making? And so you take your string to the next question and you wrap it around the thumbtack as the answer and then you go to the next question and you wrap it. So it’s this huge eight foot wall. All people are doing is wrapping string around the answers that they want to answer. But it was such a great tactile way of asking questions and getting a poll out there that people are interacting. And then you have this beautiful, you know, I can walk up to it and say, oh, well, there’s more planners here at IMAX than there are suppliers. And more people are not decision makers just by looking at the colors of the threads and where they’re focused, right? So it was just this really simple idea that they had put into their booth that just was beautiful because it gave you that tactile response. But then it also gave you this very visual response to how people were answering their poll. And it got them the data that they needed.
Lisa Schulteis [00:12:34]:
They know exactly how many people answered it, where the questions were. But there’s just some very simple multisensory items that you can bring in that can make a huge impact. And it’s different and it’s unexpected. And you get, again, you’re getting people Working with their hands. You’re getting them smelling things, you’re getting them potentially tasting things.
Lisa Schulteis [00:12:54]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:12:54]:
Depending on what that activity is.
Alysse Bryson [00:12:57]:
One of the things I remember when we listened to you, it was not this year. Was it last year, Libby, or the year before? I don’t know. They do all start to run together. But I love how when you talk about events that are hybrid, that you’re really dealing with two totally different events and because a lot of people might just merge them together and think that whatever you do for the one that’s in person is just going to totally translate to virtual, and it’s just not. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Lisa Schulteis [00:13:26]:
Yeah. Don’t we wish that they would actually translate? That would make our lives so much easier.
Lisa Schulteis [00:13:30]:
Right.
Libby Sundgren [00:13:30]:
Plan one, not two, but yeah, correct. I think it was in 2024. I think it was last year.
Alysse Bryson [00:13:35]:
Okay, last year.
Lisa Schulteis [00:13:36]:
Yeah, potentially. But yeah, I mean, you are essentially building for two very distinct and different audiences.
Lisa Schulteis [00:13:43]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:13:43]:
So you have one audience who’s in the room with you, and you have to be able to keep their attention and make it interesting and make it engaging and. And get a response back from them. And then you also have this other audience who’s not in the room, and it’s that much harder to engage with them. Right. They have different needs, they have different interests. They probably are paying attention to about maybe 10% of what’s happening.
Lisa Schulteis [00:14:07]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:14:07]:
Because they’re on their computer, which means now I can go check my email or go work on this project or go play a game. Right? So you have two very distinct audiences who you need to address. And so one of the things that I advocate very, very strongly on is you have to give the virtual attendees a voice. They’re not in the room, but they still need a voice. So at the most simplistic, we always make sure that there is some kind of avenue for them to ask questions. Now, a lot of times because of budgets, it’s only in the chat, right? They can go into the chat, they can ask a question, but then we will make sure that we kind of bebop back and forth on those questions between people in the room and people who are online. So we’ll bring in a moderator who’s sitting there with their iPad and they’re watching the questions and making sure that they are going and saying, well, you know, Susie online asked this and, you know, now John has a question at the floor on the mic. So at the minimum, we need to do that.
Lisa Schulteis [00:15:11]:
We’ve done much more involved events where we actually brought everybody up on the wall who was virtual. And so when they asked a question, we brought them live. They could ask the question live, Right? It was an amazing experience. A much different budget, but an amazing experience, right? So you have to really work at making sure that these two different audiences have these different experiences that are similar, but you have to acknowledge that they’re different. And so, you know, networking needs to be different. The sessions need to be different. If you can integrate them in with the people who are in the room live, that’s even better, right? Give them make those introductions. We all go to events for connection, right? So if you can still somehow make those connections between the people that are online and the people that are in the room, that’s giving everybody a bonus as well.
Lisa Schulteis [00:16:06]:
But again, you have to work at that. You have to make that happen in your sessions. And so, you know, even during the pandemic, when everything was 100% virtual, there were different things that we were doing to try to make sure that the experience felt as engaging and real as it could, even though it was on a computer, right? So even just, you know, giving them different kinds of activities to happen. And, you know, you talked about the crafts. We did an event where we literally had sessions, and then we broke up the sessions with activities. So we had a chef come on, and everybody’s in their home kitchen, right? And, you know, had him walk them through how to make this amazing dish, right? We had another person come on, and we had sent supplies out to the attendees. It was a smaller event. Come on.
Lisa Schulteis [00:16:58]:
And we had an artist who was like, okay, draw this little triangle. Now draw this little square. Now draw this circle.
Lisa Schulteis [00:17:04]:
Voila.
Lisa Schulteis [00:17:05]:
It’s a bird. And I’m like, how is this, you know, magically a bird? I have no artistic skills, but just it was something that they could still do in community, even though that they were, you know, in five different countries.
Alysse Bryson [00:17:18]:
That’s. That’s cool. I like that a lot. One that I saw in the last year, that is in person only. But I was obsessed with. It was. It was a women’s conference, and it was that kind of the meet and greet, get to know everybody. And they had us at 10 tops, I think, that were round.
Alysse Bryson [00:17:35]:
And so each table was given a botanical Lego set. And as a group, you had to put together this Lego set of flowers, and they gave you a vase, and it was time. So it was like a race to see who could put it together the fastest. I felt like I had the advantage because I have the Same Lego kit at home. But then what was beautiful about this is they used those for the centerpieces for the tables for all three days.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:01]:
Oh, that I love.
Alysse Bryson [00:18:02]:
And then at the end they let people take them home. So, like, I just felt like that was such a good, you know, again, you have to have budget for something like that. But it, it did so many things that brought people together. It was decorative and pretty. And then, you know, a handful of people got to go home with it as well. So I, I love to see those kind of clever things that happen now that. Because we still all love the unexpected, you know, surprise and delight factors.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:31]:
Right? Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:32]:
And some of those group activities are great because you do have people with different personalities.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:37]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:37]:
You have the extroverts in the room that, man, they can go from 8 in the morning until 2am in the morning. I don’t know how because I’m in my hotel room hiding.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:46]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:47]:
You have the introverts in the room. You have people that have different, you know, neurodivergent attributes.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:53]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:18:53]:
So we have all these different people in the room. And anytime that we can do something that is a little bit more community driven, where people kind of have the choice to deep dive in, or they can kind of sit back and watch, but still participate.
Lisa Schulteis [00:19:05]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:19:06]:
That gives them, it’s a safe space.
Lisa Schulteis [00:19:10]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:19:10]:
Where they can kind of be where they want to be. And those community driven activities are great because it gives them that sense of community while giving them the permission to play in the way that they want to play. How do you.
Libby Sundgren [00:19:23]:
Lisa, I’m curious. What, what neuroscience based hacks do you have that producers can use to improve session retention? And also, what can attendees use? Just like you said, 18 minutes in, people start to glaze over. Like, is there a certain, like, time of day? Is there like something. Because I do think it’s helpful to know this as a producer, but also as somebody who goes to events and goes to these keynotes. Like, I do want to retain the information, but I sometimes I can’t if it’s just, you know, like what, what could I do to prep myself to better keep all the good info that I’m getting?
Lisa Schulteis [00:20:04]:
Yeah. So there’s, there’s different things, right. So from a producer standpoint, you know, we know that the brain, you know, loves to pay attention to novelty.
Lisa Schulteis [00:20:16]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:20:16]:
Or it loves surprise or anything that’s, you know, kind of emotionally resonant. So if we can bring in some of these surprise elements that we’ve talked about or these tactile moments or even music, right? Music can really boost neurolog encoding. You know, the producers can do that. So producers can either start or introduce what are called pattern interrupts, which is just an unexpected visual or maybe an unexpected question or some kind of sensory input. And this applies for speakers, too. I kind of group my speakers with my producers, right? So they can do something unexpected. So one of the simplest things that I do when I’m speaking, I prefer slides that have a black background, again, on screens that are, you know, the huge 20 foot screens, white background, that’s a lot of light in people’s faces. So I prefer that the background’s black and that my images have the color so that they’re paying attention to that.
Lisa Schulteis [00:21:11]:
But if anybody ever pays attention. And now you guys all will. Every X number of slides in, I change my slides and one of my slides has a white background. And usually it’s on a slide that I want to make a point. And so I will run about seven or eight slides with black backgrounds. All of a sudden put a white one in there, and then I go back to black. And it’s a very, very subtle, simple pattern interrupt. But it resets your brain because all of a sudden your brain’s like, oh, wait, that’s white.
Lisa Schulteis [00:21:38]:
Now I have to pay attention. So you can do little things like that or you can do big things, right? I tell people all the time, you guys may have heard this story. I got to hear Ken Cragan speak once. He was, you know, the we are the World producer. And he was talking about surprise and delight and to be memorable, right? And as he’s talking about being memorable in the distance, we hear music and we’re like, what in the world is that? And it’s getting closer, and it’s getting closer, and it’s getting closer. And the next minute we know, the double doors open and it’s the Hollywood Hills Marching Band, high school marching band playing through the room, right? So they come in, they play, and they exit out. And it was maybe a minute, right? But it was 10 years ago. I’ll never forget it, right? It was like one of the biggest pattern in reps that I’d ever seen.
Lisa Schulteis [00:22:28]:
And not that you need to have a marching band, but it was something unexpected. It was something that was completely unique and it reinforced his statement of be memorable. Because as soon as he said you have to be memorable, that’s when the doors opened. So you can do all of these just little micro kind of moments. You can even do things like giving attendees What I would refer to as micro moments of control. So letting them choose their breakout path or letting them contribute live to topic discussions in terms of what the topics should be, which is. Should be terrifying for any planner that you’re like, oh, yeah, we’ll let the attendees make that up. But allowing that, right, Because I’m, you know, a very OCD planner.
Lisa Schulteis [00:23:17]:
Here’s my checklist. But allowing the attendees to have a little bit more control, not only is that something that they’re going to remember member, but then that is then helping them build that memory, build that reaction, build that re. That engagement. But it also taps into the brain’s reward system into dopamine. And so it’s, you know, giving them something that they didn’t have before. So pattern interrupts are great. Speakers and producers alike, and then attendees, you know, I’m. I’m still a huge advocate writing down what you’re listening to.
Lisa Schulteis [00:23:53]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:23:54]:
I’m still the person with the notebook there. I’ve tried digital. I’ve tried typing in my phone. I’ve tried everything. But literally still using a pen and paper and writing down what I’m listening to activates our memory consolidation in such a deeper way that for attendees, it’s just, it’s. It’s just a great way for them to remember.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:18]:
You know, we have a question about that.
Lisa Schulteis [00:24:20]:
Yeah.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:21]:
How does that work? And I can only speak with my own experience. My son is 28 and Libby has seen his handwriting. It’s not great. So does that. Is that. Is that something that’s going. Can work for everybody or is that. I don’t know.
Alysse Bryson [00:24:39]:
I just know that younger, younger folks didn’t get as much experience with handwriting and penmanship as some of us did.
Lisa Schulteis [00:24:48]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:24:48]:
And you have to remember, I used to work with all physicians. So, you know, and my husband should be a physician because he can’t read his writing either. But no, it’s just that act.
Lisa Schulteis [00:24:56]:
Right?
Lisa Schulteis [00:24:57]:
It’s the act of writing it down. Whether it can be read again by anybody but you doesn’t matter. Some people, though, they. They are not word people. So I don’t know if you’ve ever seen somebody sitting in an audience sketching what they’re hearing. I marvel at it. I cannot. Like, a stick figure is hard for me.
Lisa Schulteis [00:25:17]:
But these people that sit there and, you know, that’s how they’re remembering.
Lisa Schulteis [00:25:20]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:25:21]:
That’s. That’s the way that they’re wired. But yeah, writing down the words or drawing what you’re remembering because you’re actively participating and you’re hearing it, you’re watching it. But now you have that additional tactile sense. And again, it’s one more way to boost your memory and to be able to interact with whatever the topic is that you’re. You’re listening to.
Alysse Bryson [00:25:43]:
Are there any foods that would be key to helping help someone’s memory? Out of curiosity?
Lisa Schulteis [00:25:50]:
Yeah. I am not a dietitian. I can only speak from experience. Sugar in the afternoon’s a horrible idea. Or it’s a really good idea because I’m a chocolate freak. But, you know, obviously, the healthier we eat, the better our memory is going to be. The more we move and exercise, the better our memory is going to be. So even at events, if we can get people up and moving, it will increase engagement.
Lisa Schulteis [00:26:15]:
It increases memory.
Lisa Schulteis [00:26:17]:
It.
Lisa Schulteis [00:26:17]:
You know, so whether it is, you know, at. At the Northwest event show this last time, we had one session, and they emailed me and they said, we really want to do a fishbowl setup for the room. And of course, my first reaction was, oh, my gosh, we have to move furniture. Then what’s the session after? And, you know, that was my first reaction. And then, thankfully, I was like, oh, it’s the last session of the day. We don’t have to worry about it. But it was a different setup in the room. People walked in.
Lisa Schulteis [00:26:42]:
So immediately, right, Patterns interrupt. It’s a surprise. They walk in, and now the room is reset in a different way. And now they’re sitting there and having these, you know, they’re sitting in a circle, not only listening to the people in the center of the fishbowl, but now they can see everybody else who is in the room. And that is a totally different experience than sitting in classroom style or sitting at, you know, 15 different rounds in the room or whatever the layout may be. So anytime that we can one change the room layout is amazing. And then if we can just get people up and moving, especially in the afternoon, just get them up and moving. So a lot of times, I love sessions that they’re like, great, let’s get up and whiteboard right now.
Lisa Schulteis [00:27:27]:
Now everybody get in your groups, right? And go whiteboard. And just. If you want to doodle, doodle, like, just get up and move. But anything that we can do to increase movement, anything that we can do in terms of our agenda to really have those intentional breaks, like, not like session, session, networking, session, session, networking, let’s bring in an intentional break. Get them up, get them moving, let them rest if they need to rest. But diet, movement, exercise, all of those things are going to affect how we react in our everyday life. Even.
Libby Sundgren [00:28:01]:
It’s so true. Even just like a. Just a quick walk around the convention center or something. I feel, you know, if you’re. If that’s where your event is, wherever your event is just gets you like in a different headspace.
Lisa Schulteis [00:28:14]:
Yeah, it’s one of the nice things when you have an event where maybe you have sessions and a trade show floor.
Lisa Schulteis [00:28:19]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:28:20]:
If you’re doing a sales and marketing meeting or another kind of internal corporate meeting, you may not have that luxury where you have, you know, the distraction back and forth. But again, I was doing a training as an attendee last summer in Seattle and we got to the afternoon and you could just feel the energy in the room was just non existent. And the facilitator looked at everybody and said, you know what? Everybody stand up. We’re going outside. It’s a nice afternoon in Seattle. It was beautifully Sunny. It was 60 degrees. She’s like, we’re going out on the patio for the next 45 minutes of our session.
Lisa Schulteis [00:28:58]:
Because it was an all day facilitated workshop and it was great. Everybody got up, we had sun. I mean, sun does amazing things to us.
Lisa Schulteis [00:29:06]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:29:07]:
We were outside by the water. That can’t hurt, you know, and it just. It was enough to rejuvenate it that we were able to finish the workshop. Otherwise, I think the workshop would have just fallen flat because everybody was like, yeah, it’s after lunch, I’m tired, whatever. So again, simple things. It doesn’t take a lot to kind of re energize people. It doesn’t take a budget.
Lisa Schulteis [00:29:30]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:29:30]:
All she did was say, let’s walk outside.
Alysse Bryson [00:29:33]:
Super helpful. Super helpful.
Libby Sundgren [00:29:35]:
Okay, Lisa. We have a segment on here called It Ain’t Bragging if It’s True. We know that ain’t isn’t technically a word. Or maybe it is a word now. I really haven’t checked it in the dictionary lately, but we still like to use it. We, Elise and I have had the pleasure of attending an event here in Seattle that we love, that we feel like a lot of our listeners have also probably been to. And you’ve been producing it for years now. The Northwest Event show or directing it.
Libby Sundgren [00:30:03]:
Tell us how far the event has come in just a few short years because we have seen lots of changes. And tell us how you are steering it into the future of hybrid and sustainable events.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:16]:
And before you answer that, Lisa, I just want to jump in and add to that. That to me from my perspective. And we’ve gone. We’ve gone every year for ever. It feels like, I don’t know, forever. I felt like this past year, 2025 was like, so many more people, so many new things that I hadn’t seen before. Whereas there have been years where it’s always great, but I don’t walk away thinking, oh, that was totally new. And this year the energy was different.
Alysse Bryson [00:30:49]:
That it felt more crowded or more full. I don’t know if that was just a different layout and you guys played tricks on my mind, but I would.
Libby Sundgren [00:30:56]:
Love to hear neuroscience hack. What was it?
Alysse Bryson [00:30:59]:
Yeah, what? What was it? Because there was just. I felt like there were so many more people there, and the energy was just. Was ratcheted up. So I’m just curious about that.
Lisa Schulteis [00:31:07]:
Yeah, absolutely. So actually, let me address that space question first, because it’s interesting. We had, within probably a couple hundred, we had the same number of people this last year in March as we had the previous two years. And what felt different was the space. So we went back to the Arch building at the convention center. And so we love where we were the two years before.
Lisa Schulteis [00:31:38]:
Right?
Lisa Schulteis [00:31:38]:
Brand new convention center building. Who’s not going to love it? Lots of windows, but we were spread across multiple floors. And it was great because we got to highlight the building. We had all the space to work with, but it was too much space.
Lisa Schulteis [00:31:54]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:31:55]:
And so people were like, there’s no way you had that many people there. And I’m like, I could show you the reports.
Alysse Bryson [00:32:02]:
Wow. Yes, we did.
Lisa Schulteis [00:32:03]:
Okay, so simply moving it back to the Arch, where everything was on the same level, change the energy of the event. And.
Alysse Bryson [00:32:15]:
Absolutely it did.
Lisa Schulteis [00:32:16]:
It was phenomenal to watch it, and it was phenomenal to hear all the comments after the event, because all I’ve heard is what you just said.
Lisa Schulteis [00:32:26]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:32:26]:
The energy felt better. We had, instead of having exhibitors on two different floors, everybody was in the same space and same room. And so because it was a tighter. Not in a negative way, a tighter space and a smarter use of space is probably a better way to put it. The energy level on the floor, you could hear it more, Right. You could feel it. It was reverberating in you. Education was just down the hallway, Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:32:57]:
So everything was right there. People got to see each other a lot more because you’re passing each other all in the same space. So space is a huge thing when we’re talking about psychology and how we do events. And sometimes we have to reevaluate where we’re holding an event, because even Though it’s better, right? Quote, unquote better or different or whatever term we want to put with it, it just doesn’t feel the same. And we were getting that feedback and we wanted to give that feeling back to the attendees. So that was a big change last year. I can already tell. June 26th, we’re going right back to the arch and we’re doing it again.
Lisa Schulteis [00:33:42]:
And. But it’s, it. It’s a really good lesson for everybody that space matters.
Lisa Schulteis [00:33:47]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:33:48]:
And you really need to evaluate that space and make sure that it matches your event. So really important, you know, it’s. It’s. It’s not always the look, it’s not always the, you know, the amenities. It’s not sometimes it’s just how you’re going to do that layout and how that layout feels. So that was a really important part of it last year. And, and yeah, we. We all walked away from that just going, wow, this is what we wanted.
Lisa Schulteis [00:34:14]:
Right?
Alysse Bryson [00:34:15]:
It was one bigger isn’t always better. I mean, you guys and that to actually, when you stop and think about it, that makes sense because for an event, if there’s too much space, then there’s too much empty space. And that wasn’t the case in the years before. It was. That was divided up. But that makes total sense now. But as somebody who even went ever goes every year, that’s not something that was easy recognizable for me. I didn’t think about those things.
Lisa Schulteis [00:34:40]:
And even as it continues to grow. Yeah, and even as it continues to grow. So let’s say if we move to another building, we now will reevaluate still how we use the space in that building.
Lisa Schulteis [00:34:51]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:34:51]:
So it’s just a matter of. And every show is different, Right. I’m going to be attending another event here in November. They have five different venues, very different.
Lisa Schulteis [00:35:02]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:35:03]:
So it’s going to. Again, it goes back to our no. 1 size fits.
Lisa Schulteis [00:35:07]:
All right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:35:07]:
You really need to look at who your attendees are, what your space needs are, what that feeling is that you want in the building, and that’s going to decide, you know, where you’re going to end up. So I look at great venues all the time. I’m like, oh, this would be amazing here. But then it’s like, but, right? Do we get this? Do we get this? And it’s not, do we get this amenity? It’s, do we get this feeling? Do we get this reaction? Do we get this energy? And that’s what we need to be looking at. So definitely, in terms of space you know, that’s something that we need to look at in terms of where the show is going. We are continuing to evolve, and, you know, we have a little bit of a challenge, right? We have. We’re hosting an event show for the event meeting in the hospitality industry. That means we have a lot of people walking in and judging what we’re doing, right? Because we so many.
Lisa Schulteis [00:36:00]:
We go to another event and we’re like, well, I would have done that differently, right? So. Or why did they do that? So it’s even more of a challenge and more. I don’t want to say more important, but it really is crucial that we do things right and we meet people where they are. So we’re trying to kind of mesh together. This. These are the things that people expect, and we want to make sure that those things are there so that those expectations are met. But then we also want surprise and delight, and we want to bring in new things. And AI is not the only new thing that we should be talking about, right? So we want to bring in these different elements.
Lisa Schulteis [00:36:40]:
Whether it’s having a pickleball court on the. On the floor or, you know, education is really important. We really look at what our education topics are, and not only the topics, but how are they being presented, right? How are we rearranging the room? You know, what are those different things that we’re doing? So we’re, you know, we came back post pandemic. That’s when I first got involved. So the first year I was actually just helping out a little bit. The last three I’ve been in, you know, pretty much 100% diving in. But coming back from the pandemic was. Was interesting for this industry and then just continuing to then grow this show, you know, and highlighting the Pacific Northwest and this region as, you know, it’s such an amazing region to have an event.
Lisa Schulteis [00:37:33]:
And, you know, there’s so many. It’s not just Seattle, right. It’s Washington, it’s Oregon, it’s you, Montana, even Alaska. Like, it’s just this beautiful, beautiful region that people don’t think about. We’re always in Vegas, we’re always in Orlando. We’re always. Right. We’re in New York.
Lisa Schulteis [00:37:49]:
So it’s a privilege for me to be able to come in and not only highlight this region, but also to create an event that event industry professionals want to come to. And if you haven’t been at it yet, you should come to it because it’s just, you know, this industry is family, right? And it’s. It’s just a great gathering of people where we can still give you insights and ideas and send you off on something that you can implement with, you know, your business or with your clients or whatever the situation may be. So we’re just continuing to analyze it all the time to see how we can continue growing it and making it better for these amazing attendees that we have.
Alysse Bryson [00:38:39]:
Well, I think you are accomplishing all of that and more. One of the other things I liked about the show this year was. I’m sure there were other. There were. It was the area where you could go and listen to a speaker, but it was like dead center in the middle of the room, not off in a conference room. And you put headphones on. I loved that. I cannot remember the gentleman that I listened to.
Alysse Bryson [00:38:58]:
I think he was from Toronto. He was very animated and had a lot of charisma, so that you can never go wrong with that. But I just loved sitting there with headphones on while all the activities were happening all around me. I liked how that made me feel. I actually think it helped me focus more. I’m someone if I sit still for too long, even if I’m like loving the content, my body is like, oh, you’re sitting. Let’s go to sleep. Like, it’s like.
Alysse Bryson [00:39:25]:
Because I, you know, I’m just such a busy gal. So I really, really loved that aspect. You know, one thing you said at the beginning of this interview, I would like to just kind of touch back on and I know we have to wind down if we’re not careful. I’ll sit here and ask you 25 more questions. But you talked about mocktails. So. I have been sober for 19 years and I am so tickled with how the event space is changing in the alcohol free beverage sector. And at this year’s show, I saw several vendors, not just one, that were showcasing alcohol free spirit, botanicals or ready to drinks or NA beers.
Alysse Bryson [00:40:04]:
And what are you seeing with that movement? Because it’s so nice to me as someone who doesn’t consume alcohol. I got so tired of going to events and they’re like being such an afterthought. And now I feel like I get to celebrate alongside everybody else.
Lisa Schulteis [00:40:21]:
Yeah. And congratulations on 19 years. That’s a huge achievement. Yeah, it’s important. And I’m starting to see, you know, obviously we can always do things faster, Right? Obviously there’s a lot of things that have taken too much time, but there’s starting to really be a lot of traction with this. And there’s still events that they don’t quite get it right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:40:41]:
You.
Lisa Schulteis [00:40:41]:
You go. And they’re like, you know, here’s your soda. It’s like, I don’t want a soda. I want a girly drink with an umbrella in it. But I’m working, so I gotta keep my, you know, head on straight. So it is something that we’re really starting to see, I think, finally get some traction on it. I think we have a lot of space that we can go with it yet as well. But it is important.
Lisa Schulteis [00:41:08]:
It’s, you know, it’s meeting people where we are, they are. You know, we talk about that all the time. And it doesn’t matter whether, you know, you’re trying to, you know, make sure that you stay sober or you just don’t want to drink.
Lisa Schulteis [00:41:20]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:41:20]:
It doesn’t matter whether you are, you know, sensitive to sound, and you need to walk off the floor into a quiet room for 10 minutes and chill out. We need to meet people where they are. And so I think that everything with the mocktails is finally starting to make the traction. It has a lot further that it can go, but with everything else with these events, there’s a lot further that we can go. And I just tell people all the time, I’m like, pick one thing right. As you’re implementing, pick one thing, because this can get very overwhelming.
Alysse Bryson [00:41:54]:
Absolutely.
Lisa Schulteis [00:41:54]:
And implement that one thing and do it really well. And then if you do it really well, then next year you can pick something new.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:01]:
Yes.
Lisa Schulteis [00:42:01]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:42:02]:
And implement it really well. And don’t stop until you implement it well or until you decide it’s not right for us. We need to take this piece away.
Lisa Schulteis [00:42:11]:
Right.
Lisa Schulteis [00:42:12]:
We’re trying to do something that’s not appropriate for us for whatever reason, but just one thing at a time. Take it and, you know, do it really well and then move on.
Alysse Bryson [00:42:22]:
I love that. I love that advice. If you were my last question, I promise. Well, I can’t promise that, but I’m going to really try. If you were to give someone who’s new to the industry, maybe they just switch professions or maybe they’re coming up. What. Do you have any advice or hacks or tips that you might share with someone who’s new to the industry, who’s just getting their feet wet.
Lisa Schulteis [00:42:45]:
Yeah. And this might surprise you because it’s going to be totally different than you would expect. My advice is to take care of you. This industry, as much as I love it, I believe it is the third most stressful industry in the world behind what I think it’s military and healthcare. I know we all experience the stress and we have to take care of ourselves so that we can still take care of others. And so take the moment, right? Take the deep breath, walk away from the computer, walk away from the project for an afternoon, whatever it may be, to really take care of you, because that’s then when you can show up and you’ll have all of these great ideas, you’ll have this amazing team you can work with. Your brain power is going to be better, right? All of these different things. If you take care of you, those things are going to be better.
Lisa Schulteis [00:43:39]:
If you don’t, you’re going to burn out really, really fast. And that’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the people that you’re serving, whether that’s in your personal life or your business life.
Alysse Bryson [00:43:53]:
You couldn’t be more accurate. And I, I’m always reminded of, you know, the put your oxygen mask on, like they say, when you’re correct, you know, on a plane. And as someone who, who has been in the event industry or touching it for two and a half decades, I definitely learned the hard way because I did, I did not take care of myself and I burned out early on and I had, I had health consciousness consequences from that. And so I think that that’s not just a tip, like, that’s. It’s actually vital that people do do that piece of it for sure. Well, Lisa, this has been such a delight. We’re just big fans of you over here at Beats Working and you’re definitely winning the game of events. That is a wrap for this episode.
Alysse Bryson [00:44:42]:
Would you like to tell our listeners where they can find you?
Lisa Schulteis [00:44:45]:
Yeah, the easiest place is probably actually on LinkedIn. I am there all the time. And so if you just search for my name of Lisa Schulteis, you’ll be able to find me. I connect with everybody, so just send me a connection request. Would love to have a conversation and keep this going.
Alysse Bryson [00:45:02]:
I would say you’re very good at that. I can remember even messaging you a couple years ago. Well, that is all the time we have. If you have an idea or you want to reach out, please email us at infoetsworking show. And remember, every detail matters, every moment counts, and no matter what, the show must go on. Thanks for listening to Beats Winning the game of events, where we explore what it takes to make moments unforgettable.
Libby Sundgren [00:45:29]:
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 [00:45:38]:
Beats working is a work. P2P production. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to to subscribe, rate and review us on your favorite podcast platforms.
Libby Sundgren [00:45:48]:
Your support helps us keep the magic going.
