Getting to Know Your Hosts: Meris Gantt and Andrea Elaver [Episode 1]
Press Play Below on Episode One, Getting to Know Your Hosts, Meris Gantt and Andrea Elaver:
Meris started in theatre and had a roundabout journey through the service industry and into the Wedding Biz. Andrea went from Biology major to circus performer and somehow found her way into the event world finally landing on the corporate event side of the spectrum.
In this meandering conversation, we’ll explore how they made it to where they are today in their event planning careers.
Meris’ Journey:
Music Theatre -to Service Industry- to Weddings
Planning her own wedding and how that led to a career in wedding planning with The Whole Shebang. Exploring the crossover between theatre and event planning.
Timing, public speaking, being aware of how you present yourself to the world, the production element, logistics and how all of the pieces fit together. Direction, multi-tasking and so many things happening simultaneously. Seeing the BIG picture.
Dynamics between planner and client and other vendors. Managing people that don’t work for you.
Andrea’s Journey:
Biology Undergrad- to Circus Performer- to Restaurant Industry- to Weddings- to University Event Planner
On Productivity: Creating the environment that you want to work within. Starting with the tactile elements vs logistics first.
The difference between corporate events and weddings:
Where you start, what the end goal is, fundraising, delivering information, guest experience, helping the client discover their WHY, work wardrobes.
Repeat customers vs. one time customers and little details that make your clients feel seen.
Starting point - mapping out vision vs strategy - What is the goal of each event?
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