GUEST: Why Every Company Needs an Event! w/Tahira Endean Head of Program IMEX | Ep. 418

Summary

Podcast Summary: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

Episode Title: GUEST: Why Every Company Needs an Event! w/Tahira Endean Head of Program IMEX | Ep. 418
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Host: Jay Schwedelson (A)
Guest: Tahira Endean, Head of Program, IMEX (B)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, host Jay Schwedelson interviews Tahira Endean, a highly celebrated figure in the event industry and the Head of Program for IMEX. The conversation revolves around the critical importance of events for companies of any size, practical strategies for securing stakeholder buy-in, and actionable advice for both event planners and those aspiring to speak at major industry events. The discussion also weaves in insights about the limitations of digital tools like AI and why real human connection at live events is irreplaceable.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value of Live Events for All Companies

[03:43 – 05:47]

• Events are Essential Regardless of Company Size:
  • Tahira emphasizes the universality of events, stating both small and large organizations benefit from gathering people together.
• Human Trust is Built In-Person:
  • “You can accomplish more in 10 minutes of a live meeting than in 64 emails… We do business with and we buy from people we trust and brands we trust.” (Tahira, 03:53)
• Tangible Experience Beats Digital Communication:
  • In-person interactions foster trust and positive experiences far more effectively than emails or virtual meetings.

Memorable Quote:

• "The best way to build a relationship with them is to do something live with them." (Tahira, 07:39)

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2. Justifying Event Budgets and Identifying the “Why”

[06:47 – 10:16]

• Intentionality is Crucial:
  • Tahira stresses you must have a clear reason (“why”) for hosting an event; without it, don’t bother.
• Design for Memories and Joy:
  • Reference to her book Our KPI is Joy: the importance of creating memorable touchpoints that participants will remember.
• Know Your Stakeholders:
  • Consider what stakeholders want—better business, growth, deeper connections—and ensure the event delivers on those needs.

Memorable Quote:

• “If you don't know why you're holding that meeting or event, then don't do it.” (Tahira, 06:49)
• “If you are doing a brand act at an event...you need to think about what are going to be those five touch points for those three minutes of memories that are going to make somebody want to do business with me.” (Tahira, 08:58)

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3. Events vs. Digital and AI—The Case for Human Connection

[10:16 – 12:19]

• Events as the Antidote to AI Sameness:
  • Jay and Tahira discuss how in-person events offer unique, emotional, and non-replicable experiences, in stark contrast to the homogeneity of AI-driven content.
• Historical and Evolutionary Importance:
  • “It’s the future of marketing because it's been the whole reason across history that we have existed and continue to grow as human beings.” (Tahira, 10:56)
• AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement:
  • AI is acknowledged as helpful for efficiency, but nothing replaces the spontaneity and richness of live human interaction.
• COVID as a Reminder:
  • “We stayed home. We hated it...we couldn’t wait to get back to events and see people.” (Tahira, 11:42)

Memorable Moments:

• Jay: “In person events are like the opposite of AI. It’s the ultimate break of AI.” (Jay, 10:17)
• Tahira: “Humans for the win. Every time.” (12:17)

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4. Secrets to Getting Event Sessions Accepted

[12:19 – 19:44]

• Session Titles & Formats:
  • Listicle titles (“5 Things to Avoid in 2026”) are good for short, focused sessions but not always favored for more complex topics.
  • Tahira discusses curating content for global audiences, balancing partner-submitted sessions and what she personally programs.
• Understand the Audience:
  • Customize content based on the specific interests and cultural expectations of each event (e.g., IMEX America vs. IMEX Frankfurt).
• Depth & Authenticity in Speakers:
  • “Be a thought leader. Be an authentic thought leader...you have to know the most about your one thing.” (Tahira, 17:13)
  • Organizers do background checks—speakers must prove they walk the talk.
• Show Audience Benefit:
  • Communicate not just what you’ll say but why it will matter to the audience.
• Know the Event’s Audience:
  • Tailor topics to the attendee profile; e.g., don’t pitch hotel sales tactics at an event for planners.
• Leverage Your Network:
  • Recommendations from respected speakers carry weight; networking is critical.

Rapid-Fire Speaker Submission Advice:

• Must-Dos:
  • Be authentic and knowledgeable.
  • Clearly show audience benefit.
  • Tailor your pitch to the specific event and its audience.
  • Use your network for recommendations.
• Never-Dos:
  • Don’t pitch generic content.
  • Don’t ignore the needs and priorities of the event audience.
  • Don’t exaggerate your expertise—organizers investigate!

Memorable Quotes:

• “We all go out and hunt you down and make sure that you are the person you say you are.” (Tahira, 17:27)
• “Know the audience that you are submitting for, that’s really, really important.” (Tahira, 18:46)

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5. “Our KPI Is Joy” & Final Tips

[20:08 – 21:04]

• Book Reference:
  • Our KPI is Joy is available on Amazon internationally—praised as an accessible, fast read full of actionable inspiration.
• Real-World Feedback:
  • “People start reading it and then they’re texting me like hours later. Not only did they start the book, they finished the book and now they’re adding joy metrics into their event design.” (Tahira, 20:30)
• Easy to Connect:
  • LinkedIn is the best way to reach Tahira (“There’s not 17 of me... Please connect.” 20:44)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the Unique Power of In-Person Events:
  • “You can accomplish more in 10 minutes of a live meeting than in 64 emails.” — Tahira, 03:53
• On Building Relationships:
  • “The best way to build a relationship with them is to do something live with them.” — Tahira, 07:39
• Events vs. AI:
  • “Humans for the win. Every time.” — Tahira, 12:17
• Advice for Aspiring Speakers:
  • “Be an authentic thought leader… show some interest in what the audience is going to get out of it.” — Tahira, 17:13
• Personal Branding:
  • “Nobody decides on just one session. We all go out and hunt you down and make sure that you are the person you say you are.” — Tahira, 17:27

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Recommended Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:43 — Why every company needs an event
• 06:47 — Justifying event costs and budget
• 08:49 — Designing events for memorable touchpoints
• 10:16 — Events as the antithesis to AI-driven marketing
• 13:31 — Tips on getting your session accepted at events
• 17:13 — Rapid-fire advice for speaker submissions
• 20:08 — Where to find out more about Tahira and her work

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Final Notes

This episode is lively, practical, and packed with wisdom for anyone involved in marketing, events, or professional development. Tahira’s expertise and Jay’s humor make for an engaging listen, rich with actionable insights on creating memorable events and building meaningful professional connections in a world increasingly dominated by digital sameness.

For more from Tahira, find her on LinkedIn or grab her book, Our KPI is Joy, on Amazon.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to do this, not that, the podcast for marketers. We share quick tips, things you can do right now, and then we add a little bit of chaos at the end of every episode. We also keep it short like this intro. Let's check it out. We are back for do this, not that podcast. And I'm excited because we're going to be talking about why your company, Big, Small, Medium, doesn't matter, why you should have an event and how to stand up doing an event. And I have the person like the actual perfect human being. So who's here? We have Tahira Endin. Now maybe you know Tahira if you're in the event world because she is the head of programming at imax, which is the global heartbeat of the entire event industry. But besides for that, she's incredible. She co founded a company called Strategy Table, but even beyond that, she was named one of the top five women in event technology. She's been inducted into the meeting hall of fame in Canada. She's been named like Top 20 Most Fascinating Women, women and events. She's won a lot of stuff. She basically has an egot, you know, the Tony, Oscar, Grammy thing. And her latest book, our KPI is Joy is so great because basically she's teaching us how to infuse happiness and all these things that you can't just measure like in a boring attribution meeting. And she crushes it. So we're going to talk about events. Tahira, welcome to the show.

[B]

Thank you, Jay. I have admired your work and listened to the podcast for a long time, so I'm excited to be here.

[A]

Well, I'm so sorry to have wasted so much of your precious time.

[B]

That's all right.

[A]

It is what it is. All right. So did I. Before we get into how and why any size business should think about staying an event and the value of it, what do you actually do?

[B]

What I actually do is I've spent about three decades working across the entire spectrum of live events. From taking, you know, the fancy things like taking 140 people to a glacier for lunch, to now what I focus on is creating education for the event industry. So personal and professional development, twice a year, a couple hundred sessions that happen at both of the IMAX shows. You're going to be there this year. So excited about that and really just making sure that our event industry stays current, relevant for that. We're bringing, bringing what is needed for business through live events.

[A]

I love it. I love it. And by the way, the best part about what you just said is you like gloss over. Yeah, I program a couple hundred sessions. I'm like, dude, if I have to program like two sessions, I'll have a breakdown. You're like, yeah, just a couple hundred, no big deal. It's, it's, it's a walk in the park. I can only imagine your inbox. It's got to be a disaster.

[B]

It's, you know, we have processes, we have a team. It's, you know, it's, it's busy. But and honestly it's, I love it, you know that what I, the only part I don't like about my job is having to say no to people. That's the hardest part because there's many people who come with really great ideas, but we can only fit things in and our job is to curate. So every year we have to curate and keep it fresh. So that's what we're doing.

[A]

Yeah, I basically say no every time invite somebody invites me out for dinner. So I don't feel bad saying that though. But back to all this. Okay, so now somebody's out there listening. They're walking, they're driving, they're like, well, I don't have an event. This episode's not for me. But no, it is because doesn't matter. If you're a five person company, you're a solopreneur, you have a thousand person company, you don't have an event at your company and you should, and Tahir is going to tell us why you should. What is the value? And then how do you win over stakeholders? So hit me up with it. Why do I need to have an event if I don't have an event?

[B]

Well, so here's a little fun statistic that I heard a few years ago was that you can accomplish more in 10 minutes of a live meeting than in 64 emails.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Now I've tried to find the attribution for that, but I think even without attribution, we can easily say that we can get more done meeting people face to face at any time about any subject than we can in any amount of emails. It doesn't matter how big or small your company is. We do business with and we buy from people we trust and brands we trust. Why do we trust brands? Because they had a pretty ad? Not so much. We trust brands because we've had a positive experience with them. And that positive experience could be with the actual product or service itself. But it's usually, especially when you're making large buying decisions is going to be because you trust the People that you're doing business with. And it's very difficult to build trust in emails, phone calls, virtual meetings. It's not impossible. It just takes a lot longer than it is. When you sit down with somebody, look them in the eye. Even this, you know, we're doing a podcast and we can see each other and, but there's still a microsecond delay and you can't see my body language. You can see my head. You have no idea what I'm doing with my hands or my legs or what's going on down there. So I might have my fingers crossed behind my back while I'm telling you these stories, but I don't, but it's, that's why, you know, and whether that you have a small, you have a small event that is well curated dinner or a 15,000 person conference, like going to IMAX, so much business is done on that show floor. You know, 83,000 one to one meetings last year.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

So, but why do people do that? Because you build trust when you sit down and look somebody in the eye and it works.

[A]

So I, I could, I couldn't agree with you more with this idea. And I'm, I'm really thinking right now, let's say on the small side of an event, whether it's a dinner or maybe you do some sort of, you know, thing at like a ping pong place. I don't know why I'm thinking about that, but anything like that. And you're like, I want to do this. And I agree with you, by the way. I've never participated in an event where after the event you don't feel more connected to the people that you just spend time. Well, I may not want to feel more connected to them. They're horrendous people and I like to block them. Not only on social media, but, and I think they're very sketchy and weird, but I feel more connected to them. I try to sometimes get unconnected from them, but that's a whole, that's, that's a me problem. But in general, so now you're like, okay, I'm buying into Tahir and Jay. I want to win the day. I want to put on a 20 person event, 100 person event for my company, whatever. How do you go about, you know, everyone's fighting for budget dollars these days. How do you say, listen, let's take dollars from here and put it here or find new money for this thing. What is, how do you justify that cost out of the gate?

[B]

Well, you have to Have a why. So if you don't know why you're holding that meeting or event, then don't do it. You know, so there's, I mean, there's lots of processes, you know, we, there's, you know, the. I wrote our KPI as Joy. Before that, I wrote intentional event design. In both cases, I talk about, you know, things like the event design canvas or other tools that help you get through that process of why that are, you know, you're trying to do really intentional event design and really think about what you're doing and really design for it. That's great. If that's your, your role is event designer, then please dig into the tools that are going to support your job. But if you are, you know, an event marketer, a field marketer, somebody who is just trying to get budget for your event, just think about why you want to do it. And you don't want to do it because you want to go and spend money on dinner. That is not what it's all about. It's thinking about, who are my stakeholders? What do they want? Every stakeholder wants better business, more growth, more better connections. That's really good, Mobera. But we want to have, we want to work with clients that are good clients. We want to work with clients that we trust and that trust us. And we want them to do their business with us and not with somebody else. The best way to get them to do that is to have a relationship with them. The best way to build a relationship with them is to do something, live with them. And so when you're trying to think about what that event is going to be, here's what happens at so many events. You know, you say you go to events, you always have a good time, it's great, you leave. So here's what happens. We go to an event as a human and two people attend the event. One is the experiencing self. So the experiencing self is the one who is anticipating the event, enters the event, experiences the one to five days of the event, and then goes home. How much does the remembering self remember of that?

[A]

Not a lot.

[B]

Not a lot, no. So if you are doing a brand act at an event, if you are doing a event of your own, you need to think about what are going to be those five touch points for those three minutes of memories that are going to make somebody want to do business with me. If you can't figure out what your stakeholders want, how you're going to deliver that, who the audience is, that's going to be part of your event and how, how you're solving a problem for them by having them come to this event and then creating something that's going to deliver to both of those things. Don't do an event, but if you know that what you want to do is help your stakeholders with their growth and trust building, you want to have an, you have an audience that is going to appreciate the content, the connections, the environment, the all of the things that are going to give them those memories that are going to build happiness, productivity, trust, connection. All of those things that are going to bring people together to remembering self can go away and think, wow, that was a great experience and I want to work with that company again. Then you should definitely be investing in events because it's going to be the thing that's going to give you the most forward momentum the fastest.

[A]

When I think about an in person event of some kind, the thing that gets me excited now is that it's the opposite of AI. Right? In the world of AI, which is great, I'm all in on AI, there's this massive regurgitation of everything and we're just getting this like endless amount of sameness and hit from every angle, social, email, whatever. But in person events are like the opposite of that. It's the ultimate break of AI is do you feel like we're about, we're, we're heading in a direction where small in person events, big in person events, doesn't matter what you call them, is the future almost of marketing because of AI.

[B]

It's the future of marketing because it's been the whole reason across history that we have existed and continue to grow as human beings. So yes, AI is just a tool. Let's be real. AI is something that supports us in the work that we do. We might write session descriptions faster, we might be able to spew out reports faster, we might be able to connect some dots between themes that might take us longer to scroll through and find than AI can find for us in a stack of paper. We saw it with COVID What happened? We stayed home. We hated it. First we loved it and then we hated it. And then we couldn't wait to get back to events and see people. AI is just the digital layer of that. You know, it's there's. Because AI is pulling everything and homogenizing it. Of course it's homogenous. Yuck. Who wants homogenous? What we want as humans is to have rich emotional experiences that feel safe, that bring a sense of challenge, that bring a sense of we've overcome that bring a sense of joy. And we can't do that with AI, but we sure can do that with.

[A]

Other humans and humans for the win.

[B]

Humans for the win. Every time.

[A]

All right, now I'm putting, I'm putting you on the spot right now because you're the ultimate person that I could ask this to. And this is terrible, but I don't care. So you talked earlier about you basically plan hundreds of sessions at imax. IMAX is like the ultimate event for the event world. So you, you're the person like, okay, this session's a good one. We should do it. This session we're going to pass on. Okay, so everybody out there, whether they are saying it or not, they would love to speak at events or maybe they would love to get more sessions accepted at events that they're applying to, to speak. So I want to know from you, if you're willing to share. I didn't ask you this beforehand, so I'm a horrible person. What is it that you're looking for? And I want to ask you, like, very specifically, like, does this matter? So I'll hit you up first. If someone submits a session, okay? And the title, the title of the session is like a listicle. The five things that you avoid in 2026. The three most blah, blah, blah. Do listicle format, titles of sessions, do they resonate more with you, the person who's deciding, than those that are not listicle? Because I always tend to do these listicle ones.

[B]

So I think that lists are great for. They're great for two things. They're great for blog posts and they're great for short directed sessions. People are going to walk away with very specific information. You know, I think it's. We plan two events a year and we design them year round. And you know, the one in Frankfurt is very different from an education perspective. It's not very different, but it's different than America. And it should be because it's different audiences with different needs on different continents with different priorities. There's a lot of similar priorities, of course, but big topics, inclusion, sustainability. Those kinds of things have different imperatives and different needs. And so, and then we have a lot of. So I'll use AI as the example. Everybody's like, we're going to talk about AI. Great. I don't plan any AI sessions because of this. Of those 200 sessions I cure, I curate specifically about half. And about half come from partners. All those partners want to have their stake in the ground on AI they are doing. We had 14 or 16 sessions last year on AI, I did one. So it's also, for me, it's also about balancing out, knowing what all of our amazing partners with very specific audiences because they're, you know, associations and media and, you know, they, they know their audiences and they're bringing us good content, great content, but I don't want to bring the same content. So what I'm looking for is content that's going to balance out the program and give us a lot of personal and professional development, you know, for America this year. The US Surgeon General just wrote the Prescription for America at the beginning of the year that said you have a huge problem with loneliness, isolation and, and divisiveness. And so you need to build community. And he was, he's right. And so we have a lot of sessions this year that are, for people to spend a lot of, to have the opportunity to have personal and group reflection and activities and action that are around how do you build community so that when they're working with, within their own organizations and their, or their own associations or in their own selves and communities, you know, how do we give grace to ourselves and to others? How do we show people that they matter? We have some amazing speakers coming that are covering really that whole gamut. Would we have done that in Europe? Not in the same way because again, it's just a different, it's different culturally. So while we have global audiences at both, there's still a balance of those global audiences. So know, I think it's sometimes it's about, I like the CES approach actually, which is to say we aren't not looking for your topics. We are looking for the best speakers and the deepest experts across all realms of technology. Please submit them. Your Please nominate people or please nominate yourself. And then we as the program committee will decide what our program is going to be. And I think that that's a great approach.

[A]

So. Okay, I love that and it makes a lot of sense with the time that we have remaining. I, I need you to tell me rapid fire the with the session submissions, what are in general, what are must do's and what are never dues. What are when to hear is like okay, zero, they're out or oh yeah, this is going to be a good one. Whatever hit me up with everyone needs to know what does the list look like?

[B]

So be a thought leader. Be an authentic thought leader so you don't have to know about everything. You have to know the most about your one thing. And don't just be a thought leader. When you submit the session, because nobody, nobody decides on just what. On one session, we all go out and hunt you down and make sure that you are the person you say you are. So anybody who's doing this kind of.

[A]

A role.

[B]

Be curious and interested. Like, show some interest in what the audience is going to get out of it. Don't just say what you're going to say. Tell us how the audience is going to benefit. Understand what you're applying for. So I will give you my IMAX example is I get. We get a lot of submissions from people who want to talk to hotels and resorts or want to talk to salespeople, and that's what their session is about. That's great. Except that at imax, all of those people are busy selling. There's. We have 10,000 people that are selling on the show floor. Some of them, and particularly some of the more senior leaders are dropping by. Our education, our education is focused on the meeting and event planner and organizer, association, agency, corporate, independent, doesn't matter. And that's 71% of our audience at any time in any of our theaters. So that's who we build for. Now, if you want to sell to resorts, there's other things that are really, really good for you, other events that are really, really good for you. I'm happy to even recommend those other events because I go to a lot of events. So know that, know the, the audience that you are, that you are submitting for, that's really, really important. And then work, you know, to get to know the other people that are the. Some of the best speaker recommendations I get are from other speakers. And, and guess what? Because I've seen them live and I know them, I trust them. So if they say, I just saw somebody that I think would be a great fit for imax, can I introduce you? Yes. And I'm still going to have them submit, but now I'm submitting. Now when I'm looking at them, I'm looking at them in context. So use your relationships, build your networks and submit smart.

[A]

I love it, and it's so true. Building your network is so important to me that it's everything. All right, before we wrap up here, everybody needs to go out there and get our KPI is joy. This book is fantastic. It comes from this happy perspective. So to hear how do we get the book, how do we follow you, how do we consume it all? Let everybody know how to get involved with your world.

[B]

So the book's on Amazon, so that's the easiest way to get it in a bunch of countries around the world, so it's easy to find. You know what, it's a really easy read. I'm gonna end. What's really fun for me is is that anybody who is in event marketing who's picking it up and reading it, sometimes you pick up and you're like, oh, I'll get to that. They start reading it and then they're texting me like hours later. Not only did they start the book, they finished the book and now they're adding joy metrics into their event design.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

I mean, yes, thank you. That's amazing. And that has happened multiple times where people start texting me in the morning and, you know, oh, I just let my two kids play on the couch all day. And I finished your book. Great. So it's, it's, it's useful information and LinkedIn, honestly, is the easiest way. I'm Tahira ending. It's like there's. You're not going to find 17 of me. Just like you're not going to find 17. Jay Schwedelson's right. Please connect.

[A]

Yes. All right, we're going to put it all in the show notes and just so everyone could spell Tahira. It's T A H I H R A. And then it's ending E N. No, no, it's not. I spelled it wrong. No, it's T A H I R A. I'm A. I mean, that's not even debatable. I. I'm an idiot. T A H I R A. We're leaving this in a hundred percent. Ending E N D E A N. That's who you've been talking to for the last 20 minutes. An absolute idiot. I'm so sorry. But thank you for being here. This was fun. You did it. You made it to the end. But wait, the party is not over. Listen, I want to keep hanging out. Subscribe to this podcast and if it wasn't the worst podcast you've ever listened to, give it a five star review. Why not? But you know what? I want to do even more with you? Go to guru mediahub.com and we can partner there. You can find out about all of our free events, all of our stuff. And if you're epically bored, go to jschwedelson.com and we could see Stay connected. You could find my newsletter and everything else I got going on. Thanks for being here and hope you subscribe.