In this video, Kennedy Events’ Senior Producer and Creative Director Marianne Jackson chats with Joel Costa, Director of Sales and Marketing at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, to talk about his experience working at the iconic Half Moon Bay property during the lock-down and get some insight into their re-opening plans.

How do you stop attendees from zoning out during your virtual events? Kennedy Events shares a few tips and tools to make sure you are keeping your audience engaged and glued to your presenter.

When hosts of in-person events had to switch to virtual experiences over the past year, most were not up-to-speed on what that involved. They may have had previous experience with Zoom or other forms of video conferencing, but the familiar solution isn’t always the right one. Even in a simplified video conferencing setup, making a program look like it’s more than your average “Monday-morning-all-hands-on-deck” meeting (with clunky screen shares, dropped audio, poor lighting, and that inevitable moment with someone forgetting they’re muted while the rest of the staff yells, “you’re on mute!”) actually takes a lot of effort. In this video, KE Partner Paige Buck breaks down three common virtual event misconceptions and shares a few ideas that will help lead you to virtual event success.

Want to hear about the time we thought it was a challenge to take an established fundraiser out of a country club ballroom and move it onto a grass field normally reserved for puppy training classes? Naturally, we hit it out of the park; delighting both the client and their guests during a beautiful evening spent outdoors raising money to support Marin Humane. Of course, in 2020, an evening with 350 guests—even an outdoor gala—simply wasn’t an option.

In this video, Kennedy Events’ Partner Paige Buck chats with K’Dee Miller of Patina Productions to discuss one of the biggest challenges of virtual events: making sure all of your speakers are not only prepared but that they have the equipment they need to give a successful presentation.

What happens when a luxury hotel has to grapple with a new event landscape? We could only imagine the challenge that so many of our favorite venues and hotels faced during the pandemic; with seemingly endless months of canceled bookings and empty rooms. Now, as restrictions are beginning to lift and we prepare for the possibility of live events in the coming months, Kennedy Events is staying on top of new regulations for in-person events that will keep our clients and their guests safe and healthy.

With the average adult attention span a short 10 minutes long, building an engaging agenda for your virtual event is the key to keeping eyes on that screen. Here are a few of the top dos and don’ts of agenda building for online events.

In this video, Kennedy Events’ Partner Paige Buck chats with Senior Producer Shelly Kim to discuss the opportunities—and challenges—involved with shipped items. Watch and learn how to make your pre-event deliverable a hit with attendees.

In this video, Kennedy Events’ Partner Maggie Kennedy speaks with Communications and Performance Coach Kelsey Crouch to find out her secrets for guiding presenters to success in the world of virtual events.

Kennedy Events’ Partner Paige recently shared a lively conversation with Avital Unger, the founder of the culinary experience company Avital Tours, all about how to elevate your virtual gathering with a mixology experience.

In this video, Kennedy Events’ Partner Paige Buck breaks down three of the biggest misconceptions about hosting a virtual event and shares a few ideas that will help lead you to success.

Kennedy Event’s roots are in producing events for the nonprofit sector and we love it when we have a client with a cause that we can wholeheartedly get behind. So, when BRIDGE Housing, who we had previously worked with on their 700-person gala, contacted us in July to help them with a virtual event we jumped at the opportunity to partner with them for their annual Stein & Colwell Scholarships Fundraiser.

Imagine an evening where your team members receive a package full of festive goodies including a cocktail kit and snack-box shipped directly to their home; add in some live entertainment, games, fun, and laughter! In this video, KE Partners Paige Buck and Maggie Kennedy talk about our Bash Toasting Together package. We really can thrive even when it’s not live!

If you’re feeling like keeping your team connected and engaged has never been more important—or more challenging, you’re definitely not alone. Our remote team is based in locations from coast-to-coast so we were luckier than most when working from home became the norm for 2020. That doesn’t mean this past year has been easy.

In this video, Kennedy Events Partner Paige Buck and Senior Producer and Creative Director Marianne Jackson had a lot of fun talking about the why and how of what works for meaningful social engagement during virtual events. Yes, it’s possible to thrive even when it’s not live!

After 20 years of business, we have an enviable Rolodex full of incredible vendors as well as a plethora of ideas for live events. When we shifted into virtual events, we had to take a beat and reassess what would translate well for a digital experience. One thing we knew right away: this was definitely not an apples-to-apples situation.

It’s hard to fathom how a furniture rental company could reinvent itself when there are little to no live events to be had, but our friends at Taylor Creative Inc. came up with nothing short of brilliant ideas. KE Creative Director Marianne recently sat down with Taylor Creative founders Bobby and Mary Taylor to get more details about this powerhouse furnishings company, learn about the amazing team (an integral part of their continued success!), and indulge in a fangirl moment with one of our favorite rental companies.

Does your organization need help to navigate the world of virtual events? Are you stuck wondering if you should even host a virtual event? Maybe you’ve stumbled trying to select the best platform? Take this short quiz to help determine If you should go it alone or call the experts.

We have been witness to the landscape of live events becoming dormant and giving way to the emergence of virtual events. The event industry is made up of tenacious solution seekers and many of our vendor friends have been finding creative ways to not only survive but to thrive in our changing climate. Marianne Jackson, Creative Director of Kennedy Events, recently sat down with Tom Durante, trusted partner and owner of The Lux Productions, to talk about how he reinvented his 20-year-old AV production company as a go-to resource for virtual event fundraisers.

At Kennedy Events, we’ve always had a lot of fun imagining innovative ways to incorporate the branding of event sponsor(s) into multiple aspects of our events. It’s natural for us to apply that knowledge to the realm of virtual events. Here are just a few creative ways to incorporate your sponsors into your virtual event—before, during, and after!