Julius Solaris

Boldpush

Boldpush is a vertical agency helping corporate teams and associations with their event strategy.

Go-to-market, content, registration and sponsorship strategy.  

Past clients include: SAS, Swoogo, Kaltura, InEvent, Smartsource, BW Events Tech, IMEX, Bizzabo, Tourisme Montreal, Visit Newport Beach.

Founder

Hopin

I looked after Hopin's go-to-market strategy for the meetings and events industry. I learned a lot about tech, they learned a lot about events.

VP of Marketing Strategy, Events

Swapcard

My first tech role after 15 years in media. We figured out a complex content machine in a few weeks. I loved the team and had a lot of fun.

Head of Engagement

EventMB

EventMB (now SkiftMeetings) was the point of reference for the event industry. Bootstrapped and sold in 2019 to Skift. We revolutionized the way to do content in the event industry, influenced trends, and had fun while doing it. Millions of readers and numbers never seen before in our industry.

Editor In Chief - EventMB, a Skift brand

Showthemes

I thought the market needed WordPress themes specifically made for events. Turns out I was right. 6,000 customers later I sold the business.

RS Components

The first proper job I had in the UK. Set up a social media strategy when it was just a buzzword. Loved the boss and the team.

e-Commerce Marketing Executive - Social Media

blur Marketing

Crazy first work experience in London. Creating a crowdsourced marketplace from nothing and turning in a revenue. Unbelievable.

Head

amiando

Evangelised and developed business for amiando in the UK as well as online.

UK and online evangelist

ecoCamp

A user-generated conference covering ecology, the environment, sustainability, and green consumption (http://barcamp.org/ecoCamp).

Organizer

Natuzzi

I was checking the compliance of advertising across the world with branding guidelines. Plus: seeing the founder, who is a genius, stopping by the office, the team, the scope of the company. Minus: a boring task.

Worldwide Retail Advertising Supervisor

My free weekly newsletter read by 20k event professionals -> insights.Boldpush.com

I am obsessed with media, content, and events. I sold two businesses, a tech company and a media business, worked in fast-paced environments, keynoted worldwide, planned iconic virtual events during the pandemic, and wrote reports downloaded 300k times. 

Longer story:

I founded EventMB (exited to Skift in 2019) and Showthemes, exited in 2018, and worked for technology companies and tech events. 

I have been in senior marketing positions in hypergrowth tech companies. Recently, I founded Boldpush, a management consulting agency for the event industry. 

In 2023, 8 million LinkedIn users read my content and I became a Top Voice, an invite only program for top content creators on LinkedIn.

The government of the United States granted me an EB1 visa as an alien of extraordinary ability for my contribution to the event industry and research on event technology.

Many publications have nominated me as the most influential individual in the event industry for several years.

300,000 event professionals downloaded my books.

Boldpush is a vertical agency helping eventtech, corporate teams and agencies grow.
Go-to-market, content, registration and sponsorship strategy.  


Every trade show I go to, I ask 2 exhibitors how it was. Every time one says it is awesome, the other says it is horrible.

We’ve seen it all.

Those on their laptops.
Those giving away pens.
Those (94%) not downloading leads from the app.

It’s with them, right?
Is it?

I mean, you can’t educate every brand on how to do events.  
But their success is your success.

If you think about it.
Their ability to close business means repeat business for you.

Should we provide an exhibitor coach at every trade show?

Forget about those resources that nobody has the time to read. 
What about an actual human who spends the time sharing best practices?

Someone who actually explains how the hell that hosted buyer program works. Or why you need to get on those leads within 24 hours.

A stretch? Feasible?

P.S. If you spend $$$ exhibiting at events, let me send you the best strategies and tactics every Wednesday.

35K event marketers and planners cannot be wrong.

Look at what’s on top next to my name. That is my free newsletter.

Events Consultant and Creator | Follow me for insights on events, marketing and technology.

Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, got served a subpoena on stage while participating in a panel.

Olivia Wilde experienced the same thing at CinemaCon in 2022.

This is a concerning trend.

Serving subpoenas at public events is indeed legal. 

What concerns me is how easily accessible the stages are.

When hosting high-profile speakers and celebrities, security should prevent anyone from stepping onto the stage. 

At CinemaCon the following year, there was a tight grip on the first rows when celebrities were on stage. 

Making security visible is also needed in many cases.

Stage accessibility can open up a nightmare of security issues and emulation.

I often discuss how in-person events are serving as an antidote to online polarization. How they connect opposing views.

But that polarization does not magically disappear.

Should we do more to protect the safety of our speakers?

No alternative text description for this image

Club Ichi

Co-Founder and head of community for Club Ichi, a friggin' awesome membership community for B2B Event Marketers

Conference sessions on inflatable unicorns, 2:30 a.m. exploding pajama parties, secret business trips, lots of hugs, and a whole lot of people just looking to help each other. 

If you're looking to advance your career, expand your network, and build relationships that transcend business, Club Ichi is the place for you. 

Join in at weareichi.com

Co-Founder, Chief Community Officer

The Community Factory

Most events aren’t designed to build deep connections. We apply our Power in Company Method to help to spark the relationships the drive revenue.

Our Spontaneous Think Tanks will revolutionize your conference, advisory council, trade show, or field event. 

Need to keep the community feel going all year long? We're your Community as a Service (CaaS) solution for companies looking to drive pipeline and revenue through loyal, organic growth strategies.

Co-Founder, CMO

Haute Companies

Haute Companies is a collection of brands that embrace the unconventional to build human-to-human connections. Our collection was made up of creative agency Haute, music venue Haute Spot, speed shop Haute Motorworks, and SaaS platform Swag Hub.

As the founder of Haute Dokimazo, I created conversation-based experiences virtually and in person, as well as epic and memorable virtual adventures that drive connection. 

In launching Haute Rock Creative, I led the event team that supported Fortune 500 clients with global ABM programs, product launches, trade shows, and hospitality programs, along with event strategy and program design. 

As CMO over all of the Haute brands (Haute, Haute Spot, Haute Motorworks, and Swag Hub), my role was to manage and implement branding and marketing programs to drive awareness and create demand for our offerings. In 2021, we rebranded Haute Dokimazo, Haute Rock Creative, and Event Works to be a single creative agency called Haute.

Cedar Park-based music venue Haute Spot was sold to our production partners, Lightstream, in July 2022 and I continue to be an owner and investor in that company.

Marketing director leading the IBM experiential & digital event team, client references team, and brand strategy team. Responsible for the development and execution of the Analytics & Hybrid Cloud global event strategy & execution, as well as customer references, case studies, and video testimonials. Our team collaborates with performance and portfolio marketing team and uses a data-driven approach to strategically implement campaign goals into the right large and small 3rd party tradeshows, product launch events, C-level activities, roadshows, digital events, and customer stories.

Program Director, Event Marketing, Customer Advocacy, & Brand Strategy

Marketing & advocacy director overseeing the strategic community engagement initiatives for the IBM Analytics advocacy program, including community events, customer advocacy, and virtual communities. 

Engage the community by bringing IBM Analytics strategy to life through experiential product launch activities for clients, influencers, press and analysts. 
- Direct IBM Analytics Champions program, advisory councils, and advocacy & community programs, engaging customers and building community among IBM advocates. 
- Create and develop Analytics Platform Services C-level engagement, including the IBM CDO Summit program, a community-building event for Chief Data Officers, as well as branded and 3rd party CIO activities. 
- Bring creative and inspiring experiences to IBM clients, analysts, press, and employees through unique Signature Moment product launches. Drive experience strategy, manage agency partners and vendors, and oversee brand consistency across multiple workstreams including digital, social, AR/PR, offering management, and portfolio marketing. 

Milestone events include:
- Cloud Data Services Open for Data campaign launch, punctuated by an 80' inflatable dome in the parking lot of Mandalay Bay during IBM's 20,000-person Interconnect conference. 
- IBM Data Science Experience launch event, featuring an Apache Spark community event in partnership with Galvanize in San Francisco.
- IBM Watson Project: DataWorks launch event, attracting more than 650 data-driven professionals in NYC.

Program Director, Thought Leadership Event Marketing & Advocacy

GasPedal

Strategic leader recruited by CEO to create 3 year event roadmap, departmental strategic plan, staffing plan, and align systems to prepare for growth and scaling the event program. 

Coordinate across departments to ensure accuracy and brand alignment of marketing communications and attendee logistics communications. Manage speaker selection process, including evaluation of speaker relevancy to prospective customers and the geographic area being targeted. 

Note: Once the strategic initiatives were completed in August 2015, and it was determined that company growth plans had stalled, my role changed to a strategy consultant position and I launched Cheshire Moon Consulting, with the support of GasPedal CEO Andy Sernovitz.

VP Events

Dell

Director of global strategic planning for cross-business unit Tier 1 and Tier 2 B2B event marketing programs. Worked cross-functionally to identify key messages, funding sourcing, participation levels, and ROI targets. Directly responsible for coordinating funding, core team creation, and messaging constructs for more than 75 top tier events.

Created Dell's premier customer conference, Dell World. After launching the event in 2011 with 2,500 attendees, the conference grew to 6,000+ attendees in 2012 and over 8,000 in 2014. Led more than 50 workstreams including event messaging strategy, customer journey design, digital marketing, partner funding strategy, marcom, audience acquisition, vendor management, budget management, virtual event, event logistics, and customer follow-up communications and ROI measurement.

Led the global strategic planning team, driving initiatives ranging from evaluating event participation, marcom alignment, funding alignment, and onsite solutions and technology support for more than 150 events. 

Led global operations for Dell's event marketing function, focusing on vendor consolidation and spend efficiency, while leading a team of professionals who support day-to-day event activities. Launched corporate-wide strategic meetings management program globally, launched event master service provider program for cost savings and spend transparency, drove cost savings initiatives through operational efficiencies saving the company millions of dollars.

Marketing Director

Managed North American event marketing team of 18 team members responsible for executing relationship events in the US and Canada. Events portfolio included tradeshows, advisory councils, C-level events, hospitality events, roadshows, customer conferences, and large internal sales events. Led all aspects of team engagement from strategy to execution to measurement, including reporting event metrics to the business unit leaders.

Led the development of dell.com/events, and created and managed social media engagements for @dellevents Twitter account. Completed certification for Social Media and Communities Professional designation at Dell.

Marketing Director, B2B Event Marketing

As part of the management team, created an event measurement process, lead technology and process improvement initiatives, created quarterly ops reviews, managed events from conception to completion, produced executive customer profiles of global C-level event participants. Managed global event and marcom budget.

Managed team that executed all internal software & Peripherals sales trainings in Round Rock, Oklahoma City, and Nashville.

Created, managed, and maintained operational tools that facilitated efficient processes and workflows for global Large Enterprise Marketing and Global Event Marketing. Negotiated and implemented global event infrastructure technology tools including event registration and inventory management. Managed budget processes for the Large Enterprise Marketing organization, building the organization's first online spend management tool. Created online customer engagement portal dell.com/events, and internal global event management calendar.

Senior Manager, Business Operations, Large Enterprise Marketing

Delivered customer-focused executive briefing experiences at Dell's Executive Briefing Center. Consulted with sales teams, presenters, executives and coordinated with the office of the chairman to customize build-to-order briefings based upon the customer requirements.  Facilitated high-level discussions as part of the briefing pre-work process, identifying the customer need and responding by delivering a world-class customer experience.

Executive Briefing Consultant (contract through Aquent)

Texas Association of Assessing Officers & Texas Society of Professional Surveyors

Directed professional development program, including scheduling more than 65 state-certified courses and instructors each year. Expanded professional education program from Austin-only classes to six regional training centers. Planned, organized, and marketed association's annual conference. Managed exhibit hall and sponsorship sales. Designed all conference marcom collateral. Managed all negotiations for annual conference hotel and convention center contracts.

Editor-in-Chief of the TAAO's monthly magazine. Managed editorial calendar, content curation and creation, managed magazine P&L through advertising sales, and negotiated all print and distribution contracts with publishing vendors. 

General nonprofit management and administration responsibilities included negotiating, evaluating, and awarding vendor contracts, as well as maintaining corporate bylaws, trademarks, copyrights, and ensuring brand continuity.

Director of Education and Community Programs

Consultis of Austin

Worked with clients to identify high potential candidates for short term, long term, and permanent placement within their organizations. Managed all marketing of open position announcements, resume screening, interviewing, and facilitated the onboarding process.

Technical Recruiter and Account Executive

National Instruments

Worked with product marketing specialists to develop media plans, pitch, and placed articles in scientific and engineering trade magazines. 

Worked cross-functionally with technical writers and graphic designers to develop technical marketing collateral for vertical market products. Designed and maintained department intranet site and International Marketing Conference website and registration database.

Established and managed high-tech company’s relationships with various organizations for sponsorships and product donations (United States Olympic Committee, KVUE-TV-Austin, Boston Museum of Art, United Way of Austin, Austin Nature Center, North Austin YMCA, Austin Ice Bats, and Austin Chamber of Commerce).

Media Relations, Internal Communications, & Community Relations/ CSR Specialist

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District

Placed as a cooperative education student through the journalism program at Texas A&M University. Managed editorial calendar, content creation, writing, photography, layout and design of monthly district news publication distributed to more than 3,000 Corps of Engineers employees. 

Other duties included preparing slide shows and presentations for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ District Engineer, designing promotional displays for public exhibitions, working at exhibition booths, designing web pages for Houston-Galveston Ship Channel, and answering general inquiries by phone and in person.

Public Affairs Officer

Making your event more engaging for attendees.

What if... you had a place where you could connect with other B2B event marketers to advance your career and share your knowledge?

What if... you could ask a community of peers for ideas, guidance, help, templates, best practices, and they would actually respond?

Hi, I'm Liz Lathan. I run Club Ichi, the #1 place for B2B event marketers to connect.

I am driven by curiosity and learn best from conversation and behind-the-scenes experiences. So I create events where those things happen. 

Club Ichi: Our community and content for B2B Event Marketers (get in here at www.weareichi.com)

The Community Factory: Our team that helps companies like yours make events better for your attendees (and keep them connected all year long). www.thecommunityfactory.com

I'm often called "The What If Girl," thanks to my daily LinkedIn posts encouraging event professionals to think about new ways to engage their audiences at events, and my weekly newsletter, The Engaged Attendee. 

A 20+ year veteran of corporate event marketing life, I ran the global event team for Dell and created Dell World in 2011. I ran the global event team & customer advocacy program for IBM's Analytics & Hybrid Cloud division. I'm one of the founders of experiential agency Haute, and an investor in Haute Spot, a music venue in Cedar Park, Texas. I'm a writer, investor, speaker, and frequent traveler.

P.S. No I don't want to start a franchise or get my PMP Certification. Thanks, though. ;-)

Liz Lathan, CMP

Today, a dream two years in the making came true. 

Two years ago, we set a goal of 525 Club Ichi Insiders to create a vibrant community of members who help create life-altering connections and conversations for event professionals. 

Tess M. Vismale, CMP Fellow, DES, CGTP has been helping us do outreach to our 11,000 newsletter subscribers and other potential Club Ichi members to invite them to become Club Ichi Insider to access the inner circle of activities, content, members, and get first-dibs on our coolest experiences. 

And she just told me that we did it. 

Today, member #525 signed up. 

Keith Johnston, I'm SO excited to welcome you to the Club Ichi Family and I cannot wait to get to know you and introduce you around the club!!!

It's a day I'll always remember, 11/17/2025. 

Thank you to Dana Ellis for being our very FIRST Club Ichi Insider in December 2023, and to Keith Johnston for proving that two years later, we're still building momentum and creating a place that people feel proud to be a part of. 

Not an Insider yet? 

Get in here. 

#weareichi
Nicole Osibodu, XOXO
Stephanie Taylor
Betsy Stewart

We call it “networking,” but most event agendas are designed to prevent it.

We stuff the schedule with sessions - back-to-back-to-back!

We pack the ballroom with chairs in perfect rows, facing forward. Sit and get.

We leave “networking” for a cocktail hour where everyone’s too tired, too introverted, or too busy checking their phones. Or the music's too loud, or there's no place to comfortably sit and talk.

Then we wonder why people are skipping out on the sessions.

Often, networking doesn’t happen after the content....it happens *instead* of some of it.

If you want people to talk, you have to give them permission (and time) to do it.

Shorter sessions, bigger breaks, better space.

Most often, the most valuable conversations aren’t happening on stage; they’re happening at the tables, in the hallways, and at the hotel bar.

Take a look at your conference agenda and see where you can give your attendees more room to actually meet each other. 

#weareichi

Three weeks.
Three cities.
Three unforgettable experiences.

→ Scotland for our Event Minds Matter Empowered by Club Ichi experience.
→ New Orleans for Swoogo’s event.
→ Evermore Orlando Resort for the Club Ichi Barefoot Business Retreat.

You’d think after all that travel, I’d be ready to collapse.

But here’s the wild part:
I’m not tired. 

I’m overflowing!!

Ever feel like you can’t possibly take in any more good things?

Like your cup runneth over with ideas, inspiration, and warmth?

That’s where I am right now.

Not slowing down.

Not taking a break.

I’m about to explode with inspiration from these past three weeks, which filled me with new projects, partnerships, and possibilities.

So many photos. 
So many thoughts. 
So many feelings. 

I just have to figure out how to organize it... 

The sparks are flying!

Coming up:
→ Job Search Council, November 17
→ 7-Minute Demos, November 20
→ Ichi Academy: Fearless AF: Turning Burnout, Breakdown & Curveballs into Your Comeback Story, November 18
→ The Club Ichi Annual Telethon, December 5th
→ The Atlanta Spontaneous Think Tank, December 5-6th

And that's not even the NEW IDEAS!!

I got banned from an eventprof Reddit thread last month.

"Flagrant self-promotion," they said. 

Me?!?!!

What'd I do wrong?

I found the community on Reddit. 

I scrolled through the posts looking for any that I could meaningfully contribute to. 

I saw one about a job hunt, so I "helpfully" suggested our free Club Ichi Job Seeker membership. 

I saw one about industry events someone should consider for the fall, so I "helpfully" suggested the Club Ichi Spontaneous Think Tank in Atlanta December 5-6th. 

I saw one about where people are looking for field marketing conversations, so I "helpfully" suggested the #field-marketing channel in the Club Ichi Slack. 

Boom. 

Banned. 

But why? I was just being helpful!

Here's what I learned:
“Helpful” isn’t defined by you, it’s defined by the community.

If you haven’t earned trust yet, your good intentions read as self-interest.

You have to show up before you share.

Listen first. Contribute without your logo attached. Let people see that you’re there for the conversation (not the conversion).

It stung, but they were right.

I see it when we get a new member in Club Ichi who jumps into the Slack channel and throws a self-promotion across 5 channels as their first move.

They don't mean to. 

They aren't trying to be super salesy. 

But I have to delete their posts and send them a note asking them to drop an introduction following our intro template in the introductions channel, then drop their sales pitch over in the pitch-slap channel, then just read. Just read. Just scroll and read. 

Here are my tips for jumping into the Club Ichi community (and the ones I *should* have followed on Reddit):

→  Lurk with intention.
"Long-time listener, first time call caller" is the way to go. Spend your first couple of days just listening. Notice what people actually talk about, what problems keep surfacing, and who’s already helping.

If you can’t describe the culture, tone, and rhythms of the group yet, you’re not ready to post.

→  Contribute context before content.
When you finally speak up, add perspective, not promotion. Recommend someone ELSE on a post (don't make your first post about recommending YOU). Share a story, a question, or a “this worked for us, and here’s what we learned the hard way” insight.

→  Build micro-relationships first.
Comment thoughtfully on others’ posts. DM someone to thank them for an idea. Offer value in small, personal ways before you ever make a public ask or share your own work.

Every community has it's rhythm. 

Learn it before you jump in and starting beating your own drum. 

#weareichi

This guy. 

When Nicole and I were just launching the company, Paul Coulter reached out and asked how he could help. 

I didn't know. 

A few months later, he reached out and asked how he could help again. 

I still didn't know. 

He offered business guidance, advice, perspective. 

He wanted to help. 

I didn't know what we needed and I didn't know what we didn't know. 

Then a year or two later, it hit us. 

Evermore Orlando Resort was looking to beef up their executive offerings and Club Ichi is jam-packed full of folks who run executive events, board meetings, incentive trips, and retreats. 

So together we'd craft an experience that would pair Club Ichi style with Evermore luxury, and get real ideas and feedback from our participants on how they could go to market for these types of programs. 

"But, Orlando?" 

We thought after spending our last retreat on a yacht in Croatia with conference sessions on inflatable unicorns that Orlando would be... well, not Croatia. 

Wow, were we wrong. 

The homes were stunning. 

The service was impeccable. 

The luxury was palpable. 

The facilities were indescribable. 

The hospitality was warm (even if the weather wasn't, with a freak cold snap!).

Owned by the same company that owns the Red Solo Cup, it's should come as no surprise that they know how to cater to gatherings. 

But this place was was like the Red Solo Cups were made out of fine china. 

Warm and inviting, but with taste and style.

Paired with the elegant Conrad Hotels & Resorts at the other end of the Crystal Lagoon, Paul made sure that we knew Evermore was ready for high end guests. 

I wouldn't call what Paul and the Evermore team did for us "helping."

I would call it a monumental gift to our community, one that changed what was possible for so many of us in a single, generous act.

If you're looking for a place for your company's next incentive trip... 

If you're looking for a place to host your next board retreat... 

If you're looking for a place for your next vacation... 

You've found it in Evermore Orlando Resort.

And if you're looking for the most strategic thinker, a visionary mind, and all-around amazing human, we've found it in Paul Coulter.

-------------
In honor of Thanksgiving in the US, I'll be doing daily "Rampage of Appreciation" posts in full gratitude to the Club Ichi partners who have made running this community possible.

WHEW! We got it all pulled together and I'm SO EXCITED TO SHARE IT!

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!!

It's that time of year when Nicole and I get to host our annual Club Ichi Telethon!

The idea was born back in 2023 when David T. Stevens suggested it would be a fun way to launch a Club Ichi membership.

We gathered up 75 global friends for a day of conversation, fun, games, prizes, and insanity. 

Our friends at BËTR Productions said yes as producers and loaded up a truck full of equipment to drive to Scottsdale where our friend Nick Capozzi gave us his studio to broadcast from. 

Back then, BETR was a tiny startup and Nick was running a content company. Now BETR is a global phenomenon, making breakout session technology easy and scalable for large events (check them out: https://betrshows.com/), and Nick is CRO of a Soma Peptides!!!

We had a Slack channel and some local supper clubs in Austin with our friend Chereen Fisher at Lodgewell to show off her properties and bring local event peeps together. 

Two years later, Club Ichi is a global phenomenon in it's own right, with more than 11k subscribers and more than 530 Insiders.

40% of our members are in-house corporate/association event professionals, 30% are solopreneurs/freelancers, and 30% are agencies, suppliers, vendors, keynoters, and all the other folks who make up the ecosystem of B2B events. 

Our annual event has evolved into a giving machine, bringing together 500+ members and future members to learn, share, play, and be silly together, all to celebrate our community and give back to SEARCH Foundation and Live Events Coalition & build up the coffers for our Club Ichi Wellness grants supporting Event Minds Matter Empowered by Club Ichi.

This year, we're broadcasting live from the LeaderPass studio in Atlanta, GA, with a remote from bb Blanc in Toronto, Canada. 

Thanks to Tess M. Vismale, CMP Fellow, DES, CGTP and Janice Cardinale VEMM for making those happen!

We're featuring conversations to bring education, inspiration, celebration, humor, fun, delight, talent, intrigue, and meaning featuring:

Famous Rocktioneer Seth Weiner 
Kevin Hinton, CAE
Carina Bauer
Marc Ghafoori
Isaac Holt
David T. Stevens®, PMED
Fiona Wilson
Henry Coutinho-Mason
Wendy Porter
Tracy Judge, MS, CMP
Jeremy Parks
Marc LeDuc
Jennifer H.
Dr. Jess Garza, Ph.D., PMP, CMPC, LPC, NCC
Janice Cardinale
Sean R. Schuette, CMP
💫Marisa Cali
Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer, PhD, MBA, SPHR, BCC
Gabriella Robuccio
Kate Patay, CPCE
Paula Arevalo
Natasha Botbijl, CSP, ACC, MMP
Mustafa Senhaji 🚀
Jeremy Patuto
Ricardo Hicks, Jr.
Johanna Behm
Anca Platon Trifan, CMP, WMEP
Matthew Petmecky
Scott Mukai
Crissy Manwaring, MBA
Megan Martin, CMP, DES, MPA

I hope you'll join us on Friday, December 5th from 5a to 2p PST | 8a to 5p EST | 1p to 10p GMT for our day of community celebration. 

This is the pop-in, pop-out event of the year and we welcome you to celebrate with us!

https://lnkd.in/ebacDi_c

2025 Club Ichi Telethon

I'm grateful for Nicole Osibodu, XOXO.

I'm grateful for Club Ichi.

I'm grateful for our community who has rallied to co-create something really special with us. 

I'm grateful for the thousands of incredible humans we've met along our journeys and for the ways they've enriched our lives. 

I'm grateful for yachts and inflatable unicorns. 

I'm grateful for spacruzzis that you can drive around a lagoon.

I'm grateful for secret trips to unknown destinations. 

I'm grateful for small group conversations on the couch. 

I'm grateful for my family who puts up with my travel schedule and constantly reminds me that I need to bring them with me next time.

I'm grateful for my parents who taught me the joy of travel and the warmth of hospitality. 

I'm grateful for white wine and gin and tonics. 

I'm grateful for you. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

#weareichi

What if...

You customized every.single.notebook for each of your attendees with a custom caricature of the recipient?

(Pssst... it's possible!)


#attendeeengagement
#randomthoughtsbyLiz

📸 : Mike Goebel might be your solution. 

---------
🎉 Get more ideas like this in our weekly newsletter, The Engaged Attendee. Subscribe at: https://lnkd.in/e3F8WEWH

Do your business relationships feel like this?

If not, you might be doing it wrong. Or maybe we are. Who knows?

What we DO know is when you have members and partners that you can count on for damn near anything, you can make bolder decisions, take bigger risks, and move faster than your competitors. 

That's what NMR Events and Kyle Morris are for Club Ichi.

No problem's too big. No problem's too small. Maybe they aren't the answer, but they probably know the person who is. 

And having someone like that in your corner, well that can make all the difference. 

Maybe you need a Kyle Morris in your corner, too. 

#weareichi
cc: Nicole Osibodu, XOXO

------------------------
In honor of Thanksgiving in the US (and into the greater holiday season), I'll be doing daily "Rampage of Appreciation" posts in full gratitude to the Club Ichi partners who have made running this community possible.

In honor of Thanksgiving in the US, I'll be doing daily "Rampage of Appreciation" posts in full gratitude to the Club Ichi partners who have made running this community possible. 

I'm kicking off this season of gratitude with our friends at Marriott Bonvoy. They were one of the very first partners to jump in with Club Ichi in late 2023 when the idea of a real community was officially coalescing into something real. 

By offering their Taste of Platinum program (which gives a 90-day trial of Marriott Platinum Elite membership) to new members, we had an instant perk to offer to help us build membership. 

Fast-forward two years, and we've put more than 500 members through the Taste of Platinum program and logged hundreds of hotel stays at Marriott properties around the world. 

A true partner in every sense of the word, from delivering programs that benefit our members to showing up at our events to sharing gifts and perks with our membership throughout the year, we are so grateful to Dan Shuman, Glenn Stress, Karen Peña, (and our OG David Shackley) along with the whole Marriott team for supporting our community!

#weareichi
#marriottbonvoy
#bonvoymoments
Marriott International
Marriott Hotels

The age of transactional experiential is over. 

I've seen it in action over the last couple of months at the events that I've been at: Surface-level "engagement" is going unused. 

Cornhole, arcade games, pool tables, self-serve photo booths... empty. 

Where were the people?

On couches. 

Or with feet dangling in the hot tub.

Or at the cafe tables.

Talking to each other. 

What if the only "engagement activity" you need is seating?

My post about Gen X job seekers went a little crazy last week. 

65,000+ impressions, 1,300+ reactions, 140+ comments, and 95+ reposts. 

So I heard from a LOT of hiring managers on why they don't hire Gen X anymore. 

A lot. 

And they didn't hold back in telling me why they are DONE hiring Gen X. 

Here's what they said:

1. Resistance to technology and digital tools.
Several Gen X hires struggled with Teams, Slack, Gmail setup, spreadsheets, or learning new platforms quickly. Employers explicitly noted “lack of adoption of software” and “slow learning curves.” 

2. Difficulty adapting to fast-moving, tech-heavy environments.
They often came from corporate settings that move at a slower, more structured pace. In fast, ambiguous, AI-driven teams, they were perceived as unable to keep up or make decisions without perfect information.

3. Failure to translate legacy experience to current needs.
Many led with long resumes instead of current, value-based storytelling. Hiring managers struggled to see how past achievements in big companies mapped to today’s smaller, agile teams.

4. Outdated presentation and communication styles.
Printed portfolios, long explanations, and monologues instead of concise digital-style storytelling were seen as “out of step.” Some missed basic social cues or over-talked, signaling lower emotional attunement. 

5. Lack of proactive ownership and accountability.
Reports of excuses (“computer issues,” “car troubles,” "caretaker duties") and tasks left incomplete indicated weak personal accountability and time management, as well as those with "side hustles" who had clear alternate priorities.

6. Visible stress or lack of “executive calm.”
Several managers observed that Gen X hires projected anxiety or frustration under pressure rather than poise. 

7. Overqualification without flexibility.
Many applicants had director-level backgrounds but were applying for specialist or manager roles. Once in the role, they projected airs of “too senior,” reluctant to be “happy doing the work,” or chafed at direction because they "knew better" from previous roles.

8. Misalignment between self-image and market demand.
Many Gen Xers position themselves as “veterans” or “leaders,” but the market seeks mid-level, moldable contributors. That disconnect creates mismatched expectations on both sides.

So here's the tough love moment, my Gen X friends:

You are the product.

You must find product-market fit. 

You must listen to your customer (the hiring company/manager) and you fix the problem they are trying to solve. 

No amount of experience, bravado, desperation, or gravitas will overcome the fact that they are looking for a round peg to go into a round hole. 

You MUST round off those pointy edges and fit the mold. 

Yes, your experience matters, but unless asked, your hiring manager does NOT want to hear about it all the time. 

If you want the job, stop proving you were great yesterday and start showing you can grow tomorrow.

A teeny tiny cold front is on it's way to us in the Austin area (teeeeeeny tiny), but that didn't stop me and Nicole Osibodu, XOXO from dreaming of our next escape to somewhere tropical!

Luckily our friend Karen Peña, CDS had the perfect solution. 

She sent over the latest and greatest Marriott Bonvoy properties in the Caribbean for us to dream about and try to convince our families over the Thanksgiving break to say yes to!

Check out these grand openings:
→ W Punta Cana | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/eNttBFCF
→ The Westin São Paulo | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/ejExj3_3
→ St. Regis Hotels & Resorts Aruba | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/eZ6gDTF8
→ The St. Regis Cap Cana Resort | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/eM2GcRJw
→ Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/eBH7KNCj

And a few featured beauties in Barbados! (I've never been there!! Hint, hint...)
→ Colony Club, by Elegant Hotels Group  | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/egRs_Zxb
→ The House, by Elegant Hotels Group | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/e3y9yyZs
→ Treasure Beach Hotel, by Elegant Hotels Group | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/ekKWMucv
→ Waves Resort and Spa, by Elegant Hotels Group | Visit this property: https://lnkd.in/eksQjbud

I took my fave pics from each property and put them into a look book so you can also spend your Thanksgiving dreaming of a sunny escape. 

You're welcome. 🥰 

Maybe we should do a Barefoot Business Retreat at one of these? 
Or ALL OF THESE?

Where to first?

#weareichi
#marriottbonvoy
#barefootbusiness
Nicole Osibodu, XOXO
Betsy Stewart
Tess M. Vismale, CMP Fellow, DES, CGTP
Sophie Ahmed

Marriott Hot Properties

This is NOT Jonathan Jow.

This is Manny. 

Manny is one of the many incredible photographers that Jonathan has hooked us up with over the years for our Club Ichi gatherings. 

From Austin to Las Vegas, Jonathan and the BoothEasy Photo Booth Company team always have our backs. 

He's the strong, silent type.

Never makes a fuss. 

Never wants anything in return. 

Just wants to help. 

And every single photographer he's sent our way has captured all of our magical moments. Captured the energy of the room. And captured our hearts. 

From startup advice to supporting us and our community in every way, we're so grateful to Jonathan for being an incredible friend!


-------------
In honor of Thanksgiving in the US, I'll be doing daily "Rampage of Appreciation" posts in full gratitude to the Club Ichi partners who have made running this community possible.

Gig 'em, Ags! Whoop!

Great reminder that's it's a four quarter game. 

Don't give up. Dig in. 

#gigem
#proudAggie

In honor of Thanksgiving in the US, I'll be doing daily "Rampage of Appreciation" posts in full gratitude to the Club Ichi partners who have made running this community possible. 

One of the first people we called when we launched Club Ichi at the end of 2023 was our friend Ben Nazario. We had grown the Slack channel to over 600 people and were looking to turn that group into something more meaningful and stable. 

Without hesitation, he responded with, "How can I help?"

Since then, we've:
→ Held a behind-the-scenes look at the process to build an event from a client brief at their headquarters in Paramous, New Jersey
→ We've been guests on their podcast, Squared Away
→ We've had Rita Meno Price and Bruno Silva as guests and facilitators at our Spontaneous Think Tank

And we're SOOOO excited to get a Behind The Brands look with them at CES in January for some of our members to learn what it takes to activate at the world's most incredible Consumer Electronics Show.

It takes amazing partners like this to build a thriving community, and we're so grateful!

You can catch our episode as guests on MC²'s podcast Squared Away right here: https://lnkd.in/eXCh22JE

#weareichi

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Julius Solaris

Liz Lathan, CMP

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The Battle

Julius Solaris

Liz Lathan, CMP

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Julius Solaris's LinkedIn Performance

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