#20 Planning an Unforgettable Kickass Conference with Isaac Watson

In this episode, founder and executive producer of Kickass Conferences Isaac Watson reveals how top-notch strategy and exceptional event design will make your audience sit up, take notice and get motivated to make real change.Isaac shares his experience turning a community event into a successful online summit and highlights essential considerations for planning your next (or first!) event. We also discuss the trends in bringing communities together after the pandemic, the importance of understanding specific elements of an event budget, and how to determine the best design for an event. Kickass Conferences help community builders upgrade to the next step: community management. Community management is the process of building an authentic community among an organization through various types of interaction.Isaac has produced over 50 conferences and gatherings worldwide, specializing in event strategy and design for communities. He is also an avid traveler and advocate for sustainable entrepreneurship. He splits his time between Vancouver and Palm Springs, California, with his husband Justin and their dog Zeus.Follow Kickass Conferences and connect with Issac:LinkedInTikTokInstagramEpisode highlights:02:11 About Kickass Conferences and why Isaac founded the company06:12 Propelling an event forward to make sure it reaches the finish line with ease07:17 Community building with events09:16 Maximizing impact on event attendees11:14 Event budgeting and walking through decision-making15:40 What Isaac learned about planning events during the pandemic21:05 Choosing an event location and venue32:23 Hybrid event challenges and opportunities38:24 The power of virtual events to promote individual contributions42:00 Speaker compensation packages and measuring speaker impact50:07 Using AI for event planning support53:54 What's next for Kickass Conferences and Isaac