Coffee Chat - From Grounds to Greatness: How One Cup Can Transform Your Entire Event

Grab your favorite brew and settle in—this episode of Smart Start Radio dives into the unsung power of your event's coffee craft and the importance of customization. 

Smart Meetings' Digital Content Manager, Malik Anderson, joins Host Eming Piansay to unpack why steaming mugs play a bigger role in events than planners often realize.

From triple-shot habits to beverage-based bonding, Malik and Eming explore how your drink station reflects your event’s personality. They share behind-the-scenes stories, planner oversights (tiny cups, anyone?), and creative ideas for energizing attendees, from local partnerships to espresso cart activations. 

Spoiler: Malik’s caffeine routine might just outpace yours.

This isn’t just about beverages—it’s about building thoughtful moments, one refill at a time.

Transcript

Smart Start Radio: From Grounds to Greatness - How One Cup Can Transform Your Entire Event

[Intro music]

Eming Piansay Welcome back, Smart Start Radio family. We have a very special, special episode today in our Coffee Chats series. As you can see—or hear—we have someone new joining us. He’s the backbone of Smart Meetings. If you’ve never met him before, it’s Malik Anderson. We’re so happy to have him. Malik is our amazing editor and digital content manager, and he’s been holding it down for over six years now. He’s the magic man behind all things web-related at Smart Meetings and has saved my life more times than I can count. Malik, welcome to Smart Start Radio.

Malik Anderson Great to be here. As Eming said, I’m always in the background of things, so it’s very interesting to be on the podcasting side. Never thought I’d be here today, but yeah, I’m the digital content manager. I work on getting stories on the website, as well as writing content for the web and the magazine. That’s about it.

EP And for this Coffee Chat—which was actually your idea—you suggested we talk about what we drink, and how something as simple as coffee plays a big role in events. It’s like this invisible rope between attendees and their experience.

MA Yeah, a lot of events put a ton of focus on food—presentation, creativity—but coffee tends to sit in the background. It's just there, usually in a carafe, basic and overlooked. But people rely on it. I feel like it deserves more attention.

EP Agreed. I’ve overheard so many conversations—people annoyed there aren’t lids, or that there’s no milk alternative. When things like that aren’t available, it’s noticeable. Kind of like tech: when it works, you don’t think about it. But when it doesn’t? Everything stalls.

MA Exactly. And usually, you’ll just see hot coffee and maybe decaf. If you’re lucky, some juice. But where are the cold brews, the tea lattes, the other customizations people are used to?

EP Fun fact—from about five months ago. Our creative team tried tracking our coffee intake across the team, just for fun. You technically won. Twice, actually.

MA I did, and part of that is because I work remote. But also, I don’t think we tracked my intake right for the first few months. Once I understood the rules—shots count, cups count—it was clear I drank the most.

EP What’s wild is you’re probably the most chill person on the team—even though you’re consuming the most caffeine. That’s fascinating.

MA What I usually do is three triple-shot Americanos a day. One around 7 a.m., another around 11 or 12, and a third before the workday ends. If I only have two, it feels like I’ve had none.

EP How do you make them?

MA I got a DeLonghi espresso machine at the end of last year. I usually do a double or triple shot, Americano style. Always hot.

EP I’m more of a latte person—I like using the frother in the office. Sometimes with just a little milk and a hint of sweetness. Very basic. But that’s kind of the point—everyone has their routine.

MA Right. So why don’t events reflect that? At IMEX, I’d say about a quarter of the booths had coffee setups with baristas making custom drinks—and those booths always had more people.

EP We personalize F&B all the time—so why not coffee? We have cocktail bars with flair bartenders, but no coffee artists. One of our team members found an agency that brings custom coffee carts to events. I love that.

MA Same. That could even be a team-building activity. I’ve seen a shop in Ohio that offers cold brew-making sessions and something called Brushstrokes and Brews—like a paint-and-sip, but with coffee.

EP That’s exactly the kind of thing people remember. They take pictures, they post about it. It creates a deeper memory than just handing someone a carafe of black coffee.

MA And some events offer alternatives like juice shots or energizing wellness drinks. I think that’s great too. It’s still personalization—it still makes people feel seen.

EP Even little things matter. Cup size, proper lids, local coffee partnerships. It’s not hard, but it really shows care.

MA Yeah, when I travel, I always ask the hotel or locals where the best coffee shop is. If planners reached out to those businesses, they could bring something special to the event.

EP Okay, serious question: What’s the best coffee you’ve had while traveling?

MA Calgary. Earlier this year. A local café—can’t remember the name off the top of my head—but it was a downtown shop. Best Americano I’ve ever had. It actually made me consider moving there.

EP Wow, moving for coffee! That’s intense. Mine’s not as exciting. Honestly, it’s usually whatever is closest to my hotel. I did have a moment at a resort in Florida where they made custom lattes on-site. I remember feeling so happy and seen.

MA That’s it right there. Coffee, done right, makes people feel thought of.

EP Last question. If you could only drink one coffee-based drink for the rest of your life—what would it be? And you’re not allowed to say Americano.

MA There’s this place in Vegas called The Coffee Class. They make a brown sugar latte that tastes like a churro. I always make it a triple shot. That’s the one.

EP That sounds incredible. Malik, thank you for being here for your first Coffee Chat.

MA Thanks for having me. I’d love to come back—next time, I’ll bring more examples.

EP Deal. And thank you to our Smart Start Radio family for listening. See you next time!

[Outro music]