S2E27: You Can't Automate a Room

You built a whole brand on automating everything. Pipeline analysis, campaign builds, cold outreach that books 20 meetings off a dusty spreadsheet. And then you sit down to dinner with eight people and watch a deal close that no attribution model will ever capture.

This episode is about that gap. Stacie sits down with Kelley Troia, founder of Clandestine Events + Experiences, who has spent 14 years engineering the rooms where C-suite relationships and deals actually get built - for the NBA, Formula 1, IndyCar, and the quiet executive dinners nobody posts about.

If you have been optimizing every funnel and still feel like the real business is happening somewhere you are not, this is the episode that tells you where that room is - and how it gets built on purpose.

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Events Are Architecture, Not Logistics
- Kelley came up through corporate retail - eight-plus years at Walmart and Whole Foods - so she thinks about an event the way a CFO does: what is the outcome, and how do we justify the spend
- Why the goal is making both the marketing client AND the CFO happy, so they reinvest in the next one
- How a struggling business idea born at a Jazz Fest surprise party turned into 14 years of high-stakes production

What Actually Gets Engineered Before Anyone Sits Down
- The guest dossier: a guest-by-guest breakdown of pressure points, interests, and how each person connects back to the client's business
- Why one person can never carry a table - Kelley puts at least three of the client's people in the room to float, check in, and keep everyone engaged
- Sound as the most underrated lever in the room: the loud restaurant that kills the one conversation you came to have
- The "red thread" - every element subtly tied back to the business, the client, the guest, and the reason they are there

IRL Slop and the Return to the Room
- Kelley's term for the flood of badly produced in-person events - and why they do real damage when time is the most valuable thing a guest gives you
- The post-COVID, AI-era pendulum swing back to community, and why people are starving for rooms built for serious business minds, not hair-and-makeup filler
- The "puppy petting area" pet peeve: things bolted onto an event with no tangible connection to why anyone is there
- "I produce events people won't shut up about" - and the trick of changing something every 20 to 30 minutes so nobody leaves early

Rooms People Never Forget
- The two-weeks-notice Formula 1 Austin build: a graffiti artist creating custom pieces during dinner, private transport to Billy Joel with side-stage access, then front row at the Chainsmokers
- The Mardi Gras experience for Bay Area guests: private airport pickup, a Bourbon Street balcony, full costuming, a brass band and Mardi Gras Indians through the French Quarter, IV drips, and their own float in a day parade
- Scaled-down moves that still land: a tableside martini cart, the chef telling the story of the meal, an artist who shows up midway through

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Key Takeaways

- The venue is about 20% of the value. The real work is who sits next to whom, how the night is paced, and what the host knows walking in. That is the part most people skip.
- Design the room around one outcome the client can name. If you cannot say what "success when you walk out the door" looks like, you are throwing spaghetti at the wall with a catering budget.
- Time is the most valuable thing a guest gives you. IRL slop does not just waste an evening - it makes people say no to the next invitation.
- In-person is not nostalgia, it is leverage. As more business gets automated, the room you build by hand is the thing software cannot replicate.

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Resources + Links Mentioned

- Clandestine Events + Experiences: https://clandestine-events.com
- Kelley Troia: kelley@clandestine-events.com
- Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara (the 11 Madison Park sledding story Stacie references)

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About The Guest

Kelley Troia is the founder of Clandestine Events + Experiences, a strategic hospitality firm she has run for 14 years from New Orleans and Austin. After eight-plus years in marketing operations at Walmart and Whole Foods, she builds curated, high-stakes rooms - from intimate executive dinners to NBA All-Star, Formula 1, and IndyCar activations - where the through-line is always the same: every room is a business tool with a purpose. Her contribution to this episode is the operating manual for treating an event as architecture, not logistics.

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About The Host

Stacie Sussman is the Founder and CRO of RevUp Advisory, a revenue operations consultancy that helps CMOs at $30M-$50M B2B companies fix broken marketing and sales systems from the foundation up. With 17 years in sales management and a front-row seat to what actually breaks inside scaling companies, Stacie brings both the strategic vision and the hands-on execution that most consultants can't offer.

She's also the creator of StacieSussmanTeachesAI.com - an AI education platform built specifically for experienced business leaders who are ready to stop watching the AI wave and start building with it.

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Connect With Stacie

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staciesussman
- Website: StacieSussmanTeachesAI.com
- RevUp Advisory: https://www.revupadvisory.com

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If You Loved This Episode

Subscribe to C-Suite Strategies so you never miss an episode. And if this one hit home, share it with the founder or CMO who keeps pouring budget into events and still can't tell you what they got back - this episode is the blueprint they have been missing.

Your next big business breakthrough could be an episode away.

Connect With Stacie

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staciesussman
- Substack: https://staciesussman.substack.com/
- RevUp Advisory: https://www.revupadvisory.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Hey B2B leaders, feeling stuck in your growth journey as you've exhausted all your plays? Tired of doing things the same way and not seeing results? I'm Stacy Sussman, your host, and this is C Suite Strategies, your podcast for the explosive business growth you've been chasing. We'll bring you conversations with industry visionaries who've truly mastered the art of scaling businesses. This isn't just theory, it's what we live and breathe every single day. Get ready for game-changing insights that'll transform your approach to business growth. Whether you're a seasoned C-Suite executive or an ambitious founder, we've got you covered. C-Suite Strategies is your backstage path to reaching that next level of business. Follow C-Suite Strategies now and let's make this your new reality. Hey Pod Squad, it is Stacy Sussman here, your host, founder, and CEO of RevUp Advisory. We are excited to bring you a new episode, and we are going to talk about our favorite topic, which you'll be shocked, but then I'm going to come out of my mouth as I always say we should automate everything. Is you can't automate a room. We have AI and we love to analyze your pipeline and we'd love to build your next campaign, but it still doesn't take away sitting around a dinner table and engineering what happens next. So our guest today, Kelly Troya from Planned Design Events and Experiences, is going to talk to us about how she curates in-person gatherings for C-suites, major brands, senior leaders, significant business players that are driving significant relationships and deals in events and at the dinner table. So we're super excited to have you, Kelly, say hi to the Pod Squad. And we'd love to tell you a little bit about yourself because I feel like you'll do a better job than we will.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Hi, Pod Squad. Nice to meet you. Yes, I'm Kelly Troya. I am the founder of Clandestine Events and Experiences. I started the business 14 years ago, actually in New Orleans. I now live in Austin, but split my time between the two cities. And over the past 14 years, I have worked on hundreds of events, both private and corporate. Most recently, we're really focused on the corporate space. And some of our more notable clients and events include the NBA for All Star, as well as Formula One. We've done quite a bit of indie car work. So those are some of our larger activation projects, but we also spend quite a bit of time on executive dinners and board retreats and things like that. So it really sort of runs the gamut.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

And I feel like Kelly's being maist. I feel like there's a lot that goes into planning exceptional events, experiences, dinners, et cetera. I feel like what struck me about you was, you know, the thoughtfulness of not only the planning that goes into this, because obviously businesses and corporations and companies are spending money on this, but I thought you did it differently because you had like a strategy behind what it looks like and what are you trying to get out of it and what's the ROI? And for us at Rev Advisory, we're always saying, what are all the marketing activities folks are doing and how do we prove ROI? And I find events are a big dollar spender, but how are you showing the ROI that comes back to it? So I'm gonna start off with our first question. And most people think of event planning as logistics, which I know is not true because I know how much goes into it. And I would say, like we think about systems architecture, I think you think about it as the architecture of planning events and experiences of how to actually get the deal done. And I think that's a big distinction. So is there a moment that something clicked for you where that was like, oh my gosh, they're doing it all wrong? Or this is a really point of differentiation and we're gonna lean into it. Cause I think that is what people need, but I don't think that's what people are always thinking about.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yeah, I mean, I actually think my uh my background before I started Clandestine was in corporate retail. So I spent about eight and a half, nine years at Walmart and also worked at Whole Foods. So I have a really good understanding of the corporate pressures that people experience and the expectations to be able to essentially justify the spend. And so I think about that a lot. I mean, I think about that with what I spend my money on. So obviously, you don't want to just, you know, dump a bunch of money into something and cross your fingers and hope something good happens out of it, especially nowadays. So that's something that we really pay attention to is making sure that when the event is over, our typically it's a marketing client, but our lead client is happy with it, but also the CFO will be happy with it as well so that they're willing to invest in the next one.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Amazing. So you have very big brand experience. And then you obviously went off a while ago to start your own thing. What what was the impetus of starting your own business? Why did you want to do this? I mean, as we both know, being a founder is not for the faint of heart.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

So what was the impetus of getting us here? I mean, I've always been somebody who is pretty scrappy and, you know, like trying to find ways to come up with some, you know, crazy concept or idea. I've been watching all of your posts recently, Stacy, where you're sort of wizard behind the curtain working on different things. And I feel very similar to that. So, you know, like my whole life has been a bit like that. Candidly, I was going through a divorce and I had a, you know, a small child and was trying to figure out how to manage our our life together as well as, you know, be a be in the business world. So I left the ad agency that I was working at and was sort of trying to figure out what I was gonna do. And I ended up producing this surprise party at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and the event was so successful that I had all these people coming up to me and saying, Oh, wow, you should do this for a living. And so I spent the next week trying to come up with a name for the business, and that's basically how it all started. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

So a little, a little bit of a happy accident to fit into the lifestyle, but you've been at it for a long time. And obviously, with your background in marketing, I feel like it just you've taken it to like another level of like how to think about it, how to prove ROI. So we're always talking to CMOs every day. We're talking about optimizing campaigns and funnels. And I think in these day and age, like everything happens wants to be tied back to ROI. It's not like, what are you doing? It's like, what are you doing? And then how does that bring us money back to the company? I love to put in attribution modeling for our clients. And so one of the called we call it like offline attribution pieces is, you know, sponsorships, events, dinners, et cetera. So, like, how do you even design a room to help prove this ROI? Because I think that is kind of a secret sauce of what you guys do differently. And talk to us a little bit about your process and how you guys do it because this is where deals happen and it is a hard part to track. But if you do it right, it can be easier to track.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Yeah, I mean, we think a lot, a lot of the work that we do has been tied to conferences and conventions. So folks who are traveling to a particular destination, you know, you have your client base and your, you know, lead base all in the same area, which is which is nice. So it's a clear opportunity for you to really capitalize on that and bring folks together in a meaningful way. And in my opinion, you can get a deal a lot further at a smaller event, whether it's a dinner or or even a cocktail reception, than you can at a, you know, on the floor of a trade show or a convention center. So we really think through the details of what that experience is going to be like. I know you're on your feet all day. I know you've got, you know, a lot of demands upon you. Your email is calling, your kids are, you know, need help with their homework. And so in order for us to really make it worth people's while to attend the event in the first place, we want to make sure that it really is going to deliver for them. So we think about that, like every single detail, Stacey, from the moment we send an invitation to them all the way through to when they actually, you know, walk out the door and get on the call to catch up with their family or whatever, they feel like it was uh well worth their time and the client feels like it was worth their investment as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

I love that. So talk to me about before you even get to the fun part for the guests, not you, is the actual event, the dinner, the activation, etc. You had mentioned to me you guys talk about like strategy briefs, and maybe I'm using my own words and not yours. Yeah. But like talk to me about what I always find is our clients are want to try this new thing, this new campaign, this new ad. They want to launch something on social. But I'm always like, what is the metrics for success? Like, how are we proving that this is actually going to be successful? Because if we're just throwing spaghetti at the wall, we can be doing that all day. So talk to us about like the pre-pre before the event even is like an idea. It's just like we want to do events. Great. Now what? Talk to me about that.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah. I mean, the big question is goes back to the client. Like, what is the outcome that you're going to feel like was a success when you walk out the door? So, and obviously it's different depending on the client. You know, an easy example is getting a deal across the finish line. So if that's our client's specific goal, then we're gonna spend all of our time focused on strategically planning how to make the environment so advantageous to deliver that goal. One of the easy things that I talk about that's a big pet peeve of mine is sound because a lot of people uh, you know, will pick a pick a terrible spot to try and have some sort of really important conversation, like a like a meal where the restaurant is just so loud that nobody can hear each other and it's very awkward. And that is terrible. But I see it happen over and over again. We spend a lot of time trying to identify exactly the right environment for folks to be able to move the deal forward. We talk about where everyone's gonna sit. We give our guests, our our clients a guest dossier and it explains guest by guest, okay, these are their, you know, pressure points. These are the things that they would be the most interested in. This is how it will connect back to your business. I mean, obviously, this is something that the clients will have some level of familiarity as well. So it's not just us putting it together, but it's a little bit of a collaboration because we really want, we want this, this event to be substantially different from what they would normally produce themselves.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, I love that. And obviously the clients have a say in who they're inviting or the type of people they want to invite. Is this a I guess you can do it all different ways, but is this typically a collaboration that it's like we're, you know, we're going to New Orleans and there's a big conference, and so we want to plan like a sub-dinner around the conference to I'm going to Silicon Valley and I don't know that many people, but I want to host a dinner because we're looking to like infiltrate a market. So yeah, give me like sort of both angles and talk me through how how people would come to you in both aspects.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, I mean, it that's exactly it. And in some cases, you know, like this goes back to my experience in the corporate world because folks are stretched really thin, you know, especially nowadays. So finding an organization that you can really trust to essentially operate on your behalf, almost like an extension of your team. And that's really where we, I think my team really shines. So for somebody for an organization who already knows who they want to invite, we'll spend time collaborating with our particular client, coming up with, you know, what are the talking points that you want to cover during that dinner? Who do you want them to sit next to? In most cases, we recommend that our clients have more than one person at the table. I mean, this is sort of obvious from their from their Nothing's obvious for one person to carry an entire table, you know. So you probably need at least three that are from your team who are going to essentially, you know, float and check in. And then, you know, the the whole goal is to make sure that they are best connected to your team members, understand who it is that they are assigned to ensure that there's a level of engagement at the dinner. There's a lot that goes into it. I mean, you don't want to over script it, but you want to make sure that everyone feels engaged and and as a part of the conversation and the table. And that goes on both sides, whether it's, you know, a list that you provide. In the case of a client who doesn't really know who they want to be there or maybe only has a couple, we'll spend time, you know, doing a level of research on our side to make suggestions and then we'll work with them on that. And, you know, experientially, it's pretty similar.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Awesome. Yes. So I feel like there's some stuff that always gets said behind the scenes, but not out loud on the podcast. And we love to bring conversations to the forefront. So we have put in infrastructure for folks at Rev Up Advisory. You have like the discovery call and the proposals and the nurture sequence and all these pipelines. And then, but there's significant business that happens with relationships, and it's not over Zoom. And there's move to obviously in person. We're post-COVID, we're in what I consider like the AI era. And I think there's this big shift back to in-person and community and meetings. This is all great. We're recording this virtually, but there's always like a pendulum shift. And I feel like we're getting back to like the in-person shift. And I'm here down in Miami, and I feel like I could, I just notice it, what's happening in Miami. And so talk to me about like what these well-designed rooms do that can't be replicated from a discovery call to a proposal, which is always gonna happen anyway. But what does the rooms propel or shift or change?

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I mean, you know, I think you just have to think of it as a natural conversation that you're having with someone. And as much as structure is great, you know, a little bit of unstructure is also great, where you can just have a familiarity conversation. You get to know somebody a little bit better. I like to have conversations, I've lived a lot of places in the United States a lot. So I like to have conversations with people because in most cases, I have sort of lived East Coast, West Coast, middle of the country, down south. And you're able to identify uh additional ways that you can kind of cultivate a relationship that goes beyond, you know, process structure and strict documentation. And then there's just the the natural, the the natural experience of being gathered together and having something that you're a part of collectively that is a lot more organic. And I think there's advantages to that as well. I will say, because there is so much talk about events right now, I am noticing I'm I'm referring to it as IRL slop because there's a lot of AI slop out there, but there are also a lot of in-person events that are taking place. And in my opinion, they're not being produced very well. And that is really uh can do a lot of damage to events in general because people will think twice about, I mean, you're giving up your time. You know, that is I I don't think there's anything more valuable than time. And so if you give up your time and you go to something that sucks, it's going to be harder to sell you on something else. And, you know, like that is really unfortunate. So it's it in my opinion, it's really important that the events that you're producing are really thoughtful and and worth people's time.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Most CMOs I talk to aren't failing because they lack strategy. They're failing because nobody ever fixed the foundation. So they keep hiring and they keep adding tools, they keep firefighting, and our marketing and sales. They're still not talking to each other, but we wish they would. That's not just a people problem. That's really, in our words, a foundation problem. And once you fix it, the impossible starts looking very impossible. If this sounds like your business right now, DM me the word foundation on LinkedIn, search Stacey Sussman, and let's talk about what's actually going on in your business. Yes, and share with us. I mean, I think Sound Environment, the dossier of who, you know, who's attending, I think like the the Devil Wars product because the m see the second movie's coming out, like when, you know, they go to the Met Gala and they're like, and this is, and this is. Obviously, you hope the client knows a little bit more about this. Is, but talk to us about a couple of what you think are obvious because I don't know if everyone else has your brain and thinks some of these things are obvious. I've been to amazing curated events. I worked in media for almost 20 years, and I've done private dinners at Michelin Star restaurants, curated, the chefs come out, et cetera. And then I've been to what you're talking about of it could have been great events, but the sound, I've no been though those events too, where the sound is just it's so damn loud, or there's an echo in the private room that's reverberating from the rest of the restaurant. And you're just like, I can't hear anyone besides the person to my left and right. And now I missed out on the other 15 people around the table because I can't be screaming and shouting.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Yes, yeah. That is just such a pet peeve of mine. You know, I also think being able to really be able to uh connect with people in in a meaningful way. I've seen events like one of the one of my other pet peeves is at conferences, they seem to really like to have these like puppy petting areas. And I'm sorry, but I don't know what puppies have to do with business unless you're like in the veterinary services area. So I kind of like you know, and I love puppies. I'm like a huge fan of dogs. So this is not me getting on like any soapbox that's anti-animals, but I I actually think it's a little exploitative of the animals to begin with, and I don't really understand what they're doing there in the first place. So for me, I'm really focused on having experiences that feel genuine and authentic, and there's a reason for them to be there because it really bothers me when I see something that I'm just like, uh you just threw that in there just to have something there, but it doesn't have any tangible connection to the business, the client, the guest, or the reason that they're there. And those are like sort of my four focuses is always to try and keep all of those things in mind. I try to connect the dots. I call it the red thread, where you know, you have all of these things that you're able to connect. And it's it it shouldn't be blatantly obvious. It should be subtle, but it should feel like there's a reason for it in there, unlike puppies at Connie.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah. I I recently read the book Unreasonable Hospitality after I was Recommended to me by so many friends. And I was just like, I mean, they're at 11 Madison and they had in insane high expectations and goals. But like the one I remember, which is so wild, is like that it was snowing and there was like a family, and they took the kids like sledding in Central Park with like hot dogs after, and they bought them sleds. And I was just like, it doesn't have to be that extravagant. But I think what it's telling you is there is this like wow factor of you went and you spent time and money to get there. And it's great that you're invited and you're thankful for that, but you also want the in-person IRL experience to also be that great too.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Yeah. I mean, you know, what I say is I produce events people won't shut up about. And that's the goal. I don't want somebody to walk out and within 10 minutes they've completely forgotten about the experience that they have. You know, like the best experiences that we produce are the ones that will leave a lasting memory for them. And it's it's different for different people. So one of the other things that I like to do is every 20 to 30 minutes mix it up. So there's something a little bit different that's happening. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's it's big, you know. Sometimes we'll have like talent come out that, you know, is wild and blows people's minds. Sometimes it's just you're bringing out a dessert that people weren't expecting, but it's, you know, sort of trying to keep people's attention. The my other sort of the other thing that I use to evaluate our success is how full the space is at the end of the event. So I'm trying to keep people there as long as possible, which is why every 30 minutes, you know, somebody's like, oh, I'm about to leave. And then we do something different. And they're like, oh, wait, I need to stay a little bit longer to figure out what this is about. So that's another tactic of mine.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

I love that. That's a great one. And so obviously, you're throwing a dinner party for uh an executive, a founder, a CMO, that's like, you know, 15 to 20 people, which I would consider like an intimate event. And then you're doing stuff for like an F1 party, which is like a whole other activation. Yeah. Talk us through, I guess they're totally different events, experiences, and elements, but what are like good components that make each of those kind of unique? I think you're saying, oh, we change it up every 20 to 30 minutes, but I assume something at F1 has to be way more bigger than an intimate dinner that maybe people are sitting around the table or there's a cocktail or leading into a dinner or something like that. So talk through those scenarios. Well, I'm trying to think of like a good And you could tell us stuff you've done already.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

So you know. So at Formula One here in Austin, we did an event where and we we had two weeks' notice to pull this together. They wanted, I do a lot of like last, I love last minute because I am all for a challenge. So for this one, we were able to, you know, make a good bit of magic happen. They wanted to do uh, you know, something that would be a wow factor in the Paddock Club suite and and then something afterwards. So what we proposed was a private dinner after the track was closed, and we brought in a graffiti artist who basically like designed these custom art pieces while the guests were dining. And then we got a you know, private transportation that took them over to the Billy Joel concert, and we arranged for side stage access for them that included their own bartender, restrooms, and all that. So we got them in there. And then late night we also arranged for front row at the chain smokers. So we had like kind of a, you know, a little bit for the older crowd, a little bit for the younger crowd. And, you know, it was pretty epic that we did. Memorable.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Definitely memorable.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

And then and then if you're doing a small, more intimate dinner, yeah. Um, what would something of that look like? Or what have you done that that's interesting in that vein? I mean, you're not maybe a graffiti artist, but uh a smaller scale. What are we talking here?

SPEAKER_00 26:30

I mean, we could always do, you know, a piece of art like that. It doesn't necessarily need to be graffiti, but you can always have an artist come in. We do like to have some form of entertainment, you know. I wouldn't do it in the beginning. You want people to be able to have a conversation, but it is nice to have somebody show up at some point and just kind of like entertain them for a bit. The other thing that I really like to do is like a martini cart or something that they that the restaurant can come in and kind of, you know, it's a little performative, whether they're making, I mean, I've gone to restaurants where they do guacamole, you know, like on the side, or they'll mix your Caesar salad. We'll also have like the Sammelier or the chef. The chef's a really good opportunity to bring them in and they kind of like tell a little bit of the history, talk about the meal that they're about to have. And then, yeah, as I mentioned, if we can get a, you know, a little bit of entertainment toward the end of the evening, that might keep them there a little longer.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

I love that. I feel like we're at a really interesting intersection of just like humanity. I feel like we're the spot where we're the most connected, right? We have our phones, our computers, like everything. We basically have a computer at your fingertips no matter where you are in the world. But then we're also at one of potentially the most isolated moments in history for business because we're talking AI, AI slop. I'm in here vibe coding, building MCPs on Claude Code. And I just said today on LinkedIn, I'm officially a vibe coder. And but it's lonely, right? I'm doing it at my house here in South Florida. And so I feel like people are starving for community. And I think people are really starving for in-person, but I am not willing to go to something that I would say is IRL slop using your words too. Yes. And so I was in Miami. I'm trying to find the sticker. I had an anti-networking event I went to at the Moore building in the design district in Miami, and they gave us 11 rules on Slack after you registered for the event of what you can't say. And one of it was you can't talk about work, which some of my friends said they thought that was very silly. And some of my friends said they thought it was very interesting. But I love that they had like a kind of rule book of like what you could and could not talk about. Yeah. And I just think it was just a different way of doing it. And also they called it the anti-networking event, but really it was a networking event. So I thought that was pretty clever. So, what do you think people are starving for in IRL events, but that is not slop? Like, what are what are what are some things that people are really craving?

SPEAKER_00 29:21

I mean, to your point, it's the community part of it, you know. I like what I'm seeing more and more with these conferences is that there's so much content out there now. You really don't necessarily need to go to a conference for more content. You're really there because you want to find people sort of like-minded or people that you want to build some sort of connection or business relationship with. And so I think that's really where a lot of these networking events can focus and need to focus. I still like, you know, I'm in so many of these communities now and it's sort of a little bit like whack mole, because I'm like, I probably should get out of some of these. Cause I'm not, I'm not engaging in in every single one of them. Um and and they just keep cropping up. But I still find that it is a little challenging to find people that I consider to be specifically business minded in the way that I am. I'm I'm not like a super fru-fruit person. So I'm not looking for tips on hair and makeup and and how to dress, you know. I'm looking for communities where you're talking about like business finance and you know, developing professional relationships, especially, you know, with like larger corporations and stuff like that. So that's a little bit of what I've been focused on and still haven't entirely found it.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

Yes, I agree. We should compare notes. I feel like I have some mastermind group. Shout out to my mastermind folks, that I feel like not only are we learning about the acumen of being a founder and financial literacy and running a business and all the different hats you wear as a founder, but it's also like I believe I am enjoying like up-leveling like work on myself and personal development and figuring out why I have certain belief systems around certain things. I was just on a call before this that, you know, you have these, I'll paraphrase, but it's like these tropes about who you are and what you are in these worlds. And sometimes you believe them and they paralyze you and you can't move forward. And then sometimes you can work through them. And I think really good communities and really good events help you kind of explore some of these big philosophical pieces, but I think to end today, they're serious about business and they help move the business forward. I am going this week to a private dinner in Miami. This is not the first time I've been to it. This woman here in Miami produces it and she has it at her house. It's in her living, like in her house, in her living room, her kitchen. She sets up a bake table. She caps it at less than 20 people, invite only. And she has a private chef come in and cook a four-course meal, very elegantly curated with a menu, but she gets right into the questions of like, here's our theme for this dinner, and here's what we're gonna talk about. And we're not talking about the weather. I'm talking about like real big I love that philosophical philosophical things about business. And I keep going back because every time it's a different grouping of folks, and I feel like it's been interesting. And I said, if I walk away from that event and meet one interesting person, that was worth my time and energy. And so that's what I'm trying to find. And I haven't found it, but I found pockets of it.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Yeah, that's really interesting. I love that. I think the description that you gave is terrific. I've you know, I've like considered doing something like that, and it I may actually do something in the future. I did actually post not too long ago about going to an event at a couple events at South by and they were all female founder events. The content was terrific, and I found the guests to be terrific, but some of the experiences that they had were, you know, sort of similar to that of to the puppies, where it's especially at the female events, it's all hair and makeup. And so I kind of got on a soapbox about it. And I had a it, you know, like that post went viral on LinkedIn. So I'm actually in like early stages of putting together a women conference. I'll send you the information about it. Yes, I don't know whether it's gonna happen or not. So I'm not trying to plug it. I but it is, you know, like the the concept is that this would really get into, we would be rolling up our sleeves and everybody would collaboratively be working together to kind of benefit each other's businesses because I feel like there's, you know, that give and get. I have this, you have that, let's work together. And so that is a little bit of the vision of of of what I am working on.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Yeah, if you have a link or anything, we can put it in the show notes. But I love that. And I also find I personally don't love attending, so stop selling me these on LinkedIn. Um I'm not going to your 10 and 20,000-person conferences. It is a waste of my time. It doesn't work for me. If there's a private dinner or adjacency in a city that I'm going to be in, yes, that works for me. But just inviting me to a random dinner, someone put pulled a fast one on me, which I really didn't love on LinkedIn. So I'm not going to say who it was because I probably don't even remember. But they basically like, oh, we're hosting a private dinner in Miami. Would you like to attend? And it was some like a bank financial institution. I was like, oh, this could be interesting. And so I was like, yes, I'd like to attend the dinner. Like, what day is it? Can you tell me a little bit more about it? And they were basically like, let's get on a discovery call and tell you about your product, and we'll let you know when we're hosting that Miami dinner. Gross. And it was just such gross garbage. Yeah, it was so slimy. I was like, if you're gonna put it out there on LinkedIn that you're hosting a private dinner and it's invite only, and I know there's a little allusion to invite only, like, have a venue, have a date, have a time. Like, yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a whole bait and switch right there. There was no dinner that they were planning.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

They're just trying to get you uh trying to talk to them in their pipeline.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. So, last question, and then we're gonna wrap it up. Of all the events you've planned, of all the client stuff, and if you don't want to name that, that's fine too. What is like a memorable event? And it could just be something you've attended but not um planned yourself that you were like, oh, I loved how this turned out. That was so great. It could be from anything.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

So one of my favorites was a Mardi Gras experience that we put together for a group of high net worth individuals. The host was somebody who is from the South, and but a lot of his guests are from the the Bay Area. So he really wanted to blow them away. So we got them their own floor at this boutique hotel in New Orleans that's just absolutely stunning. And then just as soon as we picked them up, we picked them up private at the private airport. They were just kind of like in a in a whirlwind of Mardi Gras experience that is very hard for anyone who is unfamiliar with Mardi Gras to actually be able to execute. So the first day, the first full day that they were there, we had a balcony on Bourbon Street for them. And when they arrived, they all were in their street clothes, but we had hair, makeup, which is sort of funny, but but it tied into the event, hair, makeup, and a costumer there. So they all got their own costumes and we decked them out in like full costume garb. So by the end, they all just look like these great celebratory revelers. And then we had a brass band show up, pick them up at the on the second floor, lead them downstairs through the French quarter with the brass band and a couple Mardi Gras Indians, brought them back to their hotel, got them IV drips. Yes, and then took them to dinner. So they went to dinner, and then we took them to VIP on Frenchman Street, where they got to see uh some live music. Then the next morning, we got them their own float in a Mardi Gras parade. So it was a day parade. It's a big parade, it's huge. And it was it was amazing. The weather was great. You're out all day. The ride itself, a Mardi Gras float ride, is about five hours. It is, it is yeah, it is a marathon. But they had a sensational time. And so, you know, from beginning to end, we win and dined them and you know, they were thrilled. Sunday morning, we took them back to the private airport. They flew back to the Bay Area and they were on their way.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

So and they will never forget that day for those that are listening. Amazing. So if folks wanted to get in touch with you, if they wanted to work with you, if they're thinking of planning something from big execution temple event to smaller dinner in a city, how can they reach you? What's the best way to get to you? And we can put some of this in our show notes too.

SPEAKER_00 39:05

Yeah, I mean, the best way is to reach me through my email, K-E-L-L-E-Y at Clandestine C L A N D E S T I N Events.com. That was the one thing I didn't think about when I when I came up with the name of the business that it would be so difficult to spell. But yeah, you can just email me at Kelly at clandestinevents.com and you can also see some of our work on that website, clandestineevents.com. Clandestine. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Amazing. We will put that exact spelling in our show notes so they can get in touch with you. But this is great. And pod squad, I'm sure you never thought you'd hear me say you can't automate a room because I love saying you can kind of automate almost everything. But I hope you listen to the end. I think folks are going to move back, and they are already moving back into community. And we do not want to have AI slop, we do not want to have events slop. So if you were listening to this, I think you got some good tidbits on what you can do. And if you honestly just can't figure out, call Kelly and her team and they'll do it for you. So thank you for having us. Thank you, Pod Squad. Your next big business breakthrough may be an episode of Way. We'll speak to you soon. Bye. Bye. As we wrap up this episode of C-Suite Strategies, I want to express my sincere gratitude to you, our listeners, for tuning in and engaging with our podcast. Your commitment to business growth and operational excellence is what drives this podcast forward. A special thank you to our guests today for sharing their valuable business insights and experience. Your wisdom is a gift to our audience, and we're honored to have had you on our show today. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd be thrilled if you follow and subscribe to the podcast. Your help supports us to reach more ambitious business leaders just like you. And if you didn't enjoy it, well, I guess I'll see you never. This is your host, Stacy Sussman, Chief Revenue Officer at RevUp Advisory, signing off.