The Non-Obvious Guide to Event Planning: For Kick-Ass Gatherings that Inspire People

by Andrea Driessen

Let’s face it. Most events are boring. But they don’t have to be. This highly actionable, fast-reading guide is chock-full of unconventional, un-borifying tools, ideas and strategies to help you design more captivating and unmissable events for less money and in less time.

Whether a veteran, newbie or “accidental” event planner, you’ll learn fresh strategies to smartly select speakers, manage logistics, set a content road map, as well as plan and execute rave-worthy events of all types. Inspired by decades of delivering everything from large-scale corporate events to multiple TEDx gatherings, this fun, practical book will transform how you plan your next event—no matter how large or small.

“Any event can become irresistibly engaging. This book will show you how.”
—SALLY HOGSHEAD, New York Times-bestselling author and CEO of How to Fascinate®

“...Fun, creative and pragmatic insights on the why and how of strategic event design...” —LORIE THOMAS, Certified Meeting Professional, Certified Meeting Manager, Executive at SHW in Seattle, WA

“The tips and tools in this guide will make any event more impactful and engaging.” —BRIGETTE GROSS, Corporate Events Manager

A sampling of what you’ll learn in this guide…

+ Why are some events memorable while others are forgotten immediately?
+ How can you conquer distraction and truly engage participants?
+ What does it really take to uncover the most inspiring speakers, negotiate their participation and create a memorable event?
+ What do TED Talks teach us about events?
+ How can your events be more innovative?
+ How can you handle logistics like a pro—and manage unrealistic timelines, implausible goals and results-hungry stakeholders?
+ What if attendees remember nothing? It’s highly probable unless you do something different.
+ How can you “think outside the slide”?

BONUS: This guide also gives readers quick and easy access to robust online resources, including a reusable Content Map, videos and planning templates that streamline and simplify event planning.

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2019

About the author

Andrea is a learning, training, and development expert who helps people and organizations worldwide become more capable, communicative, and connected.

An internationally award-winning business owner who built her business from the ground up, she’s dedicated her career to helping others grow.

Andrea served on the core organizing team at TEDxSeattle for nearly 8 years, and is a TEDx speaker herself.

She’s curated programs for hundreds of executive teams and meeting planners who want to create new experiences that ignite higher levels of performance. Andrea’s 3x award-winning book, The Non-Obvious Guide to Event Planning: For Kick-Ass Gatherings that Inspire People, is in its second printing.

Her margaritas will make you smile—and put hair on your chest.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea has thought through the entire life-cycle of a meeting from the gleam in your boss' eye to the post-event-mortem. The result is hundreds of great suggestions about how to make meetings better, how to help attendees get the most out of meetings, and how to avoid the cardinal sin of creating a boring meeting. If you have anything to do with events, this book is your Bible starting now.

[Jane Tornatore, · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not an event planner, but I am a speaker who would like to have more powerful presentations. I did not know a book about event planning could be so engaging! I felt like I was getting a back-stage view of everything I didn’t even know to think about. It will definitely help me when I work with event planners to make their job easier, and I can now give them powerful ideas to make the event more successful. If you are an event planner, get this book! I would love if the meetings I go to were half as engaging as this book makes possible.

[Patti Dobrowolski · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a graphic recorder, I have illustrated hundreds of events - many of them filled with boring, talking heads and lackluster programs. I wish that the event planners had read this amazing book first. Driessen gives the reader clear, concise tips on how to engage your audience from start to finish and beyond. Well written, beautifully laid out, filled with action planning summaries, the authors' quick wit and wry humor keeps you wanting more. Even if you are a seasoned event planner, this book is bootcamp worthy for anyone in this business. From Bore to ROAR, yes!!!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I found the content to be helpful and well organized. Andrea has the ability to synthesize ideas into bullet points and actionable items. It was also an unexpectedly entertaining read. I definitely recommend this book.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I found lots of inspiring and fresh ideas from The Non-Obvious Guide to Event Planning, at some point the book started to feel repetitive and too TED-focused. I understand Andrea wrote from her experience, but TED-format isn't the only existing one.

I really appreciated hundreds of great examples and real-life stories about the ups and downs of held events (seeing that you're not the only one struggling with different problems definitely cheered me up from time to time). The Non-Obvious Guide is definitely a very applicable book: you can both get inspired by the ideas presented, as well as take them and implement in the next event you're going to organize.

All in all, I definitely will come back to it when I feel I have no clue what I'm doing or why I'm doing it.