Future Forward Meetings: Design Thinking for Events Strategy Katie Riggs, Riggs & Co

The industry of meetings and events is an ever-changing landscape. This is truer than ever with the current climate. Simply hitting auto pilot or the old rinse and repeat method no longer works for the savvier audiences of today. Change for the sake of change is rarely what organizations do. If it works or seems to work why innovate or change? The reason is that now we are all faced with a challenge to innovate quickly to remain relevant and connected to our audience.

The way to accomplish this is to approach planning for your next meeting or event from a place who and not how. Far too often organizations start with the logistics without even considering the needs of their core audience. To deeply impact your audience, your event must insight a change in behavior. In this session we will cover how design thinking is applicable to meetings and events and explore one process that that can be applied to any meeting planning process.

As a seasoned meeting and event planner, volunteer and industry speaker Katie Riggs is known for more than simply planning amazing events. With 20  years of industry experience, recognition in national publications and growing reputation as a leader in her industry, Katie is dedicated to creating experiential events that connect people with new ideas.

Katie has dedicated years to her profession, crafting an elite status of influence and innovation through experiences at Klipsch Group Inc., where she was responsible for execution of multiple industry trade shows. As her career gained momentum, Katie joined Raybourn Group International (RGI), an accredited association management company, in 2008 bringing her skills and experience in trade show management, marketing and promotions to the non-profit industry. At the conclusion of her time at RGI she was VP of the Client Conference Team which provided her the opportunity to work one on one with clients to assist them in achieving vision forward events that exceed attendee expectations. Taking this experience to Ashfield Meetings & Events, a meeting planning company that specializes in pharmaceutical event execution, as a senior account manager allowed Katie the opportunity to manage a team of 30+ planners to bring strategy to the team’s structure and deployment.

Now the chief event strategist at Riggs & Co company she leads organizations to develop strategy around their event participation and execution to realize greater vision alignment. Supporting associations and corporations in realizing greater ROI and mission alignment is Katie’s primary focus.

Each year, Katie plans a variety of industry events, contracts multiple National/International Conferences & Tradeshows, and Seminars for various clients. In addition, Katie has taken time to speak, volunteer, mentor and teach within the meeting and event industry. Katie is supported by her husband Rob and awesome kiddos Frankie & Myles. She carries her enthusiasm for life to the gym as well where she is a CrossFit athlete and level one certified coach.