Production Value Matters: The Business Event Podcast

Empathy Will Elevate Your Event Strategy with Award-Winning Event Strategist Beth Lawrence

Jul 29, 2025

Beth Lawrence is an award-winning event strategist and Chief Experience Officer of her own meetings and events firm. In a fascinating discussion, she emphasizes that empathy and audience understanding are key to planning successful events. Beth reveals how stress can be a planner's superpower, and she shares insights on designing experiences that engage all five senses. She highlights the importance of catering to different personality types and argues that logistics should enhance the stakeholder experience, especially for sponsors.

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ADVICE

Manage Stakeholders Early

Talk to vendors early and realign expectations when supply chains or tariffs create uncertainty.
Define what success looks like and set clear deliverables and timelines for every partner.

ADVICE

Start With Why And Who

Start with the why and the who before choosing virtual, hybrid, or live formats.
Match format to audience appetite and integrate smaller, local or hybrid components when needed.

ADVICE

Use Simple Tools For Hybrid Engagement

Use existing tools like Slack to engage audiences before, during, and after hybrid events.
Tailor sponsor deliverables and consider creative shared experiences like synchronized meal drops.

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According to award-winning strategist Beth Lawrence, it’s not the format, it’s how people feel. In this episode of Production Value Matters, host Matthew Byrne sits down with Beth Lawrence, an award-winning event strategist and Chief Experience Officer of Beth Lawrence Meetings & Events, to explore how empathy and personalization can elevate event strategy in a time of uncertainty and pressure.

Beth shares candid stories from her 20+ year career in luxury hospitality and event planning, including how she navigated the 2020 pivot with resilience and empathy. She dives into how audience understanding is the key to driving meaningful ROI and long-term community building. From designing with the five senses to rethinking sponsorship logistics, Beth explains why experience and execution aren’t separate, they’re one and the same.

What You’ll Learn:

Why “anxiety is a superpower” for planners—and how to turn stress into strategy
How to design events that consider how people actually interact, not just consume content
What the “five senses of your brand” are and how they deepen memory and impact
How to plan for different personality types (introverts, ambiverts, extroverts)
Why audience understanding must come before format (virtual/hybrid/live)
How micro-events and intentional design are reshaping B2B event success
Why event logistics = stakeholder experience—especially for sponsors and speakers
The surprising downsides of over-investing in event tech (like apps)
How to design with values and create ripple effects beyond the event

About the Guest:

Beth Lawrence is an award-winning event strategist and the Chief Experience Officer of Beth Lawrence Meetings & Events. With over 20 years in luxury hospitality and a CMP designation, Beth has produced high-impact experiences for clients like Independence Blue Cross, Public Interest Law Center, and the New Jersey Historical Commission. She’s also the former host of The Type A+ Podcast, where she offered tips for balancing life and business. Beth brings a human-first lens to every project, blending empathy, logistics, and brand alignment to create lasting event experiences.