Project Managing Large Corporate Events

December 29, 2019

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Cesar Abeid and Megan Marcel from Automattic talk about planning and managing large corporate events. It’s all project management!

Megan Marcel

Megan manages global events and sponsorships for Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, and WooCommerce. From brand campaigns and trade shows to company wide meetups and experiential marketing activations, Megan works to create in-real-life experiences that connect attendees with Automattic’s products and teams.Prior to joining the Automattic team, Megan managed events for TIME, Fortune, Money, The Event Studio, and Canon. When she’s not working, you can find Megan traveling, enjoying time on the water, or cooking!

Megan Marcel of Automattic

In today’s episode, Megan shares with us all the work needed to plan and manage Automattic’s “Grand Meetup,” an yearly, week-long event for Automattic’s staff. This includes accommodations, meals, travel for 800+ people coming from around the world, meeting spaces, and much more.

Hotel branded with Automattic’s logo
CEO Matt Mullenweg chats with the support team
Branding placement throughout the hotel
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg addresses the entire company during the Grand Meetup kickoff

Topics covered

  • The importance of events and meetups for distributed teams
  • What are some of the non-negotiable, important deliverables that large corporate events must have?
  • What are some of the biggest challenges in organizing an event like this?
  • What does the planning process looks like?
  • What are some of the risks involved?
  • What are the major milestones as you plan and execute this type of project?
  • Any tips for other organizations who want to excel in planning large events?

Links mentioned