BETTER TOGETHER | ANNUAL EDU CONFERENCE

This year's Better Together | Annual EDU Conference was hosted at The Omni Vikings Lake Hotel! There was amazing content shared from how to be the change and make hosting NA events a norm all the way to how other Networking Events around the Twin Cities encourage us to work together to be a resource for one another!

We started the morning with industry experts Jaimee Lucke Hendrikson from Visit St. Paul, Melvin Tennant from Meet Minneapolis, and Todd Lehrke from Bloomington CVB provided valuable insights into the state of the tourism sector and its outlook for 2024. Their collective message paints a picture of optimism and opportunity for 2024, emphasizing resilience, collaboration, and innovation as drivers of success.

Next up was one of my personal favorites, Do Good Events - Hannah Hegman and Kalsey Beach spoke about Mission Forward events that have an initiative to create change, stand out, and stay true to the core. These are the girls you want to know if you are a non-profit looking to fundraise. I was inspired by the lunch keynote who emphasized the need to elevate the non-alcoholic drink experience at our events. Jen Gilhoi from Zero Proof Collective has an amazing story, and I enjoyed getting to know her and her energy before the event and while doing her headshot. We also hear from Shelly Fine with The Fine Collective about building empathetic relationships. Dana Alison from Keyed Up Events with a how to Master Vendor Alliances and the important of wedding harmony. Needless to say, the day was not short of takeaways.

Shout out to ALL of the sponsors for helping bring amazing events like this to life. It is always a pleasure to shoot alongside Andrew Vick. You can see his photos from the event: NACE Minneapolis/Saint Paul Chapter - Photo Gallery (twincitiesnace.net ) Last but not least let's not forget the Board of Nace for all your hard work behind the scenes!