The Event Conversation No One Wants to Have (4-Part Series)

This is a four-part cross-posted series with Steph Rubio — and we’re going somewhere in the women's entrepreneurship space that most people aren't willing to go. And we get that it's controversial.

Integrity.

ROI.
Reputation.
Safety.

If you attend conferences, masterminds, networking events, or host live business events yourself — this series is for you.

Episode 1 is live NOW on the Rooted and Relentless podcast!

Listen to Rooted & Relentless here:

🔗 On Apple: ⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rooted-relentless/id1821487374⁠⁠⁠

🔗 On Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7A6B4bZZXOU0IOduXDSxXJ?si=794bfbf6a12b4788⁠⁠⁠

Across four episodes, we break down:

• How to choose events that actually align with your business goals
• The red flags and green flags most people miss
• How to be a standout attendee and maximize event ROI
• What event hosts actually owe their stakeholders
• And how to protect your safety and sanity in evolving event spaces

This is not gossip. This is not call-out culture. This is a leadership conversation about raising the standard in the event industry.

Steph and I structured this as a cross-posted series between our two podcasts!

LISTEN IN ORDER:

Part 1: Practical Tips You Can Use to Choose Events that Make Sense for YOUListen on Rooted & Relentless

🔗 On Apple: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rooted-relentless/id1821487374⁠⁠

🔗 On Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7A6B4bZZXOU0IOduXDSxXJ?si=794bfbf6a12b4788⁠⁠

Part 2: How to Be a Standout Attendee & Actually Realize A ROI

Listen here on The Power Table podcast, starting March 4!🔗 On Apple:

⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-power-table-with-taylor-smith/id1775769731⁠

🔗 On Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4q9nlArV18b80rwqtIV2ik?si=6ca4396028474f22⁠

Part 3: How Event Hosts Can Act with Integrity & Provide a Stellar Stakeholder ExperienceListen on Rooted & Relentless

🔗 On Apple: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rooted-relentless/id1821487374⁠⁠

🔗 On Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7A6B4bZZXOU0IOduXDSxXJ?si=794bfbf6a12b4788⁠⁠

Part 4: Protect Your Safety & Sanity at EventsListen here on The Power Table podcast, starting March 6!🔗 On Apple:

⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-power-table-with-taylor-smith/id1775769731⁠⁠

🔗 On Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4q9nlArV18b80rwqtIV2ik?si=6ca4396028474f22⁠⁠

If you care about maximizing ROI from conferences, building reputation in the room, and leveraging networking events strategically — don’t skip this series.

MORE:

SAVE the date for our 2026 conference, The Power Table LIVE! It's April 22-23, 2026 in Desti

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Every time that someone attends an event or conference, it is an investment, but it's also a sacrifice in some other area of that person's life. And when the event is done well, the ROI can be massive. It can be life-changing in terms of clients, sales, ideas, and connection and community. When the event is done poorly, the attendee is the one who pays the price. Welcome back to the Power Table Podcast. I'm your host, Taylor Smith, and today's episode is not your typical podcast. So I need to frame what you're about to experience because this isn't a typical episode drop. What you're going to hear is a four-part series that I recorded with my friend and fellow community builder and leader Steph Rubio of the Rooted and Relentless Podcast Mastermind and Community. And we're going to talk about in-person events and have a real honest, nuanced, and frankly controversial conversation. A conversation that most people will never be willing to have publicly, but Steph and I are doing it about how attendees can get the most out of events, be protective of their time, money, energy, and physical and emotional safety when attending events, and how event hosts can do better and provide a stellar attendee and stakeholder experience. This is not going to be gossip. It's not a takedown. We aren't naming names or calling out specific events. We're not seeking to tear anyone down, but we are seeking to have a real conversation about integrity, ROI, and safety and responsibility when it comes to getting in the room. And Steph and I decided to do something fun and collaborative with it. So this is a cross-posted podcast series. Steph and I wanted this conversation to feel like you were moving through us and our two different points of view from her strategic planning, operations, and stakeholder lens, and then my lens as an event host and speaker as well. And we didn't want it to be something that you just listened to in one place, but rather you experienced this kind of both sides of the conversation. So here's the four episodes, how they break down and what you can look forward to. Episode one, which you can now find live over on Rooted and Relentless, is about practical tips. We dig into questions that attendees should be asking, how to spot event red flags, and how to choose the right events that are aligned with your goals. Steph and I also share some tips on how we personally assess and choose events to attend. Episode two will be here tomorrow on the Power Table podcast, and it's all about how to be a standout attendee and actually realize an ROI, a return on investment, from the in-person events that you're attending. And then on episode three, which will be back over on Rooted in Relentless, we'll be talking about how event hosts can act with integrity and provide a stellar stakeholder experience for everyone involved, attendees, speakers, sponsors, and beyond. And then episode four, we'll close out here on the Power Table podcast, where we talk about how to protect your safety and sanity in the event space, what to do when things come up that you don't expect, and I share some of the most insane stories that I've ever experienced when it comes to events, and share what you can do in those situations and how I think events can do better for their attendees when it comes to providing a safe and ethical event space. Now I want to be clear, this conversation is going to be very sensitive. I hope that both hosts and attendees listen to it. I share real stories, things that happen to me personally, things that I witnessed, that happened to women I know, and a lot of these things should never have happened. Overpromised rooms, under delivered experiences, emotionally manipulative sales tactics, disorganized execution, and safety concerns that were brushed under the rug, and sometimes those situations were physically unsafe. This is something as an event host that I feel deeply responsible to talk about, and as a community leader as well. So this series is for two groups of people: women who are investing their time and money into rooms and who want to know how do I choose wisely? How do I spot red flags? How do I protect myself? And how do I get ROI once I'm actually there? And the second are event hosts, speakers, sponsors, and community leaders, because hosting an event is not about filling seats, it's about stewardship. It's about delivering what you promised and creating a strong stakeholder experience, not simply an aesthetic one. And it's about integrity. Steph and I both carry communities, we both influence rooms, and we both feel the weight of that. This conversation exists because, quite frankly, silence is not serving anyone. And Steph and I believe you can support women and still ask hard questions. You can love events and still want to raise a standard. And we believe that safety, clarity, and integrity are not optional. So here's what I want you to do: go start with episode one over on Rooted and Relentless. The link is in the show notes below, and then come back here tomorrow for episode two. Move through this with us, take notes, and be willing to have a conversation with us because the future of women's entrepreneurship is not going to be shaped by simply bigger stages and prettier branding. It will be shaped by integrity and it starts with conversations like this one. I'll see you in episode one.