#7: Creating Magic Through Belonging in Your Association with Aaron Wolowiec of Event Garde

The Association Adviser Podcast

Creating a sense of belonging and community can be a challenging task but when accomplished the results are pure magic!

Today’s episode dives deep into the world of creating intentional and meaningful experiences that drive member engagement and foster growth. Our guest, Aaron Wolowiec, MSA, CAE, CMP Fellow, President & Founder of Event Garde, is a trailblazer in the association space, with four successful brands under his belt: Event Garde, Facilit8Me, Review My Speaker, and Health by Association. Aaron brings a wealth of expertise to our conversation in designing events, facilitating learning, and nurturing a sense of belonging within communities.

Together, host Christine Shaw and Aaron explore the necessity of crafting intentional networking opportunities that cater to diverse needs and why it’s crucial for both attendees and sponsors to feel genuinely included. Plus, Aaron shares actionable insights on how to overcome the challenges of event programming and how to make advertisers and sponsors active participants rather than passive contributors.

You’ll learn:

• The importance of blending creativity with education.
• The evolution of members needs in a post-pandemic world.
• How associations can avoid the pitfalls of outdated practices.
• The role empathy, self-care, and mental health have in personal and professional growth.

About our guests:

Aaron Wolowiec, Founder & President of Event Garde LLC, is nationally recognized for his professional development work with boards, learners, staff and volunteers. Having launched four successful brands – Event Garde, Healthy by Association, Review My Speaker and Facilit8Me – Aaron’s equal parts practitioner and theorist. Since 2011, Event Garde has helped leading trade associations, individual membership societies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies across the United States address a range of unique and challenging professional development needs through customized services and expert guidance informed by research, trend analysis, best practices, prior experiences, and intuition.

Resources:

Recommended reading: Pricing For Associations, The Art of Gathering

Explore more on Building Community

Visit: https://www.naylor.com/

Connect with Event Garde & Aaron Wolowiec:

LinkedIn: @eventgardellc, @aaronwolowiec

Facebook: @EventGardeLLC

X: @eventgardellc, @aaronwolowiec

Visit: https://eventgarde.com/

Connect with us:

LinkedIn: @NaylorAssociationSolutions

Christine Shaw: [e-mail]

*Please rate us and leave us your thoughts and comments on Apple Podcasts, we’d love to hear from you!