The Inaugural Episode: What Is an ‘Eventualist,’ and What Is This Podcast About?
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Eventualists: Real Stories, Eventual Experiences, a new podcast from Meetings Today that pulls back the curtain on what it’s really like to be a next-gen professional in the meetings and events industry.
In this debut episode, Eventualists co-hosts Taylor Smith of Meetings Today and Hannah Elston of Event Leaders Exchange (ELX) introduce the concept of an “eventualist”: someone early in their career who will eventually be an industry leader and is looking to learn the ropes—without feeling the pressure of having it all together at the start.
The inaugural episode sets the tone for all Eventualists episodes to follow: honest reflections, relatable stories and a safe, authentic space where new voices in the industry are heard, validated and amplified, and where senior leaders get real about experiences and lessons next-gen event professionals will use in their careers…eventually.
New episodes of Eventualists air every third Thursday of the month. Have a story or question to share? Email Maddie Willis, producer of Eventualists, at eventualists.podcast@gmail.com.
Listen now:
Transcript:
Editors note: The following transcription was exported from Microsoft Teams and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.
Madeleine Willis
Welcome to Eventualists: Real Stories, Eventual Experiences, a new Meetings Today podcast co-hosted by Meetings Today’s own Taylor Smith and Hannah Elston of the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX). From across the pond and sweet home Chicago, these influential next-gen event professionals come as a pair, but you’ll easily be able to separate them by their voices.
Taylor and Hannah met when their efforts to educate the meetings industry on the need for mentorship brought them to the Inspiration Hub at IMEX America in 2024.
What happened in Vegas is revealed in this podcast. I’ll let these two take it from here.
We hope you enjoy this first episode of Eventualists. If you like this conversation, add to it! Email me, Maddie Willis, the Eventualists’ producer, at eventualists.podcast@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your real stories.
Taylor Smith
Welcome to Eventualists: Real Stories, Eventual Experiences. I'm Taylor Smith.
Hannah Elston
And I'm Hannah Elston, and we're the co-hosts of this brand-new business events industry podcast that sheds light on the unexpected realities of life as a next-gen event professional.
Taylor Smith
We are two young leaders who got their starts in the meetings and events industry not too long ago, but we've been here long enough to know a thing or two about what it's like to be the quote-unquote new kid in the office.
Hannah Elston
Which means we also know a thing or two about how to best prepare for the experiences that are likely to come every new professional's way...eventually.
Taylor Smith
And through the Eventualists podcast, we hope to teach everything we've learned so far to all of you. Hannah, what is an eventualist? How did we come up with this term? Do you remember?
Hannah Elston
I do remember. I mean, I think you can take it in a few different ways, but the bottom line for how I would describe an eventualist is someone who will eventually be an industry leader. So, someone that has ambition, determination and the general skill set to do amazing things in their career as they grow from within the industry.
These are young leaders that want to show promise and potential. And then I guess if I had to apply that to us, Taylor, you know, we really wanted our voices to be heard and to push ourselves. And we came together to, you know, pitch and create this podcast. So, I mean, what would you explain as an eventualist? How do you feel about that new term?
Taylor Smith
I think when we sat down to come up with a name for this podcast, we were throwing a lot of terms out there that already exist, right? There's young leaders, there's a future leader, there's rising talent, rising stars we hear all these terms and they almost put a little bit of pressure on you. Oh my goodness, I'm already like leading in this industry as a young leader. I have to, like, be all buttoned up and professional. And it's like, I don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm just getting started. So, we were thinking about something that put a little less pressure on the idea of being new to the industry and made people aware of the fact that this is a process and there is a learning curve and you're never going to be, you know, totally aware of everything going on in your career because there's always going to be something that can be improved and be better. There's always going to be something that you can learn and eventually you'll figure that out, right? That's where eventualists comes from.
Hannah Elston
Yeah, not to mention that it's such a clever pun. Let's give ourselves credit.
Taylor Smith
Yes, snaps for that. Snaps for that. You know what I want to do today is take our listeners back to that IMEX show floor in 2024 when we first met because I mean technically we met virtually before that...our friendship had already started. We have to send a shout out to the IMEX team for connecting us to tag team that mentorship session that year, but what do you remember about that day and how did it lead to us starting this podcast?
Hannah Elston
The way that I felt, it was just an instant connection that we had. And to be honest, I feel like in this industry, it's harder for young professionals to find people that are in the same starting point as them. We're mentored by so many great people and great leaders, but it's not every day I encounter someone who's facing the same challenges as I am as a new starter right now. And so when I met you, that connection just felt instant. I was like, this girl gets me. So, what I think is really sweet about this is that after we spoke on that stage, a part of me is like, I'm not letting her go. There's no way. And so, I had to think of something that would mean we could still talk every single week because in the build up to that, I feel like we just connected on a level that I hadn't before.
Taylor Smith
I mean, look at us now, right? I think one of our questions was what do you wish you could tell yourself now when you look back on that day, the day we met. We were so little. I remember our palms were sweaty. Our hands were shaking before we got up on stage. And we're both just doing the High School Musical warm-ups that Sharpay does in the beginning of her show. And it's like we're helping each other get through it. And now we know, I think because of that experience, what it feels like to connect with people who understand you, who can relate. And we were so drawn to that connection and that feeling of not being alone, that this podcast happened out of that and obviously I always love an excuse to chat.
Hannah Elston
I think it's translated into the podcast because after that experience, we realized people actually cared about what we had to say. So, as much as we were excited to share it, we had such good feedback from doing that panel that, you know, they invited us again to do one last year. And I think that's so lovely. And it gave us the confidence to be like, actually, this could eventually be bigger than what it already is.
Speaking of going back to IMEX, since that time or since you know you've started more in the industry, what are some of the bolder conversations that you've either started or shared or just heard about next generation experiences since then?
Taylor Smith
So, ours is obviously the one that I feel made the most impact or kind of encompassed so much of what we have been talking about. It was the perfect umbrella for I think a bunch of little discussions that I've heard and it was all about the need for mentorship in the industry. I think that's one of the biggest conversations, one of the most important conversations we've started because we do need to learn and grow as these new professionals. And we have so many established leaders in this industry who know the industry better than any textbook, better than you'll learn in any classroom. So that need for mentorship is a conversation that I don't think will ever not be important to have. I think other conversations or topics at least that I've talked about...imposter syndrome is a huge one. That is something that so many young professionals deal with. So many senior professionals deal with that too. We're always all asking ourselves, what are we even doing? I think that's something that we need to shed light on is so many of us, you know, we take on a new role. Doesn't matter if it's the first role we've had in our careers or the 5th, it's still new, we're still learning. So, I think imposter syndrome has been another important one.
And then the one that I've been having recently that I've heard more young professionals talking about. We even have in the background Maddie Willis on the Meetings Today team. She's producing this podcast for us. This is a conversation I've had with her and it's how difficult this job market is right now, how discouraging it can be to send out dozens of applications and hear nothing back and what you have to do to be a candidate that stands out now. So those are some of the conversations I've been having, Hannah, but I know you've also been on the road. You just got back from Orlando. So, tell us a little bit about what conversations you've been having out there.
Hannah Elston
Yeah, for sure. Well, one of them that I've been having and also hearing since I started in the industry is how much, I guess, how much of the industry conversation is about Gen Z instead of being with Gen Z. And so, since I joined the industry in 2023, I've seen so many panels and sessions titled things like, “How to manage Gen Z?” “How do we handle their expectations?” Or “what happens when Gen Z takes over?” Very intense terminology, by the way. And often there's this undertone that we're difficult or entitled or impossible to lead.
But the thing is, I'm tired of hearing a whole generation blamed for what might just be a bad hire or unclear leadership. I'm just going to say it. There's hundreds of factors that can come into play with this. And so, there are many Next Gen professionals who want to work hard, who want mentorship, to innovate, who care deeply about the impact that they leave in their organizations. And those are the stories that don't always get amplified. So, one of the reasons that I wanted to start this podcast is because of that conversation, so we can shift from hearing about Gen Z to hearing from them.
Taylor Smith
That's the only way we will ever overcome these unconscious biases and stereotypes that we're being put under. And it's a pattern, it's consistent, it's something that every generation is going to have something to say about the one that follows, because of this tech savvy world and just this interconnectedness, it's just like being pummeled on us harder than it has been for past generations. Because everything that you see online, even if it doesn't have to be related to your career, it's just like Gen Z doesn't want to do anything, Gen Z is just horrible. Like, we just suck all the time. And I think we're rewriting that narrative because we know our values, we know our worth, we know that we don't want to spend our lives working it away when there's so much more out there to enjoy. And I love that you're pointing out the fact that, you know, those conversations too, they're all being made. So many of them, those panels have all these senior leaders on there and then there's not a Gen Zer on there talking about Gen Z, like the panel's literally about us and we're not even invited to the conversation sometimes.
[Listen to more podcasts from Meetings Today: Dare To Interrupt]
Hannah Elston
Right, it's like knowing someone is talking about you behind your back, but to your face and on an agenda for thousands of people to go and listen to, right? This is the problem. I think with our generation in particular, we grew up on social media and online. I'm, I'll admit we are a little bit chronically online, but you know, we grew up in the era of the mobile phone. You know, we're so invested in it. And so actually, while other generations have experienced this before, we're experiencing it on a different scale, you know, every time I go on LinkedIn, I'm hearing someone else tell me about my generation and what I'm like, and that has a psychological effect. And I think that is why stuff like this, where we have the narrative and we can share our story, is so important because I don't want other young leaders to feel the same way. That I have felt in that I've got so much to prove because so many people have negative assumptions about who I am just on my age. That's not fair. And so I hope that we can create a safe space for other people like us.
Taylor Smith
I hope we can too, and I hope that we could show them that it's OK to speak up and use your voice. You need to speak up and use your voice. You have to. I read something the other day that said you have to take accountability for your own advancement in this industry. No one is going to do it for you. We're not in school anymore. Your teacher's not going to be like, “Hey, let's do some extra credit to help you out, right?” We have to be doing this on our own. And if we are not speaking up and using our voices, nothing's going to change. But I remember being that new person in the industry and being the youngest in the room by a decade and feeling like no matter what I did, I was either too intimidated to use my voice, or it'd come out and it'd be like the quietest little whisper, like no one heard me anyway. But now we're talking about it. We're getting loud about it, and hopefully all of the eventualists that hear this will want to get loud with us and share their stories too.
I also want to give listeners a little bit more of a sneak peek into what they can expect from the eventualists. I think we've told them a lot about how it started, what we want it to do, but what are some conversations you're excited to have on this podcast, Hannah, and guests you're eagerly anticipating?
Hannah Elston
Oh my gosh, so many. I think that our listeners should expect to hear more about what Gen Z actually wants, what it is that we feel we need, what we're really expecting, and also what we're really struggling with, you know, especially what we're learning. There's so much to learn and everyone learns at different paces.
And I think that the young leaders and the senior professionals will take something impactful away from this podcast because the communication between generational gaps can significantly improve. And I think that we can help achieve that with the content that we'll be delivering. And I think that our listeners should also expect guests that can show just how a mazing young talent can be when it's nurtured in the right way. We have a phenomenal lineup, I would say.
But also, as Taylor mentioned earlier, if there are any eventualists listening that do want their voices to be heard, please also feel free to reach out to the podcast about that. We would love to help amplify your voice in the space, because as Taylor mentioned, you shouldn't be afraid to speak up. You can do that at any point in your career. Even when you're new, there is something that you can offer that will help others, even if that's just validation and reassurance. So, we would love to invite that on, but we do have a good lineup including some very strong talent, very well acclaimed talent from within our industry.
And I think really the biggest thing to expect is authenticity. You know, we're cutting to the chase here. We're telling you the facts. That's what we want to do anyway. And so, yeah, I'm so excited to bring some of these people on to share their perspective. Taylor, is there anything that you're particularly excited for with eventualists?
Taylor Smith
Some of the things I'm really excited about, you said it for one, is that authenticity. If you know me, if anyone's read my column, “The Z,” I am not afraid to be authentic and vulnerable. I will tell it how it is. I will share those stories that, like I said, people might get uncomfortable talking about certain topics, but I'm here to let you know, we got to talk about it. Sorry, everyone. We're going to be having those conversations on this podcast. Tune in. Let's get real. Let's get raw. That is how we learn. That is how we connect. That is how we relate to each other. And I think the people that we have on this podcast are going to be the people who aren't afraid to share the stories that maybe will, you know, be a little eye-opening, right? Like one of the stories that I can think of as an eventualist in the industry is no one told me that everyone changes before dinner, and that was so awkward for me. No one told me that. So, let's have those conversations. Let's talk about the things that, like you said, that people don't tell you about having a career in the events industry.
[Read more: The Z: Planning for the Industry’s Next Generation]
Hannah Elston
I love that there are so many scenarios where you go in and you're like, oh, I didn't know that this was just a known thing. Oh my gosh. And there are so many little tips I feel like we'll be able to share along the way. Like even just there with you sharing about dinner, we need to talk about networking and eating at the same time because that is a skill in itself. Nobody deserves to go hungry after a full day at an event.
Taylor Smith
No. And please tell me if I have spinach in my teeth. It will not be rude. I'd rather you tell me. Don't let me walk around with that all day, please. So we will be having those conversations. We'll be digging into things as real as imposter syndrome. We are covering it all on this podcast. And as Hannah said, if you've got a story to share or advice to share with eventualists, we want to hear it, so please reach out and let us know.
Hannah Elston
I do want to add to that as well. I think that one of the things that makes eventualists different is that we hope that this is a fun space for young professionals. While this is going to have some heavy topics sometimes and we're going to hear those authentic and raw stories, we want this to be enjoyable for you guys. We want it to be entertaining, engaging, lighthearted, you know, all the things that make a podcast worth your time. And so I'm really excited for us to, yes, talk about our careers and talk about big picture things, but also do it in a way that we can laugh about it, right? So when we do, as Taylor said, have spinach in our teeth or, something goes wrong onsite that we can smile about it and not just catastrophize. And I think that's such a good thing about creating that sense of community between our eventualists is that we can give each other that reassurance and laugh in the face of danger, hopefully.
Taylor Smith
Hannah, I think what you just said is the perfect note to end this first inaugural episode of the Eventualists on. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with our listeners today. Thank you all for listening to the inaugural episode of Eventualists and diving into real questions and experiences shared by us for now, and you guys are listeners in the future.
Hannah Elston
Whether it's a bold question, an anonymous confession, or a candid conversation with a courageous podcast guest, the eventualists are here to unpack it openly, honestly and without judgment, to help teach emerging leaders lessons they will find useful in their careers, eventually.
Taylor Smith
We're your co-hosts, Taylor Smith.
Hannah Elston
And Hannah Elston. This episode was produced by Meetings Today's Maddie Willis. We look forward to sharing more experiences and conversations with you...eventually.
Madeleine Willis
In this episode, in all episodes to come, the Eventualists podcast aims to empower leaders through transparent, authentic and raw conversations. New episodes of Eventualists will air every third Thursday of the month. Thanks for tuning in.
New episodes of Eventualists air every third Thursday of the month. Have a story or question to share? Email Maddie Willis, producer of Eventualists, at eventualists.podcast@gmail.com.
