Bringing on a Customer Success Manager is one of the most important hires a company will make. Their role is one that can fortify a business's relationship with it's clients and keep them coming back for more by providing excellent service, and create priceless word-of-mouth evangelism that can reverberate through the industry to potential new clients. In the world of events, that reputation can mean everything.

Thankfully for us here at Sessionboard, we're happy to share that Jasmine Williams is taking on this crucial role. To mark this occasion, we would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Sessionboard team.

So take a minute and get to know our head of Customer Success.

First off, where are you from and where do you call home now?

"I’m actually a military brat, so I have spent a few years in different places (fun fact: I lived in Japan for 6 years). However, I was raised in Northern Virginia and received my undergraduate degree in Richmond, Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University. In July of 2022, I decided to pack up my one-bedroom apartment in Richmond, VA and travel 18+ hours to Houston, Texas which is where I currently reside."

What’s your origin story in the live events/conference world, where did it all begin?

"My love for events started at a very young age actually. My father owns a security business which services events in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) area. As a child, my father allowed my siblings and I to experience first hand what it is like to work at events including the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, Mardi Gras, and the Leukemia Ball, to name a few. While in undergrad, I got the opportunity to intern with a corporate event planning organization and continued to fall in love with the event industry accepting the ability to work full-time post graduation. I knew this was my calling and ever since then I have not looked back."

"I was a corporate event planner for about 3.5 years planning small, medium and large scale events ranging from 20 to thousands of event attendees. With the turn of the pandemic, I had to work with a number of SaaS platforms to service the events I produced and that sparked a new excitement in me. I received the opportunity to work for a SaaS event management company as a Customer Success Manager. Within this role, I learned more about the event industry in a different way and was able to use my experience as an event planner to help service my clients. To this day, I believe I made the right decision in pursuing a career in Customer Success."

"I was a corporate event planner for about 3.5 years planning small, medium and large scale events ranging from twenty to thousands of event attendees."

Career highlight/ favorite moment that sticks out in your memory?

"Shameless plug here but being promoted to Associate Producer at the event management company I was working at was a career highlight. I was fortunate enough to be the youngest Associate Producer ever promoted. This was as a result of having to pivot a fully in-person women’s summit from in-person to 100% virtual about two and a half months after our country was put on lockdown because of COVID-19. Not knowing anything about virtual events, I learned so much from this experience and most importantly that I love technology."

What motivates and inspires you each day?

"My customers! Such a cliché answer but they are the ones that confirm that this is what I love to do. Seeing their excitement at the end of an event, or their concerns and frustrations completely disappearing after a good strategic session is what gives me the validation that I need to continue doing what I do best."

"Seeing their excitement at the end of an event, or their concerns and frustrations completely disappearing after a good strategic session is what gives me the validation that I need to continue doing what I do best."

What is the industry missing in your opinion? Technology?

"Personally, I don’t think platforms are looking at the full lifecycle of an event. They focus on the start and end date and not the pre-event and post-event marketing opportunities. Attendees will see more value in attending an event if they can continue to receive benefits from it before, during, and after the event. The time between the end of one event and the beginning of another is a lost opportunity to keep your attendees engaged."

"Attendees will see more value in attending an event if they can continue to receive benefits from it before, during, and after the event. The time between the end of one event and the beginning of another is a lost opportunity to keep your attendees engaged."

The future of events, short term and long term, what do they look like? Biggest trends? Opportunities?

"Of course because of the pandemic, the increase of virtual events was at an all time high. Since then, hybrid events have risen as restrictions have lifted. What I see being a big opportunity in the future of events is merging the innovative technology that companies have used with virtual events to hybrid and in-person events. In-person events were pushed to the back burner for a while and people are eager to get back what they missed. Of course, virtual reality is a new trend in the world and it was even showcased a little with the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I see this being elevated more and more over the course of the year and I will be interested to see how people optimize this for their hybrid & in-person events."

"As far as opportunities, I do think there is a lack of accessibility for virtual events. Ensuring that everyone has the same opportunities to attend an event is vital and unfortunately, that is where I see a gap in the event industry as a whole."

Why Sessionboard? What do you see in the company and what excites you about the future?

"In one of my initial conversations that I had with Chris (Chris Carver, CEO & Co-Founder) he mentioned how he saw a gap in the event industry and, from there, built Sessionboard. That stuck with me and will continue to do so as I believe right now there are a lot of event management platforms on the market that all relatively do the same thing. With Sessionboard, they valued the gap that they saw that needed to be filled and executed on that. Not looking at what is popular in the market and hopping on the bandwagon. Instead they are continuing to refine and polish speaker and content management. When I was an event manager, I would have loved to use a platform such as Sessionboard to increase my productivity in a way that allows me to effectively organize content being received. Sessionboard is continuing to be a leader in its industry and I am happy to be apart."

"When I was an event manager, I would have loved to use a platform such as Sessionboard to increase my productivity in a way that allows me to effectively organize content being received."

‍Outside of work, what makes you tick? Hobbies, interests, family etc.

"This is easy….MOVIES! I love a good movie, especially going to the movie theater. Nowadays, people wait to see recent movies on streaming services; however, for me, I value going to the theater, kicking my feet up and eating a large bucket of popcorn. This was an activity my father and I would do every Saturday morning when I was a kid and the tradition lives on whenever I visit him."

"Also, I enjoy traveling. Whether it is visiting a different state or a different city, I enjoy learning about different cultures and experiencing new activities."

Final Words from the Editor

For those of you who already work with us on your events, you too will have the chance of getting to know Jasmine better as she leads the charge on our Customer Success team.

If you're not already working with us but would like to learn more about our next generation speaker and content management platform, let's chat.
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About Sessionboard

Sessionboard is a next generation speaker & content management platforms that simplifies the complex workflows and disjointed communications that exist around speaker and content management. From call for papers, abstract evaluation, awards, applications, agenda building, speaker onboarding and communication, Sessionboard helps event organizers work smarter, move faster, and improve their ROI.

The results? A faster-growing event, more productive staff, seamless collaboration with speakers and more time back to do what you do best—building epic experiences.

Sessionboard integrates with platforms like: ExpoPlatform, SwapCard, Gleanin, Snoball, Fuzion and many others.

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