Host Client-Winning Events that Aren’t Galas

Trying to get more traction for your organization? Start by listening—really listening—to what your community actually needs.

Not what you think they need. Not what looks cool on Instagram. And definitely not what some random marketing agency or online ad says they want.

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This week, I ordered a 30-yard dumpster for a client. Yep. A giant metal box for trash. Super sexy.

No tablecloths. No centerpieces. No carefully designed invites.

Why? Because her clients aren’t looking for another industry gala. They’re exhausted. Overbooked. Surrounded by to-do lists and literal junk. (And honestly, aren’t we all?)

So instead of another “strategic engagement activation,” we rolled up with a dumpster and helped toss a few old mattresses and a pile of Halloween decorations that had been haunting someone’s garage since 2016.

That’s it. That was the marketing move. And it worked!!

People showed up. They felt seen. They felt lighter. And they’ll remember the organization that made space—literal space—for them to breathe again.

Community-first marketing doesn’t always look glamorous, and maybe that's the whole point.