By Mary Tucker | Senior Communications and Content Manager | IAEE
Dahlia El Gazzar, DES is the Tech Evangelist who founded Dahlia+Agency after working with tech companies and event industry trailblazers that awoke her to the need for speed – for closing the gap between great tech and adoption. She has an OMG-attitude about all things tech, audience engagement and event marketing. With more than a decade of event experience on both the professional planning side and as an association collaborator, Dahlia’s kinship with the industry and the audience runs deep.
In her upcoming IAEE webinar, Vibe Marketing: Spark Don’t Sell, she poses the questions: What if the secret to unforgettable events isn’t about filling seats, but about igniting sparks? What if instead of measuring success through attendance numbers, we tracked the moments when attendees’ eyes literally light up?
Dahlia will dive into the groundbreaking “Vibe Eventing” methodology, a revolutionary approach that transforms traditional marketing from predictable content dumps into electrifying energy transfers. This isn’t just another marketing strategy; it’s a complete paradigm shift that prioritizes authentic human connection over conventional metrics.
Dahlia will reveal how to curate “chaos-curious” speaker lineups that keep audiences on the edge of their seats, implement real-time marketing that turns attendees into co-creators, and design intentional dopamine drops that create lasting loyalty. Most importantly, webinar attendees will discover how to measure what truly matters – those magical “Eyes Light Up” moments that signal genuine engagement.
Here, she shares the philosophy behind “Vibe Eventing” and uncovers the practical strategies that are already transforming events across industries.
The concept of “tracking sparks, not seats” completely flips traditional event metrics on their head. What should organizers be looking for instead of attendance numbers?
Dahlia: Yes, attendance matters, but “Eyes Light Up” (ELU) moments matter more. That’s your real indicator of impact. If nobody’s sharing, reacting, or emotionally connecting, the headcount is hollow. Note that 76% of attendees say unexpected moments significantly boost satisfaction. (Source: Skift Meetings x Encore, 2024)
If your audience isn’t moved, tweeting, or DMing their colleagues mid-session, the seats don’t matter. You’re not running an event – you’re just running boring same old same old sessions that won’t be remembered.
You teach creating “chaos-curious” speaker lineups as a key strategy. This sounds both exciting and terrifying for event organizers. How do you balance the element of unpredictability with the need to deliver value to attendees and sponsors?
Dahlia: It’s a curated clash of perspectives by pairing speakers from different worlds who create friction that sparks curiosity. And audiences LOVE it. No one wants vanilla panels, or everyone agreeing on the same topics or points. That is when you start losing the audience not only for your current event, but more importantly, for future events.
Here’s a helpful hint: panels don’t need to be echo chambers. They need tension, surprise, and narrative. When attendees co-create sessions, return attendance jumps by 68%. (Source: Event Leadership Institute/Bizzabo, 2024)
Sponsors notice the buzz, too, and a buzzed room is what they want to invest in.
The idea of “dopamine drops” suggests a very intentional, almost scientific approach to creating emotional highs during events. Can you share some specific techniques for engineering these moments, and how do you time them throughout an event experience?
Dahlia: Break patterns. Surprise them. Give people something they didn’t see coming at just the right moment. I design event agendas like mixtapes: with highs, slow builds, and plot twists. Sessions with real-time engagement tools increase dwell time by 39%. (Source: Freeman Trends Report, 2024)
Think live reveals, spontaneous polls that change the discussion, or a celebrity cameo piped in from nowhere. Novelty keeps brains hooked.
Traditional marketing often focuses on pushing information out to audiences. Your “energy transfer” approach sounds much more dynamic. How does this change the way organizers should think about their pre-, during and post-event communication strategies?
Dahlia: Here are my suggestions, given that emotionally connected attendees are 2.5x more likely to register again for your next event. (Source: Freeman Data Pulse, 2024)
- Pre: Invite co-creation. Ask questions. Use reels, not reminders.
- During: Let them shape the moment, not just consume it.
- Post: Give them an encore. Highlight their voices. Drop unexpected value.
The secret is keeping the vibe alive long after the lights go down.
“Eyes Light Up” moments are fascinating as a success metric, but they seem challenging to measure at scale. How do we prove engagement at scale?
Dahlia: You build your own Spark System™. This might include:
- Live reaction polls
- Social media tracking (shares, mentions, emojis in comments)
- Speaker quote clips that explode post-session
User-generated content boosts post-event engagement by 50%+ and sponsors love the organic reach. (Source: HubSpot + Splash, 2024).
If you’ve had a single quote or moment go viral after an event, that’s a spark. And sparks are currency.
Real-time marketing that crowdsources attendee insights requires a significant shift in mindset from controlled messaging to collaborative content creation. What advice do you have for organizers who might be nervous about giving up that level of control?
Dahlia: Controlled messaging is safe… and forgettable. Attendees want to be part of it, not just watch. Give them structure, not scripts. We use live UGC walls, branded challenges, and shout-outs – then moderate smartly. The more they see their words reflected, the more they lean in. And that engagement carries straight into the post-event community.
