Do you love a good cocktail? This week we welcome the former VP of Event Marketing at Patron to the show, Pam Dzierzanowski. We talk about creating memorable experiences, prosecco in a can, and adapting brand activations to the virtual space. Make sure you check out this weeks episode of Meeting Minds!

What is your background?

I’ve been in the spirits business for about 25 years, Patron was my last company. I have started my own company Re-Invent designs. I have come into the virtual community and really embraced that. I started in sales and was working at Seagrams. About a year in they asked what I wanted to do, and I said events. They said they didn’t have that role, but 6 months later they said do you wanna move to Florida and try this out. I love making people smile and helping people have a good time. 

Where do you get your inspiration? 

There’s so much going on and I always have a crazy idea. I love collaborating and working with people. At the beginning I was thinking how can I come alive at somebody else’s event? When you give somebody a value, they can’t say no. Ask planners what they have on their line items and sponsor it and try to make it come alive. 

So what has that looked like in the virtual space?

I was working for a company that did prosecco a can, and I did prosecco kits, it was a virtual happy hour. We started doing a “Bingo and Bubbles” and people loved it! It included 30 mins tasting and a walkthrough of each drink. 

How can you take this attendee engagement into the hybrid event world? 

I’m not going to lie, the virtual event world is scary to me. I’ve brought in some help and I’ve learned a lot about technology. Lots of collaboration and It’s been great, our community has come together. I had this one activation called “Muddle your Mojito” and we wanted to create a memorable experience. It was an experiential bar and we did a ‘learn how to make your own cocktail’ with tequila instead of rum! We had muddlers engraved, and attendees were able to keep them! It got people talking, they tasted our product, and we were able to get their email to keep in touch. It was a full experience. It’s all about fun experiences and that’s something that can evolve in the virtual space. 

I’m working with JazzAspen and we are sending them a Mule kit with a mixologist recording. This was pre-corded at the distillery and people get to have fun making this at home. 

Any final ideas or tips?

I believe that I’d rather spend my money on activations rather than large sponsorship dollars. Give your attendees a great experience, on the corporate side. On the virtual side, don’t question doing stuff, just do it! Having something to surprise and delight your team shows that you care about them.