What if the most important KPI at your next event isn’t on a spreadsheet?

This week on The Experiential Strategist, I sit down with Dahlia El Gazzar, founder and Chief Ruckus Maker at Dahlia+ Agency and winner of PCMA’s 2026 Visionary Award for Digital Event Strategist. Google her and you’ll see tech. Talk to her and it’s all energy, emotion, and people.

We get into why your program needs white space, how to design for your first-time attendee, the new KPI called ELUs (Eyes Light Up), and how to explain energy and emotion to the people holding the budget. Plus, Dahlia tells the story of stealing pool mattresses from a resort in Egypt to take 500 guests into the desert to watch shooting stars.

And yes, we disagreed. Dahlia says event professionals don’t need another designation. I say the future is “Event Planner, comma, what?” Stick around to hear where we landed.

If you’re tired of being polite and ready to make a ruckus, this one’s for you.

In this episode: 00:00 Welcome and meet Dahlia 04:06 Designing for energy at a 15,000-person conference 07:48 Your program needs white space 10:04 The Vibe Arc Audit: journey mapping for energy 14:00 ELUs: a framework you can use tomorrow 16:32 Why first-timers don’t come back 19:35 How to sell energy and emotion to leadership 24:19 Pool mattresses in the Egyptian desert 30:12 Why “Chief Ruckus Maker” 37:36 AI: what’s real and what’s hype 41:17 The designation debate 46:13 Rapid fire

Connect with Dahlia: Heading to IMEX? Find Dahlia on the Tech Stage and at Booth B4786 at the Dahlia+ pavilion. Email: dahlia@dahliaplus.com LinkedIn: Dahlia El Gazzar

Work with Jenny: Free guide, From Event Executor to Experiential Strategist: https://edgucationinstitute.com/executortostrategist Book a free strategy session with me: https://jennyhm.com/meet Learn about the CPES certification: https://edgucationinstitute.com

If this conversation fed your soul too, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with the event professional who needs to hear it.