San Francisco, CA
August 15, 2025
Convene San Francisco
You are an expert meeting professional. Now it’s time to master the business basics required to scale your passion. You will leave this all-business, hands-on workshop with a playbook for setting up and running the day-to-day so you can focus on over-the-top event consulting. Locally curated experts will guide you through learning:
Gary Hernbroth
Gary Hernbroth, founder and chief motivating officer of Training for Winners, knows about running one’s own small business. For 30 years he has been a leading voice in the meetings and event industry as a professional speaker, business coach, and author. His clients came up with the moniker of “strength and conditioning coach” to describe his value to their organizations.
Gary’s background in the hospitality industry was forged by 17 years in luxury hotel sales, marketing, and operation leadership roles with Westin, Fairmont, and Park Lane Hotels. He expanded his influence to include a vast array of industries and organizations, building an A-list of clients that includes hospitality businesses, associations, private and public sector firms, national companies, small businesses, and over 40 DMOs/CVBs across the USA.
Gary’s acclaimed debut book “Twist the Familiar” was published last summer as Amazon’s “#1 Top New Release” in its category. Through dynamic and authentic stories in a variety of colorful settings, Gary crafts immediately useful lessons for readers in a variety of critical business topics. Along the way, Gary helps readers build their personal playbook for success.
Gary has been honored by Connect Meetings as one of the “Top 15 over 50 Professionals in the Meetings Industry,” and by Smart Meetings as a “Smart Speaker Award Winner: Best of the Stage Industry Expert.”
Gary is a proud graduate of the School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, where he currently serves as chairman of the board and past president of the school’s alumni association.
Shirley Nakawatase
Shirley is a CPA Consultant and trainer known for creating custom training programs designed to help you and your team get excited about business. She is the founding partner of HNK CPAs in San Diego. Her in-house seminars and systems help you achieve more and get focused on “why” we are in business. Her background is in taxes and education as well as public accounting. She has been involved in turning around an SEC company and helping companies be more profitable as their per diem CFO.
The introductory investment for EventBoss™ Institute training is $799. This includes your personalized event playbook workbook and a 1-year membership in the MeetSmart Hub so you can stay connected to your fellow Event Bosses with a profile and contact info.
Yes! You will earn 1 CEU per speaker session.
100 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108.
Unfortunately, parking is not included in the cost to attend and is not validated at Convene. However, the closest parking lots/garages are Union Square Parking garage, 260 O'Farrell Street (Handlery Union Square), 223 Stevenson Street, and155 Stevenson Street.
Yes, the following BART and MUNI line are close by: Powell Street BART, Union Square/Market Street MUNI Metro Station, Multiple Buses and light rail at Market St & 5th St.
| 9:00 am - 9:30 am | Introduction Meet your Event Boss cohort and set goals for the day. |
| 9:30 am - 10:30 am | Mastering Financial Management & Expenses Tax strategies, deductions, and write-offs. Budgeting best practices for independent planners Tools and software for expense tracking and accounting. |
| 10:45 am - 12:00 pm | Effective Business Marketing & Promotion Strategies for branding and positioning your services, Digital marketing tactics (social media, email, SEO). Leveraging partnerships and networks. |
| 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch Break |
| 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm | Roundtable Business Plan Session Guided peer-to-peer personalized brainstorming, Branding insights based on market opportunities, Create a brand guide and elevator pitch. |
| 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Resource Management Hiring and training strategies for temporary and contract staff, Delegation and task management for independent planners, Leveraging virtual assistants and automation. |
| 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Legal & Compliance Essentials for Planners Understanding contracts, liability, and legal considerations, Insurance essentials for event planners, Managing financial compliance and tax responsibilities. |
| 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm | Wrap-Up & Networking Session |
