Suzanne E. Baugh
CEO and Co-owner, Q&A Events
Atlanta, Ga.
Describe your job.
As the CEO and co-owner of Q&A Events, my job is to manage the day-to-day operations of the organization and to develop and manage the programs we produce. I work with our clients on the vision for their programs and help to design a plan to execute their vision by working with our internal Q&A Events team, as well as with our vendors, to ensure we are all working toward the same outcome.
What made you choose the meetings and events industry?
I knew I wanted to be a part of events when I went to see my first concert
at the age of 14, Amy Grant’s ‘Straight Ahead’ tour. I remember looking around the arena prior to the start of the show and seeing how excited and happy people were. I knew I wanted to be a part of bringing that kind of joy and excitement to people, and I have been hooked on producing live events ever since.
How did you get started and what got you from there to today?
As I mentioned, I was drawn to events at an early age. I produced my first concert at the age of 17 and decided I was going to attend Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., with a focus on their Music Business program. I got my start in live concerts, event marketing, and televised programs right out of college while working for an event marketing agency in Nashville, Warner/TBA, a Time Warner Joint Venture. While with Warner/TBA, I was on the producing team of RockFest, which in 1997 was one of the largest one-day ticketed events in history, as well as the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City, CountryFest ’96 and ’97, and many others.
In 1999, my then-business partner and I started Q&A Events and relocated to Atlanta, Ga. While we still produce a couple of festivals for long-term clients, over the years, our company has made the conscious decision to shift to meetings and events with a focus on nonprofit and association clients in the DEI space. This is near and dear to our hearts, and we love knowing the programs we are working on have a positive impact on the attendees’ lives.
How do you keep up with industry trends, changes, and cutting-edge developments?
Our clients challenge us to ensure their events are quality-produced programs, so we are always looking for the best ways to communicate their message and execute their vision. We work with our industry partners to ensure the services they are providing reflect the newest and best options for our clients’ needs and budgets.
What essential skills should every industry professional possess?
I think organization, leadership, production, and creativity are important.
A well-rounded event planner needs to understand how all of the elements of a program fit together to create a successful event and have the leadership and organizational skills to direct their team and their vendors to successfully execute on those elements. Having production knowledge allows you to have insight into what will be needed to support a program, which allows you to better compare audiovisual quotes to ensure you are getting the best value for your client. Creativity applies not only to program elements, such as scenic, branding, and run-of-show elements, but also applies to how you react to any surprises that come up during the planning and execution process. We all know this is bound to happen with live events.
What is the philosophy or approach to work that gets you through stressful times?
I think the key to minimizing stress is having a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished and the organization to execute that vision. We begin planning programs well in advance—sometimes years in advance—and have a clear path of tasks, milestones, and assignments. This allows us to execute early and provides us with time closer to the programs to react calmly to the last-minute changes that always pop up.
What is the best professional advice you ever received, and what advice do you have for others in the industry?
Remember: You are not saving lives here, so don’t let your work consume you. You are trying to create a safe and fun environment, so have fun doing that and make sure you continue to get joy out of what you are doing.
Describe your biggest professional success.
My biggest professional success is having a successful business for the last 24 years. It hasn’t been easy, but we have made it through many challenging times in our industry and have been able to adapt and diversify our business in a way that has allowed us to grow while focusing on the type of business that we love. When we first started Q&A Events in 1999, most of our programs were large-scale festival events. In 2001, when 9/11 happened, large-scale events really took a hit, so we started looking at smaller events and consumer-activation programs. General Motors was one of our largest clients at the time. Then in 2008, when the stock market crashed, these types of programs started to get smaller, as well. At that point, we started looking at opportunities with private and corporate events. So, through it all, we were always okay because as one segment of our business might be shrinking, we were able to rely on another segment of our business to sustain our operations.
Share an anecdote about a meeting or event that did not go as planned (something funny or odd) and how you handled it.
We all know how important power is to an event. We were in a general session event with a ‘fireside chat’ taking place on stage that also was streaming out to millions of people. All of a sudden, the entire ballroom went dark (with the exception of our battery-lit centerpieces). Our team immediately checked the power sources, and it turns out that a security-team member had placed a bag between the wall and the power breaker, and when they shoved the bag in that space, it flipped off the breaker. It is definitely one for the books, but we were able to get the show back up and running within about 45 seconds.
What is the best part of your job?
Bringing people joy and seeing the work that we do have a positive impact on others’ lives.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Travel when I can. We absolutely love Europe: Spain, Italy, and Portugal are on the top of the list. We also love Costa Rica for family travel. When I am home, I like to go for walks and visit with friends.
