Freeman's Bob Priest-Heck on His New 'Inside Live Events' Book

Former Freeman Company CEO Bob Priest-Heck has helmed one the largest events companies in the world, collecting a vast reservoir of knowledge on the profession during a career that has spanned 35 years in the meetings and events industry.

Now, in tandem with Freeman Chair of the Board Carrie Freeman Parsons, he's put that knowledge down on paper in their new book Inside Live Events.

[Related: Bob Priest-Heck Named Freeman CEO]

Meetings Today's Tyler Davidson sat down with Priest-Heck to discuss why the book is such a valuable resource for meeting and event planners, as well as key industry trends and the importance of sharing our knowledge with the next generation of meeting professionals.

Listen:

[Related: Freeman at 90: Celebrating a Meetings Leader]

Transcript:

Editor's note: The following transcription was facilitated by an AI program and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Tyler Davidson   
I’m Tyler Davidson, vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today and really happy to be joined by Bob Priest-Heck, former CEO of one of the great companies that’s going to be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2027, Freeman Company, and just a part and parcel of the meetings industry almost from the beginning of both, and he's here to talk about the new book he co-authored with Carrie Freeman Parsons, Inside Live Events: Your Playbook for Mastering the Experience.

Thanks for joining us today, Bob.

Bob Priest-Heck   
Thank you, Tyler. Happy to be here.

Tyler Davidson   
So, you know, tell me about your experience both at Freeman and your co-author’s experience, as well as any other things you've been up to in the meetings industry since you started your career.

Bob Priest-Heck   
Sure, happy to.

Let me start with Carrie. Carrie is a third-generation Freeman. Her grandfather was Buck Freeman, the founder of the company, and her dad was Don Freeman, who has really been a driving force in the industry for quite some time, and Carrie spent her entire professional career working in the industry for Freeman. She's done every job at every level and she's an incredible human as well.

I have actually been in the events industry for over 35 years. I was an event organizer.

I started a couple of marketing agencies that were specified for events or specific to events, and then I came on to the services side of the business, sold a business to Freeman in 2011, and then became CEO of the company. And it's one of the greatest pleasures of my life was leading the team at Freeman. It's an incredible group of individuals.

Tyler Davidson   
So I mean, you guys both know of what you speak for, sure. What made you decide to put it all in a book?

Bob Priest-Heck   
Well, we've we wanted to do it for a long time, and we started working on it about five years ago. And then when the pandemic happened, we had to put it on ice because we had other things to do.

But as we pivoted out of the pandemic, we really felt like we owed it to the industry, to articulate the four-phase methodology that we are very intentional about and we've institutionalized in Freeman and with many of our clients.

So, you know, we love the industry and we wanted to make sure that we were contributing in a way that could live on. We have a really big generational shift happening in the industry and we wanted to have something that could serve as a reference, or a refresher for more seasoned people, but also somewhat of a textbook to attract and train a new generation of event professionals, and the last chapter in the book is all about achieving excellence as an event professional, and everyone who contributed to this book felt strongly about nurturing that future generation.

Tyler Davidson   
And I love the way it's organized. It's very digestible.

You know, you have best practices, to-do lists, pro tips. How is this going to basically help meeting and event planners of all experience levels, and what are some of the top takeaways in the book for them?

Bob Priest-Heck   
Yeah, well, having done this a long time, I know that that I have to sometimes kinda go back in time and think about what are we building here. Why are we doing it? How do we write a strategy brief? How do we, you know, have a creative brief? What is the operational plan?

I mean, there's just so many moving parts to this industry. So I really hope that seasoned professionals will find it useful as a reference guide, just to remind yourself.

I mean, the book is written at a pretty high level because you have all different types of event planners that can use the book, but I really hope people pull it off the shelf and just go to that chapter and say, ‘Oh, I'm thinking about building my strategy document. What do I need to do,’ and then as I mentioned before, people who are new to the industry. I really think it provides context to all the components. All the things that it takes to build these incredible experiences that we all participate in every day.

Tyler Davidson   
And you, you know, you do mention that creating memorable experiences is such a crucial part of meetings. I guess you know it's creating that dream to facilitate interaction and dialogue and collaboration. Why is creating memorable experiences such an important aspect of meetings?

Bob Priest-Heck   
Well, I mean from a brand-marketer perspective, nothing builds trust like face-to-face connections.

There's obviously amazing applications for digital, but brand trust is the Holy Grail of marketing and live events deliver that better than any other channel. So, we've got tons of research that backs that up.

I think you've spoken to Ken Holsinger before. But you know, this is the moment to build trust. This is that moment for brands, and then of course, for show organizers and associations or really anybody who's responsible for building an event; they have to deliver more of what event attendees want.

It's more than kind of maybe the way it was for previous generations. People are very in tune to how they feel, how it makes them feel at an emotional level.

So, the idea is, this book really helps both those creating events and those marketing events.

Tyler Davidson   
And you mentioned you know the new generation coming into the workforce and the meetings industry. How are those generational preferences impacting meetings and events?

Bob Priest-Heck   
Well, again, I would point you to the Freeman recently-published research with the Harris poll that covers this really in detail.
I believe it's called the 2025 Gen. Z report and you can get it on Freeman's website, but I would say that, you know, event planners have a lot to consider as they engage and retain younger professionals. I like to make the joke that my generation, we walked into a hall, we looked left. We looked right. Whatever side you started on, you did the show.

That's not necessarily how people think today. I mean, the technology has changed everything. So, the majority of professionals from all generations believe in events, but how they use them is going to be different and Gen Z has told us that they feel a little FOMO, like they've missed out, if they aren't able to participate in a physical event. That they're not seeing the virtual or social media experience replacing live events.

So, this is a really important place for them to build confidence and make connections and really contribute to their professional development. And you know, we're seeing a lot of isolation, and in fact, in the research that I referenced 69% of
Gen Z feel isolated by technology and 91% seek a digital slash in-person [unintelligible].

So, it's just an incredible opportunity to create these blended experiences that thoughtfully used technology to facilitate real connections, not replace them, and build these really trusted, deepened relationships.

Tyler Davidson   
You know, and I think you're right—spot-on there because a lot is kind of counterintuitive and a lot of people may think, well, Gen. Z, they're on their devices all the time, but it's almost like, you know, because of that they crave in-person experiences. And then I always have to remind myself a lot of their professional experience or has been non-existent and you know they went through the pandemic, a lot of them in college, during the pandemic, so they don't develop those interaction and social skills that they need. And it's interesting that you found there is just an overwhelming desire to achieve that.

Bob Priest-Heck   
Yeah. Yeah. Well, again, I'll just point the audience back to the Freeman research.

Gen Z has an average about 16 strong business relationships where Gen X had 40 and 86% of them actively want their companies to invest in in events to build these connections because they don't have them.

To your point, I have three adult young adult children who came into the workforce during the pandemic and what you're describing is very true.

And if we pull back and think about our lives and our careers, so much happened in the office, in those in-person connections, and so events act as kind of the new water cooler for a lot of people.

And it's an incredible opportunity.

Tyler Davidson   
What are some other sort of big trends you're seeing out there in the meetings and events industry?

Bob Priest-Heck   
Well, I'll make the connection to kind of the generations. People need to be planning ahead in five years. Gen Z will represent 30% of the workforce and event planners need to really think today about how to help their youngest members, gain benefit from their organizations, and it's really important that people kind of see into the future and make it easier for them to engage with people who can further their careers and you know, life is all about learning and who you trust, and it's harder and harder for people to find that in their career.

So, I think event planners need to really think about how are we building trustworthy connections. Are we designing these events that will earn the trust of all of the stakeholders? You know, creating real deep engagement.

So, I just want to make that connection and then of course, you know, there's all kinds of technology innovations and things that are going to help us think differently about the future.

But, I'm just super focused on kind of this next generation coming up because, you know, I think there's a mandate for change from that generation in all aspects of life and we are not immune to that.

We are gonna need to double down on our efforts to build these communities with this constituency.

Tyler Davidson   
Yeah. And another point, too, is with all the social media that they're so engrossed in.

I mean, I think everyone knows that it's less trustworthy as days go by, the information that you get from social media. And maybe in-person meetings can replace that sort of connection where you're actually meeting someone face to face and you're getting legitimate, hopefully, information from them.

Bob Priest-Heck   
Yeah. No, I completely agree.

And you know, I'm a big fan of AI for a lot of reasons. I mean it has pros and cons like all technology innovation. I spent the bulk of my career around technology media, so I got to see first-hand the importance of all of these innovations. If it was the Internet itself. If it was Internet-based languages, if it was the smartphone, you know, now it's really AI. I mean there's these high points in the tech timeline that are really game changing and AI is one of those.

But to your point, it's complicated because in the digital world, you are going to start to question what's real and what's not real, but in the face-to-face world, you know you're real. I can see you. I can touch you. I can talk to you. I can pick up on your energy. I can really understand who you are.

So, it's not to say one over the other, but you're definitely going to want to have both. You're going to want to have these touch points where you really validate what you believe to be true.

Tyler Davidson   
Wow, that's a very interesting. Well, thanks for joining us.

Is there anything else you think planners should be thinking about these days? And then where can they get a copy of the book?

Bob Priest-Heck   
I think planners, again, should be thinking about—and I hope they use this book—you know, their strategy plan, not their operational plan. You know, actually follow this four-phase methodology and really think about all aspects of the event so that you're designing for the outcome that you really want to have and that you have a clear view of beautiful and you have to define that right up front, and then the book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and all of your traditional outlets for publishing books, so check it out please.

Tyler Davidson   
Wonderful. Well, definitely. I'm looking at my copy here, and we'll dig into it further.

And thank you for creating this. I think it's so important to pass along knowledge, especially to new generations coming into the industry, and I think this is a very valuable resource for that.

So, I appreciate you publishing this book.

Bob Priest-Heck
Well, thank you, and thank you for all you guys do every day for our industry and your trusted resources. It’s critical work. So, thank you very much.

Tyler Davidson
I appreciate that. Thank you.

That was Bob Priest-Heck, former CEO of Freeman company and still on the board and now celebrated author.

So, check out his book, along with Carrie Freeman Parsons, Inside Live Events, your Playbook for Mastering the Experience.
I'm Tyler Davidson, vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today.

Thank you for joining us for this Meetings Today podcast. If you want to check out more of our podcasts with industry thought leaders, head on over to Meetingstoday.com and get into our podcast section will where you'll find a variety of them.

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