Speaking

Currently Speaking on the Following Topics

  • Managing South Asian Clients and Events
  • Money Matters: Don’t Deny the Power of Profit
  • It’s the Little Things with Event Production that Make the Biggest Difference
  • Building Better Relationships Between Event Planners and Vendors
  • Creating and Maintaining an Effective Internship Program
  • Cross-Cultural Connections: Understanding Various Multicultural Norms for Crafting Events
  • Improving Event Day Logistics
  • Managing and Marketing to Millennials
  • Professionalism Pitfalls
  • Special Event “Life Hacks”: Become Masters of Event Efficiency!
  • Strategies and Challenges for Adding Corporate Events to Your Portfolio

Previous Speaking Engagements

  • June 2023: NACE Experience Conference
  • March 2023: The Special Event | Orlando, FL
  • March 2023: ILEA Cincinnati
  • March 2023: MPI DFW
  • April 2023: ILEA Austin
  • November 2022: Associated Wedding Planners Program | Austin, TX
  • September 2022: Society of Wedding Planner’s Program | Dallas
  • May 2022: The Special Event | Anaheim, CA
  • May 2022: MPI EduCon | St. Louis
  • November 2021: ILEA| Minneapolis-St. Paul
  • July 2021: The Special Event Conference | Miami, FL
  • June 2021: ILEA | Dallas
  • January 2021 – MPI North Florida
  • February 2020 MPI Middle Pennsylvania: Harrisburg, PA
  • September 2019 MPI Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, OK
  • February 19 MPI MidAmerica Conference Lexington, KY
  • November 2018 ILEA Cincinnati
  • May 2018 MPI Kentucky Bluegrass
  • January 2018 PWG Ft. Worth
  • November 2017 MPI St. Louis EduCon
  • July 2017 National Association of Wedding Professionals Day Of Education Estero, FL
  • August 2016 ILEA Live Conference Austin, TX
  • April 2016 Association of Wedding Professionals Program Dallas, TX
  • April 2016 AACWP Dallas Program Dallas, TX
  • March 2016 NACE South Florida Program Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • November 12, 2015 MPI Calgary Program Calgary, Alberta
  • November 2015 Professional Wedding Guild of Ft. Worth
  • August 2015 Greater Washington D.C. NACE Tyson's Corner, VA
  • July 2015 NACE Experience Scottsdale, AZ
  • March 2015 NACE Dallas-Ft. Worth
  • March 2015 Catersource/Event Solutions Conference Las Vegas, NV
  • January 2015 NACE Houston

Testimonials

Thank you again so much for speaking last night. All of our members and non-members have been buzzing about it all day. You definitely inspired some new guests to get more involved and our seasoned vets to change some of their strategies.
Jennifer Bertolino
ISES New England Director of Education
Meredith was fantastic! One of the best speakers yet!
Kayli Burnett, Robert Carr
Chapel Wedding Coordinator
I thought Meredith's presentation was fantastic! Very easy to listen to and she had great, pertinent information.
Kristin McElroy
M&K Productions
Meredith, I loved your presentation tonight and heard awesome feedback from fellow members. Extremely relevant to me and to many. Two of my employees "millenials " to boot, were also present tonight. You may have hit home with the "we's" and the "me's" this time. Great job! Enjoyed meeting you!
Jill Vidal
EB Events Inc
Awesome presentation! People are still buzzing about it! Meredith was fun, witty, and educational all at once! Fabulous!!
Lisa Carruth
NACE Houston Chapter President
You were fabulous beyond measure! Thank you so much for coming and speaking, and I can't wait to hear you speak again!
Harold Kelly
Melange Catering
Thank you again SO much for your presentation last night! We have been getting such fabulous feedback on emails, social media, phone calls, texts, etc. about how amazing the program and most importantly, our speaker, was! (several from an attendee who is very hard to please and hardly ever compliments our choice in speakers!)
Victoria Jenkins
Victorious Occasions
Your speaking on "Managing and Marketing to Millenials" was very informative and engaging. I took in a lot and learned from that, considering I fall under the Millenial category.
Danh Tran
Tarrant County Community College Studen
Excellent presentation for NACE. You can tell you have run a strong and successful business!
Vinny Esposito
Split Second Sound
Thank you for a very interesting and informative talk today. I really enjoyed it a lot. You made a number of great points that I know will be helpful to me. Thanks so much!
Carol Marks
Carol Marks Entertainment, Inc.
Thank you, Meredith, for a fabulous Thought Talk! So on point and relevant for today’s live event industry!
Debbie Meyers-Shock, CSEP
CEO Bravo Entertainment
GREAT info today on Professional Pitfalls! I am guilty of a few but not anymore! Thank you!
Deb Hermann
CEO Ghostlight Productions
These points are so important! Kudos to Meredith on a great talk!
Katherine Dawson
Partner, Intelligent Lighting Design
Thanks for speaking at our NAWP Education Day. I really learned a lot from your talks!
Mimi Whitlock
NAWP Naples
It was so nice to see that you have the same belief systems that I do. I find that too many planners are afraid to stick up for what is right, so it was refreshing to hear that you share my thoughts on those items!
Laurie Hartwell
The Bridal Society
Love her honesty. Feel like Meredith is my BFF…. Loved this topic and how relatable it was to all MPI members… Great, very enthusiastic!... Good tips to refresh to planners and vendors etc…. Interesting and informative and can be applied to many professional situations… Very helpful content and presentation… Very informative!
St. Louis MPI EduCon Survey Respondants
Meredith did a great job explaining the best practices when working with cultural events. Very helpful. My takeaways – always ask, never assume, take good notes and deliver what you promise.

Joan Minton
President, MPI Kentucky-Bluegrass
You were fantastic! I really appreciate everything you went over, I thought the slides were great.
Cari Paul
Hyatt Regency Cincinnati
It was wonderful to have you as our presenter at the MPIMP event. You are engaging, entertaining and a wealth of knowledge.
Mari Killian
Tap Snap Photo Booths
Kudos on your content and keeping the information fun, light, and informative! Thank you so much for your refreshing perspective on what we do!
Becky Dussinger
Event Planning Analyst, Highmark Inc.
Thank you for the engaging and helpful presentation!
Jan Spence
MPI North Florida
Speaker was amazing….. the presenter was entertaining, relevant and informative.
MPI North Florida Survey Responses
Meredith Commender was the speaker and she knocked it out of the park! I knew it would be good and I’d agree with a lot of what was said, but dang! I felt like a bobble head as I agreed with every point. Great job Meredith!!
Wendy Kidd
Each and Every Detail
We enjoyed every minute! Thank you, Meredith, for your very relevant and helpful presentation!
Renee Schuler
CEO, Eat Well Cincinnati
Meredith gave a fabulous and valuable presentation on doing “little” things in your communications, vendor relationships, and events that make a HUGE difference.
Christy Seguin
Rosehaven Venue
Meredith shared her priceless wisdom on the power of “the little things” in event production. Insightful speaker!
Julie Blake
Voice Coach, Speaker, and Singer
I so enjoyed your session - very relevant. It was funny - it confirmed many ideas I’ve had about professionalism over the years and made me think about other concepts.
Bethani Blair
Ultimate Ventures
As always you were fabulous, hilarious, truthful, and knowledgeable! Thanks for your presentation today!

Teresa Choate
Texas Discovery Gardens
That was THE BEST presentation I’ve ever seen/heard/watched/loved. Thank you for taking the time to do that for us. I couldn’t even find anything to disagree with. YOU are amazing and your back story is great.

Luana Stoutmeyer
Encore Productions
Amazing session - so many great takeaways!
Danielle Fisher
Argyle Events
Loved this speaker as someone on the production side of a catering business. Bring her back…..Extremely helpful session and a wonderful speaker!.....Fabulous. The best session I have attended. Down to earth speaker who kept things real and provided practical advice. Book her again…..Very good tips given….Loved all the tips! Thank you!
I appreciated the helpful tips, even if they were common sense. I also enjoyed learning about apps that help make life smoother……Very engaging speaker and relatable.
The Special Event 2024 Survey Respondents