Blog > Event Planner Interviews
Interview - Texas Yoga Conference
Today we sat down with Jennifer Buergermeister, yoga multitasker extraordinaire and one of the founders of the Texas Yoga Conference, to learn some behind-the-scenes secrets of putting on a great conference.
TravelingOms.com: Tell us more about the how the Texas Yoga Conference came to be.
Jennifer Buergermeister: Here in Houston, we have a lot of wellness resources. There’s the Texas Medical Center, which is doing amazing studies and research into natural wellness. And the MD Anderson Cancer Center received a $4.5 million grant in 2010 for the study of yoga in cancer. Texas is positioned to become a mecca of yoga in the US.
4 years ago a few leaders in the yoga community sat down for sushi to discuss what we could do to help grow yoga in our city and state. By the time we left the restaurant, the Texas Yoga Conference had been born.
TO: How has the conference changed over the past 3 years?
JB: We have basically doubled every year. We started out with 500 participants that first year and are on par to have between 1500-2000 this year. Every year we have had to change venues to accommodate the growing interest.
TO: That first year, how did you find presenters for the conference?
JB: Being so ingrained in the local yoga community, it was pretty much just friends and other local yoga leaders.
TO: And now?
JB: Now we receive proposals from all over through our website and word of mouth.
TO: How do you narrow down the proposals you receive?
JB: Our two most important criteria are Experience and Uniqueness. We like to use people who can show previous experience in front of larger audiences and have the references to back it up. And obviously we don’t want multiple presenters with the same area of expertise, so if a proposal comes across our desk with a niche we haven’t seen, we give it more attention.
TO: How do you decide between multiple proposals that have similar topics?
JB: Attitude is one thing that can set someone apart. If someone seems to genuinely care about the community and has a sincere quality of character, that can speak volumes about how they will come across as a presenter. We don’t want any prima donnas here :)
TO: Do you ever do your own research into presenters?
JB: Absolutely. Some presenters we seek out based on word-of-mouth recommendations. If we are interested in a presenter that submits a proposal we will research them online before contacting them. Seeing videos of them are extremely helpful, as well as news stories and other media showing what they have been up to.
TO: What is your number one advice to someone who would like to succeed in the world of presenting?
JB: Learn how to market yourself. People who are great at promoting themselves and getting their name out there will go much farther than those who put up a website then sit back on the couch and expect things to come to them. There are so many tools nowadays at their disposal to help them grow their following, just go out there and start using them.
TO: Thank you, Jennifer!
If you would like to have your event highlighted on our blog, please contact us at jslis@travelingoms.com
