Camp Hospitality: A Day of Community, Connection, and Creativity
If you work in the events industry, you know how easy it is to spend all of your time making sure everyone else is having a great experience that you forget to take a moment for yourself.
That’s exactly why we created Camp Hospitality.
On August 27, 2026, event professionals from across the industry gathered for a day that wasn't about typical networking. Rather than having pressure to collect as many business cards as possible, we created a space to slow down, get creative, laugh a lot, and actually get to know the people around us.
We started by decorating our own name badges, because why should name tags be boring? It was a simple way to add a little personality and, more importantly, give everyone a fun way to learn each other’s names.
From there, we settled in for a picnic-style lunch from Frey Catering Co., complete with plenty of delicious snacks and drinks throughout the afternoon. Over lunch, we shared introductions and stories that went far beyond the typical, “So, what do you do?”
Our keynote conversation with Karly Elbrecht of Camino & Company gave us plenty to think about. Karly shared her story and reminded us of something that can be surprisingly easy to forget in this industry: we’re all human. Behind every business, client, wedding, event, email, and deadline is a person with their own story, feelings, and expectations. Keeping that humanity at the center of our work is what hospitality is really about.
Then we broke the group into three smaller breakout experiences where we could really dig deeper. We played games while getting to know one another, carved stamps inspired by our businesses while talking about how branding shapes a client’s experience, and painted pots and potted plants while chatting about the little things we can do to create moments of joy for our clients.
We ended the day with an honest panel moderated by Lauren McKenzie of The Revelry Society featuring DJ Derald Gray of DG Visionaries, venue owner Hannah Faker of Sioux Monti, and myself, live painter Jennifer Dihel of Dihel Art. We talked about saying yes (and the cost that can come with it), taking care of clients without burning ourselves out, and putting systems in place that allow us to serve people well.
And that was Camp Hospitality! It wasn’t about learning how to be better at doing more. It was about remembering why we do what we do, how to serve our clients well, and remembering that taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other is part of hospitality, too.
We left with new connections, fresh inspiration, a few handmade creations, full bellies, and a whole lot of gratitude for this wonderful industry we get to be part of.
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