No one sets out to exclude anyone — but it happens anyway

In Tahira Endean’s book, “Our KPI is Joy” she has a quote that reads, “Nobody plans an event to crush feelings of belonging.”

I read that and had to actually take a moment – belonging has been a core value of mine since, well, forever. (That’s probably why this introvert chose a career in events.)

And yet, despite the best of intentions, so many event experiences do leave people feeling like they don’t belong.

Not because people don’t care — but because belonging doesn’t happen by default. It has to be designed. And in my world, that means designing it into the tech.

It’s so easy to think of belonging as the in-person experience – long coffee breaks, deep conversations that leaves both people missing the next session on their schedule, and laughter-filled nightcaps. And it is.

But it’s also deeply operational:

• It’s registration flows that ask for pronouns
• It’s badges that make it easy to connect
• It’s captioning that works
• It’s wayfinding that ensures that people of all abilities can easily get from point A to point B
• It’s platforms that don’t assume everyone learns or communicates the same way

It’s a quiet knowing that “someone thought of me” at every touchpoint.

When we don’t consider belonging during the tech setup, we risk unintentionally excluding someone — by gender, disability, neurotype, language, or just plain usability. Even if the event itself is welcoming, the journey to get there might not be.

This is where event tech shines — if we let it.

When we work cross-functionally, ask better questions, and advocate early for the attendee experience, we unlock tech’s full potential. It can give voice, flexibility, and dignity to people who are too often left navigating the fine print alone.

I’m not saying that every event must be perfect. But I am saying that belonging is not a "nice-to-have" layered on at the end. It’s a barometer of how well we did our job.

So if you’ve ever felt like “this isn’t my call” or “I’m just here to execute the tech,” I want you to know: you’re in a powerful position to make change.

You can ask the questions others forgot to. You can flag the registration path that excludes. You can shift the standard.

Nobody plans to crush belonging. But someone has to plan for it to be felt.

Let that someone be you.