Event Ops Isn’t Boring. You Just Haven’t Met Jen.
Jen has been on stage since age nine, with state and national competitive speaking titles to prove it. Today she speaks to event leaders, marketing executives, and the teams behind the scenes about event readiness, AI in operations, and organizational dysfunction.
Book Jen
What Jen speaks about
Every talk is built from real experience, not recycled slides. Jen doesn't do fluff, doesn't do platitudes, and has never once used the phrase "lean in." Your audience gets frameworks they'll actually use and a few laughs they didn't expect.
Event Readiness and Governance
How to stop surviving events and start running them. Yes, there's a difference.
Proving ROI and Business Value
Making event investments make sense to the people who are actually writing the checks.
Event Technology
Why shiny new tools fail teams, what to do about it, and how to make your tech stack serve your strategy instead of fighting it.
AI in Event Operations
Responsible AI integration for event teams who want to get use out of it, not get run over by it.
Who is Jen Santos
Smart Event Studio’s Founder, Jen Santos
Jen Santos has spent 30+ years working inside complex systems — first in IT consulting, then in enterprise-scale event technology. She brings that same systems lens to the stage: not just the stories that get retold after hours, but the structural patterns underneath them, and what organizations can actually do about them.
Her work is grounded in behavioral science and systems thinking — the combination that explains not just what goes wrong in event delivery, but why capable teams keep producing the same outcomes. That's what makes her talks useful rather than just entertaining.
Jen has spoken at Rainfocus INSIGHT, and appeared on Engaging Virtual Meetings, The Sunday Lunch Project Manager Podcast, Eventist365, Bizzabo's Event Experience, Beyond the BEO, and MemberFix Radio. She hosts Mayhem & Method, a podcast about the people, politics, and platforms behind modern events. She has also delivered continuing education programming for MPI.
She Does More Than Keynotes (But Those Are Great Too)
Jen doesn't do recycled keynotes or death-by-PowerPoint workshops. Every format is built from scratch for the audience in the room and the problems they're actually facing.
%201.avif)
Testimonials
“An amazing session! Jen provided clear guidance on how event technology specialists need to be an early contributor to event planning.”
“Loved this session! I wish it was 45 minutes to leave more time for questions/discussion.”
“Very informative and relevant to a lot of my current challenges. I have a lot I can take back to my team!”
“Your session was AMAZING. I really loved how you told the story!”