The story behind tolbert events

From chaos to systems

I spent nearly a decade in the events industry learning one fundamental truth: the difference between a good event and an exceptional one isn't luck or bigger budgets. It's systems.

As Director of Event Content at AnitaB.org, I led the speaker program for the Grace Hopper Celebration—one of the world's largest gatherings of women in technology. Managing 650+ speakers across 15 content tracks for 26,000+ attendees taught me that scale demands structure, and structure enables creativity.

I built the processes that transformed speaker management from a perpetual fire drill into a repeatable, scalable system. The results speak for themselves: evaluation scores jumped from 77% to 92%, session attendance increased by 10%, and we achieved zero last-minute cancellations across 450+ sessions.

Why tolbert events exists

I started tolbert events because I realized that the systems I built weren't just useful for large-scale conferences—they could help any organization struggling with speaker management and event content strategy.

Too many event teams are drowning in spreadsheets, chasing down speaker submissions, and putting out fires that shouldn't exist. Meanwhile, they're so focused on logistics that strategic content development takes a backseat.

tolbert events bridges that gap. I bring the same systems thinking and operational expertise that powered one of tech's biggest celebrations to organizations of all sizes—helping them build processes that scale, content that connects, and events that exceed expectations.

My philosophy

I believe that great event content doesn't happen by accident. It requires intentional architecture, clear processes, and the right systems to support both creativity and execution.

I also believe in building capacity, not dependency. Every engagement is designed to leave your team stronger—with documented processes, templates, and knowledge transfer that ensure you're not starting from scratch when I'm gone.