SMART EVENT CORE: LEARN

Build the foundation.
Lead with confidence.

A practical, self-paced course for event professionals who want clarity, systems, and a framework they can actually use — from strategy to delivery.
Tuition: $1,799 one-time purchase
Want the full Lead experience? The Smart Event CORE: Lead program includes everything here plus the hands-on project, case study assignments, and your leadership certificate.
 Six-stage event leadership roadmap
 57 lessons
 6 months course access
 Lifetime community access
 Digital badge credential
WHO IS THIS FOR

Built for the event pro who's figuring it out in real time

CORE was built for people stepping into event technology leadership — especially the kind no one prepares you for. No titles required.
You've been handed event tech responsibility without a roadmap or formal training
You're coming from marketing, communications, or another function and want to lead tech with more structure
You're responsible for evaluating tools or translating stakeholder needs — and want a framework for it
You want a system that connects strategy, people, and platforms — not just tools and checklists
You want to move from reactive execution to strategic, consultative leadership
what you'll learn

A six-stage roadmap for confident event delivery

CORE is built around the ACCORD event readiness framework — a structured approach to leading events from strategy to debrief, without the chaos.
Stage 1

Build a Strong Foundation

Set the context for everything that follows. Understand event cycles, why events exist, and how to approach your role as a strategic consultant — not just a tech operator.

  • The ACCORD event readiness framework
  • Five attendee types you can't ignore
  • Belonging by design & flagging friction early
  • Your role as consultant, not tech support
Stage 2

Define a Clear Strategy

Before tools come questions. Learn to read an event brief, map stakeholders, navigate resistance, and translate fuzzy goals into clear decisions.

  • Making sense of the event brief
  • Stakeholder mapping with Smart Event 360
  • Psychological safety & the SCARF model
  • From goals to decisions with the ACT framework
STAGE 3

Turn Strategy into Structure

This is where your plans take shape. Build registration, sessions, speakers, and the full attendee experience — with documentation and communication that keeps everyone aligned.

  • Building bulletproof registration
  • Session strategy, access & permissions
  • Speaker & exhibitor resource centers
  • Accessibility, privacy & legal compliance
Stage 4

Prepare for Launch

Validate every system, setting, and stakeholder before go-live. Learn to test with intention, evaluate new tools without the politics, and launch with calm instead of heroics.

  • Evaluating new event tools without losing your mind
  • Foundations of smart testing
  • The test cycle playbook
  • The art of a calm launch
Stage 5

Deliver with Confidence

When it's showtime, you're ready. Build your run of show, run dress rehearsals, manage the human side of show week, and close down with grace.

  • The run of show for your digital team
  • Dry runs & tech dress rehearsals
  • Managing live show chaos with calm
  • Closing down with authority
STAGE 6

Fuel the Flywheel

The event isn't over when the last attendee leaves. Debrief well, document like a pro, and capture insights that make your next event stronger — and your career more visible.

  • Running the debrief & keeping the lessons
  • Document like a pro
  • From transferable skills to event tech pro
what's included

Everything you need to go from reactive to ready

Video lessons

57 lessons across six stages. Watch at your own pace, on your schedule.

Smart Event Playbook

A growing collection of templates, checklists, and worksheets you'll actually use — including the ACT framework, SCARF decoder, documentation checklist, and run of show template.

Reflection journal

Prompts built into the course to help you connect what you're learning to your real work — not just absorb theory.

Quizzes throughout

Knowledge checks at every stage — scenario-based and applied, not just recall. Reinforces what you're learning as you go.

Peer community

Access to an integrated community of event tech professionals. Ask questions, share insights, and learn alongside others figuring out the same things. Jen's in there too. Lifetime access included.

Digital badge credential

Complete all six stages and pass each quiz to earn the CORE Event Essentials badge — your verifiable proof of completion.
limited time bonus

45-minute 1:1 strategy call with Jen

Connect the dots on your current event, your role, or wherever you need clarity most. Personalized to you and where you are right now.
Available for a limited time with enrollment in CORE: Learn.

want to go further?

CORE: Lead adds the hands-on work

Learn gives you the framework. Lead puts it into practice — with a real platform build, a capstone project, a leadership strategy session with Jen, and your CORE Certificate: Event Leadership.


 Event Leadership Project — build a full mock event in Accelevents
 CoffeePalooza case study deep-dives with graded assignments
 1:1 Leadership Strategy Session with Jen
 CORE Certificate: Event Leadership

Already enrolled in Learn? You can upgrade later and pay only the difference.

enrollment

Ready to build your foundation?

Smart Event CORE: Learn

Self-paced. Start immediately. Work at your own pace.

 Full access to all six stages — 57 video lessons
 Smart Event Playbook — templates, checklists, and worksheets
 Reflection journal and applied quizzes throughout
 Integrated peer community — lifetime access
 6 months access to course materials
 Digital badge: CORE Event Essentials
 Bonus: 45-minute 1:1 strategy call with Jen (limited time)

Not sure which path is right for you? You can start with Learn and upgrade to Lead later — you'll only pay the difference.
For team or organizational pricing, reach out to discuss.

Meet the instructor

Jen Santos

Jen Santos is an event tech strategist with three decades of experience across IT consulting, global event delivery, and behavioral science. She spent nine years driving Tier 1 event technology at Microsoft and has worked with organizations including CES, Oracle, GitHub, Splunk, and Databricks.

She's known for the ACCORD event readiness framework and for her ability to see what others miss — the decision gaps, fuzzy ownership, and loose assumptions that accumulate quietly until they become an onsite crisis.

Her work doesn't just inform. It retools how event professionals think, plan, and lead. Smart Event CORE is that approach, systematized — so you don't have to learn it the hard way.
Patrick Jones - Course author
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