Smart Event CORE: Lead

Don't just learn a framework.
Apply it.

CORE: Lead is for event professionals who want to walk away with more than knowledge — a real project, a leadership credential, and the confidence to use both.
Tuition: $2,299
 Six-stage event leadership roadmap
 67 video lessons
 Smart Event Playbook
 Quizzes throughout
 Peer community — lifetime access
 Real platform build in Accelevents
 Graded case study assignments
 1:1 Leadership Strategy Session with Jen
 CORE Certificate: Event Leadership
 Peer community — lifetime access
WHO IS THIS FOR

Ready to do more than understand it

CORE: Lead is for event professionals who want a polished, real-world project to show for their learning — and a credential that signals they're ready to lead.
You want hands-on experience — not just theory — building real event infrastructure in a live platform
You want structured feedback on your work — not just self-assessment — before applying it in the real world
You're building toward a promotion, a new role, or a more consultative position and need a credential that backs it up
You want a system that connects strategy, people, and platforms — not just tools and checklists
You're already working in events and want to move from being seen as "the tech person" to being recognized as a strategic leader
What you'll build

A complete system for leading events with confidence

CORE: Lead takes you through the full event lifecycle — from your first strategy conversation to post-event debrief — and then puts that knowledge to work. You don't just learn the framework. You apply it, get feedback on it, and walk away with a real project to show for it.
 The Event Leadership Project
This is where the course moves from concept to execution. You'll design and build a complete mock event — CoffeePalooza — inside the Accelevents platform, using the CORE framework, tools, and templates. Registration, session configuration, access permissions, exhibitor setup, and a post-event evaluation.

What you build: A stakeholder doc, a tech plan, a full platform build in Accelevents, and a post-event evaluation. When you're done, you have a real-world artifact you can show your team, your boss, or a prospective client.
 CoffeePalooza case study assignments
Running through Stages 2–6, Lead includes six graded case study assignments built around the CoffeePalooza event. Each one asks you to apply what you just learned — analyzing a brief, reverse-engineering a timeline, mapping access and permissions, leading QA — and submit for expert feedback.

Why it matters: These aren't reflection prompts. They're graded, open-text assignments with rubrics. You'll get real feedback, not just a completion checkmark.
 1:1 Leadership Strategy Session with Jen
A dedicated session to go deep on your project, your leadership goals, or wherever you need the most clarity. This isn't a generic Q&A — it's personalized to your work and where you're trying to go.45 minutes. Scheduled after you've completed your Event Leadership Project, so the conversation is grounded in real work you've done.
The CoffeePalooza thread

One case study. Six assignments. Real decisions.

CoffeePalooza — a hybrid coffee industry conference — runs as a continuous case study through all six stages of Lead. Each assignment builds on the last, so by the end you've worked through a full event lifecycle, not a series of disconnected exercises.

Analyzing the event brief

Identify tech implications, surface gaps, and frame the right clarifying questions.

Building the timeline

Apply milestone sequencing to a real hybrid event with competing audience priorities.

Reverse-engineering the build

Work backward from launch to create a timeline that accounts for real-world constraints.

Registration, landing page & access

Configure registration logic, map access rules, and plan the attendee front door.

Exhibitors, sponsors & MPOs

Navigate layered partnerships and build the exhibitor resource center.

QA and bug prioritization

Lead a test cycle, triage issues, and make the call on what ships and what waits.
Your Credential

A certificate that means something

CORE: Lead earns you the CORE Certificate: Event Leadership — assessed, not just awarded. It's your documented proof of readiness for real-world delivery or a leadership role.
  CORE Certificate: Event Leadership
Smart Event Academy · Issued upon completion of all Lead requirements
Awarded when you complete all six stages, pass all quizzes, submit your Event Leadership Project, and complete your Leadership Strategy Session. The certificate is digitally issued and shareable — your verifiable proof of completion at the Lead level.

Digitally issued | Shareable credential | Assessed, not just completed
limited time bonus

45-minute 1:1 strategy call with Jen

Available with both CORE: Learn and CORE: Lead for a limited time. Lead's included Leadership Strategy Session is separate and permanent — this bonus is in addition to it.

Limited-time offer. Available at enrollment.
Everything included

The complete CORE: Lead package

CORE: Lead is delivered as two connected courses — the full six-stage curriculum from CORE: Learn, plus the hands-on CORE: Lead experience. Everything works together as one program.
From CORE: Learn
  • Full access to all six stages — 57 video lessons
  • Smart Event Playbook — templates, checklists, and worksheets
  • Reflection journal and applied quizzes throughout
  • Peer community — lifetime access
  • 6 months access to course materials
  • Digital badge: CORE Event Essentials
CORE: Lead exclusives
  • Event Leadership Project — full mock event build in Accelevents
  • Six graded CoffeePalooza case study assignments with expert feedback
  • 1:1 Leadership Strategy Session with Jen (45 min)
  • CORE Certificate: Event Leadership

enrollment

Ready to lead with a credential to show for it?

Smart Event CORE: Lead

Self-paced. Start immediately. Complete the project at your own pace.

From CORE: Learn
  • All six stages — 57 video lessons, playbook, journal, quizzes
  • Peer community — lifetime access
  • Digital badge: CORE Event Essentials


CORE: Lead exclusives
  • Event Leadership Project — full Accelevents build
  • Six graded CoffeePalooza case study assignments
  • 1:1 Leadership Strategy Session with Jen
  • CORE Certificate: Event Leadership
  • Bonus: 45-min 1:1 strategy call with Jen (limited time)

For team or organizational pricing, reach out to discuss.

Not ready for the full project?
CORE: Learn gives you all six stages, the Smart Event Playbook, quizzes, and lifetime community access — without the graded assignments, platform build, and certificate. A solid foundation if you want the framework first.
You can upgrade to Lead later and pay only the difference. About CORE: Learn
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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