We were lucky to catch up with Jason & Samantha Stewart recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jason & Samantha , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
Events that JAM started in 2020 during the pandemic. Engaged at the time, we had plenty of experience providing advice and helping friends with weddings and events. Two close friends were supposed to get married in April of 2020 and then postponed their wedding to August. In late June, their venue threw some surprises their way and they were ready to just call off the wedding and elope. We stepped in and helped the couple realize what they could still accomplish if they hosted their wedding in their own backyard. We measured their yard and determined how many guests could be accommodated in theater for the ceremony and in rounds for the reception with social distancing in mind. We worked with vendors to get tables and chairs and décor delivered to their home. We worked to develop a plan with the caterer to make the food options COVID-friendly. In less than 2 months we were able to totally replan their wedding and ensure that the couple and guests had a great and safe experience. Planning an event together through such difficult circumstances is what made us realize that we could be a great team moving forward.
Jason & Samantha , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We are Events That JAM, an event planning husband and wife team based in Minneapolis. We both come from an event background (it’s actually how we met) and we found ourselves time and time again being asked to plan events of all sizes for our friends and families, so last year we took the plunge and made it an official business. We both still work full time jobs in the events industry and use that experience along with our combined 20+ years of events knowledge to put forth the best events that we can for our clients.
We work on events ranging in all sizes from intimate parties of 20 people to large galas of over 500 and beyond. We do weddings, social events, non-profit events and community gatherings. We don’t feel there is any event that’s out of our reach. Having two planners with unique events backgrounds and different planning styles lets our clients pick the planning services that best fit them, while getting the very best service possible and incredibly unique ideas. We strive to come up with unique ideas that aim to awe and leave guests talking about our events for years to come!
We are also an incredibly community focused organization and work to give back where we can. We regularly do in-kind donation work with non-profit organizations of our planning services and work to add give back elements to our events when we are able. We are regular volunteers in our community and work to bring our services to the community we live and work in to help make it a better place.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
2020 (and beyond) was the great year of transition in the meetings and events industry. When live events became all but impossible, we were forced to move into a world of virtual events and navigate a new territory or no longer be in the events world at all. As we found our footing in the virtual world, slowly things began to open back up leading the way for hybrid events, more changes and new rules and restrictions. Even now, as things have gone back to mostly live, it’s like relearning to ride a bike as we find ourselves back in familiar territory but after a few whirlwind years nothing feels familiar anymore. That being said, I think we have come out the other side as stronger more flexible planners with new skill sets under our belts and ready for anything the world is ready to throw our way!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
While we haven’t been in the market for long as Events that JAM, both of us have been in the industry for a decade or longer. We’ve worked with venues, vendors, caterers, photographers, visitors bureaus, entertainers and more. We both strive to form really positive working relationships with everyone that we cross paths with and when we can find opportunities to give them additional business we will. We enjoy getting to know the people we are working with, learning their stories, and making sure that both they and we have a great experience with all of our events. We want to be known as a company that vendors and venues recommend to clients to work with. We strive to make the planning process as painless as possible for our clients and our partners. No one wants to be pegged as the company that others hate working with and we make sure that that is never us.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @eventsthatjam
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eventsthatjam