Back in 2008, Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce hosted their first summit—a somewhat modest one-day event with 75 attendees and a bit of branded swag.
Fast forward to July 2023 and the duo just wrapped its 41st Engage! Summit in Paris, following in a long line of glam host locations including Dubai, Cayman Islands, Ireland, Sicily, and more.
Like previous summits, top global luxury event and wedding professionals gathered at Engage!23 The Paris Experience for a three-day event anchored at Dorchester Collection properties Hotel Le Meurice and Hôtel Plaza Athénée. This time, Grinnals and Arce partnered with Alejandra Poupel of Alejandra Poupel Events and Nicolas Barelier of Roni Floral Design to produce this edition of the summit.
The gala at Engage!23 The Paris Experience ended with a custom drone and fireworks show.Photo: Varna Studios
BizBash asked the women to look back on the summit’s evolution, how it has impacted trends within the event and wedding industry, and what their favorite moments have been so far.
What do you think are some of the key industry trends that Engage! Summits have started?
Ultimately, the trend of priceless in-person connection within the luxury wedding and events industry. We would like to think that early on we blurred the lines between speakers and attendees. We don’t have speaker green rooms, and they are fully immersed in the events from start to finish.
We created an event that we wanted to attend—from highly curated attendee amenities and gifting, surprise-and-delight elements, and inspired conversations, all wrapped within thoughtful design, decor, F&B, and entertainment that are reflective of the destinations where we gather. Everything we do, we do with intention to authentically connect like-minded event professionals, which is where the magic really lies.
How has the event evolved over the years?
As we have traveled across the globe, we have been able to expand the event to include many once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are unique to the location we’re in. We dined in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin with an after-party at the top of Guinness Storehouse. We planned a surprise private Elie Saab fashion show during a spectacular dinner in Paris in the famed Opera Ballroom. We brought in cutting-edge, unexpected speakers such as Barbara Corcoran or Wolfgang Puck or Duncan Wardle, former head of creativity and innovation at Disney. We continually elevate the design, decor, branding, and attendee surprises.
What is the difference between Engage! Summits, Experiences, and Retreats?
We still host one to two larger summits (350-500 attendees) per year and then two to three smaller events [known as] Experiences, which are 250-300 attendees, and Retreats, which are 100 attendees or fewer.
Having three ways to engage allows attendees to choose an event based on personal preferences, timing, location, and budget. We had feedback from longtime attendees that while they loved the summit format they were longing for more in-depth, person-to-person conversation, along with wellness-driven and business problem-solving content in bucket list, ultra-luxury resort buyout environments.
During Engage!22 New Orleans, attendees joined a second line procession down Bourbon Street.Photo: Ashley Ludaescher Photo
We have favorite moments from each and every Engage!. Sometimes they are what we expect—the 'wow' moments like surprising everyone with a headliner or taking everyone on an amazing experience, such as a second line down Bourbon Street in New Orleans. And sometimes they are unexpected moments such as a speaker who moves the entire room to tears with a heartfelt personal story.
Or, in Paris, when the entire staff of the Dorchester’s Hôtel Plaza Athénée put out a red carpet and lined up to clap for our attendees, dressed in their finest fashion, as they left the hotel to board the transportation to our gala dinner at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Evoking emotion and creating memories is at the heart of everything we do when planning and producing our events. Allowing moments and connections to happen naturally is also key. We have learned that usually it is the moments that we least expect that take our collective breath away.
During Engage!17 in Venice, attendees were transported by boat, which proved to be challenging.Photo: John Cain Sargent
Oh, there are so many places still to go. We are having conversations with extraordinary destinations around the globe and we know that our attendees will embrace the adventures that await, which is so exciting. [Engage!23 Montenegro will take place Oct. 2-5.]
We have loved everywhere we have hosted an event, but of course the most challenging locations always involve multiple hotels and event venues, lots of transportation modes, and, of course, unpredictable weather. Our Venice event was so incredible, yet the logistics of moving everyone only via boat, not to mention the elaborate event setups, was at the top of the list.
A favorite motto of ours is: 'If you can’t fix it, feature it!' It rained for three days and nights in Lake Como and sudden high wind conditions made our magical boat transfers all but impossible, so we had to lean into the mystical vibes—something every event planner can surely identify with.
Instead of the traditional dine-around evening, with smaller parties typically at multiple venues, a large group dinner was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin during Engage!22 The Ireland Experience.Photo: Corbin Gurkin
The gala at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte featured a three-course dinner orchestrated by Christian Le Squer, chef of three Michelin-starred restaurants.Photo: John Cain Photography
A private Elie Saab fashion show and dinner was held in the Opera Ballroom of InterContinental Paris - Le Grand.Photo: Josh Gooden
The “Maison Engage!” gifting experience included keepsakes from top French fashion houses including Dior, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, and Longchamp.Photo: Corbin Gurkin
