Meet Lynn Bjostad of Premier Meeting and Event Management in Grapevine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Bjostad.

Lynn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always been in the hospitality industry and always knew I wanted to start my own company. I have an entrepreneur’s brain and needed to put it to work. One of my old bosses said to me ‘You are sitting on the edge of the pool with your feet in, too scared to just jump, Be FEARLESS’. The next month I started my company. Fear is still part of every day for us but now it fuels us and makes keeps us on our toes. 15 years later we are still planning meetings and conferences for a variety of business, associations, and non-profits.

Has it been a smooth road?
Not at all. Each year is different than the one before and the one ahead. I tell folks who want to start their own company to hold on tight, the rollercoaster is not going to stop just because you want to get off. You have to ride the wave of busy times and slow times and learn to adjust. Some years yield great profits and others are just skimming by. Perseverance and self-discipline are key.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Premier Meeting and Event Management story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a full-service meeting and conference planning company. Our strike zone is building and managing conference registration, exhibit & sponsorship management, stage production, strategic branding, meeting logistics and the A-Z concepts that go with planning a meeting anywhere from 5 people – 5000 people.

We are most proud of the level of customer service that we give our clients. Out integrity and ethics are what carry us as a company.

A couple things set us apart. One is that we are small by choice. We make sure that each client is a good fit and then we dive into their culture so we can be a part of the overall experience. Being a large company was never on our radar so we stay small and focus on the important things – our clients and being a good steward of their budgets. The second thing is that we try to align ourselves with companies that help others. Regardless if it is a non-profit or not, we like to find companies that have a passion and are doing something to better someone or something. This way we organically are helping someone or something along the way.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
About 1.8 million meetings and events occur in the U.S. each year, resulting in $280 billion in spending. I believe that the technology we have today is helping us connect and educate more attendees through webinars and other platforms but I also believe that nothing will ever replace the power of the people and what happens when you are face-to-face with colleagues, vendors, and other employees.

Over the past few years, we have seen the trends of social media, technology apps, RFID and more. And to think, we are only scratching the surface.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1061 Texan Trail, Suite 500
  Grapevine, TX 76051
• Website: www.meetingsbypremier.com
• Phone: 972-518-1600
• Email: lynn@meetingsbypremier.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetingsbypremier/

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