Yes. She canceled Christmas. And she went to Waffle House instead of making Swedish pancakes.
But before we get there — this aftershow is one of the most dense, useful, and occasionally unhinged episodes we've done. Christine Martin is back, and we go deep on the things that didn't fit in the main episode: speaker management truth bombs, post-event metrics that actually matter, a tax crash course event pros desperately need, road warrior travel hacks that will change how you pack, and the crowdsourced audience questions that somehow led to a story about AI agents auditing people's garage sales.
Christine has attended, spoken at, and worked conferences and trade shows for 30+ years. She is a senior solutions consultant at Avalara, a road warrior with more flight miles than most event pros I know, and in this Mother's Day special — also my mom.
Which means this aftershow goes places no other event podcast has gone. Including: the Christmas she canceled and the year she gave her work friends huckleberry jam and "bottle condoms" as Christmas gifts.
There is real strategy in here, I promise. But there's also a story about an Indiana tax auditor who went on vacation, picked up a gift shop catalog, and triggered a full corporate audit.
In this aftershow:
The speaker management question every event team should be asking — but never does
Why scan count is a vanity metric
Tax 101 for event pros
The road warrior travel hacks Christine swears by
What it actually takes to build a career in events as a single mom
The crowdsourced audience questions
If you sponsor events, speak at them, plan them, or run a business that shows up at them — this is the aftershow you didn't know you needed.
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — Welcome to the Aftershow: Meet Christine Martin (for anyone just joining us)
01:00 — When Christine knew Megan was going to make a career in events
05:00 — Career pivots: pharmacist → Belize → communications → public administration → event industry
08:00 — The most useful things Megan learned from watching Christine work (and she actually gives Christine credit for them)
14:00 — Single mom on the road: when is it worth it, how to find balance, and the Sister Wives theory
22:00 — Road warrior travel hacks: the Paris-to-Mumbai story, hidden city ticketing, the double toiletry kit, bottle covers, and the travel power strip you need in your bag
30:00 — Speaker management secrets: what event teams get wrong, what makes Christine say yes to coming back, and why she hasn't seen session feedback in three years
42:00 — Post-event metrics that actually matter: 30/60/90 pipeline tracking, booth scan ROI, and why your event team should know the sales cycle length for the product they're supporting
55:00 — Tax 101 for event pros: registration fees and sales tax, VAT on international events, multi-state income tax exposure, 1099s for paid speakers, digital receipts, and the AI agents now used to audit garage sales
1:10:00 — Audience questions
1:30:00 — The Christmas she actually canceled (the full story, with context)
1:38:00 — Curiosity card: what would your home reveal about you?
🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES
Subscribe to Event About It: https://eventaboutitpodcast.com
Submit a story or moment from the field: https://eventaboutitpodcast.com
Follow Christine Martin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-martin-9a02961/
Learn more about Avalara (tax compliance for event tech providers): https://www.avalara.com
Follow Megan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmartincmp
Follow Megan on Instagram: @m2dynamics and @eventaboutit
57 mins