business tour workshop

The Original Small Business Expo. Founded in the USA in 2008 -- by a U.S. Small Business Owner for U.S. Small Business Owners.

Small Business Expo Presents AMERICA'S LARGEST SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCES, TRADESHOWS, NETWORKING & EDUCATIONAL EVENTS

For business owners, entrepreneurs & start-ups, attend our national small business conferences, trade shows & networking events for business owners & entrepreneurs.

Small Business Expo hosts America's Largest Business to Business Trade Shows, Small Business Conferences, Educational & Networking Events for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs & Start-Ups.

Small Business Expo has brought together hundreds of thousands of Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs at its best-in-class business conferences and networking events since 2008.

At Small Business Expo’s trade shows and small business conferences, Business owners and entrepreneurs attend cutting-edge workshops, seminars and keynote presentations, network with other passionate small businesses, and gain valuable insights to grow their small business. Small Business Expo brings together entrepreneurs, business owners, start-ups and industry experts in a collaborative environment. Attendees have the opportunity to explore a diverse range of exhibitors and vendors, attend workshops & seminars, industry leader keynote presentations and engage in one-on-one discussions with potential clients, partners, vendors and investors. Small Business Expo aims to foster collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and business development within the small business community. We feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive sessions addressing various aspects of entrepreneurship including marketing strategies, sales growth, leadership, financial management, and technology integration. The Small Business Expo provides a unique space for small businesses to thrive, connect, learn, and discover innovative solutions to challenges they may face in the competitive market. Whether seeking exposure, partnerships, or resources, attendees can leverage the Small Business Expo to enhance their entrepreneurial journey and contribute to the overall growth of their small business.

Small Business Expo is the most anticipated Event of the year for you to take strategic action to immediately improve and grow your Small Business. If you are serious about starting or growing your business, Small Business Expo is a must-attend business conference and networking event for you. Register to attend one of our Small Business Expo’s across the Country.

For businesses that offer a business-to-business product or service, and are looking to target SMB’s at our Business Events & Business Conferences, please visit our Exhibitor Information page.

Small Business Conference & Networking Event Schedule

Meet small business owners & entrepreneurs at a small business conference near you.

March 14, 2024

Miami Airport Convention Center

March 21, 2024

Rosen Plaza Hotel

Washington, D.C.

April 4, 2024

Charles E. Smith Center

Philadelphia

April 17, 2024

The Wanamaker Building, Crystal Tea Room

New York City

May 2, 2024

Javits Convention Center, Hall 1E

May 8, 2024

The Westin Boston Seaport District

June 13, 2024

Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum

Los Angeles

September 5, 2024

Pasadena Convention Center

September 20, 2024

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina

September 25, 2024

Phoenix Convention Center, South Ballroom

San Francisco Bay Area

October 10, 2024

South San Francisco Conference Center

October 17, 2024

Plaza Hotel & Casino Convention Center

October 30, 2024

NRG Convention Center

November 14, 2024

Palmer Events Center

Dallas / Fort Worth

November 20, 2024

Dallas's Mesquite Convention Center

December 11, 2024

Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart (Building 2, 4th Floor)

See What Our Attendees Have to Say

Interested in Exhibiting? Click Here for Info!

Small Business Expo

• Small Business Conferences in Major Business Hubs Across the United States
• FREE to attend means serious ROI
• Seminars presented by Small Business Industry Experts
• Business-Critical Workshops to drive immediate action & business growth
• Speed-Networking Sessions that create new opportunities
• Connect with Industry-Leading Vendors in the Exhibitor Hall to get the best deals & discounts for various products & services to run a successful Business
• A Fun, High-Energy & Collaborative Environment filled with passionate & like-minded Small Business Owners

STATS THAT MATTER TO YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS

Million Followers

Workshops Hosted

Successful Expos Produced

Registered Attendees

EXPERIENCE SMALL BUSINESS EXPO

Find New Vendors to Help Your Business. Learn from Industry Experts. Network With Passionate Business Owners. Celebrate Small Business.

Attend Workshops Led by Industry Experts

Expand Your Network

Learn from Amazing Keynote Speakers

Market Your Business

Meet Vendors to Help Grow Your Business

Expert keynote & workshop speakers.

Our Keynotes, Workshops & Seminars deliver business-critical information, strategies & tools to help you boost your marketing, revenue & business growth plans.

Lilly Magallanes

Wells Fargo

Jeff Kobayashi

Yahoo! Small Business

Chris Gronkowski

Shark Tank Success Story

Angelina Cheeks

Brandon Steiner

Founder & CEO, Steiner Sports

Bill Rancic

Winner, NBC's "The Apprentice"

Chris Gardner

Author, "Pursuit of Happyness"

Mark Victor Hansen

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Patrick McCarthy

Amanda Kuclo

Sylvester “SLY” Phifer

Vice President, Disney Advertising

Barbara Corcoran

Shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank"

MEET WITH EXHIBITORS WHO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS

Find new vendors & suppliers who will help you build your business.

What Our Attendees Have To Say

Learned a Lot Today

INSIGHTFUL SEMINARS

IMPACTFUL NETWORKING

Made Great Connections

Excited to Grow My Business

EXCITED TO BE HERE

Exchanged Lots of Business Cards

Built Many New Relationships

Made Amazing New Contacts

Frequently asked questions, what is the small business expo.

The Small Business Expo is America's Largest Business-to-Business Trade Show and business conference for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs to learn about how to grow their small business. Established in 2008, Small Business Expo has hosted over 225 business networking conferences in key small business hubs across the United States. Small Business Expo ensures a substantial return on investment for small business owners through educational workshops and seminars, an exhibitor hall filled with innovative b2b business products & services designed for business growth, expert keynote speakers, and extensive face-to-face networking opportunities. Attendees engage with industry experts, explore exhibitors and vendors, and gain valuable knowledge in critical areas like marketing, sales, leadership, finance, and technology (just to name a few).

Where and When does the Small Business Expo take place?

The Small Business Expo hosts business events in major cities across the United States. To find a business networking event near you and register to attend, please visit the Small Business Expo Tour Schedule .

Why should I attend the Small Business Expo?

By providing entrepreneurs and small businesses with a rich reservoir of educational resources, including unique opportunities to connect with potential clients, collaborators, and influential figures in their industry, the Small Business Expo is a decisive step to success. Attending the Expo is an invaluable investment for any individual or company looking to accelerate their business growth.

Who attends the Small Business Expo?

Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and start-ups of all experience levels converge at the Small Business Expo, where they discover cutting-edge resources to elevate their businesses. Whether you’ve been in business for 20+ years, a new business recently started in the last year, or a passionate entrepreneur with a new idea who is ready to take the next step in starting a business, Small Business Expo is THE place to get inspired, learn & connect. With exhibitors representing a broad spectrum of sectors and industries, attendees have an opportunity to explore solutions within their own sector or beyond, making the Small Business Expo an ideal setting for crafting mutually beneficial B2B connections.

Is there a cost to attend the Small Business Expo?

The Small Business Expo is FREE to attend! Your free registration guarantees access to all of the educational workshops, Keynote Speaker presentations, industry meet-ups, and the Business Card Exchange. You will also have the opportunity to take advantage of exclusive deals and discounts in the Exhibitor Hall, where exhibitors offer an extensive variety of products and services catering to the needs of small businesses.

What types of workshops, seminars and keynote presentations will I see at the Small Business Expo?

Our workshop sessions and Keynote presentations, led by successful industry professionals, cover key areas relevant to SMBs and entrepreneurs, providing attendees with practical tools and guidance for improving their business strategies and streamlining their operations. We’ve had some incredible Keynote Speakers present on our Main Stage including (but not limited to): Barbara Corcoran (Shark on ABC’s TV Show, Shark Tank ), Bill Rancic (Winner of the first season of The Apprentice ), Chris Gardner (from the hit Will Smith movie The Pursuit of Happyness , the founder of UGG, the founder of best-selling book series Chicken Soup for the Soul , and major small business expert speakers from AT&T Business, Google, Meta, Intuit, Disney, Microsoft, Constant Contact and more!

How do I register and attend a Small Business Expo?

You can register to attend any of our national small business networking events. Visit the event page for any Small Business Expo city you wish to attend and simply fill out the short registration form located at the top of the page. See our business tradeshow schedule for this year’s list of shows.

What type of companies exhibit at the Small Business Expo?

The Small Business Expo features exhibitors from a wide array of industries, offering a variety of unique products, services, and expertise to help accelerate your small business growth—from digital marketing solutions, financial technology, accounting, social media management, SEO, content writing, IT support, ecommerce platforms, payroll providers, merchant services, office support, professional consulting, CRM’s, sales enablement tools, software development, hospitality, website and app design & development, logistics, telecommunications, human resources and employee benefit options, retirement planning and so much more! From a small one person business up to a Fortune 500, vendors that provide a product or service that will help your small business exhibit at our Small Business Expo. Some previous exhibitors and sponsors include (but are not limited to): Google, Amazon, T-Mobile, Meta, Intuit, Delta, Wells Fargo, Yelp, IKEA, Staples, Shark Tank, Indeed, AT&T Business, Comcast, Geico, IBM, Mercedes Benz, Fiserv and many more.

I have a Business that targets Small to Mid-Sized Business Owners. Should I exhibit at the Small Business Expo?

Yes! Companies that exhibit at Small Business Expo range in size from one employee up to 250,000+ employees and vary by industry. The Small Business Expo is designed to maximize the potential for lead generation, accelerate sales, increase brand visibility, and facilitate BtoB marketing and collaboration. If you target SMB’s, your future customers are attending our events.

How do I sponsor or exhibit at the Small Business Expo?

Please visit our comprehensive Exhibitor Information page to learn more about sponsoring or exhibiting at the Small Business Expo.

How do I join the Small Business Expo email list?

To stay updated about Small Business Expo and important business networking events and announcements, please visit our Attendee Information page and scroll to the bottom to Join Our Email List.

In addition to attending the Small Business Expo, what else can I do to grow my small business?

The Small Business Expo offers several additional resources to help you grow your business:

You can register for an upcoming Small Business University Webinar —they’re free!—or view any of our past business webinars, available to watch on-demand.

Find even more tips and insights on marketing strategies and more by visiting the Small Business Expo blog .

Looking for the new social network for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs? Join us on shmooze !

Nominate your business for The Best of Small Business Awards ! This distinguished award recognizes the best small businesses and entrepreneurs across a number of categories. The Best of Small Business Awards are a great opportunity for increased exposure and credibility.

Table of Contents

What is a workshop event, why is a workshop event valuable, 19 workshop event ideas, key takeaways: master the art of workshop events, 19 high-impact workshop event ideas.

Workshops have long been a great way to communicate ideas, bring people together, or get closer to accomplishing business goals. But as events have moved online, the status quo doesn’t work anymore.

After too many Zoom calls and webinars, we’re tired. We need something new. So we started digging into how we could make virtual or hybrid workshop ideas more engaging and productive. What surprised us was that, even though the human connection might feel different online (or just awkward at times), there are many benefits to virtual workshops.

So whether you’re preparing for in-person workshops again or if you plan on running virtual breakout sessions this year, we’ve put this list of workshop ideas together to inspire your next event.

A workshop — often used in B2B event marketing   — is an event that gives attendees hands-on experience with the subject matter. Workshop topics or themes are often specific to a certain industry or niche. Attendees participate in workshops to acquire a new skill or specialized knowledge that they can apply to their day-to-day life or profession.

Workshop events are valuable because they enable attendees to learn new skills and work toward their goals. This can include certification courses or unique networking opportunities. Workshops also provide opportunities to break up larger events — virtual or in-person — into smaller sessions with more hands-on and interactive activities.

It can be overwhelming to start planning an engaging workshop from scratch. After you’ve identified the goals and desired outcomes for your workshop, read this list of ideas to inspire your next event.

1. Get Personal

Nike has gone all-in by offering personalized experiences and workshops to its large fanbase. After downloading the Nike app, fans don’t only have access to personalized promotions or new products. They also receive personalized invites to upcoming events and workshops. Nike’s workshops are both online and in-person, depending on the purpose of the workshop.

Source: Nike

For one virtual event, Nike created personalized welcome pages for its attendees with tailored messaging from keynote speaker and tennis pro Serena Williams.

Source: Nike News

For one of its biggest events of the year, Air Max Day 2021 , Nike hosts an immersive virtual experience with keynote speakers, musical performances, product drops, and creative workshops. Attendees will get the opportunity to learn from Nike collaborators and designers in smaller groups even though the event is global and all-virtual.

2. Blend the Physical and Virtual

Virtual reality (VR) used to be an expensive idea for workshops, but over the years the sticker price has gone down. For marketing teams using account-based marketing , sending a VR set to a list of top accounts could be a great way to impress and interact virtually with key decision-makers.

VR still might be slightly obscure, but it won’t be that way forever. About 20% of Facebook’s employees now work on VR and AR technology. The social media company plans on greatly accelerating the technology over the next few years.

Source: Youtube

The use cases for VR are vast and vary greatly across industries. For B2B companies working across manufacturing, energy, or complex fields, the technology could be used for improving training workshops. VR will help workshop organizers train attendees in a safer environment while lowering costs.

3. Teach By Doing

Source: Facebook for Business

The best way to learn new skills is often by doing them. At Facebook Blueprint Live workshops , Facebook leaders teach agency leaders how to best leverage Facebook for their clients. Together, they engage in interactive experiences and build media plans for theoretical clients. There is no sitting back in these invite-only, one-day workshops. Participants are expected to collaborate and apply their learning in real-time.

4. Leverage Social Media

If your workshop is designed for marketing purposes on some level, remember to tie it together with your other channels. Social media skills are extremely helpful when it comes to promoting your workshop, but they also are beneficial for creating engagement and participation opportunities during the workshop.

Add interactivity to the workshop by enabling Live Q&A on your streaming platform, offering rewards and incentives for sharing content or hashtags, polling your audience, or more.

5. Build Connections

In a similar fashion to networking, B2B businesses can provide clients with direct access to new leads or prospects by bringing together individuals in their network. Base your workshop on a common interest they share and coordinate scheduling so that businesses and potential customers have plenty of time to meet.

The premise behind Wine Pleasures: Buyer Meets Cellar  is to bring together boutique wine producers and serious wine importers. To facilitate personal discussions, the organizers behind Buyer Meets Cellar set up one-on-one business meetings between attendees according to mutual interests. Post-workshop networking events serve as an additional opportunity for attendees to expand their networks within the industry.

6. Add to Your Conference

If you’re hosting a conference or summit, consider implementing a few workshops into your schedule. Workshops serve to fill slow event times with high-value content, and as an event type, these are completely flexible to any space. This strategy works as part of a broader multi-touch event marketing plan or the idea that a variation of event types can be strategically placed throughout the multi-touch funnel for each one to be most effective.

The Adobe Max Conference for instance continuously hosts a “Community Pavilion” outside their main event. This space showcased a variety of vendors, interactive technology booths, and creative workshops for attendees to choose from.

7. Make Networking Natural

Using a dedicated networking platform or  event app , workshop attendees can upload their business headshots, bios, and interests into a LinkedIn-esque website. From there, participants can easily message and interact with each other before and after the event. Bringing together like-minded people is a great goal, but helping them stay in touch after the workshop ends is an even more challenging task.

Nanotexnology 2019’s B2B Matchmaking Event lets attendees upload their cooperation profiles. Through their system, users can request meetings and finalize agendas with help from event coordinators. Because their workshop participants are located all over the world, a dedicated communication tool helps overcome the barrier of costly international cell phone plans.

8. Champion Collaboration

People are tired of online meetings where the conversation is dominated by one or two people. Project development is optimized when multiple participants chime in. The challenge is that not everyone can contribute at once — especially using a video conferencing tool.

One solution is to use sticky notes. This is common practice in traditional workshops, but can also be applied virtually. Tools like Miro enable participants to create, organize, store, and export sticky notes created in a workshop.

Source: Miro

If you’re running internal workshops to build and develop projects, sticky notes are great because they add an asynchronous element to the meeting. Participants can add notes before or after the workshop to optimize the development process. Digital product agency Crema uses sticky notes to collaborate on projects , such as its webinar series, “Collaboration after COVID-19.”

9. Provide One-of-a-Kind Resources

One of the most important tools for any business regardless of their niche is real-world data and case studies. This information is often difficult to obtain. Hosting a workshop that offers these materials plus expert analysis on the given topics creates a truly unique experience for attendees and can easily be added to any of your corporate event ideas .

SmartCities’s Clean Air Through IoT Networks Workshop is dedicated to improving air quality with statistical data and examples of success stories they’ve personally witnessed. Part informational meeting, part brainstorm session, this workshop is a great example of just how important events of this kind can be.

10. Explore New Technologies

Not only is new technology incredibly interesting, but it’s also a lot of fun to use. Give workshop attendees firsthand experience with gadgets and software not yet on the market or newly launched. Once they’ve had a chance to experience it for themselves you can use the workshop to further explain how these tools can be integrated with their business practices shortly.

KneeVR’s Workshop on Virtual Reality in Healthcare helps professionals understand that VR is not just for gamers. Their workshop gives attendees a glimpse into the many practical uses for VR through speakers, inspiring cases, and live demos. This is just another example of how VR can be used in live events .

11. Foster Partnerships

Partnerships are a popular way to increase reach and revenue for any business type. At partnership workshops, attendees with similar interests and business goals have an opportunity to meet through these industry-specific events. Knowing who to invite will largely depend on your larger business goals. For instance, if you’re targeting specific accounts in a specific industry through an  account-based event marketing strategy, you may want to bring in a specific partner. As you’ll see in this next example, there are lots of ways to facilitate interactions with this goal in mind.

The Euregional B2B Brokerage Workshop uses speed dating to help entrepreneurs, SMEs, and institutions spark potential relationships. They also offer matchmaking services in the form of small-group workshops.

12. Get Educational

Your product or service can be the main theme for a series of workshop events. If your business is constantly updating or improving its offers, hosting educational workshops helps keep users engaged for the long term. Bonus points if you offer insider tips that will only be shared during the sessions.

13. Answer Burning Questions

No matter what profession you choose, they probably have a set of questions around their most challenging stumbling blocks that require advanced training. Workshops are a great way to give them the answers they so desire. ImpactHub’s Sales Workshop keeps this fact in mind as they walk participants through their biggest pain points and present a variety of solutions, tools, and tips. They even invite a panel of experts to weigh in on the issues.

14. Offer Mini-Workshop Sprints

Sometimes a topic will be important enough to do a workshop on, but so specific that it doesn’t fit into the standard 1 hour to 90 minute session time we’re all so accustomed to. The good news is you can offer a series of niche interest workshops in 20-30 minutes sprints in a single day. Covering a lot of topics in a short amount of time will be extra appealing to attendees who can cherry-pick the lessons most pertinent to them.

15. Make It Quirky

B2B workshops don’t have to be all business, all the time. Whether you choose a playful twist on a well-known topic or bring a fresh perspective to an old issue, there are no limits to how creative you can get with your workshop topics. For creativity exercises and other prompts, Dave Birss has developed plenty of resources to get you started.

Source: Dave Birss

16. Target the Right Prospects

Instead of telling your prospects how much you know about a topic, you can show them through a workshop. If you choose a specific need of theirs to address and combine that with an impactful set of tools, you’ll have a greater chance of converting them later on.

NASSCOM’s Deep Insights Workshop is mostly interested in improving brand awareness among top-of-funnel clients like entrepreneurs with a certain level of funding. They help answer the top two questions every customer in this category has at this stage of growth. This approach helps NASSCOM build lifelong relationships through their workshops.

17. Provide a Free Evaluation

Sometimes it’s hard to determine the success of a business when you’re working inside of it. Businesses with lots of clients in a particular niche have a broader view of the industry. Based on observations from real customers over time, you may have a better idea of a company’s relative health than even they do.

The Place Berlin’s B2B Prospection Workshop offers a free diagnostic of each participant’s lead generation process and gives specific advice on how to make improvements. Attendees also enjoy lectures on broader topics so that they can get both big-picture knowledge and personal recommendations from the same event.

18. Think Big … and Small

Regardless of your current audience reach, workshops are an opportunity to introduce your brand to international or local markets. Whether you’re a small-town company spreading its wings to other countries, or a globally recognized business reconnecting with its roots, there are lots of ways to target specific communities through workshops.

Hoteliers European Marketplace (HEM) 2019 caters to a niche audience: hoteliers in Europe. And although their name might imply they stick to a single region of the globe, the one-day B2B workshop invites international wholesalers, tour operators, and online intermediaries. In doing so they are helping their European clients reach newer markets and form partnerships they might not have otherwise had access to.

19. Use the Best Tools

If there’s one thing we know by now, it’s that online versions of live events have the potential to be very successful. They’re highly measurable: you can track the number of views, participants, and CTAs. They are also very accessible so audiences don’t have to travel to join in on the fun.

Now that virtual events, breakout sessions, and workshops have become normal, you need to be using the tools that can help you give the best experience to your participants.

Tools like Zoom, Miro, and Dropbox Paper are great for collaboration. If your workshops are part of a larger event, you’ll also want a modern end-to-end event success platform that can support in-person, virtual, or hybrid events.

Here are some big ideas to keep in mind when planning your next business workshop:

• Make workshops fun by choosing cool themes and cutting-edge tools and tips.
• Provide a high-value experience with useful extras and a curated guest list.
• Foster relationships between participants who can benefit from doing business with each other.

No matter what your event strategy   is, focus on helping your attendees accomplish their goals and you can’t go wrong.

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for relevance.

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How to Start a Workshop Organizing Business

Workshops provide an important way for people to get together, learn, and grow. Workshops can cover just about any subject — from basket weaving to computer programming. What they all have in common is that they must be organized by someone, which is where workshop organizing businesses come in.

Workshop organizing businesses help clients achieve their desired outcomes through well-managed workshops. These businesses provide expertise and resources to help clients plan and execute workshops on the subject of their choosing.

Learn how to start your own Workshop Organizing Business and whether it is the right fit for you.

Ready to form your LLC? Check out the Top LLC Formation Services .

Start a workshop organizing business by following these 10 steps:

• Plan your Workshop Organizing Business
• Form your Workshop Organizing Business into a Legal Entity
• Register your Workshop Organizing Business for Taxes
• Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
• Set up Accounting for your Workshop Organizing Business
• Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Workshop Organizing Business
• Get Workshop Organizing Business Insurance
• Define your Workshop Organizing Business Brand
• Create your Workshop Organizing Business Website
• Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your workshop organizing business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas .

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

What will you name your business?

• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?

How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Business Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship , you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name , we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability .

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

Want some help naming your workshop organizing business?

Business name generator, what are the costs involved in opening a workshop organizing business.

Initially, you can expect relatively low costs for opening this type of business. You only need a smartphone and a laptop to meet with clients, keep track of information, and communicate with various service providers. You can charge all of the services needed to host an event to the client. That means you could start your business for as little as $500 to $1,000.

What are the ongoing expenses for a workshop organizing business?

Your ongoing expenses will include maintaining your technology (e.g., your smartphone and laptop), travel costs, utilities, and any employee wages. The goal in this type of business is to be able to pay for everything to host an event upfront and then charge your clients for those costs afterward with a markup. That means you’ll eventually have high ongoing expenses, but they’ll be covered by the fees you charge your clients after each workshop.

Who is the target market?

The business world is probably the most lucrative market for workshop organizers. Businesses have the money to host workshops and pay you for your services. But, if you prefer, you could focus on a particular niche market like art workshops and target that specific market instead.

How does a workshop organizing business make money?

A workshop organizing business makes money by charging clients to organize workshops. If a corporate client wants to host a cultural diversity workshop, for example, it might pay a workshop organizing business to develop and oversee that event.

The amount a workshop organizing business can charge its clients can vary greatly, depending on the type of event (e.g., corporate or social). It also can vary based on the experience level of the planner and the client’s needs. Many workshop organizing businesses charge a flat fee while others may charge an hourly rate. Social workshop planning can cost $12 to $75 per hour while corporate workshop planning can cost $16 to $150 per hour.

How much profit can a workshop organizing business make?

Most workshop organizing businesses charge clients a commission based on the cost of the workshop. If a workshop costs $10,000 to host, for example, you might earn a $2,000 commission. You’ll likely only have a few clients to start with so your profits won’t be high at first. But, given time and a larger client base, you could eventually earn a significant profit from your business.

How can you make your business more profitable?

There are a few ways to make your business more profitable. First, you could try to attract more clients and/or better-paying clients. As your reputation grows, you should be able to expand your client base and possibly get higher-paying clients to boost your profits. Another way to increase profitability involves finding additional sources of income, such as offering workshop kits online. Some companies offer kits that instruct users on how to plan and host their own workshops. These kits can cost $50 to $200 or more, depending on the topic.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC's free Small Business Startup Guide - a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship , partnership , limited liability company (LLC) , and corporation .

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your workshop organizing business is sued.

Form Your LLC

Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC

Have a Professional Service Form your LLC for You

Two such reliable services:

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

Recommended: You will need to elect a registered agent for your LLC. LLC formation packages usually include a free year of registered agent services . You can choose to hire a registered agent or act as your own.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website . If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil .

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history , which can be useful to raise money later on.

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a workshop organizing business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting the SBA's reference to state licenses and permits .

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses .

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance . This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance . If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners , we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.

Recommended : Get a logo using Truic's free logo Generator no email or sign up required, or use a Premium Logo Maker .

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator . Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a workshop organizing business

LinkedIn is a great place to market your services to corporate clients. You also can take advantage of other social media platforms — particularly if you want to connect with a particular niche market. Pinterest, for example, would be good for art workshop organizing. 

In addition, you could write blog posts about workshop organizing on your website for content marketing purposes. If you focus solely on big corporate clients, you could advertise in trade journals and similar publications as well.

How to keep customers coming back

The best way to keep customers coming back is to help them achieve their goals. If a client wants to host a workshop on computer security basics, you’ll want to ensure attendees leave the event with basic knowledge about computer security. You also need to ensure they have a relatively comfortable time at the workshop in terms of food, beverages, room temperature, etc. If clients get what they want from the workshops you organize, they’ll be more likely to come to you again.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business .

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

• All legitimate businesses have websites - full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
• Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
• Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended : Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders .

Other popular website builders are: WordPress , WIX , Weebly , Squarespace , and Shopify .

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

Individuals who start workshop organizing businesses tend to enjoy socializing, planning, and organizing. They’re naturals at making interpersonal connections with others and have a knack for taking a concept from idea to full-fledged workshop experience. If you’re the kind of person who loves putting together events, you might be ideal for this business.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a workshop organizing business?

A typical day at a workshop organizing business involves contacting various service providers, planning events, and marketing services to future clients. It can take time to contact and schedule things like catering, information technology (IT) services, and rental spaces — and that just covers the services that provide support and a framework for the workshop. You also must identify your client’s goals and plan an event that will achieve those goals.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful workshop organizing business?

Event planning experience is ideal for a workshop organizing business. If you have experience planning events, you can apply that to workshops. But, you may still have valuable experience for this type of business even if you haven’t worked as a professional event planner. Good communication and teaching skills as well as strong interpersonal and organizational skills all can prove beneficial in workshop organizing.

What is the growth potential for a workshop organizing business?

According to a survey of businesses , 85% of leaders and executives believe in-person events are critical for their company’s success. Workshops represent an essential part of how businesses instruct employees, which means a capable workshop organizing business has the potential to grow considerably. But that only accounts for the corporate world. People also participate in numerous other types of workshops. These also offer business opportunities.

TRUiC's YouTube Channel

For fun informative videos about starting a business visit the TRUiC YouTube Channel or subscribe to view later.

Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor.

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a workshop organizing business?

If you’re struggling to break into the industry, you may find it helpful to get your feet wet with pro bono work. For example, you could offer your services to a local charity and organize a workshop for them. You could then use the charity as a reference and your work for the organization as part of your portfolio. Then, when you approach a potential client and they ask what experience you have, you can use your charity work as an example.

How and when to build a team

There’s a limit to what you can accomplish on your own. When you want to expand your workshop organizing services to more clients, you may find it helpful to hire a few employees. Always conduct a cost/benefit analysis when hiring because you don’t want to spend more than you earn. But, it’s probably time to hire some people if you do the math and think you can serve more clients and generate more revenue with additional help.

Useful Links

Real world examples.

• Detroit SCORE
• Professional Development Workshops For Elementary Teachers

Further Reading

• Planning a Workshop
• Facilitating Workshops
• 21 Workshop Facilitation Tips and Secrets

Have a Question? Leave a Comment!

• A step-by-step guide to planning a workshop

Going from a mere idea to a workshop that delivers results for your clients can feel like a daunting task. In this piece, we will shine a light on all the work behind the scenes and help you learn how to plan a workshop from start to finish.

On a good day, facilitation can feel like effortless magic, but that is mostly the result of backstage work, foresight, and a lot of careful planning. Read on to learn a step-by-step approach to breaking the process of planning a workshop into small, manageable chunks. 

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How to create an unforgettable training session in 8 simple steps, 47 useful online tools for workshop planning and meeting facilitation.

The flow starts with the first meeting with a client to define the purposes of a workshop. In other words, we are working on the assumption that the facilitator has already been chosen and hired for a job. 

It’s also possible that you are designing a workshop agenda you have ideated yourself. You have a topic to share with your audience, and potential participants in mind… great! You can still use the same process, although not all steps may be relevant to your case.

How to plan a workshop in four phases

We have divided the process of designing a workshop step-by-step into four sections. This structure is inspired by the insightful design methodology known as Dragon Dreaming, as codified by John Croft. The framework is an invitation to move in a structured way from dreaming to designing, from designing to doing, and from doing to celebrating and learning. In this workflow, we will go through similar steps, albeit much simplified and adapted to this specific example. If you find this categorization intriguing and you’d like to learn more, here is a page about Dragon Dreaming project design . The methodology originated in Australia, and you can see a wink to its origin in how the design turns counterclockwise! 

Each phase (vision, design, action and learning) is divided into subsections defining specific actions you need to take in planning your workshop. Each also includes a checkpoint with the client . These four meetings, plus a facilitation team meeting to draft the agenda, are described in detail in the accompanying Workshop Planning Template . In the template, you will find ideas and inspiration for five one-hour meetings in which to:

• draw out the overall vision and desired outcomes;
• define a draft schedule;
• get buy-in for the workshop agenda;
• check-in for a briefing before the actual workshop;
• run a retrospective after the event is over.

I see this process as a dance between working alone and co-designing with a client. In this dance, two different ways of working interact, from being alone at the desk surrounded by sticky notes, to talking things over and getting feedback, into a new iteration of the design, and so on. Successful workshops all start, as most things do, with a vision, and a conversation. Let’s take the first step! 

Phase 1 – Vision

Every project begins as an idea in somebody’s mind, which really starts to take shape once it’s shared with someone else. In the first part of the process, we cover how to lead conversations that will move the idea from the abstract to a more concrete realm. This process starts with a kick-off meeting attended by the facilitator, the client and, if applicable, other members of the team. To help you set it up, we have prepared a dedicated template complete with a workshop structure you can use to collect all the information from this visioning stage!

What are the desired outcomes of the workshop? Who will be the participants or what is your target audience? Once you have some initial answers to these questions, you can use them to shape a concept note, sign agreements, contracts and/or an MoU (memorandum of understanding). 

Sharing intentions

According to the State of Facilitation in 2023 report, a majority of facilitators find negotiating with clients and stakeholders quite the challenge. In the survey on which the report is based, we asked over 1100 professionals what was hard for them in the previous year. While the top challenge reported was “keeping up with the trends”, a series of matters more related to difficulties negotiating, designing and getting buy-in from stakeholders emerged as well. We hope the following workshop planning tips can help you overcome such obstacles. Learn more about trends in facilitation in 2023 and the art of running workshops in the State of Facilitation report!

Designing based on the “why” is a necessary premise to design workshops that will prove meaningful to participants and clients. Often, though, this “why” is not entirely clear from the get-go. A skilled facilitator will use a range of communication skills such as probing questions, active listening, and appreciative inquiry to clarify intentions. In most cases, it’s a matter of slowing the client down, and gently inquiring into their motivations. Run a mini-workshop with your client and transparently share what you are looking for. Time spent on this now will save time and resources by minimizing the risk of misunderstandings and re-writes later! There are four key elements I check for when looking for desired outcomes with the client at this very early stage:

(1) Non-negotiables. These are the boundaries for your design, the things that are set and cannot be changed. This might be, for example, the duration of the workshop, the location, or the list of participants.

(2) Tangible outcomes (aka deliverables). What needs to be produced, concretely, by the end of the workshop? Is it an action plan? A set of decisions? A report? Try to get as many details as possible on this requirement. If this point is not initially clear, invite your client to explore the future with their foresight and imagination: at the end of the workshop, what do they want to have that was not there before the start?

(3) Intangible outcomes. What intentions are connected to the workshop in the immaterial world of communications, connections and emotions? Mark down the keywords you hear your client use. Is it a matter of increasing networking opportunities and connections? Deepening trust? These “soft” outcomes can inspire and direct your choices of activities, setting and style.

(4) Levels of participation. If you are planning a workshop rather than a training event, I have found it very useful to introduce the concept of the ladder of participation to clients, early on in the design stage ( here is a version relating to citizen engagement ). This involves probing how much power is allocated to participants into shaping future choices. Will proposals selected by participants in your workshop be adopted directly? Is this a consultation process someone else will turn into a decision later? Or, perhaps, the workshop is meant to inform and get buy-in on choices that have already been made? All these scenarios are possible and valid, but it’s important to know which one your workshop falls into, so as to minimize the risk of disappointment or confusion.

Once you have collected this information, you probably have an idea of where you want your workshop to focus. All you need now is to figure out who is it for before drafting a concept note and initial agenda.

Defining the target audience

Once you have clarity about the desired outcomes, it’s time to focus on your hypothetical participants and your target audience. You may already have a list provided by the client, or it may be a completely open invitation. In any case, it’s a good idea to spend some time focussing, after the “why”, on the important question: “who?” Things that can be useful to consider doing at this stage, depending on the specific situation, include:

• Creating a “persona” for the workshop. Who will benefit? What are their needs, pain points, interests? Why will they come? This work will initially be based on your assumptions only, but it could lead to an exchange of information with your client to learn more. Here is a canvas from MediaLAB Amsterdam that can help you create a persona for your event.

Design persona   #frame insights   #create   #design   #issue analysis   Following a similar structure of the Persona method, give your design personality by creating a design persona. This can be through visual design, copy, and interactions. To be used w hen it is time to focus on product experience.

• Having interviews with potential participants that match your target audience to collect more information on their wants, needs and expectations. If you are able to contact participants before the workshop, aim to talk to a few. If key decision-makers will be in the room, it’s definitely a good idea to ask for a half-hour chat with them! 

Start by clarifying that you are talking to a few people in order to better prepare your workshop. Next, kick-start your exploration by asking them what their motivation for attending the workshop is. Listen carefully and take notes! It’s good practice to have a list of questions that will be the same for all your interviewees, but also let the conversation flow naturally. 

End the conversation by asking your interviewee whether they know of someone who should definitely be at the workshop, and add them to the list of potential invites!If time does not allow for 1:1 interviews, you can also consider sending your questions out via email. Finally, check back in with the client to ensure they have considered who should be there and whether any important stakeholders or potential workshop participants are being overlooked. 

In my personal practice, I do hold a commitment to widening representation and will often reach out to my clients with questions, for example, on gender balance or including underrepresented groups. Can we get more women’s voices in a conversation about the future of logistics and mobility? (The answer turned out to be yes!). In this urban planning process, will someone be speaking with the interests of elderly citizens in mind? And what about the children’s? At this stage, it’s also important to start making notes of any special needs. Does your persona include, for example, families with small children? Or people with mobility concerns? These considerations have a bearing on such key planning elements as your choice of venue, location, and timing. Successful workshops are those in which the needs of target attendees are considered and steps are taken to ensure participants can take part.

Drafting the initial concept 

Once you know the “why” and something around the “who” of a workshop, it’s time to start designing the “what”. What is needed at first is some clarity as to the main points of the agenda, not a detailed run-through. The client will probably have more feedback once things start to look concrete, and it’s not particularly fun to have to revisit the entire thing and do work twice. That is why I have found it good practice to keep the agenda still quite open at this stage. An initial concept draft for a successful workshop should contain:

• A summary of the desired outcomes;
• A list of benefits for participants (what are their pain points that this workshop will solve?);
• A list of learning/key objectives;
• A description of the main activities or building blocks of the workshop.

At this point, you’ll need to circle back to your client, share the draft with them and ask for feedback. In my experience, it’s a good idea to approach this step lightly, with curiosity, knowing you have done your homework but ready if necessary to change your entire concept around and pivot to something different. And if you still feel yourself having rigidity towards feedback, check out some useful feedback tips by learning expert Skye Suttie . 

Signing agreements

By the end of the vision phase, facilitators and clients should share a feeling of commitment and alignment. This is made visible and concrete through signing agreements, contracts and/or a memorandum of understanding (MoU). What exactly these contain varies greatly depending on circumstances and location, but here is a useful summary, complete with template examples of what your MoU might look like, from Malia Josephine over at the startup Facilitation Jobs . 

Phase 2 – Design

So now you have a draft outline of the workshop and an idea of who will participate. The next section is all about the nitty-gritty details of planning. Think of any other event, such as a family gathering or a wedding: there are a lot of things to consider so that everything will be ready when attendees arrive in the space you have designed and set up for them. It can be a very creative phase, if a bit solitary at times for the workshop leader! 

In the design stage, we are aiming to answer the question: how will this happen? This includes choosing dates and venues, drafting an agenda, creating a communication plan so that your workshop attendees will get the invite and join, populating a participant list, and refining your draft agenda into a detailed script. 

Establishing time and place

A workshop begins to feel like it’s really going to happen once the date and location are decided upon.

Whether you are scouting for a location yourself or not, you still need to clarify and communicate a list of requirements clearly. Don’t give anything for granted! List any needs such as accessibility, type of space, and equipment such as tables or presentation equipment. No location is going to be perfect, but the clearer your request, the closer to ideal you might get. 

If you’re running a virtual workshop, you still need to put it in the calendar and arrange for a virtual space to hold it in, such as a Zoom account and a whiteboard space. And if it’s hybrid, you’ll need to do both: scout for a location (with great wifi and acoustics, here you can read more about why that’s important ) and set up online resources as well. If you don’t know yet what kind of room setup you will need, take a look at our detailed guide here.

Once the location has been chosen and booked, make sure you have an understanding with the location manager of how your session will work and what they can expect. Will you be using masking tape to hang posters on the wall? Is that ok? How early do you expect to be at the location, and who will be there to open the doors? Will you need breakout spaces for smaller groups to work in? Will participants be milling around using outside spaces, which, and when? What about wifi use, passwords, and other tech needs? 

Having a persona in mind might help establish a schedule. Is this a personal development workshop that people sign up for as individuals (that will probably mean running it in the evening or on weekends?) Or is it going on at the workplace? When are employees free to attend, and what will not clash with previous engagements? Will it be a one-off thing or a series? Successful workshops take all this into account to ensure workshop participants can actually be there! If you are working on a series of meetings for participatory planning and would like to encourage a diverse attendance , it could be a good idea to switch times and dates around quite often, so that people with different jobs and schedules can fit at least one meeting in. And get a babysitting service, or have someone who works with youth set up a related workshop with the young ones.

Drafting the workshop agenda 

So now the word is out, and there is probably some time to wait before the workshop kick-off. This is the moment to sit down with yourself and work on the facilitation design. For many trainers and facilitators, this is a favorite part of the process. Here is where we create a detailed schedule, choose activities and methods and assemble them into a coherent flow. You’ll seek to create a workflow flow that balances group discussions, experiential activities and different learning styles in order to meet your workshop’s purpose. Proper planning and a structured process is a proven way of turning a workshop idea into a reality.

Using a workshop planning tool like SessionLab can make the task much easier and save you time in your process. A successful workshop is one with a clear structure that supports the learning process. With the Session Planner , you can easily drag and drop your content blocks to quickly build an effective flow.

I like to start by creating a skeleton of each item in the workshop agenda and then adding additional content once I feel confident in the flow.

SessionLab also ensures you stay in control of time while creating your workshop agenda. Add timing to each block to confidently plan for the time you have available. And when you make changes, SessionLab will automatically calculate your timing. It’s easy to iterate and plan the most effective workshop flow for your participants.

Need inspiration? Research and exploration into the methods library can help you find suitable activities for your session, as well as other online repositories of ideas such as this one by Untools.  

The actual process of creating a draft agenda is quite personal. You may be working on it completely alone (hopefully, with a hot or cold beverage of your choice, and plenty of time!) or with a co-facilitator.

Results from the State of Facilitation report indicate that facilitators like to work directly with online tools, such as SessionLab, others, me included, prefer to start with pen and paper… or by taking voice notes while taking a walk!

However you approach the matter, you are likely to do all of these things (and more!), while not necessarily in this order:

• Create a timeline, showing when your workshop starts, ends, and how long each section will last;
• Check your notes from meeting with the client, refer back to desired outcomes both tangible and intangible;
• Refer back to your interviews with participants, or any other information you may have collected from them, to pinpoint main needs and expectations;
• Brainstorm activities you believe will meet the client’s and the participants’ needs;
• Pick among those activities: which are “must-haves” and which are optional?
• Assess how much time each activity will take, and add a bit of buffer to account for the unexpected;
• Check that your activities are diverse enough to include people with different styles and approaches (e.g. by having both individual and group activities);
• Add essential opening and closing activities such as icebreakers and introductions at the beginning and feedback and drawing conclusions at the end
• Arrange them in a timeline;

And whatever you do, don’t forget to schedule some breaks! A successful workshop ensures that the workshop facilitator and all participants are able to participate and maintain their energy levels will learning new skills.

Refining the agenda

Once you have a solid agenda, it’s time once more to check in with the client. Run through the agenda together, checking that you share an understanding of what is going to happen, and making any needed tweaks and changes as you go. I always aim to share my reasoning with clients and share tidbits of facilitation along the way. 

If you’re using SessionLab, you can invite clients and stakeholders directly to your agenda so you discuss and co-create in real-time or asynchronously. Collaborating in one-place can really help ensure your workshop preparation is smooth and that your session will meet your goals.

Refining the agenda is the subject of the third client/facilitator meeting detailed in the template that goes with this piece. The first thing to do is restate the high-level purpose and objectives of the workshop, before going into a review of details. This process encourages clarity and alignment, as well as enabling the facilitator to check whether the proposed agenda is fit for purpose. 

This is also the stage in which, if I am facilitating a group discussions on a topic I am not familiar with, I’ll be doing research into that topic. Opinions about how knowledgeable, if at all, a facilitator should be about the topic under discussion vary greatly. Personally, my attention is on the dynamics of their conversation rather than on the content. Because of this, I don’t mind working with groups or companies who are talking about something I am not informed about. 

At the same time, I find it useful to have at least a beginner’s understanding of the discussion. To enable this, I will ask clients to send me some papers or links to study. Mainly, I will be looking for jargon and terminology: I want to have at least a sense of what people are talking about and what terms to use myself. I also try and get a sense of what in the field is clear, and what is contested or up for debate. Research can lead to changes to the agenda: in a recent workshop I chaired, reading some documentation led me to assume that terminology being used in the field was still not well-defined. Different stakeholders were using different terms to indicate the same things, or the same term to indicate different things! I checked in with the client to verify if this was indeed the case and we decided to add a section discussing terminology at the beginning of the workshop. We did not aim to settle the argument once and for all, but rather to share with participants the current state of the art in this particular industry and agree on what terms we would use for the duration of the workshop.  This is also a great time to reconsider the implications of your setting. If you’re running a virtual workshop, how will you encourage participants to take part and explore ideas in such an environment?

Creating a communications plan 

Whether you are opening the workshop for participants to enroll or whether it’s the host preparing a list of attendees, it’s likely someone will be working to create a buzz around the event.

Often this is not handled by the facilitator directly but rather by a communication agency or office. That said, do your part by preparing material for dissemination and helping make sure the news reaches the right ears. If you are not doing communication and enrollment yourself, avoid missteps (such as the advertising sending a message that is not aligned with your intention and design) by preparing such a brief well in advance. A basic communication plan for your workshop should include:

• How will people find out about the workshop? Where will it be advertised? Are there networks, groups or individuals that should be reached out to? 
• What should people know about the workshop in advance? Create a one or two-sentence description of the workshop to go out in communication channels and invitations. What is the workshop’s unique value? How can you entice people to be excited to join?
• How will people enroll in the workshop? And how can they find out more? Who should they contact to register, is it you, or the client, or should you set up an automatic registration service (such as Eventbrite )? What information do you need to collect upon registration? Do participants need to sign authorizations (e.g. for audio-video use)? Will they get a confirmation email? Automatically or through you/the client?

Establishing who will be there 

Many hands make light work: now that you have your detail agenda or script set out, you should have a clear sense of whether other people are needed to make it work. Will you need a tech host? An assistant to help with the practicalities? A video-maker? Photographer? Visual practitioner?  If you need to assemble a team, it makes sense to onboard them once you know the agenda and tasks they will take on.

The other aspect of establishing who will be there is having a final (or “almost final”… there are usually last-minute surprises!) participant list. Registration can also be an interesting opportunity to collect information on your workshop attendees that might inspire some final details of the design. When registering participants for a short (3-hour) leadership workshop for the international organization C40, besides asking for basic information such as names and emails, I added three optional questions concerning people’s motivation for joining, interesting initiatives they might like to share, and a blank space for “any other communications”. This process was useful for me to start to get a sense of who was going to be in the room and adapt my choices and language to the audience. Furthermore, these questions can kick-start the workshop long before it begins by asking participants to start reflecting on a certain topic.

Phase 3 – Running the workshop!

As the moment of running a workshop draws closer, there are some tasks to do that are very practical, having to do with implementing what has, up to now, existed in words only. This is the phase for getting things done : assembling materials, briefing your team and any speakers, taking care of your inner work and preparation and then, in a leap of faith…Trusting that all you’ve done is enough, finally doing away with plans, and going with the flow! 

Running workshops can be tough work, so in this section we’ve collected some tips for managing workshop attendees (and yourself) that should help running the workshop easier!

Assembling materials

Shopping time! The stationery shop is like a second home to most facilitators: it’s time to get your gear together and fill up boxes of sticky notes, posters, and marker pens. Now things are getting real! (And if you used SessionLab to plan your session, you’ll find a handy list of materials consolidated on the information page !) As the date of the workshop approaches, make sure you have all the materials you need ready at hand. This might include your presentations, virtual whiteboards, or physical goodies. I have found myself roaming Rome at dawn to get photocopies of materials in a neighborhood with no such services. Not fun! 

I often wonder how important is it to give participants printed handouts. On the one hand, let’s admit it, such materials don’t often get read. Printing is a waste of energy and paper and my sustainable-minded self would rather avoid it. 

On the other hand, printed materials might be a useful reference a long time after the workshop is over, and many people like to have something physical to hold onto and take notes on. You can also consider the option of having digital-format handouts to send to everyone before or after the workshop. 

Briefing team and speakers 

A few days before the workshop, set a briefing call with the client, your team and, if applicable, speakers or other guests. I have sometimes avoided doing this for the sake of efficiency… and usually regretted it. Even though it seems like everything is clear and smooth, by talking a workshop through, even in a brief 30 min meeting, something might emerge that needs attention.

If you have external speakers joining, e.g. for a keynote or presentation, remember they have not dedicated the amount of time and attention to this event that you have! Brief them on the intention behind the workshop and on the participants in the room, and discuss what will happen before and after their speech. As your star guests, they should feel welcome and well prepared. This will improve alignment and the overall experience for participants. When running a workshop with a team, it’s very important to know who will take care of what. Take the time to clearly define roles and responsibilities and add to the script the name of the people who will be, for example, presenting or tech hosting at a given time.

You might also have pre-workshop communication you want to send out to participants, perhaps to remind them of logistics or do some prep work. Always include a way to contact you (or someone from your team) if something happens at the last minute! 

Personal energy management

Once all the design and preparation are done, so much rests on the facilitator’s personal stance and attention. Here are some examples of things facilitators I know, or myself, do in terms of personal energy management:

• No work the day before and/or after an important event;
• Meditation and focussing activities;
• Spending time in nature, taking walks;
• Coaching session with trusted colleagues or a professional coach;
• Taking time to reflect on possible biases and on personal intentions. 

What do you do to prepare yourself before a workshop? Do you take time and space before the start to tend to your own needs? We’ve also been sharing this conversation in SessionLab’s community space: join us here.  

Going with the flow

Step by step, you have now reached this exceptional threshold. People have assembled in a physical or online space, which is equipped with all they need to learn and grow together. The workshop is about to begin! 

This is what all the preparation work was for: take a deep breath and delve into the agenda. Skilled facilitators know how to read the room, trust their instincts, and stick by the plan, or change it, depending on what is needed in the moment, here and now. 

Phase 4 – Learn

The workshop may be over but the work is not! Learning, celebrating and reflecting should take just as much of your time, energy and commitment as any one of the other phases. This is the step where we truly grow and become, with time and experience, wise and excellent facilitators! In this learning phase, we aim to close a cycle mirroring how it was opened. This means continuing a dialogue with our client and making time to think back together. Such reflections are too often swept aside in the hustle of business cycles. Yet, the more space we can make for them, the better. As we learn together, we consolidate trust and strengthen partnerships. Furthermore, reflecting and celebrating builds momentum for the next workshop cycle, which is often just around the corner! 

Agreements taken with your client might include your contribution to drafting a final report. And even if they don’t, it’s still a great idea, for your own records, to take some time to look back and write up a summary of what happened. It will be invaluable in time, e.g. when two years down the line a client calls you back to know: “Could you do that workshop again?” “What made this a successful workshop and what would you change in any future workshops?” A workshop report generally includes two main parts: one is about information, the other is focussed on learnings.

Report Part 1  – information on the workshop

The first is a collection of data about the workshop: when and where was the workshop held? How many people attended? What was the schedule? 

• Workshop concept 
• Agenda (you can use SessionLab to include a handy printout of the session agenda!)
• Data on attendees (e.g. how many people attended, and whatever data about them is relevant and can be shared)
• Pictures from the event

Report Part 2 – learnings from the workshop

The second part of the workshop report is more subjective. This is the place in which to include reflections on how it went , a summary of key conversations and discussions, recommendations, notes on methodology

• Reflections on the methodologies chosen
• Facilitator’s notes and observations
• Feedback received
• Key recommendations or decisions taken. 

Following-up

Presenting a report, and opening it for final revisions, is a great excuse to set up that precious follow-up meeting with your client. 

Reserve a chunk of time to look back at your work together and reflect: what went well? What would you change next time? This is a time for constructive feedback, expressing appreciation, and really taking care of the relationship. You can find some inspiration on what to include in such a meeting in the last part of our Planning a Workshop template . 

Besides following up with your client, you also may have some follow-up actions to take towards participants. Here are some ideas of what that may include:

• Sending certificates of attendance with the number of hours spent at the workshop and the main topics covered;
• Sending lists of extra materials, bibliographies, and resources ;
• Collecting feedback through a questionnaire;
• Inviting people to subscribe to your mailing list, follow you on social media, or in any case providing ways for them to stay in touch. 

And of course, if you haven’t done it yet, it’s also time to do that bit of life admin and send an invoice! 

Collecting learnings

The follow-up and reporting steps are mostly outward-facing, that is, you are writing for others . While you do that, probably some ideas and learnings will emerge that are about your work and practice. A collection of personal learnings can be the outcome of your own reflection or, if you are part of a community of practice or professional development program, of time spent debriefing the workshop with your peers, coach, or mentor.

I don’t always have as much time as I would like to properly debrief and collect learnings. At the very least, I take 15 minutes to think through this quick “Regret, Celebrate, Learn” process I learned from the Mediate your Life program. To do that, I quickly jot down some notes or a mental map in response to the following three questions:

• Regret – what happened at the workshop that I regret, am worried or sad about? How did I feel about that? Do I know why I did it (what needs was I trying to satisfy?) 
• Celebrate – what happened at the workshop that I really celebrate and am glad about? How did that feel? What needs of mine were met? 
• Learn – with those things in mind, are there any learning points I want to draw and remember? 

I might, for example, regret answering a participant’s question rather brusquely, and realize I did that because I was feeling rushed for time. At the same time, I might celebrate that I did take that person aside to check in with them during the break. This may lead me to remind myself to invite people who have off-topic questions to “park” them on a poster to answer at a later time. 

You may want to add some notes next to certain tools or methodologies you used: most workshops present an opportunity to do something slightly different next time. If you are using SessionLab, you can add these to a certain activity’s card, so you’ll find them waiting for you next time you pick the same method from your personal library . 

Celebrating

Celebrating can mean different things to different people. If I am traveling to/from the workshop, I consider that time spent on the train on my way back, taking notes on my diary, part of celebration. 

Plenty of other actions might help you feel like the circle is closed: taking a relaxing break, going out for dinner with your team members, buying yourself a little gift… whatever helps you keep your energy level high and integrate the experience into the flow of your life. Processing your reflections and giving them some time to settle is likely to lead straight to the next great idea. How about we took this learning from this workshop and did that with it? Time to start taking notes, because these thoughts are the sign that a new cycle of ideation is about to begin! 

Processing your reflections and giving them some time to settle is likely to lead straight to the next great idea.

In closing 

When I asked our in-house designer to come up with the illustration on the top of this article, it felt very appropriate to summarize the complicated process of designing a workshop into a single, perfect circle.

Now that it’s done, I realize it’s really not a circle at all, because once all the work is complete nobody, neither client nor facilitator nor participants, is in the same place they began from. The process of designing a workshop is actually like a spiral , that widens and opens each time we go around. By the end of all these steps, everyone will have changed in some way. Relationships will have formed, new ideas defined, and lessons learned.

At the start of the spiral, there is only an idea, which becomes a design as it is shared, consolidated and refined. The facilitator’s job is to turn it into an agenda, and go through all these steps, alone or with a team, to make it happen. By learning from all that took place, the flow will, in time, become more natural, fluid, almost second nature. My hope in setting it down in this piece is that it will help you along the journey.

Want to see an entire workshop journey in action and get help in putting together a water-tight agenda? Explore our workshop planning template to go through a proven agenda design process that will help you dazzle potential attendees.

Does this process describe how you have been designing your workshops? Did it give you new ideas? Leave a note in the comments, and join the discussion in our Community !

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How does learning work? A clever 9-year-old once told me: “I know I am learning something new when I am surprised.” The science of adult learning tells us that, in order to learn new skills (which, unsurprisingly, is harder for adults to do than kids) grown-ups need to first get into a specific headspace.  In a business, this approach is often employed in a training session where employees learn new skills or work on professional development. But how do you ensure your training is effective? In this guide, we'll explore how to create an effective training session plan and run engaging training sessions. As team leader, project manager, or consultant,…

Effective online tools are a necessity for smooth and engaging virtual workshops and meetings. But how do you choose the right ones? Do you sometimes feel that the good old pen and paper or MS Office toolkit and email leaves you struggling to stay on top of managing and delivering your workshop? Fortunately, there are plenty of online tools to make your life easier when you need to facilitate a meeting and lead workshops. In this post, we’ll share our favorite online tools you can use to make your job as a facilitator easier. In fact, there are plenty of free online workshop tools and meeting facilitation software you can…

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Admissions Information Sessions & Workshops

Sessions will not run on UW holidays and some may be cancelled due to changes to staffing availability. Please email [email protected] to confirm a session will be running on the date you wish to attend.

Freshman Direct Information Sessions

High school students interested in studying business at the University of Washington Foster School (who have not yet been admitted and/or committed) of Business are encouraged to attend one of our undergraduate information sessions to learn more about admissions, academic requirements, career options, and scholarships opportunities. We host sessions most Fridays of the year in tandem with UW Admissions’ information sessions.

Register at the UW Admission’s Campus tour + freshman information session page. Find available “Foster School of Business” sessions on the calendar.

Standard Admission Information Sessions

A counselor will present a 30-minute group session on standard admission and then be available for questions. This session covers all aspects of the undergraduate program in the Foster School, primarily focusing on admission to the program and the various specializations within the degree.

Students interested in applying to Foster, watch the video below made by Foster Academic Advisers.

SoFi Stadium

Jan 9 th , 2024.

Join this exclusive event for CertainTeed Credentialed Contractors. Gain tools and skills to develop your business and learn the latest in building technologies.

Expand your knowledge of building products, installation, and safety with sessions offered in English and Spanish. And learn how to streamline and accelerate your business with powerful tools from our partners at Sales Transformation Group, Ingage, Project Map-It, G4 Marketing, Momnt, and more.

• 9 - 10 AM Solar CT Solar Product Overview
• 9 - 10 AM Low-Slope NEW JUST ADDED — Low-Slope Roofing: Good-Better-Best System Solutions & Warranty Protocol

Sales Transformation Group

Sales Transformation Group - Harnessing the Power of Sales Process Optimization

Prepare to be inspired by Ryan Groth's live presentation as he guides the roofing contractor community towards remarkable sales growth through a shift in mindset and fostering a culture of accountability and training. In this engaging session, Ryan will delve into the intricacies of sales transformation tailored precisely to the roofing industry's unique landscape.

Unlock the potential of your roofing sales team with innovative strategies and hands-on techniques designed to enhance effectiveness and amplify revenue. Ryan's dynamic and interactive approach will provide you with actionable insights, including:

• Cultivating a winning mindset that embraces change and innovation.
• Building a culture of accountability that drives performance and results.
• Crafting a comprehensive training program to empower your roofing sales team.
• Identifying and capitalizing on emerging market trends.
• Navigating common sales obstacles in the roofing sector.
• Leveraging data and analytics for smarter decision-making.

Whether you're an industry veteran or just beginning your roofing journey, this presentation equips you with the tools and knowledge to elevate your roofing sales game. Don't miss the chance to transform your approach to sales and supercharge your roofing business's growth.

Join Ryan Groth and fellow roofing contractors for an indispensable session on Sales Transformation for Roofing Pros!

Ryan Groth,  Founder & CEO

Increase Your Profits: Good, Better, Best - The Art of the Upsell

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• Principle of leverage in sales
• Create sales now, and for the future
• Listening: The power of observation
• Recognizing and capturing referral sources
• Turn residential leads into commercial opportunities
• Use Good-Better-Best to differentiate yourself, and increase profit margins
• Increase profit margins on residential and commercial repairs

Trevor Thompson, CertainTeed Roofing Territory Manager

HANDS ON Roofing Products Tips & Avoiding Potential Install Issues Presidential TL, Landmark Pro and Landmark TL (include Solaris products)

Master Craftsman Training

Master Craftsman Training - Steep Slope Roofing

El programa Master Craftsman™ Roofing Contractor brinda educación en todos los aspectos de las técnicas de instalación de tejas y los procedimientos aprobados para instalar todas las tejas CertainTeed. El programa utiliza el Manual del aplicador de tejas y cubre temas como buenas prácticas de mano de obra, sistemas de techo, estimación, tapajuntas, ventilación e instrucciones de instalación de productos para todos los productos de tejas de CertainTeed. Al finalizar este curso, recibirá sus credenciales de Maestro Artesano reconocidas en la industria.

Eugenio Andrade & Manaya Robertson, CertainTeed Channel Specialists

Get Credentialled! Master Craftsman Training

Master Craftsman Training - Low-Slope Modified Bitumen Roofing

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CertainTeed Contractor Program Review

Learn about the new programs and tools offered by CertainTeed to help you grow your business and improve profitability.

Kelly Warren, Senior Manager of Contractor Programs

How to Add and Offer Consumer Financing within Your Business

How to use financing to increase your close rate and cash flow

Mike O'Connell

Mike O’Connell is the Vice President of Partnerships at Momnt Technologies, an embedded lending solution providing financing at the moment of need. His work with technology and manufacturing partners is bringing the next generation of consumer financing to the Home Improvement industry.

Prior to joining Momnt, Mike’s background included working at other Home Improvement lenders and owning a home services business. He attributes his rise in the industry to the principles taught while serving in the US Army.

Congrats! You sold a job. What to expect next?

Project Map-It

How To Build Home Owner Trust By Leveraging Social Proof

What the heck is social proof? Social proof refers to the psychological phenomenon where potential clients are influenced and reassured by the positive experiences, recommendations, or endorsements of others. It's the “follow the crowd mentality”. In this presentation, I will be sharing experiences I’ve had with hundreds of other roofing companies, software companies and marketing companies, on easy ways you can leverage your social proof, to help your sales team increase their close rate and earn more business. In the contracting world, standing out over your competition is key, so what are you doing to stand out?

Steve Spence,  Managing Director

Ingage - The Power of Interactive Sales Presentations and Sales Enablement

Harness the Power of Interactive Digital Sales Presentations – Ingage offers state-of-the-art cloud based presentation software to help you customize the sales experience for your customers.  In this session you will learn about their cloud-based interactive presentation software that specializes in dynamic online content—including sales catalogs. Being cloud-based, the system allows teams to remotely collaborate on a single presentation. Furthermore, users can place interactive objects in presentations so as to provide more information on chosen topics. Built-in analytics track which areas viewers find most interesting and which features need improvement.

Charley Goldberg

Social Media and Digital Marketing

Using Digital Marketing & SEO Optimization to Elevate Your Business.

Presenter's Name

Roofing Products Group

Understanding Underlayments and Their Benefits

Learn more about Certainteed's full line of underlayments including newly acquired Grace Underlayment product.

Brian Chang, CertainTeed Roofing Product Manager

Increase Your Profits: Proven Good, Better Best Selling Techniques

Aumente sus ganancias: Bueno, mejor, mejor - El arte de la venta.

Bueno- Mejor-Superior -

• Principio de apalancamiento de ventas
• Crear ventas ahora y para el futuro
• Escuchar: El poder de observacion
• Reconocer y capturar fuentes de referencias
• Transformar oportunidades residenciales a las de comercial
• Usar Bueno-Mejor-Superior para diferenciarse, y aumentar ganancias
• Aumentar ganancias en reparaciones residentiales y comerciales
• 1 - 2 PM Low-Slope NEW JUST ADDED — Introduction to Roof Restorations
• 2 - 4 PM Low-Slope Full NEW JUST ADDED — HANDS-ON: Fundamentals, Tips & Tricks for Roof Restoration

JC Adjusting

Identificación y Documentación de daños de tormenta. Document and Identify storm related damages.

Una clase enfocada en la educación del proceso de reclamos de seguros donde se habla de:

• 5 factores antes de someter el reclamo
• Identificar los daños de tormenta
• Documentar los daños de tormenta
• 3 tipos de ajustadores de seguro

A class with a purpose of educating in the insurance process which we talk about:

• 5 key factors before submitting a claim
• Identifying storm related damages
• Documenting storm related damages
• 3 types of insurance adjusters

Quien es el público objetivo: Who is the perfect target?

Ruferos, Dueños de compañía, vendedores Roofers, Business owners, Sales Reps

José Carlos (JC),  Owner

Presentamos a José Carlos (JC), un profesional dedicado con más de una década de experiencia en la industria de la construcción de techos. El viaje de JC comenzó como asistente de escalera, avanzando rápidamente para explorar el lado del seguro durante un año. Durante los últimos nueve años, JC se ha destacado como ajustador público, completando con éxito más de 5,500 inspecciones.

En 2022, JC llevó su pasión por la industria al siguiente nivel al establecer el Programa de Capacitación para Inspectores (ITP). Diseñado para personas que aspiran a embarcarse en una carrera gratificante como inspector, vendedor de techos o dar el salto de técnico de techos a contratista general, el ITP está diseñado para equipar a los participantes con los conocimientos técnicos y habilidades necesarias para un rendimiento óptimo. Este programa integral ofrece una comprensión completa de la industria de la construcción de techos, incluyendo información sobre cómo navegar el proceso de reclamación, identificar daños y documentarlos meticulosamente.

La empresa de JC adopta el inspirador lema "JUNTOS PODEMOS ELEVARNOS A NUEVAS ALTURAS". Este lema refleja su compromiso con el trabajo en equipo y la unidad, encapsulando la dedicación de JC a colaborar con clientes y colegas para alcanzar un éxito sin precedentes en la industria de la construcción de techos.

In 2022, JC's passion for the industry led him to establish the Inspectors Training Program (ITP). This unique program is tailored for individuals aspiring to pursue rewarding careers as inspectors, roofing salespeople, or even make the leap from roofer to general contractor. ITP equips participants with the necessary technical knowledge and skills required for optimal performance. From understanding the dynamics of the claim process to identifying and meticulously documenting damage, this comprehensive program offers a well-rounded understanding of the roofing industry.

JC's company is driven by the inspiring slogan, 'TOGETHER WE CAN RISE TO NEW HEIGHTS.' This motto reflects his commitment to teamwork and unity, incorporating collaboration with clients and colleagues to achieve unprecedented success in the roofing industry.

Understanding and Selling the Value of Warranties

Learn more about CertainTeed product warranties and the industry leading Sure Start Plus (SSP) Enhanced Warranties. As a credentialed contractor you have access to the highest level of warranty coverage offered by CertainTeed. In this session, learn how to use these warranties to your advantage and set yourself apart from the competition.

Roofing Products Group The Value of Ventilation - Managing Airflow

Learn more about the value of using CertainTeed ventilation to manage airflow and tips on selling the benefits ventilation to homeowners.

Samantha Gillenwater, CertainTeed Roofing Product Manager

• 3 - 4 PM Title 24 Reflective Solutions

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Moscow International Business Center Moscow-City

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Moscow International Business Center Moscow-City - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Moscow International Business Center (Moscow City)

• Guide to Russia

What can you do at Moscow City?

• Dine in style: Moscow City is home to 100+ cafes and restaurants, including Europe’s highest restaurant and ice-cream shop
• See Moscow like never before: Ascend to one of Moscow City’s observation decks for an unparalleled panorama of Moscow
• Admire world-class architecture: Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers has distinctive architecture and design
• Learn something new: Visit the Museum of High-Rise Architecture in Moscow or the Metro Museum

Moscow City is a multifunctional complex in the west of Moscow, which has come to represent the booming business of Russia’s capital. Its skyscrapers enrich Moscow’s skyline, contrasting the medieval cupolas and Stalinist high-rises. Visitors to Moscow City can enjoy entertainment high in the sky, as the complex is home not just to offices, but to restaurants, cinemas, viewing platforms, and museums.

Photo by Alex Zarubi on Unsplash

History of Moscow City

Moscow City was first conceived in 1991 by honoured Soviet architect Boris Tkhor, who proposed to construct a business center in Moscow. It would be complete with gleaming skyscrapers rivalling those of New York and London, to reflect the new life and growing ambitions of post-Soviet Russia.

The chosen site was a stone quarry and disused industrial zone in western Moscow, in between the Third Ring Road and Moskva River. Initially, the territory was divided into 20 sections arranged in a horseshoe shape around a central zone. The skyscrapers would increase in height as they spiralled around the central section, with shorter structures built on the waterfront to give the taller buildings behind a view of the river. 

Architect Gennady Sirota, who contributed to iconic projects such as the Olympic Sports Complex on Prospekt Mira, was selected as the chief architect, and many other world-famous architects were attracted to Moscow to realise their visions in Moscow City.

What can you see and do at Moscow City?

Where Moscow’s cityscape was once dominated by Stalin’s Seven Sisters skyscrapers , this is no more. Moscow City is home to eight of Russia’s ten tallest buildings, six of which exceed 300 metres in height. More buildings are still under construction there today, including the One Tower (which will be Europe’s second-tallest building). Once completed, Moscow City will comprise more than 20 innovative structures.

Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers was designed by its own architect, lending the cluster of skyscrapers a unique appearance. Aside from being a site of architectural wonder, Moscow City is a place for leisure and entertainment with over 100 cafes and restaurants, exhibition spaces, cinemas, viewing platforms, and more.

Photo by Nikita Karimov on Unsplash

Federation Tower

• East Tower: 374m, 97 floors; West Tower: 243m, 63 floors
• Completed in 2017
• Architects: Sergey Tchoban and Peter Schweger

The East Federation Tower is the tallest building in Moscow, and the second-tallest building in Europe after the Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg. Visitors can enjoy a luxurious meal of seafood, truffles or steak at restaurant ‘Sixty’ on the 62nd floor of the West Tower, or visit Europe’s highest observation deck, ‘Panorama 360’, on the 89th floor of the East Tower.

Did you know? The ice cream and chocolate shop on the 360 observation deck are the highest in the world!

• South Tower: 354m, 85 floors; North Tower: 254m, 49 floors
• Completed in 2015
• Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

The South OKO Tower is the third-tallest building in Russia and Europe. Here, you can visit ‘Ruski’ to dine on hearty Russian cuisine cooked on a real Russian stove, and have a drink in the ice bar. Alternatively, visit restaurant, nightclub and performance space ‘Birds’; the restaurant is the highest in Europe, situated on the 86th floor roof terrace alongside an observation deck. The OKO Towers are also home to karaoke club ‘City Voice’.

Did you know? Underneath OKO Towers is the largest underground parking in Europe, with 16 levels and 3,400 parking spaces.

Mercury Tower

• 339m tall, 75 floors
• Architects : Mikhail Posokhin, Frank Williams, Gennady Sirota

Another multifunctional skyscraper, which was designed as the first truly ‘green’ building in Moscow. The Mercury Tower has a distinct geometric shape and copper-coloured glazing, and was the tallest building in Europe upon completion. Visit ‘More i myaso’ (Sea and meat) on the first floor of the tower to enjoy European and Mediterranean cuisine whilst surrounded by greenery. On the 2nd and 40th floors a modern art gallery, the ‘ILONA-K artspace’, has just opened.

City of Capitals

• Moscow Tower: 302m, 76 floors; St Petersburg Tower: 257m, 65 floors
• Completed in 2009
• Architect: Bureau NBBJ

The unique geometric design of the City of Capitals towers resembles stacks of rotating blocks, and is rooted in Constructivism of the early Soviet period (many Soviet Constructivist buildings can be found in Moscow). Visitors to the Moscow Tower can enjoy a range of cuisines – traditional Italian dishes on the summer terrace of ‘Tutto Bene’, Panasian cuisine in the tropical luxury of the ‘Bamboo Bar’ on the 1st floor’, and poke or smoothie bowls at ‘Soul in the Bowl’ cafe on the 80th floor.

Tower on the Embankment

• Tower A: 84m; Tower B:127m; Tower C: 268m, 61 floors
• Completed in 2007
• Architects: Vehbi Inan and Olcay Erturk

After completion, the Tower on the Embankment was the tallest building in Europe, and is now the 13th tallest. It houses the headquarters of several large Russian and international  companies, including IBM and KPMG. There are two cafes located on the 1st floor of Tower C – self-service café ‘Obed Bufet’ (Lunch Buffet) and Bakery Chain ‘Khleb Nasushchny’ (Daily Bread).

Evolution Tower

• 255m tall, 54 floors
• Architects: Philip Nikandrov and RMJM Scotland Ltd

Evolution is Moscow City’s most recognisable tower, and the 11th tallest building in Russia. Its façade is a true architectural marvel, comprising continuous strips of curved glazing spiralling high into  the sky. According to the architect, Philip Nikandrov, the spiral shape of the tower honours centuries of architectural design in Russia, from the onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral to Vladimir Shukhov’s Tatlin Tower, a masterpiece of Constructivist design. Outside the Evolution tower is a landscaped terrace and pedestrian zone descending to the Presnenskaya Embankment, which was also designed by Nikandrov.

Did you know? Moscow’s largest wedding palace was supposed to be built on the site of the Evolution tower, though the project was abandoned.

• 239m tall, 60 floors
• Completed in 2011

Imperia’s interesting design has a curved roof and an arched glass façade. Inside the tower are various cafes including ‘City Friends’ for all-day breakfasts and light lunches, ‘Mama in the City’ for simple meals of Russian cuisine, and ‘abc kitchen’ for European and Indian-inspired dishes. Alternatively, visit ‘High Bar’ on the 56th floor for cocktails with a view. In Imperia you’ll also find the Museum of High-Rise Construction in Moscow (suitably located on the 56th floor), and the Camera Immersive Theatre.

Did you know? Inside Vystavochnaya metro station is the Metro Museum , dedicated to the history of the beautiful Moscow Metro!

• 130m tall, 26 floors
• Completed in 2001
• Architect: Boris Tkhor

Tower 2000 was Moscow City’s first tower. It stands on the opposite bank of the Moskva River, and houses a viewing platform from which visitors can admire an unparalleled panorama of Moscow City. The Bagration Bridge reaches across the river from the tower to Moscow City, and underneath are piers from where you can take boat trips.

Photo by Alexander Popov on Unsplash

Afimall is Moscow’s largest entertainment and shopping complex, home to 450 shops, cafes and restaurants, a cinema, and a virtual-reality game park. The shopping centre is located in the central section of Moscow City, and a cinema and concert hall are currently under construction there.

What’s nearby?

Sechenov Botanical Gardens: The botanical gardens of the First Moscow State Medical University was created for students’ training and research in 1946. Today it is open for free visits, and is home to a large arboretum.

Park Krasnaya Presnya: This park belonged to the Studenets estate of the Gagarin princes. It is a monument of 18th and 19th century landscaping, with Dutch ponds, ornate bridges, and tree-lined alleys. There are also sports facilities, sports equipment rental, and cafes.

Photo by Akkit  on Wikipedia

Essential information for visitors

Website: https://www.citymoscow.ru/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +7 (495) 730-23-33

Nearest metro: Mezhdunarodnaya (closest to the skyscrapers), Delovoy Tsentr (underneath Afimall), Vystavochnaya (closest to Expocentre)

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WiretoWire: Scottie Scheffler secures second green jacket

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The TOUR heads to Harbour Town

Still in its traditional post-Masters spot on the schedule, the fifth Signature Event of the season picks up next week in Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the RBC Heritage. Harbour Town Golf Links' famed finishing hole is one of the most scenic settings on TOUR, with the iconic red-and-white lighthouse standing sentry over the green. Finalized with the conclusion of the Aon Next 10 , this year’s edition boasts a strong field including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy and defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick, hoping to don the “Heritage Plaid” jacket for a second consecutive year. The 2022 RBC Heritage winner, Jordan Spieth, returns looking for revenge after a playoff loss to Fitzpatrick here last year.

A second stop in Punta Cana

Being played as an Additional Event alongside the RBC Heritage, the TOUR makes a stop in the Dominican Republic for the Corales Puntacana Championship. The field is headlined by TOUR winners Billy Horschel, Nico Echavarria and Daniel Berger as they take on the Corales Golf Course in Punta Cana. Corales Golf Club, designed by Tom Fazio, presents an exhilarating challenge for TOUR players that culminates with the "Devil’s Elbow," Corales’ famed last three holes including the striking 18th with a dramatic forced carry over the cliff-lined Bay of Corales

Video of the week

PGA TOUR players reflect on the significance of playing in the Masters

“Winning doesn’t always come with a trophy. Winning is fickle. Learning, working, growing and progressing is the dream. I’d love to have won a green jacket today. It hurts. Losing sucks. But, with the right mindset, losing leads to better. And my goal in life is to constantly improve and see where that takes me." - Max Homa after his T3 finish at the Masters

By the numbers

4 – Scottie Scheffler becomes the fourth-youngest player with multiple wins at the Masters, trailing only Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

24 – By making the weekend at Augusta National, Tiger Woods set the record for most consecutive cuts made at the Masters with 24 .

0 – Through eight events and 35 rounds this season on the PGA TOUR, Scottie Scheffler has carded zero rounds over par.

Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10

The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

Want to see the next total solar eclipse in 2026? An expert recommends booking travel now.

• 2026 will be Europe's first total solar eclipse in 27 years.
• Travelers worldwide will likely head to Spain, Iceland, and Greenland for the event.
• A hotel expert encouraged travelers to start planning and booking their trips now.

It'll be two decades before the next total solar eclipse hits the US .

Another option: hop on a plane to Europe and turn the 2026 total solar eclipse into a viewing vacation.

Eclipse cartographer Michael Zeiler at GreatAmericanEclipse.com told Space.com that up to 3.7 million people likely traveled for the solar eclipse on Monday.

HotelPlanner's chief communication officer, Philip Ballard, told Business Insider that the eclipse was a major revenue generator for many cities. For places like Austin, Texas, and Rochester, New York, it could have created $1 billion in revenue, Vox reported.

"I would say the total solar eclipse has become a global phenomenon," Ballard said.

Ballard added that the next solar eclipse , which will pass through Iceland, Greenland, and Spain on August 12, 2026, could result in similar tourism and revenue influxes.

And if travelers are considering a trip to Europe for the solar eclipse, Ballard recommends planning your trip now.

Determine your eclipse viewing destination

According to Space.com , 2026 will be Europe's first total solar eclipse in 27 years. Its path will go through Greenland, parts of western Iceland, and northern Spain.

Choosing where to watch the eclipse will be a tough and important decision for travelers.

Iceland and Greenland have some positives. These regions will experience longer totality times, so viewers can watch the eclipse longer. Plus, the sun will be higher in the sky, so finding a spot to watch the eclipse will be less challenging, Space.com reported.

The downside is that these regions are more likely to be cloudy, according to the outlet.

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While parts of Spain are likely to offer clearer skies, the eclipse's timing will be shorter and closer to the horizon, which means travelers will need to plan and track down a viewing location with unobstructed views of the western horizon, Space.com reported.

Regardless of the destination, according to the outlet, one bonus is that the strongest meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere will happen the following night, so travelers can pack two events into one trip.

Book flights and hotels far in advance

Ballard encouraged people to book their hotels in their destination of choice as far in advance as possible.

"You should start looking now and booking hotels now because those cities in the path are already going to be at peak season," Ballard said.

Ballard said it's similar to when a Super Bowl city is determined or a Taylor Swift tour date is announced — you immediately see spikes in bookings. He predicts hotel occupancy rates will hit near-record highs, and room prices may double around the solar eclipse date.

Ballard's general rule of thumb is to book international travel at least three months in advance, but since this is such an anticipated event, booking earlier is smart. His advice is to start discussing plans with friends and family. If you decide on a destination, book a refundable room to keep your options open if plans change.

Regarding purchasing a plane ticket, a study from Expedia states that international travel's sweet spot is at least six months in advance.

According to Expedia, travelers who book six months in advance save an average of 10% more than travelers booking within two months or less.

Skip the hassle of planning altogether and book a solar eclipse tour

Another option is to let a tour operator do the work for you. A handful of tour companies have seen the increased interest in the solar eclipse and launched tours designed around the event.

These tours will have predetermined locations to view the eclipse, hotel blocks reserved, and itineraries highlighting both the region and the eclipse.

However, these can sell out quickly. For example, Space and Telescope created an 11-day tour of Spain around viewing the 2026 solar eclipse. The tour has already sold out as of Wednesday, and the waitlist is full.

Other operators, such as Wilderness Travel and Eclipse Traveler, have similar itineraries for the total eclipse in 2026.

Watch: A small Australian town was treated to a rare hybrid solar eclipse

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