By Amber Bradley, Editor-in-Chief, TalkLPnews
If you know me at all, you know I am a horrible cook (if it’s capable of being burnt – I’m right there for it). While cooking is not a skill I possess, I do love throwing a killer dinner party (catered, of course).
There’s a moment before every dinner party where the table is set, the food is mostly done, and you’re standing in the kitchen wondering if you made enough (or in my case, ordered enough). That’s me today. APEX kicks off this weekend and I’ve read the run of show so many times I could recite it backwards, which is either good preparation or a mild problem, I haven’t decided.
I’m proud of what our team built, and I’ll say that once and leave it there. Because the longer I do this, the clearer it gets that we mostly set the table. The people who sit down at it are the ones who make the night.
Every year a room full of AP executives – more executives than ever this year — agree to do something a little uncomfortable. They leave the polished version of themselves at the door. There’s no press and nothing gets recorded, so people say what they actually think about their budgets or their latest ‘discussion’ with operations. That kind of trust took years to earn and could be lost in one bad afternoon. I don’t take it lightly. And honestly, it still surprises me a little that people keep extending it.
Something will go wrong this week. A mic will cut out, or a panel will run twenty minutes long because the conversation got good and nobody in the room wanted it to end (I’ll let it run). Any decent host knows you don’t apologize for the roast all night. You refill the glasses and keep the conversation moving.
What I’m most looking forward to is the stuff I can’t plan. Two people who’ve never met getting stuck in a hallway conversation that turns into something bigger. The executive who stands up during Q&A and says what half the room was already thinking. I can put the right people at the same table, but what happens there belongs to them.
So if you’re coming, pull up a chair and bring the questions you wouldn’t ask anywhere else. If you’re not, I’d love to get you to the table next year. We’ll save you a seat – Sept. 26 – 29, 2027.
