Pulling Back the Curtain on Running a Dental CE Event ft. Minal Sampat - JACD #43

Show Notes

00:00 – Delta meltdown: when your CE starts and airlines crash
00:49 – Minal’s Guinness World Record story (and how it launched her career)
03:22 – Breaking records, raising awareness, and the marketing mindset behind it
05:21 – The accidental birth of her first CE course in St. Thomas
07:23 – How she pulled it off with no room block, no AV team, and 60 attendees|
08:58 – Turning a beach BBQ into the ultimate networking event
11:30 – The real risks: room blocks, deposits, and six-figure stress
12:29 – Negotiating $1,500/night Ritz rooms down to $449
14:39 – Sponsors, limits, and keeping sales pitches off the stage
19:25 – Insurance, attendee conduct, and managing chaos like a wedding
23:00 – What keeps her up at night: rain, AV failures, and private island parties
25:19 – 15-month planning timeline: from locations to speaker contracts
31:16 – The nightmare year: Delta Airlines grounds half the attendees
33:43 – How she designs family-friendly CE (and keeps no-shows under 2%)
37:34 – Tracking attendance like a pro (and texting no-shows herself)
40:11 – Bringing kids, grandparents, and nannies to the island
43:03 – Her favorite locations and the one she always returns to
47:57 – Why she loves it anyway—and how she keeps doing it every
49:19 – The real superpower: being a doer and building from scratch