Why We’re Here: A New Leadership Era

Before the pace begins, we pause. In this opening moment, founders Stacy, Sam, Connie, and Carly step forward to share the deeper why behind SANCTUARY. An honest reflection on the pressure, pace, and expectations that have long defined our industry.

A playful exploration of personality, communication, and connection. Before we can lead others, we have to understand what drives us and what quietly triggers us.

In this interactive, high-energy session, you will step into a live exploration of personality through the lens of the Maxwell Leadership DISK framework. Not from a seat, but from within the room itself. You will move. You will choose. You will see yourself reflected in real time.

What if the shift you are searching for is not more discipline, but a different frequency?In this immersive session, we explore music as a powerful, science-backed tool for regulating energy, sharpening focus, and elevating performance in real time. Because productivity is not about doing more. It is about learning how to lead your internal state.

Before you lead the room, you have to lead yourself.

This expert panel brings together voices in sleep, nutrition, and movement to unpack the real drivers of performance in high-pressure environments. Because this is not optional. It is foundational.

What if the thing you keep pushing aside is actually the thing everything depends on?

In this powerful keynote experience, Joy Lapps blends storytelling, lived experience, and the vibrant energy of steelpan music to challenge how we define success in high-performance industries.

Because burnout is not a badge of honour. It is a signal. Drawing from her work as an artist, educator, and complex care mother, Joy shares a deeply human perspective on what it means to lead, create, and sustain energy over time. This is a reframe.

What if the tool you use to move faster could also help you slow down?

AI is often framed as a productivity tool. But in the right hands, it becomes something more powerful. A way to create space. In this session, Marli Lichtman explores how AI can support your well-being by reducing mental load, calming the constant stream of thoughts, and helping you move through your day with greater clarity.

We’re often taught how to pursue success, but rarely how to navigate the moments when things aren’t working. The messy middle is where momentum slows, doubt gets louder, and even the most capable leaders begin to question their next move.

In this interactive session, founder and author Brandi Leifso shares her lived experience and guides participants through her signature Failure Party framework. You’ll bring a real challenge, something stuck or avoided, and work through it in real time.

We don’t end the day quietly. We raise the frequency.

DJ RAE takes over the room with a high-energy, feel-good set packed with classics that get your heart beating and your voice singing.

This is your release. Your reset. Your moment to move.

Start the day connecting with peers as the room fills and energy builds.

Strength-Based Leadership – The 10-80-10 Principle®

This high-energy, practical session delivers a clear framework to help individuals and teams focus on what drives the greatest results. The 10-80-10 Principle teaches how to identify and amplify high-impact behaviors while minimizing the actions that limit performance.

We’re talking about pricing, profit, and financial power in our industry. This is a candid, high-impact conversation, using audience polling to drive the dialogue on building events and businesses that are not only creatively fulfilling but also financially sustainable.
Expect honest perspective, practical insight, and a more empowering way to think about money, leverage, and long-term success in this business.

Experience the excitement as the CSELive show floor comes to life! Explore innovative exhibits, sample fabulous catering by Toronto’s top chefs and pop-ups, network with industry pros, and discover game-changing solutions to elevate your event success. 

One of the greatest shifts impacting brands and events today is underway. Most businesses haven’t caught up. But many of your consumers are already there.

Humans are no longer the sole drivers of brand selection. Purchase decisions are now being co-created with machines before a person ever enters the conversation. And the brands on the shortlist aren’t necessarily the best. They’re the ones built to be found.

The rules we used to play by will no longer work in this new world. We need to rethink how we position, communicate and promote ourselves.

That’s what this keynote is about. 

In it, Lara will introduce the Binary Branding framework – built for a world where your business is evaluated before it’s considered by a human. You’ll leave with a new lens on how business is won today… and a clear path to ensure you’re the one being chosen.

At the heart of every great event is a story. This session explores how storytelling, emotional engagement, and sensory design shape perception, strengthen relationships, and create truly memorable experiences.

From global conflicts and contentious leadership, to climate emergencies, economic whiplash and culture wars, we’re planning events amid constant volatility. This panel explores what it means to create gatherings that are safe, grounded, and meaningful when the world feels anything but.

Behind every major event is a story of risk, strategy, and decision-making that most people never hear.

In this fast-paced session, three industry leaders take the stage for a series of 12-minute rapid-fire interviews, sharing the real stories behind million-dollar moments in their careers.

Venues Unplugged is a live, audience-driven forum featuring Toronto’s most premium venue voices responding in real time to the questions that matter most. Using live polling and audience submissions, the session creates a candid, insightful dialogue on how venues operate, what they value in planner relationships, and where the strongest opportunities for collaboration exist.

Back again for the fourth year, this session is standing room-only at CSE Live!

Where are we really at, and where are we going? This fast-paced, no-filter session breaks down the biggest shifts impacting the events industry today, from pricing pressures and burnout to innovation, AI, and the future of experience design. Honest, practical, and forward-looking, this is a reality check for anyone serious about staying ahead.

That’s a wrap on another fantastic CSE Live! Eventfest. But is it? There’s always an after-party somewhere… ask at the CSE booth on the show floor for this year’s private pop-up party location. Don’t forget that Panels & Power Talks continue on Wednesday morning. 

Join your industry colleagues for a lively Euchre Tournament hosted by the MPI Toronto Chapter in collaboration with the MPI Foundation Canada Council. This fun and social evening will be a great opportunity to connect with peers while supporting initiatives that advance education and professional development within our industry.

At CSE Live 2025, the event industry came together for an honest conversation that struck a nerve. One year later, The Blueprint 2.0 takes the next step, going beyond talk and into tangible solutions. This extended, interactive session reflects on what’s been achieved, explores what’s next, and continues the movement toward a stronger, more respected, and sustainable industry.