Desert Runways & Rat Pack Estates

Summary

Delaney Henry, Modernism Week producer in Palm Springs, walks Rachel through a 10-year career that started with a stranger handing her a photography pass in a California cafe. The standout stories: building a WWII Lodestar plane art piece for Burning Man with disco balls big enough to hug, getting Valley Fever from runoff water at Lightning in a Bottle, and a zipper that tore open bottom-to-top in a Palm Springs speakeasy right before her karaoke turn.

Key takeaways

1. One person's wristband can start a career — At 20, working a California cafe, Delaney got handed a photography pass by a stranger who told her to grab her camera and find work at the festival. That single offer became 10 years in event production.
2. Build the relationship before you build the playbook — Hollywood studio retreats Delaney has run twice landed because the client was kind to her staff after the venue staff was hostile. Make people feel cared about and they come back the next year with bigger jobs.
3. *The Oh Sht Kit is the job** — Superglue, zip ties, duct tape, sewing kit, five outfit changes in the car. A zipper blew out top to bottom right before Delaney's karaoke turn in a Palm Springs speakeasy. She had a replacement waiting in the parking lot.
4. Outdoor events teach you things venues can't — Burning Man dust gets into your skin, which is why they call it playa. Lightning in a Bottle moved to Kern County and their coffee booth got Valley Fever from runoff water. Indoor mansions in Palm Springs are now her job.
5. The team is the reward, not the spotlight — At a princess-themed birthday Delaney got pulled in to sing a Cinderella song on the spot (it wasn't in her notes). She'd rather make the event run than be the center of it.

Transcript

00:00 With over 33 years in the mobile bartending and service industry, he is the guy who brings the party and the joy wherever he goes. She's a seasoned event planner and producer with more than 20 years of experience in sports, corporate, nonprofit, and private events. Together we are Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters of the wild, hilarious and unforgettable moments in the world of events.

00:27 This is the Event Talk podcast with Dave and Rachel.

00:31 Hi everybody. Welcome to the Event Talk podcast. Hot mics, cold drinks and untold disasters. We have Delaney Henry, who's been in the event space a very long time even though she's turning 30 next year. My friends met her at a Green Bay-Cardinals game and said you're going to like her automatically. We had coffee and I invited her to the podcast.

02:05 Today's mocktail — Steph made it: organic apple cider, fresh lime juice, maple syrup, bitters, cinnamon sugar rim, apple slice, cinnamon stick garnish. I tasted this Saturday and it's probably my favorite mocktail. Cheers. You taste the apple already.

03:02 You moved to Arizona from California two years ago. You do events in Palm Springs — ticket sales went on sale Sunday and sold $1 million. I moved to California right before I turned 21. My dad was in marketing radio so I'm very familiar with event chaos. I got started in music festivals. I currently work for Modernism Week, a nonprofit in Palm Springs — twice a year people get into Frank Sinatra's and Elvis Presley's old homes, a mix of education tours and absolute rager parties.

04:20 I build the entire event online, both events, and do all the customer service — the little Gossip Girl behind the scenes nobody knows what I look like but they all talk to me. I've done everything — producing farmers markets, being a Disney princess, just about everything in my 20s. Coming from the Midwest it was, I'll work any job, stay late, camp in the desert for a week. Now I'm not too keen on camping in the middle of nowhere.

08:39 Behind-the-scenes festival stuff people don't see — 500 chicken wings an artist asks for, Persian rugs on the floor, cartons of oat milk they don't use. What's funny — we had a Fresca this weekend. I got a call, the bride's mom screaming there's no Fresca. It was the signature drink. They made it before guests, with ice, it worked out, but she freaked out enough.

10:05 When I moved to California I was 20, never been to a legit California music festival, working at a cafe. A woman comes in with a photography pass — "I've got an extra wristband, take your camera and go get yourself a job." That started my festival circuit as a photographer, which evolved into managing booths.

11:02 Burning Man was on my bucket list even though I had no idea what it was. To be clear, Burning Man is not "burn run man" — it's not a triathlon. There was a team of welders working on an old Lodestar WWII plane, welded on its nose with a cage on top. I got hired to make disco balls as big as all three of us hugging, hung off the plane, manage the team and do photography. I'm camping in a tent on the ground, no luxury.

13:15 First night people are trying to break into the plane, on drugs, swaying. We had to run full security. By the second or third day a couple of guys who were Marines got sick and had to go home. By the end it's five guys and me, not qualified to drill or weld. The festival ends and we can't get the plane out of the ground — it's rooted deeply. Everybody's exhausted, no food left, random people feeding us. I'm getting paid to be an artist — focus on the positive.

14:48 You can't litter, spit, or pee — all that dust goes in your skin, they call it playa for a reason. The crane came the first day, couldn't get it out, come back tomorrow, everybody's gone. One camp stayed and fed us. We're showering in a trash bag with a water bottle. My first crazy festival experience. The crane operator saved our lives. Luckily no rain that year or we'd never have gotten it out.

16:18 Then I worked Lightning in a Bottle, helping manage coffee — one of my favorite events. They changed the venue to Kern County and didn't tell us all the event water was runoff water. Everyone in our two coffee booths got Valley Fever. By day two people started coughing. Right before my birthday I'm driving home calling my mom — I'm the only one that didn't get sick, then two days later I'm in the hospital with a double ear infection. No more camping in the desert.

17:44 So I got back into indoor events — do it in mansions. Hollywood studios hired me a couple years for their retreat, through my friend Adam Levy who runs Event Palm Springs. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, the hotel staff was horrible — water leaking through the ceiling into a confidential meeting, then blowing cold air. It helps a lot when the client isn't horrible to you. It's easier to get people to work with you if you make them feel heard and cared about.

19:40 My motto — if superglue, zip ties and duct tape can't fix it. I have an oh sh*t kit and an oh sh*t kit belt, a sewing kit depending on the event. A network TV studio retreat went so well they invited me out — I'd hired buses. I had a beautiful dress with a zipper all the way up the front. We're doing karaoke in a Palm Springs speakeasy, "you're up next," I go to the bathroom and the whole zipper tore open bottom to top. I have five outfits in my car. I called a shuttle, told someone keep it cool, sing my song for me.

21:47 Since living here my kit's in my house because of the heat. It's like my horse in the desert — I can go anywhere as long as I've got my car and my stuff. People think I'm doing all this, but really I'm just changing my outfits. I get ready first thing because I have no idea what the day has in store — high-end brunch to schmooze, then in the dirt four hours later.

22:56 We were in the dirt Saturday — Agritopia farm, beautiful space. My shoes are ruined. That compressed dirt versus the powder that goes everywhere — rodeos, the beach. We did the all-women's rodeo. Outdoor events bring a whole new everything.

26:38 The younger generations and trends — I grew up in the 2010 house-party era. We did a millennium party downtown at the Ice House in 2000, a girl took ecstasy and laid on a table. The hat party people — a bartender called, "I knew you were supposed to be at a hat party," she's like, no, that's all they're wearing. Should I send somebody — "hell no, I'm taking pictures." They didn't tell me that's all they wore.

28:19 Frank Sinatra and Elvis homes — his is Twin Palms, large and beautiful, preserved well. The crazy thing is some changed hands. Albert Frey's Frey II house behind the Palm Springs Art Museum — he spent a year mapping the sun around a huge boulder and built the house around it, the boulder's half in, half out. Cocktail parties are what I suggest — live music, more time. In Sinatra's bathroom there's a crack in the sink they never fixed because someone threw a champagne bottle at him. I worked with Nancy Sinatra on an event. The crack is still there.

30:13 Back when those places were built there was nothing in the desert — Hollywood's playground, two hours from Hollywood in case they called you back. Royal Hawaiian Estates — I got into Modernism Week because I was asked to model for one of their cocktail parties, wearing the clothes of the era. These people are so committed — they live in these homes, wear these clothes. The Frank Lloyd Wright house has hammers and supplies in the construction, the builders' way of signing their name because they couldn't write.

32:09 We throw parties at our office, you're invited every month — the inappropriate T-shirt party. Birds have ridiculous names. The holiday party is on the fourth. Bloody Mary is a lifestyle in Wisconsin. At Madison the Memorial Union served beer, they were rolling joints at the table in the 80s. The accent comes right back — we learned to speak from drunk adults. "Y'all" is so triggering for some people. The kids say low key, high key, riz, aura farming — it's their secret language.

40:04 One final silly one — a girl's birthday party, all dressed as Disney princesses with actual princesses. The mom comes up, who's singing a song? That wasn't in my notes. I was Cinderella, in charge, had to learn a Cinderella song lickety split on the spot. I realized I like being with the team and around the event making sure it goes well — I don't want to be the center of attention. I turn bright red when I'm nervous.

42:39 Almost time to end. We have to come back and do it at night. I'll be back tomorrow — Uber driver, I'll pay for your Uber. Joshua Tree stories for the next one. Thank you so much for joining the Event Talk podcast, Hot Mics, Cold Drinks — we definitely told some untold disasters. Thumbs up, like, share, subscribe.

44:15 Thanks for tuning in to the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters where every event has a story. A big thank you to our guests for their laughs, stories, and lessons. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share with your fellow event pros. Until next time.