Katapult Events Readies For New Era Of Elite Direct Sales Events

ORLANDO, Fla. - May 24, 2022 - PRLog -- Katapult Events President and Co-Founder Erik Johnson is leading Katapult Events into a post-pandemic era of no-holds-barred, elite-level live events in the direct sales industry and in major corporate events.

Katapult Events is dedicated to the management and production of live events for its global corporate clients, as well as hybrid and virtual events. Since its inception in 2019, the organization has developed into the first name in live event production among many of the world's largest direct sales brands, offering an exclusive and unbeatable brand of world-class production, execution, reliability and impact.

Johnson and Co-Founders Scott Beelman and Jay Taylor created Katapult Events to perfect the live events space in the direct sales industry. Katapult is passionate about delivering a second-to-none experience to its clients and event attendees. After years of working within direct sales companies themselves, as well as other production organizations, the trio realized how much their collective experience meant they could improve upon the business model with their own firm.

A direct sales company hosting a live event increases retention of the distributor base and loyal customer base — wholesale customers — while increasing the purchase power of promo packs.

"When you have the field together in all that culture, putting your brand on display at the convention center or at the arena, there's nothing like it," Johnson said before a recent sports stadium event. "You can't recreate all that in the virtual world. You get a lot better return on investment with directly selling promo packs and apparel and more around your brand. And then your distributor living in your culture for the week can really increase retention, which is invaluable in direct sales."

After the pandemic took over our world for more than two years, Katapult sees 2022 as the dawn of a new era in live events. One good thing the pandemic allowed: Time to conceptualize and develop fresh ideas, innovations and cutting-edge components for live events that everyone across the globe is so hungry for.

"If you walk into a stadium versus watching a virtual computer show, and you've got thousands of other excited people all around you," Johnson said, "… Would you rather watch a concert by your favorite artist that you're passionate about on YouTube or sit in that arena?"

"When you're still virtual, your audience is not going to block out those days, uninterrupted, like they would when traveling to a live event that's not being dropped into their home. They get distracted. They could watch the show or event for a few minutes, then something happens with one of their kids or they're late making dinner and all that. They're not really away … and focused on their business like they would be at a live conference."

Johnson and the entire Katapult team do more than understand what it takes to bring to life a company's ambition to personally connect with their corporate family through exhilarating, next-level events. They live and breathe it themselves. The team expertly delivers elite services and skills that help their clients check off every box, big or small, with superior, uncompromising results being the priority.

Johnson was formerly the VP of Events for a large, Top 50 DSA company. He knows how to deliver, he notes, because he has been in that side of the business. Everyone at Katapult pulls from their individual experiences in event production, collectively creating the precise experience their clients want.

"We have a keen understanding of things that are unique to direct sales," Johnson said, "like recognition and compensation plans. I want to get in and understand: Why is that particular award important? How do we award this rank versus that rank? Because recognition is what drives revenue. How do you do promo packs today? Because I have some insight into what works and what doesn't."

Katapult focuses on helping its clients increase ROI in every event. The team takes the occasion beyond the boundaries of a production company with sound, lights and video.

"What is your distributor's experience goal?" Johnson wants to know. "And then, what are your internal sales goals and executive financial goals that we can help you achieve? The more information you give us, the more insight we can provide as part of your team — to go beyond a production company and be more of an event partner."

Katapult clients hire the team to be production experts but often rely on the team as an internal partner, capable of assisting with countless aspects from the moment the event is conceived. When hired as a turnkey operation, Katapult creates the event from the start, before a venue is contracted.

Katapult offers cost savings in managing the sourcing of hotels and convention center space, contracts, and the minutia around food and beverage orders, security, signage and executive transportation. The company expertly handles video content creation and scriptwriting as well.

"We know what the show needs, top to bottom," Johnson said. "We've seen so many contracts from a production standpoint that getting us involved early, before a venue contract is signed, is going to save you money. We have a more extensive relationship with venues and hotels, as opposed to a direct sales company that may come in and out for one event. Leveraging our relationships for our clients is one of our strengths."

Katapult offers the flexibility of being turnkey for every aspect of the event or taking on a more focused production role, with some companies' needs landing somewhere in the middle. Often, Katapult works with an event partner company with its own internal events team that just needs production. But at crunch time, many clients tend to request a little more.

"When they ask us whether we can take on more — security, flowers, room drops — Katapult has the management staff to execute for our clients at every level," Johnson said. "And our clients come to entrust us with so much of their work, we develop a shorthand with their staff and we know what their needs are, so we can preemptively have all those roses already without even needing to be asked."

Whether a client contracts Katapult 12 months out or four months out, the same amount of work is done — at the same price. Johnson said he and his team prefer to contract with clients 12 months out, have more meetings with the client and put in more of the Katapult team's time for the same cost.

"It will make a better show, and it will make a better experience for everyone," Johnson said, "especially your distributor family in the audience."

ABOUT ERIK JOHNSON

Erik Johnson is the President and Co-Founder of Katapult Events, an elite-level event management and event production company established in 2019. As a former head of events for a Direct Sales Association Top 50 company, Erik understands events from an internal, corporate point of view as well as from the perspective of an event producer and supplier. Katapult Events has earned a reputation for incomparable reliability and impact, and has produced world-class events in spaces from hotel ballrooms to football stadiums. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Erik has called Central Florida home for 30 years now. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from UCF. He finds fulfillment in his work, in being a father to his two sons, and in adventure.

ABOUT KATAPULT EVENTS

Find out more about Katapult Events at katapultevents.com

Katapult Events is an elite-level event management and event production company that delivers live events designed to elevate the culture of your company, providing an array of turnkey event services as well as event production tailored precisely to the client's needs. Katapult offers world-class execution, reliability and impact in partnering with its internationally recognized clients to conceive, design, produce and manage live, hybrid and virtual events, while the satisfaction of the client and the audience remains the highest priority. From the biggest "Super Bowl stage" requests to the more intimate flourishes for your corporate family, Katapult is a full-service event organization whose decades of collective experience in the event production industry uniquely position the team to expertly drive unrivaled success in the events arena.