The one-woman show behind it all
Jenni’s background in hospitality made her the perfect person to shape the events operations at SouthPark Church. “I worked at Marriott for about 18 years, and I was a Senior Events Manager,” she shared. When Jenni’s family grew, she stepped away from hotel life—and later, the responsibility of building her church events program landed in her lap.
“With my knowledge of Marriott and being able to sell space, food, and plan events, I kind of just fell into it naturally,” Jenni said. But stepping into a brand-new venue with no existing systems was a different challenge entirely. “Planning an event at a church that has zero rules, regulations, groundwork—anything—it was very challenging. I had to create my own event packet. I had to make processes and things for people to follow.”
One of the biggest hurdles for SouthPark Church was managing contracts and payments. Jenni wrote every contract from scratch in a Word document, which quickly became overwhelming as the number and variety of events grew. Payments were just as challenging. “We might have the wrong address or what have you, and the payment could take days and days to get here,” Jenni said.
This is a subheading
Eventective is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork (without paying for enterprise software). This is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork.
The solution that “solved hours”
Jenni knew something needed to change. So, she hired a hospitality consultant who introduced SouthPark Church to Eventective. "Our consultant was amazing. She found Eventective. She goes, ‘I think this is going to solve a lot of your problems.’ And it literally solved hours.”
The consultant helped set up SouthPark Church’s Eventective account, but from there, Jenni took the lead and began working closely with her account manager, Sophie. “We had our initial call, and she showed me a couple quick things,” Jenni said. Whenever a question came up, Jenni would email Sophie. “I feel like I should be giving her a gift,” she laughed. “The fact that I can email Sophie and pretty much have an answer back by the end of the day is life-changing. Especially in this day and age where customer service doesn’t exist in a lot of places.”
As a part-time staff member juggling tours, bookings, and Sunday morning services, Jenni’s time is valuable—and Eventective gives her more of it back.
“Having Eventective take care of the paperwork side of it makes things easier for me. I’m able to focus more on the details,” Jenni shared. “Also, it makes me more efficient, which I count as detail because I just don't have the hours between booking the events, trying to be at church, and giving tours. That’s why Eventective has been such a gift because it has just saved hours of time for me that I don’t have.”
This is a subheading
Eventective is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork (without paying for enterprise software). This is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork.
“This has saved me an easy 10 to 15 hours per week.”
Jenni McKeown
Hospitality & Events Director, SouthPark Church
Managing more in the years ahead
Looking ahead, Jenni is excited about what’s next for SouthPark Church. The church is preparing for an expansion: a brand-new, 22,000 square-foot event venue that will open on their property in the coming years. “I would use it whenever I have an event too big for the church space,” Jenni shared. It’s a huge step forward, and Jenni envisions Eventective playing a key role in helping her manage both spaces with the same efficiency she relies on today.
Jenni is also focused on hosting more weddings at SouthPark Church. “That’s an ongoing goal of mine because we’re a simple destination for weddings. We’re a one-stop shop,” she explained. “You can get married here and have a full reception with everything. It’s not an old-fashioned church where you do fruit punch and cake. You can have the whole bar, you can have a DJ, you can do all of it. We just need more traction for weddings.” Jenni’s eager to refresh the church’s Eventective profile and utilize Eventective’s Lead Market to reach more couples.
With 10-15 hours saved every week, seamless contracts and payments, and a responsive partner by her side, Jenni now has the support she needs to bring her Marriott-level expertise to a community she loves. And as SouthPark Church continues to grow with new spaces, new events, and new opportunities, Jenni is confident Eventective will support her every step of the way.
This is a subheading
Eventective is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork (without paying for enterprise software). This is the platform for event pros who want more leads, easier bookings, and less busywork.
