Tavar James: Innovation as an 'Always-On Drumbeat' That Sparks New Ways of Gathering

Tavar James is Vice President, Global Head of Events at Forrester, where he leads global event strategy at the research and advisory firm. His career spans events, marketing, and hospitality, with experience building high-performing teams and growing global event portfolios. He is comfortable delivering a wide range of events and experiences, from hosting luxury gatherings at the Ritz-Carlton to large-scale conferences for up to 2,500 attendees at companies like Equitable, Riskified, and BetterUp.

James is a member of the inaugural Skift Meetings Advisory Council, serves on the CEMA advisory board and participates in the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX), a senior peer group for event executives.

That breadth of experience informs how James thinks about innovation. Rather than treating it as a discrete initiative, he sees innovation as an always-on drumbeat, embedded into how teams think, plan, and adapt in real time. That mindset shapes how he approaches event design, leadership, and growth across global portfolios.

Meetings Innovators spotlights the trailblazers defining the future of meetings and events. Each month, we feature visionary professionals breaking the mold with innovative strategies, fresh perspectives, and bold ideas. These pioneers are crafting experiences that resonate, inspire, and lead the way forward. Join us as we celebrate the creative minds taking the future into their own hands and shaping what’s next in the world of meetings and events.

Meetings Innovators is sponsored by Marriott Bonvoy.

What does innovation mean to you?

Innovation is subjective. Everyone perceives it differently.

To me, innovation means there’s a steady drumbeat of ideation and brainstorming happening. A piece, be it big or small, of your mental bandwidth is always reserved for trying something new. It’s not settling for the status quo and pushing the envelope through collaboration and freeforming ideation. Sometimes that idea or that thought may never see the light of the day but you begin to spark new ways of thinking and new ideas just by having the conversation. Innovation should be an ‘always-on’ drumbeat. 

Why is innovation important in events?

Innovation in our industry must always be evolving because we have a very critical responsibility: to bring people together in places and spaces where spectrums of experiences come to life.

Humans are always evolving, which means the way we bring them together must constantly evolve too. So events are innovation, if you really think about it.

What drives you to innovate?

At my core, I’m a big brand guy. Everything from how a brand looks, feels, is perceived, shows up. So I approach every single one of my events as its own brand. And like all good brands, there’s always a moment of re-introduction. A moment where you have to give people a reason to lift their heads up and be excited again. That’s what I hope for at our events. Yes, you know Forrester. Yes, you probably know about our business. But do our events excite you? Do they light a fire in you or make you feel something?

I want people to recognize our events because of a feeling that they can’t forget, the same way you probably feel something when you see a Nike ‘Just do it’ commercial. That requires innovation. 

Is it essential to look for innovation outside the industry?

You can’t innovate or create in a bubble. You have to be open to other ways of working and you have to ask yourself, what inspires you. How do you cascade that inspiration across your teams and stakeholders and how do you translate that inspiration into the outcomes the business is looking for.  

In the B2B events world, I believe we’ve gotten so used to doing business in a very uniform, transactional way. We’ve gotten better but it’s still not personal enough. And no, I don’t mean personal as in asking people their travel preferences, I mean personal as in seeing the persona for who they are outside of the brand they represent. A lot of this can be learned in some of the B2C tactics and approaches to events, and also looking to other industries.

Is being comfortable with failure part of innovating?

Absolutely. If you don’t try anything, you’ll get nothing. You have to at least try and part of trying new things and pushing the envelope is recognizing that you may fail. I’m experiencing that right now with some of the changes I’ve made to Forrester’s events business, starting this year in 2026. And yes, I’m always a bit terrified that my strategic changes may fail. But I’m okay with that and as a business, it’s a risk we are willing to take because there’s always the other question. What if you win? What if it works? The reward far outweighs the fear and that should always just be part of how you evaluate strategic decisions.

How do you get buy-in for your innovations?

First, I take the time to learn what matters most to my stakeholders. The people that will support my decisions. Because they all care about certain things differently. By understanding what matters to them individually, I can then tailor my ideas and suggestions so that it resonates quickly. 

What's Your advice for aspiring innovators?

Start with self. You cannot drive innovation or inspiration if you don’t believe in it yourself.

We’ve got to bring the true passion back to this industry. We have become too transactional. Creativity thrives in passion. And success thrives in service. Be sure about “why” you are doing what you’re doing, be confident in your ideas and have a clear connection to your business outcomes. But start with self! Get yourself there first and make sure it feels right. 

What innovation are you currently working on?

In the best way possible, I’ve got a long road ahead in bringing innovation to Forrester. We have a unique position as a firm right now to chart our own path. That’s my purpose and that is what I want my story to be at Forrester. I truly believe in the opportunity ahead of us.

I’m also working on a personal side passion of mine which includes marketing talent. Another avenue that’s gotten a bit stale. I think there are things we can do better around marketing events in general.

What Inspires You?

From an events perspective, I am truly inspired by the work that BetterUp does. Working with that team, though short, lit such a fire in me and really changed my perspective on how a B2B events portfolio should be.

On a personal level, I’m inspired by a lot of people. I pull energy from seeing people do work that propels people forward. Brands that really believe in the power of people where you can feel it in their marketing and brand evolution.

I’m not a big data guy. To be honest, that’s not what I look for when I want to be inspired. It’s a critical part of my work as a senior events executive, absolutely. And I know where to go and how to find the facts and figures when I need to. But most of the time, I want inspiration that pulls at my heartstrings, shakes up my thinking, and kicks me in gear by reminding me of why I do what I do. 

What professional legacy are you looking to create?

I want people to remember that Tavar cared about our people first — always. And he pushed our industry to always think bigger than self.

I’m not a data or figure thrower. We have a lot of industry titans who do a great job of bringing us the numbers. I want to be the one that was always anchored in the “people and passion” of this industry — making sure people have the resources to thrive and find joy in a line of work that can really take life out of you.

I mentor a few people and after speaking with them, they never thank me for sharing data or links to spreadsheets. They always thank me for giving them a moment to breathe and remember why they want to be in this industry. They leave feeling inspired and that’s so important to me if we really want to see great talent come to our industry. I’ve got a ways to go but that’s my anchor

Final Thoughts

While I’m a huge fan of innovation and keeping our industry fresh, I also want to remind everyone that sometimes it’s okay to slow down and reset.

Being innovative doesn’t always mean shattering some glass ceiling or introducing some groundbreaking idea or concept. How about innovation from the angle of “reset”? We don’t always have to move so fast to adapt to that new idea. Remember to differentiate what we may see as an industry vs what our attendees actually need or want.

We are experience curators. Our job is to bring people together to feel something that hopefully will impact them enough that they take it back with them and do something good with it. That could be a big idea, a thought, or simply just a break in their life to be with people. Sometimes, that requires us to just stick to the basics. There are basic fundamentals that every event should have and every strategic decision should consider. Sometimes innovation is refining those basics. Don’t forget them.