At this year’s CEMA Summit, I had the privilege of sitting down with Karen Hartline, Executive Producer of Live Content at Zillow, for a conversation that was less about theory and more about the real, often messy, but brilliant work behind running large-scale event programs.

The topic? Precision at Scale. Specifically, how Zillow manages hundreds of internal and external events annually without sacrificing brand consistency, operational clarity, or team sanity.

Whether you’re managing 10 events or 200, here are a few of the core themes and tactical takeaways from our session.

Scaling events: The problem isn’t volume, it’s visibility

Karen began by painting a familiar picture: multiple teams—marketing, recruiting, comms, sales—across the org producing events with little alignment, each using their own tools and workflows.

The result? Fragmented experiences, inconsistent data, duplicated tech spend, and teams reinventing the wheel.

“We realized early on that scale without coordination creates chaos.” — Karen Hartline

To fix this, Zillow focused on centralizing systems and standardizing processes, rather than just adding more people or tools.

The Zillow Events Framework: Achieving operational excellence

What made our conversation stand out was how practical it was. Here are a few highlights from the framework Zillow now uses to run its event portfolio:

• Defined roles and responsibilities: Everyone knows what they own and when, reducing delays and handoff issues.
  
• Templated workflows: From landing pages to email campaigns, nothing starts from scratch. This increases speed and consistency.
  
• A centralized platform: Zillow consolidated multiple tools into one system to reduce complexity and speed up production.
  
• Clear measurement practices:  It’s not just about registration and attendance anymore, it’s about operational metrics: time-to-launch, team self-sufficiency, and asset reuse.

This framework isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about giving event teams the space to be creative without constantly rebuilding the basics.

The results: Speed, clarity, confidence

Since implementing their systemized approach, Karen shared that Zillow has seen:

• Faster event turnaround times.
• More empowered teams that can self-serve and launch events without heavy support.
  
• Executive trust and visibility thanks to improved reporting and consistent execution.
  
• Reduced costs from consolidating vendors and streamlining workflows.
  

The biggest benefit? Confidence. Event stakeholders know what to expect. Teams know what to do. And leadership knows it’s under control.

Key lessons for other teams

As we wrapped up the session, we asked Karen to share some universal takeaways: her “If I could only tell you five things” list:

1. Build flexible systems: Templates and workflows don’t kill creativity; they enable it.
   
2. Get your teams on one platform: A shared system creates clarity and collaboration.
   
3. Don’t trade brand for speed: Consistency builds trust, even across hundreds of events.
   
4. Track operational metrics: Look beyond engagement to adoption, efficiency, and scalability.
   
5. Simplify everything: The simpler your systems, the faster your team can move.

Small changes, big wins

Some of the most impactful changes? Surprisingly small things. Think: introducing an event app for internal retreats, creating a universal landing page template, or streamlining swag processes based on user data.

Sometimes it’s not about overhauling everything, but about recognizing friction and removing it.

Looking ahead

As the conversation turned toward the future, Karen shared insights into how Zillow is approaching hybrid events, especially as a fully remote company. 

The goal? To make every attendee—virtual or in-person—feel like an active participant.

They’re also investing in attendee personalization, more thoughtful content formats, and continued system improvements that allow their event teams to scale without burnout.

“Structure doesn’t mean rigidity. It means we can move faster, try new things, and focus on delivering real value.” — Karen Hartline

One final thought on advocacy

Karen closed with a piece of advice many in the room needed to hear: track your wins.

She shared how she sends a weekly email to her manager with highlights, updates, and shoutouts—an internal habit that keeps her work visible and reinforces the value of the events team.

Let’s keep the conversation going

This was one of those rare sessions that combined strategy and tactics, inspiration and implementation. 

Huge thanks to Karen for being so open and actionable in her insights. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn.

If you’re trying to scale your event program—or just want to nerd out about event ops—we’d love to connect. Let’s keep this conversation going.

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