Behind the Curtain at Bridging the Gap
With Krystal Joiner
Continuing the conversation at Bridging the Gap 2025 in Denver, Randy Crabtree sits down with Krystal Joiner from the conference’s marketing team on Episode 269 of The Unique CPA for an honest look at what goes into making BTG what it is. Krystal talks through the months of behind-the-scenes planning that attendees never see, and why the relaxed, connected energy on the conference floor doesn’t happen by accident. The tone, she explains, gets set long before anyone lands in Denver, through social media, sponsor relationships, and every touchpoint along the way. There’s also a candid moment about what it feels like to finally arrive at an event you’ve spent half a year building. With BTG Charlotte on the horizon, Krystal is confident the best is still to come: “We just get better.”
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Hi there, Randy Crabtree here. We are at Bridging the Gap Conference in Denver, Colorado. It is the afternoon of day two and we’re having a great time and sitting with me today is Crystal from our marketing department. Crystal.
Hi Randy.
How you doing?
Well, I’m happy to be here. I’m kind of nervous, but I’m doing really good!
So this is a lot of work to put on a conference. How do you think it’s going so far on site here, the last day and a half?
I think it’s been great, actually. I think a lot of our hard work has definitely paid off, and thankfully the attendees, speakers, sponsors don’t know, kind of like the backstage, you know, issues that we are resolving constantly. So I think for the attendees it’s great. Like they don’t, I think it’s been smooth for them. Thankfully we’ve been able to solve some issues and troubleshoot and we try to anticipate things, and the decor has been beautiful. The hotel has been so accommodating. The hotel staff has been amazing. So I think it’s been great, actually.
I think it’s been great too. I’ve actually talked to some other people and I just feel—and it’s hard when we’re here working. I’m sure you’re back and forth all the time, but I feel this just increase in energy, this increase in vibe this year and every year has been great. But this year it’s just something different. I mean, are you seeing that too?
Yeah, it feels, I want to say it feels more relaxed.
That’s a good way to say it.
There are more, even though I don’t know everybody, I feel more comfortable with people. You know, you go to the exhibitors, it’s just peaceful in there. You know, you go to the sessions, it’s peaceful in there. We’re packing out some of the sessions and people are conversating. I don’t know, it could be the Denver altitude. But no, I think we definitely set this up. You know, when people are registering, when they’re interacting with us online, when they’re interacting with you or Haley who’s, you know, coordinated a lot of our sponsors, we’ve set the tone before they even got here. So I think that they are coming off of what we’ve already provided and what we’ve established.
Well, they set the tone, we’ve set the tone, but a lot of that setting the tone is the social media posts that you have done. They’ve been amazing, and they’ve really highlighted the positive aspects, which everything about this conference is positive. But then what’s happened is that people have taken what you’ve done and what the entire team’s done, and they’ve just built on it themselves. We have so many people that rave about this. I mean, I guess that’s the impact of the conference, one, ’cause it starts there. But then, two, as Nancy and I were talking about earlier, and somebody said in the session yesterday morning, “the hive mind.” Somehow all that marketing has created this hive mind that this is the place we need to be.
Exactly, yes. I’ve heard that before as well. Sometimes it can be beneficial, you know, we don’t want to have groupthink, but sometimes it’s nice when a group of people can agree. They can come to an understanding or like have the same kind of feeling. So I thank you for the shout out for the social media. Shout out to my marketing team for helping me with the copy and the ideas and our video team for helping edit some of these amazing videos that we have. We’ve outsourced our videos and video editing, so I think our quality also has improved because we’ve begun to outsource. And I think the theme has been really fun to play with this year. We’ve got our camp gear on, so I think that helps play into the vibes that we’re feeling.
And then I just want to ask, before we move on, being here on site, lots of work. The pre-planning, lots of work. Just give me a little insight on the thought process with all that.
Oh my God! I think we start maybe six months before, officially planning, but while we are on site during the conference, we’re already talking about 2026 and hoping that we can start planning that. So it’s definitely a long process of planning. You know, we have to find an event space, then we have to think of a theme, then we get Randy on board, then we start thinking about time and all of that starts like six months in advance. And then we build up social and then we get speakers, we get sponsors involved, and we have a checklist that we go through just to make sure that we have everything, set up and then we have our CVent, which is how we host it on the back end. So yeah, it’s a lot. There’s a lot. I personally am going to segue, I thrive during the event, the interpersonal, talking with the people, you know, dealing with that. That is where I thrive. So I’m very excited to finally be to this. I know I’m not the only one on our team. I think there’s a, we’re like halfway between being very excited to be here and also relieved.
Oh I’m sure! It’s a lot of work.
We just take a break after this before we have to plan, hopefully for the next one. And I think it turned out so much bigger than anything we ever imagined.
Well, and when you’re thinking of ’26, then, as we wrap up here, what would you tell people watching this video, why should they be here at the 2026 Bridging Gap?
I can tell you confidently that it’s going to be better. We try really hard, like I said earlier, to anticipate needs, but also to think about what the industry needs. I know I think about needs at the conference and also what the industry needs as a whole. And we just get better. We take feedback, we make the experience better for people, and we just continue to build this community. And I think as it kind of ripples through the industry, people will want to learn more about culture and why it matters to treat people well. You know? Like, it’s just a different mindset that is happening now in the accounting industry than has been traditionally in the past. And we’re just keeping, we’re just going to keep going and make it better. Hashtag #NotYourAverageAccountingConference.
Well, that’s great. Well, thanks for sitting down and discussing the conference with me. And thanks for all the work, you and the entire team to put this together because this conference, this does not happen without you and everybody else on marketing.
Thanks!
About the Guest
Krystal Joiner is an experienced graphic designer specializing in social media marketing and communications. Proficient in email marketing design and management, print and digital marketing collateral, photo retouching, management of websites, and social media, Krystal is a motivated self-starter who thrives on working alone or in teams. She can work consistently on multiple brands and projects simultaneously whether in-office or working remotely.
She has spearheaded the logistical and marketing efforts behind every Bridging the Gap conference to date.
Meet the Hosts
Randy Crabtree, co-founder and partner of Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals, is a widely followed author, lecturer and podcast host for the accounting profession. Since 2019, he has hosted the The Unique CPA podcast, which ranks among the world’s 5% most popular programs (Source: Listen Notes). You can find articles from Randy in Accounting Today’s “Voices” column and the AICPA Tax Advisor, and he is a regular presenter at conferences and virtual training events hosted by CPAmerica, Prime Global, Leading Edge Alliance (LEA), Allinial Global and several state CPA societies. Randy also provides continuing professional education to Top 100 CPA firms across the country.
Terrell Turner is a 3x nationally ranked CPA, 2x Top 20 Global Finance Influencer. He is the founder of the TLTurner Group, which has been recognized in NYC Times Square and the NY Times as a top accounting and CFO firm that specializes in supporting law firms. Outside of running an accounting firm, Terrell hosts multiple vlogs and podcasts in addition to co-hosting The Unique CPA. Terrell is also a speaker and a content creator who regularly hosts and collaborates on video and audio content projects with multi-billion dollar corporations, bar associations, universities, and non-profit organizations.