Building trust across multiple event formats

I showed up late to a Pavilion dinner and they made me sing ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ on the spot—awkward, but it drove $327K in pipeline. Our team is heading to SaaStr & Gartner CSO. Here’s our No-Booth Pipeline Playbook: 1. List First, Luck Later Don’t come in blind. Research every attendee, speaker, and sponsor name. Enrich against your ICP. Run list in ChatGPT: “Give me 1-3 convo points I can build my value around”. Now you’re armed with a list and thoughtful ice‑breakers tied to their business. 2. Lock Slots Pre‑Flight Two weeks out, DM prospects, clients, and people you want to meet—now you have an easy start to warm you up with pre-booked meetings during the event. 3. Just Have Fun Convos People overthink it: “How will I start a chat?”, “Am I bothering them at lunch?”. Get out of your head! Everyone there is looking to connect. Just go and talk to them, compliment their red Nikes, ask for guidance, or just say hi. What’s next? They come ‘inbound’ and ask “so what do you do?”—that’s it. Easy. 4. Go Where the Crowd Goes Don’t lurk at empty barista lines or charging spots. Go where people go. At sessions, talk with the folks sitting next to you—the talks offer great topics to discuss. During breaks, lunch/coffee lines will allow more casual talks. 5. The Real Event = Afterhours VIP dinners, breakfasts, parties, cocktail hours—this is where the magic happens. It’s where people have real connections, are less stressed, and build real trust. My karaoke moment at dinner turned into a long night of networking with our ICP, which continued to late-night parties and post-event follow-ups. People buy from people who share Uber rides, not booth swag. 6. Nail Your Talk Track Don’t wait until day 2 to feel comfortable with your conversations. Write down your qualifying questions, short, casual pitch, and booking process. 7. Book Follow-Ups on the Spot This is where ROI often gets flushed down the toilet. People try to play the volume game, but if you’re just collecting emails—prepare to get ghosted. Have meaningful conversations, make them memorable, and book on the spot! The best event follow-up is no follow-up; We pull our Chili Piper + Take notes over a screenshot of their LI profile + DM on the spot, “Great chat!” + Send Aligned room to stay top of mind, prevent no shows, and capture buying signals. 8. Mind the Little Things - Don’t look at badges (it’s like “are you a DM?”) - Don’t disqualify titles (title ≠ influence) - Don’t wear what won’t last the day (i.e. full wool suit) - Don’t skip breakfast, or sleep (or drink too much) - Don’t forget water (and Tic Tac :) —— A neon booth: $100K. Uber to dinner: $18. There’s more than one way to attend events. What’s your wildest zero-booth win or best tip? Best story earns a karaoke duet at SaaStr 🎤 See you in San Mateo & Vegas.

The Future of B2B Events in 2025: Why Webinars aren't Enough Anymore. Webinars are still Good in 2025. But., If you are relying only on webinars to drive your B2B strategy in 2025, you're missing the bigger picture. ❌ The Old Playbook: Host a webinar. -Gather MQLs from form fills. -Send follow-up emails. -Push MQLs to sales. -Pitch your product. It's time to evolve: 👉 What's working in 2025: -Today's B2B buyers want more than a one-way conversation. -They crave value, interaction, and a sense of community. A few Examples and my favorites: ✔️ Workshops Over Webinars: 💡 Buyers want to be involved, not just observe. -Interactive workshops let them learn better. -Whether solving real problems in a live session or gaining hands-on experience, workshops create deep, personal engagement. I conduct workshops, which help me learn a great deal while teaching. -I Structured them as a hands-on, problem-solving session around a common pain point my prospect faces. ✔️ Micro-Communities: 📍 Think beyond large, impersonal webinars. -B2B decision-makers get increasingly drawn to smaller, niche groups where they can connect with peers and gain specialized knowledge ✔️ Live Case Studies with Clients: Inviting clients to co-host live case studies where they share their success stories and strategies. -It helps build trust and showcases real-world solutions. -These sessions highlight the tangible outcomes of your product or service. ✔️ Courses and Micro-Learning Sessions: 📚 Today's B2B buyers appreciate short, focused courses that they can immediately apply to their work. -Building an educational track with bite-sized learning around key topics is a win-win for engagement and brand positioning. ✔️Casual In-person Local Events The most underrated B2B growth lever in 2025. We’re seeing a revival of local, low-pressure, high-value meetups. You can organize: -CXO breakfast roundtables -12-person pizza & strategy evenings -Founder-led coffee sessions with 1-2 enterprise prospects -Co-branded "mini ABM events" with a customer as a host The vibe is Informal. Intentional. Invite-only. These formats are perfect for 1:Few and 1:1 ABM strategies. No decks. No sales pitches. Just proximity, context, and honest conversations. Here's an Example: -Use LinkedIn + HubSpot (or your CRM) to map your Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts by city or region. -Once you’ve got your local clusters, don’t just wait for conferences—host your micro-events quarterly. -Even a 2-hour breakfast session with 5 decision-makers can create a more robust downstream pipeline than 500 passive webinar attendees. . It’s not about the number of attendees. It’s about curating the right conversations with the right people.

Your lanyard says "delegate." They hear: "nobody." In a world desperate for connection, belonging is what matters. When community and belonging become the cornerstone of events, magic happens. Here's what I've learned after decades creating participant-first events: 1️⃣ Design Around Stories, Not Schedules → Don't start with the agenda → Start with your event purpose and your participants' stories → What challenges are they facing? What victories have they achieved? → Build your event framework around their narratives, not your timeline 2️⃣ Small Groups, Mighty Conversations → Create "breakthrough groups" of 6-8 people, staying together throughout the event → They become each other's support system - celebrating wins, solving challenges, staying connected 3️⃣ Shared Experiences Build Trust → Take inspiration from Dreamforce's "Circle of Success" format → Peers coach peers, sharing solutions to common challenges → When participants collaborate, lasting bonds form naturally 4️⃣ Make Them the Headlines → Traditional events put speakers on pedestals. Flip it → Explore session formats: fishbowls, world café, unconferences → Have participants interview keynote speakers. Let them moderate panels. → Turn your "experts" into conversation catalysts 5️⃣ Build Living Legacy → Create a digital "Event Impact Journal" where participants document their journey → Their insights become next year's content → Their success stories fuel future events 6️⃣ Psychology of Belonging → The human brain processes social exclusion in the same regions as physical pain → Design your event to trigger belonging cues: shared challenges, collective achievements, and most importantly - opportunities for every voice to be heard Remember: An event without participant voice is just a very expensive monologue. I dive deeper into these participant-first principles in my upcoming book The Chief Event Officer's Playbook - How to Create Transformational Events. (Image is me celebrating manuscript submission day at my kitchen table). When was the last time an event made you feel truly seen? 🎯 💡For more event strategy insights, subscribe to the Chief Event Officer's Digest. https://lnkd.in/gdqN9UUi