Events marketing.

Conferences as a top-of-funnel and learning channel — the playbook and a candid read on event leads.

Why we do events

Conferences are a top-of-funnel and learning channel: face time with buyers, live demos of the swag itself, and direct research into how companies actually buy and ship swag. Events show up in the MQL report as their own lead source — but they convert differently from inbound (more below).

Events attended

Event	When	Notes
TechCrunch Disrupt	Oct 2025	LinkedIn reel + event blog post; contributed event MQLs (4 in the Nov 3–23 period).
Web Summit (Lisbon)	Nov 2025	Booth + spin-the-wheel; Direct Order process piloted; 14 event MQLs in the May 11–25 period.
NATCON, EIPM, ASI	2025–26	Attended; photos and pre/post LinkedIn content produced.
SHRM	Upcoming	Direct Order process being refined based on Web Summit learnings.

Booth playbook

From Thomas's on-site learnings (Web Summit, Nov 2025):

High-quality swag is the draw. Coffee tumblers, tote bags, luggage tags, and notebooks pulled people in — some came to the booth because they saw others carrying our totes.
Spin-the-wheel brings people over. It engages attendees in a non-sales format, then transitions naturally into a conversation about the business.
Have a fast path for high-quality leads. Need a process to engage and capture strong leads on the spot.
At least two people at the booth at all times.

Discovery questions

The booth is also a research engine. Focus on learning, not selling — aim to walk away from each conversation with 2–3 learnings. Questions to ask:

Do they purchase swag? What's the purchasing process, and who owns it?
Who do they buy from? What do they like and dislike about them?
How much do they spend, and how do they calculate ROI?
How do they get swag to events — and back afterward? How do they handle international events?
What swag works well, and what doesn't?

Honest read on event leads

Event MQLs inflate the count more than the pipeline. The May 11–25 report logged 64 MQL points, but 14 of those were WebSummit badge scans and high-tier excluding WebSummit was only 2. Event leads are real and worth pursuing, but they are lower-intent than inbound demo requests — weight them accordingly when reading the MQL log.

Source: #marketing-events Slack (booth learnings, event list, Direct Order) + #marketing MQL reports (event lead source). Point-in-time; event slate changes.