What Events should I Attend?

 Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation sits down with Stefan Deeran of Vendelux to discuss what events to attend, and why in person events are so powerful. 

Video Transcription

 R. Stefan Deeran 

Only from New York City.

Harry Brelsford 

Hey, now we're talking. Well, Randy and I are coming to you from the skyscraper in Seattle. Gorgeous. So any event, let's jump right into it, the SMB Nation audience is returning to events, right. So we have a large number of IT pros, managed services, providers, vars, and so on. They're going to events. In fact, I was on a couple calls earlier this week about some recent events in our industry. A couple of observations or events are still finding their footing, there was an event in the industry. Two weeks ago, a well known trade association. And three people have told me, it was a little bit late, the attendance was a little bit late, and they don't know if it's airfares, if it's COVID, if it's just people are still getting their heads around this. So before we talk about your business model, what are you seeing with events? It seems like they can they can go either way hit or miss?

R. Stefan Deeran 

Certainly? Well, you know, COVID is a once in a lifetime disruption for the events industry. And, you know, all the data suggests that events are coming back in person and quickly, but they're not quite at kind of like pre COVID levels just yet. I think I see stats that show around maybe two thirds of attendance for annual events, where they compared to where they used to be Yeah, that being said, you know, about a year ago, there really weren't that many in person events at all. And at this point, most of the major ones are back on the calendar. And the attendance levels have increased just month over month, as the virus kind of gets behind us finally, and everyone's very excited to be able to see their former colleagues, current colleagues, current prospects, potential prospects, all in person again.

Harry Brelsford 

So what's your business models?

R. Stefan Deeran 

Sure. So Vendelux is a platform that helps companies figure out the best events to participate in, which ones should we be sponsoring? Which ones should we be sending our teams to? And it's really based on the idea that more data will help companies make better decisions. So we have a the world's biggest database of professional events, from major trade shows, down to even meetups, and we give you all the data, you need to figure out which ones you should be at, based on who's going to be there. So which ones have the highest concentration of my potential customers, my current customers, my partners, so that we can plan the perfect calendar and get as much precious space time as we can with our customers.

Harry Brelsford 

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, Randy, you're a partner in the startup, our side startup, the Canna tech group. And in fact, you and I are going to a fairly respected conference next week. We're recording this in mid August, and we're off to the cannabis conference in Las Vegas. So, Randy, any questions about that niche in particular, and in tracking?

Randy Roe 

Well, the challenge that we have is just all the new businesses, right. And, you know, getting some, some sort of sense or listening even, you know, of these new licensees that become important, you know, to the technology providers. And I, there's no doubt though, that the some of the best relationships and meetings that we get are at these trade shows, and people were there to discuss these topics. And, you know, you just don't want to miss out on these opportunities to do that. And, and I know for a fact that, that that happens, right? That you don't get to meet with the people that you really should have met with and, and I would imagine stuff and that's where that's where your solution comes from.

R. Stefan Deeran 

Absolutely. I mean, to be able to meet hundreds of potential customers all in one place, when they're actually in the mindset to explore new opportunities and partnerships is really valuable, special thing. You just don't get their level of attention that you get via digital channels when we're all getting quick barded by, you know, the latest Twitter drama constantly. You can't really get the focus that you'd have in an event. People are there to network, they want to hear about what's happening next. So if you are a vendor trying to get your solution out there doesn't matter what it is. It can be, you know, HR software, it could be software for cannabis, it could be software for crypto, it could be any solution for any industry. There's an event out there that specialized in bringing the right people together for a few days to go deep on a topic. And that's something you can't miss if all of your prospects are going to be there in person.

Harry Brelsford 

Yeah, yeah, a couple of thoughts. We did a webinar over the summer. We don't we don't like to do a lot of webinars over the summer, because we're competing with gone fishing, and vacations and that kind of thing. And sure enough, we probably had a little bit of that it was over in the telephony space, which is an adjacent industry to the core SMB Nation audience, which is more of the traditional IT Crowd. But we underperformed, we underperformed, and I, you know, when and we don't know entirely why. But was it the topic? Was it gone fishing? Or is it just zoom fatigue, and we kind of landed that people are burned out, Stephen, these things.

R. Stefan Deeran 

They really are zoom fatigue is real. I mean, it's going to remain a part of the mix forevermore, we love the flexibility of being able to work from anywhere. You know, I'm in New York now. But I'll be in Europe next week. And that's, that's pretty amazing that I can continue to collaborate with my colleagues all around the world with Zoom. So you know, webinars, Zoom virtual events, they will always remain a part of the mix. But I would argue that this makes actually the opportunities to get together in person even more valuable, because, you know, we're just, we're all kind of, to some degree exhausted by all the digital back and forth. And to really get that quality time with your professional network is really important, more so than ever.

Harry Brelsford 

Yeah. Randy, do you want to pitch in before I ask Stephen, one final question. Any any other thoughts?

Randy Roe 

On on your subscription models? Stephen, I spoke with one of the companies I'm associated with, and they and they do know, of your company verta. Lux, and have certainly researched and looking into it and and what share with us a little bit about the different pricing models that businesses would have an option to, to a doctor with your solution.

R. Stefan Deeran 

Sure. So firstly, vendor Lux has a free option for professionals that are trying to track relevant events of interest to them. So you know, you work in accounting, and you want to know about relevant accounting events happening in Seattle, you could sign up as a free user and get alerts around that our paid plans provide additional data for event marketers, and sales leaders to figure out the perfect events to send, you know, a global sales team. So on our paid plans, you can see speaker sponsors, event attendees, who are you know, saying on social media, that they're going to be at an event, and understand which of those are also you know, your top prospects so that you can build out the perfect calendar. So additional layers of intelligence for the professional event marketers and sellers who are going to events to generate this significant portion, if not the majority of their of their pipeline. So anyone who's interested, feel free to go to vendor luxe.com, create a free account, get started and reach out to us if you're interested in learning more about one of our paid solutions.

Harry Brelsford 

Yeah, my final question is, how do you help? You know, this is the proverbial evergreen question, if you will, event ROI, how can you help myself? So let's say I'm at a large Seattle software company, we do a lot of events, I'll just pick on f5, known for networking, traffic management. They're a big company now. So I work for f5. And I retain you. And I'm bamboozled and perplexed about measuring ROI on events. What what how would you coach me?

R. Stefan Deeran 

Yeah, I mean, it's, that's the holy grail for event marketers is to be able to attribute all the value back to events that they're generating, you know, you're generating new leads from events, people you've never met before that are coming into your pipeline. You're also accelerating deals that you're already talking to, by meeting in person. So deals from events will close faster. That's part of that Alexes ultimate plan is to build the ultimate event, analytics engine. So some more work to be done there. I think in the immediate term, to generate more ROI from events, you know, going into these events, booking in as many meetings as possible is the number one thing that a company can do to increase the ROI. You walk in there with 3040 demos or initial meetings booked. You're going to come back with deals and you're going to be able to point to that event and say this was the reason why we were so successful. But there's a there's a lot of work to be done on this front. I can talk for an hour about all the ways to improve and measure ROI for events. We know anecdotally that it works Every company that is invested in tradeshows can point to that million dollar deal that would have never happened if you didn't bump into the right person waiting for lunch or a happy hour at the bar or whatever it is. But to fully capture all of the impact of events is a big challenge that every company faces, and we're working with our customers daily to make it happen.

Harry Brelsford 

Yeah, yeah. Well, if you don't mind again, this is a very interesting topic. It's it's not necessarily what the SMB Nation membership wakes up and thinks about every morning. But I what I'd like to do is maybe a circle back to you after the first of the year and just get a an update on the event horizon, you're gonna have a lot more data. What's 2023 look like? Is that what a airfares look like in hotels? I mean, these these externalities, that I swear, well, they're certainly impacting my event attendance, I can tell you that that I I'm looking a little bit closer. At events. Randy and I were just horsing around this morning, and you know, basic hotel rooms in Seattle and August, now it's primetime. But in the Seattle, not in New York City, but Stephen 300. At night. I mean, that's for the Northwest. That's, you know, and I'm talking just to say Hampton Inn.

R. Stefan Deeran 

Yeah, I mean, well, frankly, this is why we're very bullish on conferences coming back full steam. I mean, there's been so much pent up demand for travel. So you know, the first step is for individuals to travel for personal reasons and understand that, yes, you can get on a plane again, and you're going to be fine. You know, and you can bring your family along with you. And then that leads to more competence to travel for business events. And so, yeah, it's going to come searching back and I think the kind of consumer travel wave is showing that that is the future.

Harry Brelsford 

All right. Well, Stephen, thanks for your time. Randy. Thanks for pitching in. And Stephen will talk to you on the flip side and take a look at 2023 Sounds good.

R. Stefan Deeran 

Thanks for having me. Have a good one.