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Earlier-stage & smaller businesses struggle with the ROI of running events and other activities like PR. Evaluating success by directly measuring what an event generated in opportunities. Be it sponsoring or running one. But alas, this is not the right way to think about events. Events, like PR, are awareness-generating activities. It's the very top of the funnel. These activities are notoriously difficult both in terms of cost-efficiency & accuracy of measurement. Instead of trying to measure the short & medium-term impact, it's best to think about them like muscle-building. It's slow, arduous and takes a long time to show a result. But, some questions pop up: • How much should you spend? • How many events should we be doing? The answer to these questions should first be qualified: Is your target audience there? If you can't answer that question, either you aren't mature enough to have resolved product-market fit (in that case, investing in awareness activities is premature), or you haven't gone deep enough to evaluate whether that event is a good fit for your business. As to the right events, you want to hit the ones with the highest concentration of your ideal customer profile. So if going to: A. Websummit where there's 100k people but only 0.5% match your potential target audience, or B. SaaStock with 2k people but 50% are the right fit Then the latter makes more sense - 1k instead of 500 people who fit the criteria means a 2X probability of impact. Budget: Assign a % of your total marketing budget (typically a % of total revenue) to these activities each year. Typically 40-70% of total marketing budget should go to awareness. Only do that once you've maxed out your daily budget on channels that tap into an immediate need state like Google ads. Be mindful of wastage; spending your money on reaching more of your audience is more effective than hiring more people or investing in your tech stack. Building relationships and brand notoriety takes time, the only way to accelerate it is by spending more money. Stay memorable using cut-through creative so people think of you when they need help. A couple of examples I recently heard about: • One company hired a bus at an event, taking attendees from the event into the bus parked outside (5X'ing their real estate) • Another hired a car and interviewed people from the event, broadcasting it during the experience, creating a buzz. Instead of obsessing over measurement, focus on reaching the right people frequently enough to be remembered.

The #1 reason families return to the same tournaments year after year? The EXPERIENCE — not the outcome. Teams remember champions for a season. Families remember moments for a lifetime. That’s why Ripken Baseball’s new 12U Ripken Nationals Launching in 2026 with regionals starting March 2026 Isn’t just another championship. It’s a case study in experience architecture. They’ve turned a weekend of games into a four-day journey: Opening ceremonies. Skills challenges. Player intros under the lights. Pro-level photos and hometown storylines. Here’s what the best directors understand: You don’t need Ripken’s budget to build Ripken-level moments. You need intentional design. Here’s your playbook to turn your next showcase into an experience families can’t stop talking about: ✅ 1. Map the Journey Before the Schedule. Create a one-page “Experience Map” from arrival to departure. Ask: What do families see, hear, and feel at every touchpoint? If your first impression is a chaotic check-in table, you’ve already lost emotional momentum. ✅ 2. Script One Signature Moment. Pick a tradition that becomes your identity, an opening parade, custom intros, or a parents-vs.-players game. Make it so good that families film it every year. ✅ 3. Partner Like a Pro Event. Pitch your Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) or local tourism office on co-branding your event. Offer them exposure in exchange for hospitality bundles, hotel blocks, or sponsor support. ✅ 4. Sell Emotion in Your Marketing. Don’t post “8U registration open.” Post “Where your child’s first walk-up song becomes a family memory.” Emotion is what sells commitment. ✅ 5. Capture and Package Memories. Hire a local student photographer or media intern to film highlight reels and team portraits. Send every family home with a keepsake they’ll share and tag your program in. Here’s the hard truth: Programs that just run tournaments compete on price. Programs that design experiences compete on loyalty. Families don’t come back because they have to. They come back because they want to relive it. — 🧠 Want real-world strategies for building sustainable, culture-driven programs? Subscribe to Grow the Game, your leadership playbook for youth sports: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gFwgbm3t

Stop having boring activations at your event. Here are 11 activations that actually bring value to your guests. People are exhausted with the same old, same old: 👉 The cheesy photo booth with oversized props (how many more photos of you dresed sup like a cowbow do you need with your colleagues?) 👉 The sponsor swag table nobody visits (don't even get me started on swag) 👉 The random massage chair in the corner (I mean, i would briefly use this but it just looks weird) Those are outdated and they provide little to no lasting value. It's tired. Spice up your event with activations that enhance the experience, create lasting value for guests, and give your brand meaningful exposure. (1) Headshot Studio 📸 Professional lighting, backdrops, and a photographer with quick turnaround edits. Guests walk away with a headshot they’ll actually use (and think of your event every time they see it). (2) Podcast Recording Room 🎙️ Guests create content with peers and speakers. Podcasters get fresh episodes and new listeners. Your brand is mentioned every time those conversations go live. (3) Content Creation Lounge 📲 Guests shoot reels, photos, and collabs in a tastefully designed branded space. Your event (or sponsor) branding spreads with every tag and share. (4) LinkedIn Banner Creator 🎨 Guests sit down with a designer to refresh their LinkedIn headers using clean templates. Include your branding in some designs, increase exposure with every updated profile. (5) Personal Brand Reel Station 🎥 Guests get coveted time with a pro videographer to capture polished 30-second pitch reels and post them to socials with your event logo subtly built in. (6) Profile Optimization Cubby 📝 Branding experts offer quick tune-ups on LinkedIn or websites. Guests leave sharper, and your brand gets tied to their new professional edge. (7) Pitch Deck Bar 📊 Guests get prime time with a designer or investor for feedback. Your brand becomes the gateway to their next potential raise. (8) Gratitude Wall 🖊️ Guests write what they’re grateful for on a curated wall as they enter. Practicing gratitude shifts their energy and they’ll pass by it again on their way out, leaving with a meaningful memory. (9) Power Poker ♠️ Guests play short rounds of poker while learning deal-making strategies that sharpen instincts, while your brand owns the most buzz-worthy session. (10) Hot Seat Coaching 💡 Short 1:1s with experts already in the room. Guests get valuable coaching. Coaches gain exposure to future clients. Your brand becomes the platform that made it happen. (11) Small-Group Coaching Circles 🤝 Guests dive deep in peer groups of 6–8 on growth topics like scaling, AMA sessions with actionable advice. Coaches help more people at once. Your brand is remembered as the one that sparked connection. ✅ Guests take away value they can actually use ✅ Brands receive exposure that actually sticks Everyone wins. Which one of these would you want to participate in?

If your brand is hosting an event, your reputation starts at the door. Not on stage. In the check-in line. Most attendees decide in the first 5 minutes if your event feels premium or chaotic. They do not need a feedback form for that. They feel it in their body. Just give it a thought for a second. Two events. Same industry. Same level of speakers. Same sponsors. In one event, people arrive and find: • A long, slow line • Confusing signage • Staff that looks stressed and unsure • Printers failing, badges missing, names spelled wrong You can feel the energy drop before the event even starts. In the other event, people arrive and: • Know exactly where to go • Get their badge in seconds • See calm staff who look ready • Feel like someone actually planned their arrival, not only the keynote Same content. Completely different brand feeling. The industry loves to talk about stage design, LED screens, activations and party venues. All of that is important. But if check-in feels like a mess, this is what people will tell their friends later. If you want your brand to feel serious, professional, and worth the trip, start here: • Treat check-in as something you plan, not something you fix the night before • Give your registration partner a clear brief and real ownership • Test everything the day before, not at 8:00 am with a line outside • Plan for failure: extra printers, backup badges, backup internet (or use Xtag so internet is not an issue you need to worry about) Your brand is not only your logo on the badge. It is how people feel in the first 5 minutes with that badge. You want people to talk about the content, the meetings and the deals. Help them forget the check-in ever existed. Because check-in should not be a story at all. If it is messy, it becomes the only story people talk about. Bad for your reputation and an easy way to lose money. #eventprofs #eventtech #events #inpersonevents #xtag

When does a brand event start? At the door? In the queue? No. It starts with the invite. A great invite isn’t just paper; it’s an experience. It builds hype, sets the tone, and sparks anticipation. Done right, it’s a branding weapon - ripe for social sharing. Some brands that have got it right; 💌 Fendi – Dropped limited-edition Fendi pasta with Rummo. 💌 Jacquemus – Sent toast that, revealed event details after you ate it. 💌 Louis Vuitton – Custom beer pong and card sets under Virgil’s reign. 💌 Balenciaga – Chocolate bars, cracked iPhones; they’ve done it all. 💌 Diesel – Teamed up with Durex to send branded condoms as show invites. 💌 Off-White – Designed their own board game as an invite. So, what can you do to help get the hype started at the invite stage; 💌 Start Early - A creative invite takes time. Concept, design, production - it’s never a last-minute task. The earlier you start, the better your chance the invitation lands, letting the anticipation begin. 💌 Know Your Guests - Lock in your primary guest list early. You need addresses for a physical invite strategy, and smooth delivery is part of the strategy. This is especially important when you’re trying to lock in social talent who are always on the move. 💌Strong Theme - A strong brand experience and campaign theme fuel creativity at every touchpoint. The bolder the theme, the better the invite and the more creative you can be. 💌Collectable, Useable or Edible - If it’s physical, make it collectable, usable, or edible. It should be something they’ll keep, wear, or taste - not trash. Bonus points if it relates to something they can use at the event. I’ve created hundreds of brand experiences, and I always suggest a creative invite strategy when we start planning. It doesn’t even have to be physical. A sleek microsite (like we did for Greene King) can fuel anticipation just as much. The point is to make the invite part of the experience. It’s another chance to amplify your brand. Do you have any other ideas for a creative invitation strategy?

Fashion brands are doing what hospitality brands won’t. Meeting their audience where they are, not just at reception. Every summer, luxury fashion brands escape the city. They trade Fifth Avenue for Formentera. Bond Street for Bodrum. Not to close shop, but to open up a new side of themselves. 👜 Christian Dior Couture on the Riviera. 👟 Loewe in Ibiza. 👙 JACQUEMUS in Portofino. These aren’t just pop-ups. They’re expressions of the brand’s alter ego. Not the flagship. The weekend version. Sunnier. Looser. Unexpected. Same values. New vibe. A different guest connection. ---- The lesson for hotels? Your brand doesn’t have to live only inside your four walls. Hospitality talks a lot about storytelling, but rarely changes the setting. Fashion brands do it every summer. They meet their audience where they want to be, not just where the booking engine is. And they do it with precision: new aesthetic, localized narrative, immersive design. Temporary, but unforgettable. ---- A Few Ways to Implement This in Hospitality: 1. Reframe Brand Extensions as Story Extensions. → A pop-up isn’t just a marketing booth. It’s a scene change. Imagine your city hotel creating a weekend beach retreat in the Maldives, same service DNA, different moodboard. 2. Rethink Your Summer Strategy. → Don’t just discount suites. Build anticipation. Could your property collaborate with a fashion or wellness brand for a rooftop takeover, a coastal “offsite,” or a week-long summer residency? 3. Build Your 'Capsule Collection'. → Just like fashion’s summer drop, hotels could launch a limited series of room packages, F&B rituals, or pop-up experiences, with a seasonal theme and design twist. Think: The Summer Edit, a mini-menu of sensory, story-led upgrades. 4. Test Future Growth Markets, Softly. → Fashion uses pop-ups to explore new territories before committing. Hotels could do the same, partnering with local retailers, spas, or even private villas to pilot guest experiences, gather data, and refine brand fit. 5. Give Your Brand a Split Personality (In a Good Way). → Urban hotel = your guest’s 9–5 life: elegant, structured, efficient. → Summer pop-up = their weekend self: relaxed, indulgent, barefoot. Both are valid. But showing both builds emotional range, and loyalty. ---- Final Thought: Pop-ups aren’t about scale. They’re about intimacy. They show the guest: “I see you. I travel with you. I evolve with you.” In an era where luxury is about meaning, not marble Presence may be your most powerful product. I'm Curious: If your hotel brand had a summer personality, where would it live and what would it wear? #LuxuryHospitality #HotelInnovation #BrandStorytelling #FashionPopUps #SummerEdit #LuxuryTravel #HotelStrategy #EDGDesign #HNWFamilies #GuestExperience

The real value of an event is not attendance - it is what the brand is able to capture and build afterward A lot of brands approach events as if visibility alone is enough. They invest in the booth, the signage, the samples, the staffing, and the visual presence, and then measure success by how busy the setup felt or how many people happened to walk by. On the surface, that can create the impression of momentum. But in reality, attendance by itself does not create business value. That is what stood out in a recent strategy discussion around a large-scale surf event. On paper, the opportunity was strong. The audience size was meaningful, the brand alignment made sense, and the environment was exactly the kind of place where the product could gain exposure in front of a highly relevant lifestyle-driven consumer base. But the more important conversation was not about simply showing up well. It was about making sure that the event created something lasting after those few days were over. An event should not just be treated as a moment of exposure. It should be treated as a temporary environment for building a longer-term audience. That means the booth is not simply a branded space, but a point of information capture. It means activations are not just there to entertain people, but to create a reason for exchange. It means content is not only created for real-time posting, but for future retargeting, follow-up campaigns, and audience segmentation. When you look at it that way, the question changes completely. Instead of asking, “How do we make a splash at this event?” the better question becomes, “What do we want to leave with once the event ends?” If the answer is only “awareness,” the return will almost always be limited. If the answer includes qualified data, segmented audiences, follow-up pathways, and content assets that continue working after the event, then the event starts to function as a growth channel rather than a branding expense. That distinction matters. Because the real leverage does not happen while people are walking by the booth. It happens afterward, when the brand is able to reconnect with those people through retargeting, continued storytelling, direct response campaigns, and clearer understanding of who actually engaged. That is also why structure matters so much before the event ever begins. A centralized landing page, a clear QR flow, a consistent capture mechanism, and a plan for how the data will be labeled and used later are not small details. They are the difference between an event that feels successful and an event that becomes useful. The best event strategy is not just about being present. It is about designing the experience so that every interaction creates another opportunity after the event is over. Attention is temporary. Good data is not. And when a brand understands that, events stop being isolated moments and start becoming part of a much larger marketing engine. #FlyingVGroup #EventMarketing

I’ve organized 50+ online & offline Convert.com events in the last 3 years. Here’s what you need to know to unlock their power:  (Not getting #2 early on is damaging!) 1️⃣ Online events & offline events -- they serve different purposes. Online events get you on the radar of your audience. Embed your narrative and your PoV through them. What do you know to be true about your prospects’ problems that they haven’t discovered yet? Online events reframe at scale. Offline events put a face to the affinity. Once you’ve earned credibility, deepen trust with offline gatherings. 2️⃣ You can’t run vanity events! Don’t pay lip service. The community you are calling to action should benefit in tangible ways —- beyond empty shout-outs. The first time it’s novel! The second time it is cute. The third time you dent your reputation. 3️⃣ Don’t rely on the ‘day-of’ to do the heavy lifting. 🗸 Get your speakers and their thoughts on pre-event podcasts.  🗸 Share not only the replay but also the speaker presentations  🗸 Post-event, snip the sessions’ Aha moments into shareable clips. Embed them in blogs, upload to your YouTube channel, use them to support education on social media. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 (𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂) 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧.  Try your best to help them see things differently. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 ‘𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠’, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭. Handing it over to the fire-cracker Hannah Parvaz for the next 3 tips. [Congrats on hitting 20,000 followers on LinkedIn! :)] 🎉 Inspired by the success of her unique Aperture sessions: 4️⃣ Don’t aim for one-off (in-person) events. Create a space for conversation, connection, and community. Not sales. Before planning a gathering, run through the checklist: → Why are we doing this?
 → What do we want people to walk away with, emotionally, not just tactically?
 → And are we actually creating a moment, or just ticking a box? 5️⃣ Sponsorships vs own events. Sponsorships can be brilliant, especially when you customize your ‘package’ to bring your flavor to the proceedings. Building something from scratch requires a clear story to tell. To figure out what’s right for your brand -- Ask:
 → What’s the outcome we want: Reach, trust, connection? → Who are we doing this for, and what do they actually need?
 → And do we want to lead the room, or be part of someone else’s? 6️⃣ ‘Human’ is a buzzword now. But human events don’t necessarily mean ‘casual’ events. It’s about intention. Find beautiful, weird venues, talk to every person in the room, make it memorable! More event inspo from Hannah in the carousel. 👇 Over to you ... What do you like to see in industry events? Which one has been your favorite in 2025?

Brands will spend $150 BILLION on sports & live event sponsorships this year. But one in two marketers will regret it by the end of the year. There are 4 key things that separate the sponsorships that get renewed from the ones that don’t: 1. They bought reach instead of fit. The deck leads with a big number: 50,000 in attendance, 60 million impressions. The brand buys the size of the room instead of who's in it. Attendance and impressions aren't audience overlap. A 50,000-person festival is worthless to you if only a few hundred people are in your category. The number that should drive the decision is “qualified audience” - how many attendees could realistically buy what you sell - and almost nobody underwrites the deal on it. 2. They spent the whole budget on the rights fee. The rights fee just buys the right to show up: signage, a logo on the step-and-repeat, maybe a hospitality allotment. The part that really moves a brand metric - experiential, content, sampling, a real on-site activation - is a separate line item. The working rule is at least a dollar of activation for every dollar of rights. Brands cut that line to save money, and a logo nobody activates around produces almost nothing. 3. They never set the KPIs before signing. If you don't define success and how you'll measure it before the deal closes, you default to whatever's easy to count after: impressions and "earned media value," the two numbers that look great and prove nothing. Decide up front whether you're buying awareness, qualified leads, hospitality to close enterprise deals, or content you'll run for a year. Then instrument it - promo codes, a landing page, a lift study, booth scans. The line items finance kills first are the ones nobody could attribute. 4. They bought blind, with no comp and no exclusivity. Sponsorship is one of the last places a buyer has no idea what the thing should cost. There's no public rate card, so brands overpay against a number they can't benchmark. Then they don’t spend to buy themselves category exclusivity, and a direct competitor buys into the same property - and dilutes the share of voice they thought they were paying to own. None of these are talent problems. They're information problems. Brands make six-figure decisions off a PDF and a sales call, with no real view of the audience, price, or who else is already in the category. Give them those three things up front and most of the regret never happens. The brands that are happy with their sponsorships did three boring things: 1. They decided what they were actually buying 2. Paid a number they could defend 3. Spent real money making something happen once they got there.

Most “experiential” events aren't experiences at all. If you were on my team or one of my clients, here are 4 ways I'd tell you to upgrade your next event so people actually remember it: 1. Design the emotion first, logistics second Before you book the venue or pick the menu, decide how you want people to feel when they walk in and when they leave. Inspired? Curious? Connected? Then reverse-engineer every single detail to create that feeling. The venue, lighting, music, the smell, even how people move through the space. It all serves that emotional goal. 2. Create moments worth sharing (that people actually want to share) Stop forcing photo ops with branded backdrops nobody cares about. Design genuine moments of surprise, delight, or connection. The best content happens when people forget they're at a "business event" and remember they're having a human experience and want to genuinely capture it. 3. Make it strategic, not just social Every element should reinforce your brand story. If your brand is about innovation, your event should feel cutting-edge. If it's about community, design spaces that encourage real conversation. Don't just slap your logo on everything and call it branded. 4. Plan for content multiplication One well-designed experience should fuel months of authentic content. Document the behind-the-scenes process, capture genuine attendee reactions, and create assets that tell your story long after everyone goes home. Your event becomes a narrative you can leverage for quarters. Events that have these components become part of people's stories. They get talked about at dinner parties and they influence purchasing decisions months later. Am I missing anything?