We’re not sure how it’s already October, but here we are recapping the previous few months. Q3 included some of the busiest months we’ve had as a team and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. From July through September, our team executed 33 events across the country in Napa, the Hamptons, Singapore, NYC, Denver, LA, Austin, and London—as well as virtually in some cases. In this recap, we’ll share where we’ve been the past quarter, what we’ve learned along the way, and look ahead to where we are going next. 

In early Q3 we had new Event Communications Coordinator Isabel Zarrow join our team. Along with fellow new hire and coordinator Destiny Evans, who joined in Q2, our small-but-mighty team is now six strong. You can read more about both new team members here. 

In mid-July, cred generously sent each team on an inaugural trip. The events team packed our bags and headed to Malibu for a relaxing & restorative two-day retreat. Since we are planners by nature, you can bet that the highest degree of coordination went into this endeavor: We enjoyed eating sushi together, shared learnings on individual passion topics, and experienced a sound bath for the first time, which for most of us was…interesting! You can read more about each of cred’s four team trips here. 

To close out a productive quarter, in late September cred took all 25 employees to the Silicon Slopes Summit in Salt Lake City, a two-day event that brings together founders and leaders from some of the best-known business and tech companies. Onsite, we helped with attendee check-in. We were there to showcase our expertise in attendee management, soak up & learn from our surroundings, and bond as a team. 

Where else have we been in Q3? 

• In late August, we managed attendees and registration for a 2,000+ person Sales Kickoff in Las Vegas. We worked with A/V on stage design and coordination of the six-session, 25-speaker content track. 

• In early September, most of the full team along with help from our colleagues on cred’s speaking side took on our largest event of the year, SaaStr Annual in San Mateo, CA. We managed 290 speakers and their content for 155 sessions across 7 stages. We also assisted in the facilitation of over 2,000 networking sessions for the three-day marathon event which over 10,000 attendees enjoyed. We carried on the festivities through the weekend by organizing SaaStr’s VIP Getaway in Napa for 50 special attendees and partners. 

• Meanwhile, the same week in NYC, one of our team members was onsite at the US Open Tennis Tournament for a special VIP Founder Event. It was an action-packed (and sweltering) day of cheering during the Men’s Semi-Final matches, enjoying an AMA with famed player Andre Agassi, and VIP meals & experiences. We are proud to say we hit this one out of the (ahem) court.

• In mid-September, we had a thrilling encounter with sharks in LA—well, just one Shark, to be exact. Robert Herjavec dazzled as the keynote speaker for a TV advertising event we managed in Santa Monica. The event brought together 150 attendees for a half day of content and special LA touches like Sidecar Donuts, La La Land Coffees and cocktails at sunset.

• Throughout this quarter, SaaStr continued its live Workshop Wednesdays, moderated and produced by our events team. 12 webinars were hosted in Q3 and 38 to date in 2023. If you haven’t yet, please check these out!

The events industry is always changing, and with this, we’re always learning. Here are a couple of our biggest takeaways from the past 3 months:

• Don’t you remember hearing from us last quarter that you can expect AI to play a larger role than ever in events this year? Well that time has come. Luckily we’ve put together a blog on just How to Use AI in Events. With these strategies at your fingertips, you can boost your attendees’ experience, examine pre- and post-event data, and create community all by leveraging AI.

• If you’re incorporating several dinners and experiences into a larger VIP event or retreat, don’t forgo choosing a casual restaurant because you’re worried your guests expect a 5-star meal every time. When we recently executed a post-conference Napa Valley retreat, the highest attended dinner was actually the more casual night! Guests were thankful to take one night off from the formality of dress code, a multi-course meal, etc. We caution this doesn’t exactly apply to a one-off VIP dinner, but is a suggestion for one meal as part of your larger weekend or multi-day event. 

• A VIP event alongside your main event, whether it be an exclusive dinner or extended getaway like we supported in Napa, is an impactful way to connect in a more intimate setting with your top customers, prospects, and supporters. In today’s more distributed world, it’s a great opportunity to maximize these attendees’ time when they have already invested to be onsite at your event. It gives you the chance to catch up in a casual environment and show appreciation for their commitment to your brand and event. 

• As the world returns to primarily in-person events, virtual events continue to play a role in building community and accessibility. About half of our in-person events—with 100 or more attendees—have maintained some level of virtual component for maximum outreach. 

• Tech conference activations are always on another level, but keeping your offerings fresh, exciting and eco-conscious is always a challenge. What sponsor booth activations seemed to garner the most attention as of late? Games or competitions like arcade, pinball and wheel of fortune do well. Food always entices attendees; we saw a booth with a popcorn machine getting a lot of traffic whereas bowls of candy didn’t seem to be getting as much attention. Anything AI-related is of course hot right now—we’ve seen robots working sponsor booths as onsite digital portraits. 

• A bit more costly/out of the box ideas: photo booth, Airbnb giveaway or hosting a book signing. Bring a well-known writer along with you!

This quarter, we had a chance to work with 261 marvelous speakers from companies like Monday.com, Grammarly, Okta, Fabletics, and Bitly.  

In all we do, we continue to prioritize exposure for women and underrepresented speakers on stage. Thirty-nine percent of the speakers we’ve worked with this year are from underrepresented groups and 41% are women. We look to consistently push our clients towards achieving at least 50% for both categories throughout the year. 

In Q4, our events will take us onsite in NYC, Finland, Las Vegas, SF and LA. We are really motivated to close the year out strong!

Have an event you are looking to bring to life? We’d love to help - email us at events@credpr.com