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SentinelOne's Approach to Event Networking, Budget, and AI

Event Experience · 2026-06-26 · 29 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

39 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density7 / 20
Originality6 / 20
Guest Caliber12 / 20
Specificity & Evidence9 / 20
Conversational Craft5 / 20

SentinelOne's Bethany Murphy returns to address critical shifts in event execution emerging from Bizzabo's 2026 benchmarks report. The conversation centers on three interconnected challenges facing event professionals: networking effectiveness has plummeted, requiring move away from passive receptions toward curated matchmaking using AI-powered tools and segmented roundtables; event teams are simultaneously managing larger portfolios (25 events yearly) with shorter formats and tighter agendas, demanding portfolio thinking where different events serve distinct strategic roles rather than attempting one-size-fits-all execution; and AI tools like Claude present opportunities for personalization, agenda customization, lead prioritization using ABM techniques, and workflow automation - but require verification since these tools can hallucinate. Murphy emphasizes that event professionals won't be replaced by AI, but those failing to adopt it will be outcompeted by those who do. She advocates for viewing events as strategic assets aligned to business outcomes (pipeline generation for her team), designing shorter sessions that respect modern attention spans, and using AI to facilitate the personalized networking and follow-up that current data shows audiences demand.

Key takeaways

  • →Networking isn't broken - it's under-designed; move from passive receptions to AI-matched one-on-ones, curated roundtables, and segmented networking to address the 15% effectiveness rate.
  • →Portfolio thinking requires treating events strategically: flagships deserve premium investment and effort while field events should be repeatable and scalable, with each event having a clear role and measurable business outcome.
  • →AI should replace friction in workflows (spreadsheet cross-checking, personalized agenda recommendations, lead prioritization for ABM) and enhance sales motions, but requires verification since AI halluccinates.
  • →Shorter session formats (under 60 minutes) outperform traditional hour-long sessions because they align with modern attention spans and real-world constraints of attendees juggling competing work priorities.
  • →Event professionals who don't adopt and learn AI tools risk being replaced by those who do, making AI fluency a competitive differentiator rather than a threat to the profession.

Guests

Bethany Murphy

Topics in this episode

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)RSA ConferenceClaude (AI tool)SentinelOneBizzabo Benchmarks Report 2026Event portfolio strategyAI personalization for event agendasBlack Hat conferenceNetworking roundtables and matchmakingLead capture forms and post-event follow-up

Questions this episode answers

Why did networking effectiveness drop from nearly 50% to just 15% of organizers in 2026?

Organizers aren't personalizing networking experiences. They're throwing passive receptions and expecting attendees to self-organize, but modern audiences demand curated matchmaking, segmented roundtables by industry or segment, and actively-hosted one-on-ones - which requires significantly more planning effort.

How can event teams manage 25 events per year without burning out?

Adopt portfolio thinking: identify a few flagship events that warrant premium budget and effort for pipeline-driving outcomes, while designing field events to be repeatable and scalable. Not every event needs to accomplish the same thing - clarity on each event's role is essential.

What specific AI use cases should event marketers prioritize?

Personalized agenda recommendations based on attendee industry and product usage, ABM-based follow-up prioritization, content generation, embedding AI into CRM workflows to improve sales motions, and automating spreadsheet cross-checking - but always verify outputs for accuracy since AI can hallucinate.

Will AI replace event marketing jobs?

AI won't replace event strategy or creative thinking, but event professionals who don't learn to use AI effectively will be replaced by those who do. The key is leveraging AI to reduce operational friction and increase efficiency.

Why are event sessions trending shorter (under 60 minutes)?

Attendees are juggling competing work priorities back at their offices alongside event attendance. Shorter, focused sessions respect modern attention spans and actual availability, making them more effective than traditional hour-long formats.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

7 / 20

A handful of practitioner-level observations emerge (portfolio thinking, curated vs. passive networking, show-services cost inflation), but a substantial portion of the 29 minutes is consumed by shoe recommendations, TV-show banter, the host retelling her own anecdotes, and the host reading Bizzabo's own benchmarks report back to the guest. Novel-ideas-per-minute is low.

it's not that networking is necessarily broken, but I think we're just not, it's under designed
we're estimating like a 10 to 15 year over year increase in show services. And that's pretty significant when you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars

Originality

6 / 20

The framing of networking as 'under-designed' is a modestly fresh angle, but the AI section reproduces the single most recycled take in all of business media right now, and portfolio thinking for events is well-established doctrine. Nothing is contrarian or derived from first principles.

I don't think AI is going to replace our jobs, but I think if we cannot use AI, someone who can will replace us
not every event is the same...every event is created differently, right? For different reasons, for different audiences

Guest Caliber

12 / 20

Bethany Murphy is a genuine large-event practitioner with real P&L responsibility at a publicly traded enterprise-security company, running marquee shows like Black Hat and RSA with six-figure booths - she has actually done the thing. However, this episode doesn't surface the depth of knowledge her résumé implies, limiting the effective caliber delivered.

I started here, I hadn't done a 40 by 50 trade show booth ever in my like 25 year career
we have a 40 by 50 booth. And it is so expensive to get the booth onto the show floor...it is astronomical. The rigging, the labor, the Internet

Specificity & Evidence

9 / 20

The guest contributes real specifics - booth dimensions, named conferences, a named DJ, a 10 - 15% YoY cost-inflation estimate, and a concrete off-beat networking tactic from a prior employer. However, most headline statistics in the episode are read from Bizzabo's own benchmarks report by the host, not sourced from the guest's own data, and actual pipeline or ROI figures are never disclosed.

we buy out a restaurant for three days and host a meeting space. We have a 30 by 40 booth on the trade show floor. We're doing dinners
we had Marshmallow DJ our party

Conversational Craft

5 / 20

The host rarely follows up with a probing question; instead she answers her own questions with lengthy personal anecdotes, validates every guest statement with 'that's so good,' and structures the conversation around reading pre-written benchmark stats aloud. There is no meaningful challenge to any claim in the entire episode.

But I can definitely attest to, I mean, very, uh, anecdotally, I did not respond. You know, I was not a survey respondent for the benchmarks report. But yeah, just the kind of faster hits are way more meaningful.
No, that's so good that you said that too.

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Share of words spoken

  • Speaker B49%
  • Speaker C46%
  • Speaker A4%
  • Speaker D1%

Most-used words

event42events32show20networking13trying13experience12webinar12bethany11back11love11industry10budget9benchmarks8sessions8podcast7hard7

Episode notes

Only 15% of event organizers say networking is effective in 2026, down from nearly 50% the year prior, according to Bizzabo's 2026 Benchmarks Report . Bethany Murphy, Senior Director of Global Strategic Events at SentinelOne, returns to Event Experience to explain why - and what to do about it. With 20+ years in the tech sector, Bethany covers how to design networking that actually works, why high-performing teams treat their events calendar as a portfolio, where AI creates real operational value, and how to manage budget ROI when show services costs are rising 10 to 15% year over year. For transcripts, quotes, and more, visit:

Full transcript

29 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Speaker A: Welcome to Event Experience by Bizzabo, uh, the podcast where we bring the best and brightest Event experience leaders together to share stories, tips and lessons learned from creating some of the world's biggest events. I'm Rachel Moore, your podcast host. In this episode, Bethany Murphy from Sentinel 1 returns to us after being a panelist on Bizzabo's annual benchmarks webinar for 2026. As a senior events leader with over 20 years of experience, she shares insights on event networking, budgeting, and leveraging AI

Speaker B: to improve event planning.

Speaker A: In this constantly changing industry of event

Speaker B: planning, we'll take all the help we can get to level up our event experience. I'm excited about today's guest because she is a returning guest. You have probably seen her on a, uh, webinar or two for Bizzabo, and now we're welcoming her back to expand on some of the topics we talked about there. Today's guest is a senior events leader with over 20 years of experience in the tech sector. As senior director of Global Strategic events at sentinel1, she leads the strategy and execution of proprietary and tier one industry events, including RSA and Black Hat driving, alignment to business goals, and measurable impact. I'm very excited to welcome back Bethany Murphy to Event Experience. Bethany, thanks for joining us again.

Speaker C: So excited to be here with you, Rachel.

Speaker B: Me too. It's great to share screens with you always. You're awesome. And I'm excited too, because I did mention you were on a webinar. Every year we do, and I'll get more into this as we get into the guts of this interview, but we do this Benchmarks webinar, you know, and in a webinar you've got a few panelists and you just have like very brief time, right. You've got a kind of compress everything. We've got some more time with you today, so that's going to be awesome. Before we get into all that stuff though, we like to do some get to know you questions. So I always ask our guests, when you're looking at like you're facing a full day on the ground at an event, right. What are your go to on the ground event day shoes that you prefer to wear?

Speaker C: Yes, I know how I answered this last time and I said my golden goose, which I've worn for years and I love, but my team and I just bought the these really fun purple hokas that we're going to be trying out for Blacket actually in August. So we're.

Speaker B: No way.

Speaker C: Really fun hokas. I've never Had a pair of hokas, but I've heard they're awesome. So super excited. They look like very. They look like clouds, so.

Speaker B: Oh, well, I actually. My daughter bought some hokas after getting. We got a recommendation from another guest on this show. I said, how about Hoka? She's like, I'm totally going to try them. And she loves them. So I think you're. I think you're in for a treat. Your feet are at least in for a treat. Is there anything that you're listening to, watching, or reading these days that you can't put down? And it doesn't have to be events related.

Speaker C: Mine is not events related. I just finished the new season of Sweet Magnolias and great show, uh, Friendship in this Little Town. And, uh. And I love it. So I just binged the last season.

Speaker B: I like that. I find too, sometimes I have to return to some shows that just m. Make you feel nice inside because we need that. And so. Yeah.

Speaker A: Hey, uh.

Speaker B: And that's a good recommendation for someone who might be looking for that kind of escape. So thank you for that.

Speaker C: This was season five. I think it's a great.

Speaker B: Nice. Nice. And is there a particular social post or maybe a piece of media or a hot take even about events lately that you found interesting?

Speaker C: I always love Michael Dominguez from Alai. I just think he's always got his hand on the pulse, knows what's happening in the industry. He does these weekly calls that started actually in Covid, and he still does, and I join when I can, although it's hard. It's hard to carve out the time, but I just think he's so great and so passionate and such an advocate for the events industry. So anything says I'm listening to.

Speaker D: Awesome.

Speaker B: I. And I love hearing that kind of stuff, too.

Speaker A: I think I.

Speaker B: There are times, you know, like, sometimes we'll skate away into other topics and your feed starts like, hey, yep, we're going in that direction. You're like, but wait, I still need the stuff that I normally look at. And so it's always a good idea to be like, let's go. Let me go follow somebody new and make sure I get their perspectives in my feed. So I appreciate that recommendation. So hopefully, everybody, let's go follow Michael Dominguez. All right, well, let's get into the guts of this interview because. And I always do. I love that the Bizbo content team does this, you know, where we have a webinar on a topic. And every year Visible does their annual benchmarks, webinar at the start of the year, close to the start of the year, really kind of trying to look at stats that are mattering, you know, what has actually been unfolding. It's all based on surveying actual event planners and attendees. And so we're able to kind of look at that and then compare it to reality and also our predictions for what's about to happen. So if any one of you listening missed that webinar, do go check out ombizabo.com it's available. You can watch it for free on demand and of course see Bethany there. But Bethany is here with us right now. Some of those benchmarks were a doozy or ah, were doozies, rather plural. So the fact that we're revisiting these now about halfway through the year when we're okay, where are these things going to take us is timely. So first up, we went from nearly half of organizers the year prior saying that networking was very effective. For 2026, that dipped down to just 15% of them saying that networking was being effective. That's a huge drop. It just feels like almost like it kind of fell off a cliff there, which is kind of a big deal considering networking is a big ROI point for a lot of attendees when they're deciding where they're going to be showing up for events or even where event planners are going to bring and execute their activations and whatnot. So considering that, where is this breaking down for this year's events and what are you seeing with regard to networking?

Speaker C: Yes, I, uh, mean what I would say is like everyone wants personalization, right. In everything. And so I don't think it's that networking is necessarily broken, but I think we're just not, it's under designed. Right. We're not giving people the personalization. We're not matching people with the folks they want to be talking to. And look like that takes a lot of time and energy.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: It's way easier to just grow a reception and say find your own people. But I feel like that's not really working anymore.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And so we really just have to find ways to facilitate ways to staff and really deliver the networking that people are asking to. And I don't know the, I don't really know how we do it. Right. I think part of it is like, you know, can we integrate some AI tool in our, potentially our event app that, you know, figures out people's backgrounds and matches them? Like I'm sure that exists, but I just think, you know, the volume without the intent, like it's just not, it's just not hitting the mark or. And the, you know, again, like no clarity who should meet who. Like, it's just, it's not working. So I think and like figure out how you can match people potentially do smaller maybe it's like you know, by industry receptions or by segment or however you can figure out how to break down your audience. Because I do feel like those like actively hosted the roundtables, the curated one on ones like that's what people are asking for. Uh, and again, it does require more effort but real I think clearly like from the data, it's something that planners really need to be thinking about. Yeah, it's.

Speaker B: I, you. You brought up a memory for me. I was at an event in the last year. They did a networking thing I really enjoyed. It was like around lunchtime and they. This required some space but they had had round tables. But at each table they would say like it was uh, one particular thing. Like one might be video gamers, the other one might be Gen X, which was me. The other one might be, you know, B2B marketers. But they, and it, they. There was not really any kind of rhyme or reason to them. Like it was just kind of peppered all throughout. So you know, obviously people are, you know, they drive in multiple lanes. So it's like they didn't have to be like, oh well, I can only, you know, I have to be at all these tables. They're just like, oh well, I'm feeling this one. I'll go over here. And it did let them organically kind of, okay, let me find some commonality here and meet someone. I wouldn't have orderly known, but at least we could talk about video games or whatever. Right? But you're so right because that does take. Instead of just throwing a reception and everybody get some drink tickets and just go, I assume you're all extroverts and go find your people. You know, it does take more intention like you said to just, well wait, you know, we got to give them a little bit more here and put a little more effort into this. So that again, 15, only 15 are saying that it's effective. We don't want that number. We want people to come back and keep building that network.

Speaker A: Right? Yeah.

Speaker C: And it makes me think like a couple years ago when I was at 6 sense for our user conference we did at registration, everyone had their, you know, got their badge and got a lanyard and then we had containers of all these different pins and they were like cooking books, outdoors like biking. Like they were all these fun, like not work related things. Right. And then people went around and like customized their lanyard, put all these pins on and it was just something to talk about. Right. And again, not like what you do for work or whatever, but just something really fun to encourage networking. I feel like I should bring that back.

Speaker B: You should. Well, also because it's a throwback to office space.

Speaker A: Hello.

Speaker B: That's flair. But no, M. I love that too. And again it kind of. Because I think we all. We know we're going to talk about work eventually. Right. But that when you do get into that more personal stuff, that's instantly something someone's going to be passionate about because it's like, well, that's my life, you know. And yeah, I struggle with this or I'm proud of this and whatever. And so, you know, getting people together for that is. And that's great to just give them that visual. I mean we're all looking at each other's badges anyway and the lanyard. So go where the eyes are traveling. But I love. That's such a great idea. But again, just that little bit more of intention, you know, it's. It is a lift, but worth it.

Speaker A: Obviously.

Speaker C: Yeah. And like very low cost.

Speaker D: Right?

Speaker C: I mean it was low cost. Like we bought some, you know, fun clear different containers on Amazon. But I think again, it gave people something to rally around and something to talk about.

Speaker B: All about that rallying. Absolutely. Well, yeah, great ideas and obviously. Yeah. And again, I know we came up with these in the webinar as well. But this is something obviously 15% we can't leave it there. You know, everybody. We need to strive for better when we're talking about networking, especially since it's such a main component, uh, of the events that we put together. Some additional insights from M that benchmarks report relate to how event teams are actually executing their work. So here are some of the findings for. And um, I'm recapping in case anyone hasn't seen the webinar yet or had the report that of the benchmarks report that Bizzabo ran. So event teams are running about 25 events a year, which makes me want to pass out with. But with tighter agendas. So they're running about 11.8 hours on average, seven and a half sessions per event and 85% of sessions are 60 minutes or shorter, which I found interesting. It also said that nearly half of attendees are using community features when they're designed intentionally. Man, that word just keeps popping up. The intention also that Most events, this was surprising. Most events have zero lead capture forms beyond registration. Like they're like one and done. You registered for the event, we're not going to pursue you anymore. But when teams do add lead capture after registration, they're averaging about 91 submissions perform that. And that's nothing to sneeze at. That's pretty m amazing, you know, whatever the size event you're talking about. I know I just threw a bunch of stats at uh, you, but I know you're somewhat familiar with these too because they were in the benchmarks report in that webinar. Bethany help. What should event planners take away from these insights and these stats and stuff?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean I think for me like this like really validates portfolio thinking, right? Like high performing teams like need to stop trying to make every event do everything right. Not every event is the same. And I say this all the time, like uh, every event is created differently, right? For different reasons, for different audiences. And each event should have a clear role, a clear audience and a clear outcome. So I think how this shows up in your day to day again is thinking about all of your events as a portfolio. What are your flagships, right? What are the few events that you're going to focus the most, budget the most effort on the higher stakes events and really make sure that you're driving those, you know, those outcomes that you're trying to drive. And that for us is generally pipeline, right? We sit within marketing, we're event marketers, we're trying to drive pipeline and business. And so I think success like again is how are we moving the needle, right? And not just who showed up, but like what, what is moving business wise as a result of the folks that, that did show up. And I think again, like, you know, we look at our field events. I don't own field marketing, but I work really closely with our field teams and we're looking at like what things can we do that are repeatable, right? That are scalable. Everyone is like trying to do more with less, right? I think we hear that all the time. I think you know, shorter agendas to your point, like people don't have the. There's just so much going on. I was just telling you earlier before up like it's the end of school and my kids have sport, you know, so many things like even outside of work that like how can we make things easier, how can we scale? And then again like how can we make networking more facilitated and less um, passive. And I think, you know, again thinking about like we're going into planning for our user conference and thinking about our session formats. Like, people don't want to sit in sessions for an hour. You know, it is just too long. So how do you make those kind of short focus sessions, like aligned people's attention spans or lack thereof, and really design your agenda thoughtfully to keep people's attention, which, again, is challenging because everyone's like, yeah, we gotta have the hour keynote and we gotta have our product sessions and we gotta have. Right, yeah. Uh, but I think we really need to start thinking, like, what do our own audiences want versus, like, what do we want? Because those things always the same.

Speaker B: No, that's so good that you said that too. Like, and I think about, gosh, especially if you're. You're going to an event for work, right? You have work back at your office that's competing with that. Like, uh, you. It's not like your whole schedule is just out the window. And it's very rare for someone to be like, yes, I can shut that all down so I can focus on this event. Usually you're juggling both. So you're not only competing with just like the attention in the room and attention of all the different agendas and the choices, maybe, you know, the buffet of agendas that you're putting in front of someone, where do they want to go in your event, but you're also dealing with the fact that they're contending with slack or teams messages and, you know, in their calendars and what have you. But I can definitely attest to, I mean, very, uh, anecdotally, I did not respond. You know, I was not a survey respondent for the benchmarks report. But yeah, just the kind of faster hits are way more meaningful. It feels like too, if you're doing a shorter session, it's under 60 minutes. I mean, this episode is under 60 minutes. It's more digestible. And also you're able to really focus in and you're not like, well, we gotta fill a whole hour and let's just keep chitter, chattering, whatnot. But it does seem like that does kind of meet that demand that, like you said, what are the audiences out there telling us that they want and they're responding better to. And it does seem to be those tighter sessions. Right?

Speaker C: Yeah, people like the TED Talks, you know, I mean, that, um, been a thing for years, but it definitely keeps your attention.

Speaker A: We'll be right back with more event experience after the break.

Speaker D: Hey, event professionals, do you want to hear more from the industry's top event Experience leaders. Don't miss out on future episodes of the Event Experience Podcast by Bizzabo. Hit subscribe, drop us a review and share this episode with your friends and colleagues. The Event Experience Podcast by Bizzabo where events come to life.

Speaker A: We're back with the next segment with Bethany Murphy brought to you by the letters A and I.

Speaker B: We are seeing a common thread here. The intentionality that you're doing clear events. Again, like you said, they're not cookie cutter, they're not all supposed to accomplish the same thing. And so really going into that and paying attention to what is the purpose of this event and designing it with that intention is important. And something else you mentioned too is about like, you know, we're all trying to do more with less. Which leads us to the next topic which we have to bring up just on every, about everything is AI. Because we just can't go a full day without a, um, full day without discussing AI.

Speaker C: Seems like.

Speaker B: But I know the question still stands for so many event planners, how can we be using it instead of being replaced by it? And uh, alludes a little bit back to what you said about doing more with less. We're all being prompted to, yes, I, pun intended there to use AI more. So what's your take on that on, on how do we avoid being replaced by AI but instead actually make use of it to do our stuff better?

Speaker C: Yeah, my husband, every day is like, you're teaching Claude to do your job for you. And I'm like, well, I hope I'm not, uh, I think like, I mean, I hope, right. As event professionals, we're not going to be replaced by AI.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker C: AI isn't going to replace like creating an event strategy, but it does replace some of the friction. Right. And it does help on the operational side, the post event side. I think, you know, how can we again use it to personalize? Right. I think that's like a huge thing that I'm trying to figure out. Like how can we take our agenda with, you know, 70 breakouts and say this person works in this industry in this segment, like these are the sessions that we recommend for them and they use X, you know, these two products of ours. How can we customize and personalize an agenda? I think if we could figure out how to do that, sales would be like, this is amazing. Right? Like create custom agendas for all of our attendees. Amazing. I think that's one of the ways like prioritizing follow up rate, figuring out, you know, ABM has kind of started this but like Figuring out the right people, how do we prioritize follow up with our higher engaged attendees? I think that's a good way to use it. You know, we all use it for content. Right. And writing and I think that's like a good use. Right. And we're teaching Claude a lot of things internally at Sentinel 1 so that we can, you know, it understands what we do here and can help us do our jobs easier. I think, you know, how can you use AI to better your workflows? Like, I think that for me is like, you know, events. There's a lot of like spreadsheets and cross checking and all the things.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Like Claude is great for that. Although you do have like triple check that, ah, what you're getting out is accurate. Sometimes it's not.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: But how do we embed AI into our workflows? How do we, you know, connect it potentially to our CRM and help us again with the sales motions? And we have to be careful, right? It's, we're putting a lot of data in, we're getting a lot of data out and I think it's just making sure that is accurate before, you know, you really can't just like copy paste and send. We have to be reviewing it. So I think it's, you know, it's scary. I think we're all just trying to figure out, you know, and I think again, like, I don't think AI is going to replace our jobs, but I think if we cannot use AI, someone who can will replace us. Right?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker C: No, that's what I'm trying to like get my team to learn as much as we possibly can.

Speaker B: That's a great point. Yeah, I absolutely correct because I mean, you know, we talked earlier about what our audience is looking for. Well, guess what, what are some of these companies and these brands looking for when they are trying to decide on like who's going to be, you know, we need to compensate somebody to do our event strategy. We want to know how efficiently you're using your time, which the subtext of that is are you using AI? And they're outright asking, you know, like, how are you using AI, how do you know how to use it and what are you using it for and how is it impacting your, you know, your ability to do this job and efficiency and whatnot. So you're absolutely right. Knowing about it and how to use it is crucial right now. I. And um, thank you for bringing that up too about the accuracy part because obviously it's great when you like just Throw a ton of spreadsheets and data and, you know, databases at something and be like, okay, I need you to go figure this out. Which does take a lot of legwork off of your plate, but you're gonna have to go back and be like, I just need to double check your work. Because, yes, AI will make things. Make things up, and you'll need to be caught once.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah. Get burned. Uh, before we start to wrap up today too, I really want to get your insights because we talk about all these things. We talk about the events, the amount of events people are doing, you know, spending more time, maybe being more intentional about networking. We're talking about, well, are we doing not cookie cutter events, but being more clear and, you know, the clarity around the purpose of the different events we're doing. That all sounds great. And then even using AI, which, you know, is supposed to be more efficient, Another through line through all of this is money, um, which, which leads to budget. And I, I know you have thoughts about this, and I definitely want to hear from you about it. Like, what, where do you land on, like, how we should be considering budgets and like, and I'd love to hear whatever you're willing to share, kind of, what are you thinking about your budget and how's it impacting how you're approaching events?

Speaker C: Yeah, you know, I love talking about budget, uh, podcast webinar that I do. You know, I think. I mean, first of all, like, I'm looking at every dollar and tracking ROI on it, right? So really figuring out and prioritizing where we spend and what we're spending on, like, you know, uh, RSA I'll use as an example. It's like our biggest third party show. We do ancillary events. We host. We buy out a restaurant for three days and host a meeting space. We have a 30 by 40 booth on the trade show floor. We're doing dinners. Like, we're doing all these things, right? We used to do a party, like two years, two years ago, we had Marshmallow DJ our party, and it was really freaking fun, right? It was awesome. It was cool. But when you look at it from an ROI perspective, it's like, okay, like, we're spending X on this party. And like, we're really not, like, having conversations with these people. It's like an equal in concert, right? And so really looking, like campaign by campaign and analyzing, you know, what pipeline are we directly sourcing, what are we influencing and what is the percentage, you know, based on the spend? And that's kind of the Starting point for how I figure out our plan for the year.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And I think it's hard because our sales cycle is longer. So oftentimes we're asked to resign for a show before the show even happens for that year. That's really hard because we're like, uh, you know, I don't really know. Like, we don't know how it's performing. So some of it is, like, really thinking, almost like two years out. And this made me think because, uh, we're coming up to Black Hat, which is a huge show for us. It's in August. We have a 40 by 50 booth. And it is so expensive to get the booth onto the show floor. Like, aside from the sponsorship dollars, to have that space, it's like I can't even say the number out loud. I mean, it is astronomical. The rigging, the labor, the Internet, uh, show. Sir. Like, all the show services. Right?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And so when I look at that, on top of, you know, show services, cost plus sponsorship costs, like, it's really hard to have good ROI from that. And do we, you know, again, is the sole purpose roi? No. Right. There's some brand awareness in there. There's, you know, that we get. And there's other thought leadership. You know, we have sessions as part of our sponsorship. Right. So it's not the booth alone, but I think it's becoming harder and harder to justify that when, like, you're looking at other brands and even shows now like RSA and Black Hat, they realize that not everyone wants to be on the show floor or needs to be on the show floor. So they're starting to sell restaurant, like every restaurant in Mandalay Bay for Black Hat, you can buy out for, you know, a takeover and meetings and whatever you want to do in that space. And it's expensive. Yeah, but it's way less expensive. Well. Than having a monstrosity of a booth on the show floor. So I think just it's making me think about, um, our portfolio and how we're showing up at these shows. And, you know, do we need to always be the biggest booth? Like, maybe not.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Do we need a presence on the show floor? Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Um, but it's just, like, with transportation and labor and all these things, like, going up and up and our budgets, like, really not. Right. Generally, like, staying pretty flat. I think we just really need to look closer at, you know, what we're doing and how we're spending money. And that goes back to, like, you know, prioritizing and not Doing so many. Right. Doing fewer.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker C: Higher quality events. Right. Uh, our time there. So I think it's just, it's really hard with rising costs to, to manage that and like manage executive expectations, like know year over year. Like them wanting more and cooler and better and it's like, yeah, but everything is more expensive. So, you know, I feel like we

Speaker B: could do a whole podcast episode about executive expectations and how event planners have to like, actually that's a really good idea. We should do that because it's like, how do you navigate that? You know, I mean, report just reporting, reporting alone on like how. What was their ROI on this event and how do we do? But then also trying to make them understand be like, okay, uh, we can only go so tight on this budget for the, you know, you seem to like want the sphere from Las Vegas and. But you only gave me this much, so I, you know, there's only so much I could do. But yeah, that's a big one. And I'm sure a lot of our listeners can relate to that too because they're contending with that and they're, they are trying to do more with less. But at the same time it's like, well, there's only so far you can go with that, you know?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, a thousand percent. And I think, you know, I always say like, this is a relationship industry, so building those vendor relationships, like that helps. Right? But they're not able. Like we have a great exhibit management house. We've worked with them for years. Like the rates for labor are what they are.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Like they're not negotiating. Like it's a lot of like union labor and all these things. Right. Even vendors can't control. So I think again it's. And like knowing like I started here, I hadn't done a uh, 40 by 50 trade show booth ever in my like 25 year career. Like, yeah, like, oh my God, that's how much it costs to get this other, you know, like mind blown. And now like going into year two, I'm like, okay, this is how much it costs. Yeah. You're like, yep, we're now like still estimating. And we're estimating like a 10 to 15 year over year increase in show services. And that's pretty significant when you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: Being aware and like planning for that I think is really important.

Speaker B: Well, yeah, absolutely. It's. The budget is where we all start and stop, you know, and it's like, uh, you know, we're waiting for to hear what it's going to be and know what it can be. And that's what's able to set the stage for us to set the stage, actually. Literally. But no, I appreciate that this has all been great and really appreciate, you know, you going through this with us too, because it is. It's always great to like, you know, we kind of, kind of skim the surface in these webinars.

Speaker C: We do.

Speaker B: But then we're able to dig deeper and all this stuff. And great too to hear about your passion about, especially about budget. So everyone make sure you do follow, you know, follow Bethany, like wherever she's like speaking about this because. Yeah, well, and we'll have to have you back on. I mean, when is budget not a good topic to talk about that everybody's. It is. It's always that, like, we know we need to talk about it, but it's very necessary because it's on everybody's mind. Well, Bethany, as we wrap up with you, the final, easiest question of all, where can our listeners find and follow you online? Especially if, like, learn all these places where you're talking about budget and events

Speaker C: and stuff like that. LinkedIn. I try to, I don't know, sometimes my LinkedIn email is like a black hole, but I try really hard. I just sometimes can't keep up with it. But LinkedIn.

Speaker A: To help you and me and all of us level up our events. Bethany's advice is about that human factor.

Speaker C: We are all personally need build relationships. Right. This is a relationship industry. We all are better when we have better partners. Right. When we have partners that we, that we respect and we enjoy working with. And I think that's something I absolutely love about this industry. Like, I've spent 25 years developing relationships and a lot of my vendors are like good friends of mine now. Yeah. And so I think, you know, that takes time and that takes. I think you got to go to networking events for the. Sometimes my husband gets annoyed with me about what you have to do these things, right. You have to go to conferences, you have to put yourself out there because that's really how you, how you network and build relationships. But I think it's super, super important.

Speaker A: Thanks again to Bethany Murphy for joining us on Event Experience and thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love to hear it. Connect with us on social and subscribe, rate and review us wherever you're listening. Also, don't forget to share the show with your colleagues and friends. You can find transcripts of each episode and key takeaways on visibo.com podcast. On behalf of the team, thank you. We'll gather again soon for a new episode of Event Experience.

Speaker B: Mhm.

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