JADE:
Hi, I'm Jade, co-founder and CEO of EpochX, and this is our From Invite to Impact interview series. Today, we're sitting with Anna here, who's a marketing director at Locala and an incredible leader within the space across marketing.
Anna has run events from both sides. She started Slush Singapore with no budget, no team, no experience, and in three years grew it to 7,000 attendees from more than 60 countries, built each year by 300 volunteers. She's also a two-time founder, most recently running Zook, a podcast advertising platform she led for four years.
Anna, thanks for doing this.
ANNA:
It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
JADE:
Of course. So let's dive right in. What type of events have you worked on throughout your career?
ANNA:
So I started working on events kind of jumping into the deep end right away. The first event I ever ran in life was a 3,000-person tech conference in Southeast Asia called Slush Singapore.
We had attendees from, like you mentioned, 60 countries, mainly startups, investors, and the media. It was like a big celebration of entrepreneurship and startups and tech.
We ran that for three years, and throughout that time, obviously, in addition to the big events, we were running smaller gatherings, VIP dinners, pre-events, side events, networking, happy hours, all of that.
And then after I moved to New York seven years ago to build my startup and then kind of went on to work in tech, I've organized anything from VIP dinners to rooftop networking events to small-scale, you know, 30-person events around different topics. So I've kind of done it all.
JADE:
Which is incredible, especially coming from the fact that you're from Finland.
ANNA:
Yes.
JADE:
Moved to Singapore and now in New York.
ANNA:
Yes.
JADE:
And probably so many places in between.
ANNA:
Yes.
JADE:
So now at Locala, what type of events, or specifically what type of events, are the people that you're drawing in? Who is that typical audience?
ANNA:
Yeah. So we're actually now starting our ABM program, so account-based marketing program, for our strategic accounts, strategic clients, VIP clients.
And so we're really looking to run a lot of events that are more small-scale, intimate, really thinking very hard: who do we want to sit around the table? Making sure that we get a chance to build relationships with each and every person that we're inviting.
And so they're going to be more small-scale, intimate events, really focusing on quality, both of the content but also of the people that are sitting around the table.
JADE:
And I guess for these events, because they sound generally smaller and you've seen such large-scale events, what do you find to be effective for smaller, curated experiences versus the large-scale ones?
ANNA:
I think for smaller, curated experiences, what's really important is the list of attendees, right? The idea is not to invite everybody and anybody. It really becomes essential who are, let's say, if you have 10 people sitting around an intimate dinner, each and every person matters, right?
Somebody's going to sit next to two people. Are they interesting people? Are they somebody who people will genuinely feel excited to talk to? Can they learn from them? Are they peers? Is that maybe a person that they've always wanted to meet but never really had a chance to?
So really, I think smaller events are all about curation of the guest list.
JADE:
Yeah. No, I definitely hear that, because the seating charts and everything...
ANNA:
Very important.
JADE:
So based on your experience, because you have such deep marketing experience on a high level and then also now so much in events to be the driver of pipeline, how do you see it play into your broader go-to-market strategy in terms of events?
ANNA:
Events are honestly pivotal when it comes to go-to-market strategy. I think it is such an underused resource by a lot of companies.
But the reason why it's pivotal is because people buy from people. So many, especially B2B companies, I think, think that they are targeting their customer as a company, but it's never a company, right? It's Jessica or John that sits in marketing or finance or whoever your customer is.
And so it's so important to make sure that they address people as people, as humans. And I think that we're all just so kind of tired of the whole AI everything. We're getting all these emails that technically come across as if they're personalized.
You know how people send these emails like, "Hey, here's a personalized video. Hi Jade, this is Anna. I'd love to sell to you." But really what it is is mass outreach masked as personalization. Everybody knows that nobody actually recorded that video. It's all AI.
People are so tired of it. And constantly, every day, we all have these questions: Is this AI? Is this not? Is this AI? Is this not?
So I think for events, that's the one time when people don't have to ask, "Is this AI?" Like, you're real because I'm sitting here and having a conversation with you.
And I think that's why events are such a powerful tool, because it is building a human connection. And like I said, I think people really buy from people and not from companies. So it's a great way to establish that relationship.
JADE:
When you're thinking about an event audience, to your point, people buy from people. How do you determine who should be in the room?
ANNA:
So determining who should be in the room, I have kind of two rules.
Number one, obviously, who's my ICP, right? Who am I looking to target? Who am I looking to build this event for?
And secondly, who are the people that my ICP would want to meet, right? So really going back to curation and making sure that people around that table or in that room are able to find someone interesting that they can chat to, because that's what I think really their event experience with me and with us is going to be determined by: how interesting conversations they had.
JADE:
So you're researching them beforehand, and then you're like, okay...
ANNA:
Yeah. And really, I mean, listen, for example, for us at Locala, we work with brands and agencies. So let's say we'll invite a couple of agencies to an event or to a dinner.
We'll think, hey, are there some brands that these agencies may want to work with or get to know that they don't know yet? Should we invite some of those brands, or should we invite some of their customers that they already know?
So it's a great way for them to be like, hey, let's go and spend time with our customers, but it's hosted by Locala and paid for by Locala. So it's a great kind of perk for them.
JADE:
And because events take so much work leading up, during, and then after, what parts have you seen to be most manual for you?
ANNA:
You know what, the most manual part about everything when it comes to events, for me, has been really understanding the different touchpoints of a particular target customer.
So, for example, if we run 10 VIP events a year, and let's say, Jade, you're one of those guests that we have been inviting. How many times have you responded to an invite? How many times have you actually come to events? How many times have you RSVP'd yes but not come? What type of events have you actually come to?
So really understanding the overlaps between the engagement and the ROI and the attribution and the frequency of communication, and then deciding based on that, hey, these are the people that are the most engaged with us. They love us. They're probably going to become customers more likely.
And then what type of events do these people usually resonate with so that we can tailor it more to each individual key account that we have.
JADE:
That's so many variables.
ANNA:
And that's a lot of work, and I still haven't really figured it out. It's a very messy process on my end. You know, it's Excel sheets and it's emails and all of that.
So that's definitely a very manual part right now that I would love to be able to automate at some point.
JADE:
Yeah. And especially to your point, bringing the people in the room is most important. So it makes sense that you're spending so much time making sure that that makes sense for the group.
ANNA:
Yeah.
JADE:
So then kind of in the same vein of things, when you think about AI, because to your point AI is everywhere now, what parts of the whole event process would you trust and want AI to solve for you?
ANNA:
You know what? I want AI to make my life easier.
If I was to use a tool, right, AI platform, anything, I would want it to be something that's so intuitive. I don't have to go through a course and a training and start figuring out manuals and user guides.
I can just go in and be like, "Oh, here's what I want to do today." And then I see the buttons, I see the UI, I'm like, great, this is how we do it, right?
So I just want it to make my life easier. I don't want an extra workload for using AI, and I want it to be a little bit more personalized to me, right? So, to my needs. That's kind of something that I would value.
JADE:
And then when you think about beyond just registration and attendance numbers, what else would tell you that an event was successful or needs to be altered a bit?
ANNA:
So the way I would rate the success of an event, in addition obviously to attendees and registrations, is, well, first of all, feedback.
And I'm not just saying formal feedback, like, "Hey, give us feedback, rate us," but just what I hear from people: "Oh my God, the event was great. Thank you so much. It was so good to be there last night. It was amazing." Whatever I kind of hear through the grapevine or directly from customers.
Also, how likely they are to attend future events is a big indicator. How quickly they RSVP to following events. So if I've had an event and they've been there, next time I send them an invitation, are they going to RSVP right away? Or are they going to let me know right away if they're coming? That's a big one because they don't want to miss it, hopefully.
And then lastly, I would say if somebody is not able to come to an event, are they going to reach back and say, "Hey, I'm so sorry I can't," or, "I'm so bummed I can't make it, but please send me the next one. I want to make sure I don't miss it."
And we've had that happen with some of the events that people are really excited about, even when they're traveling or they're engaged. They're like, "Oh my God, please make sure to include me in the next one."
And so that's how I know that it's really resonated with them.
JADE:
Yeah. Or else they'd be like, "Don't... get me off your list."
ANNA:
Unsubscribe.
JADE:
Haven't had any of that yet, but that's great.
So I guess for you then, given all your experience, what should event marketers consider when connecting what happens in the room to sales activity and pipeline?
ANNA:
I think connecting the events to the actual sales and the pipeline is probably the trickiest transition always, because there's so many expectations from the sales side and just generally usually from the management of the companies.
Like, okay, we've run five events. Where are the deals? Where are the leads? How are we doing? Where's the ROI?
And something really important to remember is that the ROI is not linear, right? Somebody might come to a few events, then kind of drop out, then come back, and then a year later they're like, "Hey, we're ready to actually buy something that you're selling. Let's chat."
I think what's really important from the event organizer's perspective is to remember that, and this is maybe a little bit controversial, but the events that we organize are not to sell people.
And people say it all the time, like, "Oh, we don't talk shop at the events," whatever. But at the back of their mind it's still like, "Oh, but this is helping sales."
No. This is to build a relationship. This is to establish your brand. This is to let people know who are the people behind the company, to have a good time, to ask, "Hey, what are your Christmas plans?" and, "How was your summer?" and all of that stuff, right? And to really build that connection and also to share the story.
Yes, you can share the story about your company, how you got here, what your vision is, what you're passionate about. We're not talking about features and products and pricing and promotions and whatever, right?
And so it's really important to kind of remember that this is a really good breeding ground for that, like any event.
And then when you start seeing the buying signals, which again both marketing and sales can look out for, once they start asking, "Oh, what about your products, by the way?" Or like, "Hey, we're actually thinking about next year's budgets. Maybe we should chat."
That's when you kind of activate the sales part and bring in the sales team and then kind of push them into that sales pipeline.
JADE:
Probably so top of mind for you because you all just did a massive rebranding, right?
ANNA:
Yes, we did. Yes.
JADE:
Yeah. So that's important.
Okay. I guess, what's one belief you personally hold about event marketing that others in the industry might disagree with?
ANNA:
I believe that it does not take a long lead time to organize an event.
Oftentimes people say, "Hey, we're organizing a 30-person event and it's going to take us six months to plan." No, it's not. No, it's not.
I think people are a little bit too afraid to kind of go for it and try it out. Like if it's October and you want to do an event before Thanksgiving, do it. You have plenty of time.
I'm not saying that you should not care about, obviously, the quality of the event. You should. But it does not take that long.
I think people are overcomplicating events. There are a few things that matter in the success of a good event, but you could do it very quickly.
We did the first Slush Singapore event, a 3,000-person event, in three months. I do not recommend it to anybody. That was the wildest time of my life. I would not do it again. But I'm just saying anything is possible.
So you can definitely do a 30-person event in less than six months.
JADE:
I was like, what was the quickest turnaround you've had in terms of an event, from idea to then it had to happen?
ANNA:
Well, that's probably the three months.
JADE:
Yeah, that was like a massive event, like a whole other market.
ANNA:
Yes, it was wild. But we got it done, you know? And that's why I'm so optimistic now always when organizing events. I'm like, "Oh, we can get it done," you know, in a relatively quick turn.
JADE:
Just two more questions for you too, because you've done so much in overall ABM and just marketing overall. How have you seen events kind of evolve and how people see it being a major channel for sales and pipeline?
ANNA:
Right now events are experiencing this renaissance. Everybody's doing events. Everyone has, like, I don't know, 10 invitations to dinners and to all sorts of things.
JADE:
U.S. Open.
ANNA:
Yes. Like all of it. People are really milking every single opportunity, which I think is fun and it's great.
I think probably at some point people are going to see who are the companies and event organizers that do really good quality events versus just the ones that do mass events.
And I think this is where I see the biggest shift. We're kind of going from this big, like, "Hey, just come to a happy hour, anybody and their mother," but now we're inviting a more targeted group of people.
We're seeing more VIP events. We're seeing more experiences, right? I mean, even we have a concept that we're launching a little bit later that's really exciting for a VIP dinner experience, but it's going to be something completely different.
It's not just, "Hey, come for dinner," because everybody can, in New York, everyone can afford to go to a nice restaurant, right? That's not the trick.
And so you really have to get more creative and you have to be really, really good at curating. And this is what I'm seeing in the event space right now.
JADE:
Oh my God. Yeah. I'm excited to hear about that later.
And then last question for you. What is one, not like a trick, but unexpected or non-traditional way that you've made sure people show up to your event?
ANNA:
So one of the things that we did for Slush Singapore to get some of the attendees to come to the event...
Just to give you some context, our event venue was a little bit further down from the city center. It was very accessible by subway and it was right next to a subway stop.
And so we sent a bunch of attendees, we were very strategic about who we sent them to, but we sent a bunch of attendees branded subway cards with preloaded money for the subway.
And we said, "Hey, we can't wait to see you. You should just take the train. It's a quick train ride away, and let's be environmentally conscious," and all of that.
So that actually generated a lot of really positive feedback. Some people posted it on social, so it kind of gained a little bit of visibility through that as well.
And it was like a scrappy little way. I don't know, maybe these people would have come anyways, but we just kind of wanted to make sure that they didn't feel like the venue was not accessible.
JADE:
Oh my gosh, did you send it to almost 3,000 people?
ANNA:
Yeah. No, not 3,000 people. This was, I think, we sent it to like 200 people or something.
JADE:
Anna, that was perfect. Thank you so much.
ANNA:
Thank you so much.
JADE:
That was so easy. It felt so smooth.
