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“The Nexus of Marketing and Sales”: How to Leverage Event Data

At Adobe Summit 2025, RainFocus’ win as the Adobe Digital Digital Experience B2B Technology Partner of the Year marked an exciting milestone. Fittingly, our executives’ popular conference session, “2025: Revolutionizing B2B Buying Journeys With Meeting and Event Data,” highlighted how events are, more than ever, a critical driver of business impact.

During their session, RainFocus’ Brian Gates and Marius Milcher discussed the impact of integrating events and marketing data using tools like Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) and RainFocus. Co-presenter Hannah Macking, director of digital architecture at Red Hat, followed with an inside look at how her organization leverages event data pre-, during, and post-event to drive customer behavior.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways:

Events Far Outshine Other Marketing Channels in ROI

Most enterprise organizations host anywhere from 500 to 2,000 events each year. These events represent a substantial portion of B2B marketing spend, often ranging from 40% to 50%. This is comparable to the investment in digital channels, which account for 50% to 60% of the budget. However, traditional marketing technologies fall short of addressing this significant spend, making dedicated event technology a necessity.

Events offer much higher levels of customer engagement compared to other marketing channels. The amount of time customers spend reading an email or a digital ad is often seconds, whereas at events, they will often spend upwards of 800 minutes fully engaged with marketing content, Gates and Milcher explained.

Therefore, events provide an unparalleled opportunity to capture first and zero-party data. As technologies advance and preferences evolve, the depth of behavioral data gathered through events is even more critical for understanding customer intent and driving personalized experiences.

Events Are the Nexus of Marketing and Sales

Events can streamline marketing and sales efforts. By integrating events, marketing, and sales technologies, organizations can leverage customers’ touchpoints at events to create a seamless customer journey. Research has shown that event attendance contributes to higher campaign conversion rates, increased deal velocity, and, ultimately, more deals closed.

Red Hat’s Cross-Sell Opportunity Success

Red Hat uses event data to drive customer engagement at every stage of their journey. The process begins with cross-functional alignment around objectives and business requirements.

As Macking explained during the Summit presentation, she and her team then reach out to partners like RainFocus to determine what data will be ingested into AEP and Customer Journey Analytics (CJA). Once the data is integrated, they can recommend data-backed actions to stakeholders based on their event data.

Macking shared a simple example of this process: One of the primary goals of Red Hat Summit 2024 was to identify and act on cross-sell opportunities. Red Hat worked with RainFocus to set up registration forms that asked attendees which products they were most interested in learning about during the conference. All attendee responses were captured in RainFocus and then integrated back into CJA. With this information, Red Hat’s marketing team targeted attendees with appropriate cross-sell messaging during post-event nurture experiences. By connecting RainFocus and Adobe, they harnessed their event data to improve business outcomes.

To learn more, check out the slides and audio from the session.

April 2, 2025
Conversations: Rodney Hart on Breaking INSIGHT Records and a Surprise AI-Powered Hit

With RainFocus INSIGHT 2025 wrapped up, it’s once again time for Rodney Hart, VP of events at RainFocus, to jump into a few of the most important post-event activities: Crunch the data to quantify the multifaceted impact of this annual flagship event, (maybe) finally catch up on sleep, and, of course, sit down and talk about his biggest victories, learnings, and new best practices to share with the industry.

Whether or not you joined us in Salt Lake City or online this year for INSIGHT, our discussion with Hart offered plenty of illuminating takeaways. You’ll also find some honest post-mortem pondering from the leader who planned and executed the INSIGHT program start to finish.

This year marked INSIGHT’s third year as an in-person event (with hybrid and virtual offerings). Intentional, targeted attendance growth was a big story.

“Twenty-seven percent growth is exciting, but seeing 40 percent growth within key demographics for our customers and prospects is even more so,” Hart said. “We’ve built a reputation for a conference that people want to attend.”

All about the content

Attendees packed into sessions in record numbers, too. RainFocus INSIGHT 2025 posted its highest total of concurrent sessions and highest session attendance numbers yet, with strong engagement and many popular presentations quickly attracting standing-room-only crowds. This enthusiasm reflected new heights in session quality and tracks tailored to INSIGHT’s varied attendee personas. For example, differentiated levels of session technicality accommodated attendees’ various roles and experience with the RainFocus platform.

Hart said he and the team have already begun brainstorming areas for additional improvements next year based on survey data. Some attendees, for instance, found the repurposing of the large mainstage space for breakouts made even well-attended sessions feel awkwardly empty. Others wanted to see more rooms more extensively built out with additional equipment for speakers.

“We’re looking to mix around sessions and continue to refine session delivery,” he noted. Based on attendee comments, the team is also exploring ways to add more immersive experiential impact for the most anticipated mainstage sessions, such as the annual keynote from RainFocus executives JR Sherman and Doug Baird.

A surprise breakout hit

One notable success from INSIGHT 2025 nearly didn’t happen: Hart said that the introduction of AI-powered session summaries from Voxo followed a last-minute rush to onboard the vendor and uncertainty over whether attendees would embrace the offering.

“We made it happen,” he recalled. “We gave them the speakers and abstracts, and we produced 62 summaries and had more than 2,000 downloads very quickly. This nearly approached the number of people who scanned in for sessions. We also had 10 clients who wanted to do something similar and followed up with Voxo.”

Human connections

As shown by the success of INSIGHT’s instant session summaries, generative AI continues to play an increasingly important role in events. The technologies also powered and enhanced numerous other processes at INSIGHT, from session recommendations to real-time transcription to rapid sentiment analysis for post-event feedback. Attendees’ conversations and session takeaways, including intriguing early victories for agentic AI, also highlighted the usefulness of practical applications.

Nevertheless, the INSIGHT 2025 theme — Elevating Relationships — serves as a reminder that people attend events to interact with other people. Whether it’s industry titans, familiar longtime peers, or key clients and prospects central to their organization’s revenue goal achievement, human-to-human connections are paramount.

The future of virtual

Given that truth, how are virtual components faring in 2025 within hybrid events like INSIGHT?

“Although we’ve seen lower numbers year-over-year, that really hasn’t diminished the value of virtual,” Hart said. “What it means is that you have to think about how to build and amplify that content you’re producing. ‘If you build it, they will come’ isn’t the case anymore.”

He added that INSIGHT 2025 featured the longest virtual broadcast yet, with significantly elevated quality. As other industry observers have noted, virtual attendees may simply be less willing than in years past to sit and tune in for multiple sessions at an appointed time. Or, as Hart described, they’re “meeting’d out” and may instead prefer to register for the event and then plan on diving into on-demand sessions at their convenience.

INSIGHT’s fully virtual components, such as Premiere and Preparation, have continued to draw high attendance. “This presents more ways of leveraging virtual as we look at the activity around Premiere and Preparation,” Hart explained. “Those are the ‘calendar moments’ where you get to talk to your audience.”

Stay tuned for our continuing post-INSIGHT coverage! We’ve also added sessions for viewing on demand – click here to check out any you missed or revisit your favorites.

March 20, 2025
Recapping RainFocus INSIGHT 2025
Each year, RainFocus INSIGHT provides events and marketing leaders with a place to gather with their peers, learn from subject matter experts, and have fun. Our 2025 conference did not disappoint!

With over 200 meetings attended with each other, our attendees truly embraced this year’s theme of “Elevating Relationships.” These meetings, combined with a range of informative keynotes and track sessions, special evening events, and plenty of familiar faces, made for the best INSIGHT experience to date.

The event is always full of exciting announcements from RainFocus. If you couldn’t make it to INSIGHT or just want to review a few big takeaways, here are a few things we revealed in the keynotes:

RainFocus Announcements From INSIGHT
1. RainFocus launches agentic AI to answer attendee questions. In their opening keynote address, RainFocus president Doug Baird and CEO JR Sherman explained that by already combining event data with CRM and MAP insights, RainFocus is uniquely equipped to train AI to personalize experiences throughout the customer journey. This new functionality was later demonstrated by RainFocus CPO Travis Cushing in his Thursday morning keynote.
2. RainFocus’ current AI-powered solutions are rapidly advancing. In 2024, RainFocus launched AI-powered reports, survey analysis, and recommendations. These recent additions, which have won early praise from clients, have been continually improved and promise to further increase efficiency throughout the event planning process.
3. Becoming RainFocus Certified just got a whole lot simpler. RainFocus’ education design team launched RainFocus Configuration, a collection of courses that will allow users to train on relevant modules. They have expanded the courses available and made certifications specific to bundles, enabling teams to become certified in the skills that are most important to them.
4. RainFocus’ branding profiles and templates will streamline event execution for individual planners. During his keynote, Cushing illustrated how easy it now is for planners to select the components they need for an event and set it up from start to finish. These features, which are designed with field marketers in mind, enable RainFocus users to deliver thousands of unified events with a single platform.
5. On-site hardware is now located regionally worldwide. RainFocus has invested in hardware in various countries throughout the world to speed up shipping and reduce costs for clients.
More INSIGHT Highlights

RainFocus clients and partners played a significant role in the success of the event, whether they served as speakers or provided services that enhanced the attendee experience. Our survey results showed that attendees especially liked the following:

Client-Led Breakout Sessions

With 75 sessions, attendees had a variety of topics to choose from. As always, our client case studies were among our top-attended sessions. A few of the products clients highlighted included RainFocus’ AI, Live Tables, integrations, meetings management, and personalization capabilities.

Panel Discussions

The conference featured five panel discussions featuring the world’s most renowned events and marketing leaders. The panels covered what to expect as a new RainFocus user, how to grow your event career, tips for analyzing mass amounts of data, and how to use AI to drive customer journeys. Each of our panels was recorded for those who missed out.

Sponsor Activations

Finally, our sponsors supplied a range of valuable experiences that enhanced INSIGHT:
- ATWM supported the hotel arrangements and supplied snacks and massages throughout the event.
- VDA brought our event design to life and had a sustainability booth where attendees could reuse event supplies to create artwork.
- Wicket partnered with RainFocus to enable facial authentication for quicker check-in.
- Storycraft Labs hosted their signature Experience Profile quiz to help attendees select sessions and find like-minded peers.
- Fill it Forward offered reusable water bottles, which allowed attendees to give every time they filled up.
- Mixhalo facilitated AI-powered audio translations, transcripts, and audio streaming.
- Komo brought trivia, Q&A, and voting to the mainstage.
- Voxo supplied the technology used to record and create AI summaries for all of our session content.
Stay tuned for more highlights from a memorable conference. In the meantime, you can access session summaries and videos by visiting the INSIGHT website.
March 5, 2025
“Our Work Has Meaning Because of Relationships”: RainFocus Executives Kick Off INSIGHT 2025 With Inspiring Keynote

What will define INSIGHT each year? Traditionally, the official event theme and the eagerly anticipated opening keynote delivered by founder Doug Baird and CEO JR Sherman set the tone for the entire event.

Our INSIGHT 2025 theme is ”Elevating Relationships.” As artificial intelligence and related technological advances rapidly transform the events industry — and shape our careers and daily lives — what happens to old-fashioned human-to-human relationships?

If there ever was any doubt that these relationships remain vital, consider how Sherman described INSIGHT as he and Baird took to the stage: “INSIGHT is like a family reunion!” he exclaimed.

In fact, as the seasoned executives’ presentation made clear, building and strengthening relationships will be even more central to any event. They’re not in competition with technology and automation; at events, each enhances the other.

“RainFocus captures behavioral data to stream and drive personalization and recommendations. That’s the journey, and it evolves into relationships,” Sherman explained. “Events represent trust and understanding. Clicks, opens, and downloads are pieces of data about an individual. But experiences are where relationships are formed. You have face-to-face interaction and can truly understand people.”

Enter agentic AI

On the AI front specifically, Baird highlighted the exciting shift in the events industry from discussion to widespread adoption and expansion. Thoughtfully deployed AI applications free up team members to focus on the relationship-driven work at events.

“AI is becoming agentic,” he said, citing Salesforce’s Agentforce offering at its Dreamforce event as an example. “It’s less about just collecting information and more about taking actions with content. Agents are purpose-built with a specific set of content, user profiles, and actions.”

These applications become even more powerful once agents can talk to other agents, pull centralized data, and understand attendees’ event preferences, he added. Integrations might even allow them to book event travel and purchase needed items for the trip, making the pre-event experience quick and seamless.

“It will have a massive impact on the events world,” Baird predicted. “These agents need to be trained, and people will need to get the data right. This phase is the actions we want the machines to take for us.”

Getting the data right also means everything should be centralized, clean, and easily accessible. “If your data is sitting in multiple places, your AI is less effective,” Sherman pointed out.

De-siloing event data and ensuring all teams — within events and across the organization — can use it to refine their strategies will sound familiar to anyone who’s discovered the benefits of RainFocus over the years. Now, this priority takes on additional importance with the rise of generative AI.

ROI, sales, and your customers

INSIGHT attendees already know how effective events are. In recent years, RainFocus’ increasingly powerful integrations with tech stalwarts like Adobe and Salesforce have helped ensure that value resonates across the organization.

“We believe you are the relationship catalysts, and you can prove it through the data you are collecting,” Sherman said. “We are seeing our customers measure events not just by metrics like the number of attendees, but by the real impact on the pipeline. That’s fully integrated data.”

As event ROI is redefined and amplified, sales engagement will rank as a continued RainFocus priority this year. The RainFocus for Salesforce app and dashboard — providing convenient capabilities for sales reps right in their mainstay application — is continuing to gain momentum.

Finally, both sales engagement and customer-centric relationship-building also got another boost last year, when RainFocus acquired WebEvents Global (WEG), led by founder and principal architect Karis Takiya.

“WEG built a unique process for building event data into the sales process,” Baird said. “They were a pioneer, and Karis is one of the best thinkers in this area.” Takiya, whose extensive career accomplishments show that customer-centricity and data integration are far more than passing industry trends, now continues to innovate within RainFocus as principal integrations architect.

A packed INSIGHT agenda

The executives’ keynote marked the official start of a busy conference schedule. From technical-minded platform updates to peer panel conversations about the biggest industry challenges, every session offered a chance to learn, grow, and — most importantly — connect.

Stay tuned for more recaps of the hottest INSIGHT happenings. We’ll also add selected sessions available in RainFocus On Demand so you can revisit your favorites!

February 21, 2025
Know Before You Go: A Guide to INSIGHT 2025

Our annual INSIGHT conference is just a few short weeks away! With more than 75 sessions, meeting programs, evening activities, and games, there is so much to look forward to this year. To help you prepare for your visit, here’s a guide to what you can do now to prepare, as well as answers to some of the top questions from attendees.

How to Make the Most of Your INSIGHT Experience

1. Build Your Agenda

Our sessions are catching attendees’ attention. Make sure to secure your spot in the ones you are most interested in before space runs out. Log in to your attendee portal to view our catalog and build your agenda.

2. Start Earning Points

Why wait to earn points in the INSIGHT game? Get in the game now by completing our pre-event survey, submitting fun event stories, leaving a RainFocus review, or adding sessions to your agenda. You can be among the first to play our live game at the event and win prizes.

3. Schedule Meetings

INSIGHT is your opportunity to meet with some of the events industry’s leading innovators. Log into Braindate now to schedule meetings, or set up meetings from the Networking page of your attendee portal.

Not registered for INSIGHT yet? There’s still time to join us virtually or in person. Visit rainfocusinsight.com to register or upgrade your pass.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What time does event check-in begin?

A. Our registration and check-in desks will open on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 1:00 p.m. If you haven’t already, opt into RainFocus Facial Authentication provided by Wicket for a rapid check-in experience.

Q. Which meals will be provided during the event?

A. On Tuesday, we will provide dinner to all those who join us for our opening reception. On Wednesday and Thursday, we will serve breakfast and lunch on-site at the Hyatt Regency. Wednesday night, we will meet up at the Church and State Marketplace for dinner and entertainment. On Thursday, Eventbase will be sponsoring our closing event at Lake Effect across the street from the hotel.

Q. Is there a dress code for the event?

A. Business casual attire is recommended for all event activities.

Q. Are there any nearby attractions I can visit while I am in Salt Lake City?

A. Salt Lake City is full of things to discover. You could go shopping at the nearby City Creek Center, get drinks at The Vault, dine at the Capital Grill, visit the Natural History Museum, uncover family history at the FamilySearch library, or catch a comedy show at the WiseGuys Comedy Club — just to name a few options.

Q. What is the weather forecast for the event?

A. Salt Lake City tends to be cold at this time of year (between 30°F and 40°F). Pack warm clothing if you plan to spend time outdoors.

Q. Who do I contact if I need to change my registration or hotel booking?

A. You can email our team at events@rainfocus.com.

We can’t wait to see you!

February 4, 2025
How to Win Industry Awards for Your Events
The new year is the perfect time to begin thinking about event recognition. Winning an industry award for your successful event not only showcases your hard work, but also builds your profile as an event professional and generates publicity for your organization.

Nominating your event for an award (or multiple awards) is easy when you plan ahead and know what the requirements are for a winning entry. In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know to qualify for event awards and submit a great application.

Planning An Award-Winning Event

The best award entries begin with intentional event planning, whether the goal is to win for the most innovative event, most engaging event, or anything else. Here are some considerations for planning an award-winning event:
1. Define your goals with concrete data. Award providers often ask for goals and key metrics to support your entry. Of course, because results are often weighted the heaviest of all entry evaluation criteria, make sure to document all of the most important KPIs early on.
2. Identify ways to differentiate your event. Many award applications ask, “What made your event unique or original?” Rather than repeating what others have done, evaluate new ways to take your content, activations, and networking to the next level.
3. Plan for broad impact. Your goals will determine your event’s impact on your business, your attendees, and your industry. Think about the tactics you will use and the data you will capture to create an influential and memorable experience. Demonstrating your ability to attribute your event to growth and positive changes will make your award entry stand out.
4. Create an immersive experience. As you’re planning the overall event design, consider ways to make the event more visually engaging. These will enhance the event itself as well as photos and videos documenting the event and submitted with award applications.
Preparing Your Award Entry

Once your event is complete, you’ll be ready to submit your award application. Although each award is different, some core guidelines generally apply:
1. Address questions and prompts directly. Read all questions carefully to ensure you’ve supplied all the requested information. If you are applying for several awards with similar questions, it can be tempting to copy and paste previous answers, but make sure to avoid accidentally omitting important evaluation criteria specific to a particular application.
2. Be concise. For long answers, include bullet points, subheads, and line breaks whenever possible for ease of reading. Award judges may have a high volume of entries to read through. Making your submission scannable will make evaluation easier and leave a positive impression.
3. Respond to feedback. Occasionally, you may receive questions or suggestions in response to your entry. Be sure to implement all recommendations promptly for a strong application.
There are many awards programs that recognize outstanding events and other achievements in the events industry. Some notable awards include the following:
RainFocus also presents awards to top-performing event teams. Our annual Innovation Awards recognize customers and partners that demonstrate forward thinking and excellence in their use of the RainFocus platform. These awards are announced during our INSIGHT conference. To learn more or to nominate your team, visit our event website.
January 9, 2025
Four Trends That Defined the Events Industry in 2024
Another amazing year of events has drawn to a close! As always, working alongside our clients as they plan and execute some of the world’s biggest conferences gives us a unique view into events industry trends.

The RainFocus blog shares these insights to help all event teams (whether or not they’re our clients!). We especially love asking our executives for their candid thoughts on the latest trends and challenges, and letting them tell the stories behind how the RainFocus team develops new features and processes based on client learnings.

It’s no surprise that many of this year’s most popular blog posts reflect the trends that were top of mind for event leaders and their teams this year. As we gear up for 2025, let’s take a look back at what captured everyone’s attention this year:

One: Integrations make sharing event data even easier and more useful.
We all know that events provide a wealth of valuable zero-party and first-party data that can fuel marketing and sales campaigns. But that only matters if stakeholders can seamlessly access it, interpret it, and put it to work. Our groundbreaking new Salesforce integration (as well as some guidance on event data analysis for marketers, who also benefit from convenient integrations) are designed to help with just that.

Learn more:
Two: Everyone is still buzzing about generative AI, but a lot remains to be seen.
Naturally, no 2024 recap could make it very far without mentioning what has continued to arguably be the hottest topic — not only in events but also in the broader tech, business, and societal worlds. This year, we saw plenty of innovative applications of these tools. Teams gained efficiency, tried new things, and kept learning. Our ongoing series with RainFocus CTO Mike Bushman provided critical guidance on the myriad considerations related to security, privacy, the role of big tech companies, and overall best practices.

Learn more:
Three: Details make all the difference for a memorable on-site experience.
From an enormous annual user conference to a local executive luncheon, an event must get all the “little” things right for its attendees. A streamlined check-in experience with badges that print without delay. A convenient app that makes navigating the venue a breeze. Adjustments to materials and signage that promote sustainability. Better swag. Elements that may seem inconsequential on their own all add up to a seamless event that attendees remember for the right reasons.

Learn more:
Four: Great event content and an efficient process for creating it have never been more important.
Event attendees increasingly crave authenticity and fresh content that speaks to their needs. This year, we heard a lot about different learning styles, which are often yet another reason to think beyond just the traditional keynote and breakout session formats. Your event speakers — whether internal, external, or both — must rise to the challenge. Presenting the very best content also requires a convenient, collaborative process for selecting submissions from your call for papers and then partnering with the chosen speakers from start to finish.

Learn more:
Ready to gear up for a successful 2025? Learn more about all these top events industry trends — and so much more — by joining us at RainFocus INSIGHT. Happy new year to everyone in events!
December 20, 2024
Planning Impactful VIP Event Experiences

Are you looking to elevate your VIP event experience? There are hundreds of ways to impress VIPs, whether they are executives, prospects, influencers, celebrities, or long-time supportive clients.

What makes VIP experiences truly exceptional is personalization and attention to detail. In this post, we’ll explore how to plan ahead to create a VIP experience that enhances your valuable relationships with these attendees and supports your business goals.

The Power of Exclusivity

There are two types of VIP experiences: standalone gatherings and experiences embedded in a larger event. Both serve a distinct purpose—to create a sense of exclusivity that makes people feel valued and gives them an opportunity to form lasting memories and relationships.

For VIP experiences that are part of more general events, one easy way to signal an exclusive experience from the start is to give VIPs a unique badge design. In addition to being a visual indicator, this badge grants them access to special activities and meetings. Activities may include early-access sessions, upscale dinners, spa days, concerts, sports activities, and one-to-one meetings with executives.

Attendee Profiles: The Ideal Starting Point for VIP Event Planning

The need to “wine and dine” executives and influencers at events is standard. But what sets a VIP experience apart is knowing what matters most to individual attendees and using that information to tailor their experience.

Event teams worldwide have discovered that the more they know about their audience, the easier it is to keep them coming back year after year. These attendee profiles are especially useful for VIPs, especially if they compile each person’s likes, dislikes, and behaviors in one place. Teams that successfully build such profiles are far more likely to attract and retain VIP attendees.

There are several ways to build up VIP profiles if you don’t have a lot of data to start with. One way is by looking at past behaviors. What other events have they attended? Search through their social profiles to see what content they’ve interacted with. You can also crowdsource data about VIPs from colleagues and peers. Data can be continually added and updated with each interaction point.

Personalizing VIP Experiences

Once you’ve identified your VIPs’ preferences, you can begin to use that information to personalize experiences. Small details make a difference. For example, if you know several of your VIPs are vegetarian, you can plan meals accordingly before they even submit new dietary requests.

There are many ways to make the most of executive profiles. During INSIGHT Premiere, Devin Cleary from CyberArk shared an example of how his team uses executive profiles to plan who to invite to each event and how to approach them with planning questions.

Tailoring registration based on what you know about your VIPs is another fantastic way to personalize their experience. Using SSO or pre-filling their agendas with activities you’re certain your VIPs will enjoy are little actions that demonstrate how much you value your relationships.

With smart use of data and some advance planning, you can easily set the foundation for memorable VIP experiences. Click here to discover how RainFocus enables event planners to easily build attendee profiles and personalize attendee experiences with centralized event data.

December 17, 2024
How Does RainFocus Compare to Other All-in-One Event Management Platforms?

During any major technology purchase decision process, third-party evaluations and comparison data are invaluable. Smart buyers rely on these resources to dig into whether a vendor’s offering truly reflects its claims. Reports from analyst firms and other trusted sources can be especially useful during the evaluation stage, after you’ve narrowed the field to a few contenders.

At RainFocus, we’re always proud of our seamless, fully integrated event management platform and its real-time engagement capabilities. But we were also excited to learn that RainFocus was just named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: All-In-One Event Management Platforms, Q4 2024 report!

The report called out RainFocus’ “superior vision,” which “centers on delivering timely and personalized attendee experiences and helping clients maximize the value of the data these interactions deliver.” We believe these capabilities are even more important as the world moves away from third-party cookies and zero- and first-party data from events plays a larger role in marketing and sales strategies.

In addition to receiving the highest possible scores in the vision, innovation, roadmap, partner ecosystem, and community criteria, RainFocus also received the highest possible scores in 19 more criteria. These included event planning and setup, exhibitor and sponsor management, on-demand content, customer service and support, and 15 more.

“RainFocus has an unrivaled ability to deliver complex tier-one events; it now marries this with capabilities to deliver tier-two and tier-three events,” the report said. “Its core strength resides in its ability to capture and maximize the value of attendee data by feeding it into the wider tech stack through unique partnerships with the likes of Adobe.”

The Wave report, which thoroughly evaluated the “12 providers that matter most” among all-in-one event management platforms, recommended that buyers consider three overall factors: “the mix of events they run,” “the importance of event data,” and “integrations into the wider technology stack.”

Of course, as a provider of unified event experiences, RainFocus accommodates events of all sizes and types — from the smallest internal meetings to global user conferences. Given the continued rebounding popularity of in-person events as well as the still vital role of virtual and hybrid offerings to increase attendee reach and engagement, our platform is equipped to meet organizations’ current and future needs.

We were thrilled to see the report include event data and integrations as recommended platform consideration factors.

“…[M]arketers must quiz vendors on their ability to capture and analyze attendee data and use it to deliver more personalized experiences,” the report said. “Leading vendors will be able to aggregate data across events and accounts, benchmark data versus peer data, and use AI to answer data questions, run predictive analytics, and make customized attendee recommendations.”

The data-driven insights that the RainFocus platform provides help teams personalize touchpoints for attendees, generate real-time analytics to make effective event decisions, and amplify the impact of every event. We know that for many organizations, budgetary pressures and a need to do more with less will make this data even more vital.

Want to learn even more about how RainFocus stacked up against the top providers? A full copy of the The Forrester Wave™: All-In-One Event Management Platforms, Q4 2024 report can be accessed here.

December 12, 2024
Does Event Swag Matter? New Data on What Attendees Really Want
An optimized attendee experience at your event is all about the details. From a speedy check-in experience to easy venue navigation between sessions to pleasant informal mealtime networking, your event attendees will remember much more than just their big-picture impressions of the keynotes and breakout sessions.

Even event swag — those famous branded items picked up at the event and stuffed into a suitcase for the trip home — can contribute to (or detract from) the overall experience. Some organizations might overlook event swag. Others might spend too much time and money on it, with little ROI.

What do attendees really want? How much does swag matter? We’ve got the inside scoop! Our recent study uncovered the types of swag attendees like best, how long they hold onto items, the ways event swag can intersect with brand perception, and even some honest guidance on how companies should be allocating resources when it comes to swag.

Here are a few of the most interesting findings:
1. Practical work-related swag items are considered the most valuable and useful. A full 25% of survey respondents said notebooks and planners are their favorite things to get at an event. Tech items often used for work, such as chargers, earbuds, and mini speakers, placed second. Other swag types, including glassware, branded snacks, digital giveaways, and accessories like sunglasses and tote bags, were considered less appealing.
1. Attendees hang on to useful swag for a while. The most preferred swag types — notebooks/planners and tech items — tend to easily integrate into an attendee’s daily routine after they return home from the event. So it’s not surprising that 82% of survey respondents said they keep swag for at least a month. Ideally, this visual persistence enhances the brand’s visibility, especially if a notebook or phone charger is being used in an office.
1. Quality and brand loyalty matter. Of course, not all swag persists in attendees’ daily routines. More than half (56%) of respondents said they donate unwanted items or give them away to friends and family members. Additionally, event teams should note that most attendees (76%) find that the quality of giveaway items shapes their perception of a brand, while 15% select the items themselves based on brand and gravitate toward those they are familiar with, suggesting that brand perception is bidirectionally important.
1. (Maybe) some resources should be spent elsewhere. So, does event swag matter? When asked if they believe organizations should reallocate resources for event giveaway items and merchandise, one-third of respondents said yes, and 46% said “somewhat.” Based on the other study findings, certain items definitely provide value and enduring brand benefits. But for some organizations, it may be worth looking into alternatives. Given that event budgetary pressures are expected to continue next year, we recommend ensuring event swag is thoughtful and tailored to your attendees’ preferences.
For much more expert advice on best practices for every aspect of event planning, marketing, and execution, join us at RainFocus INSIGHT 2025!
December 5, 2024