Blog

Events bring people together, building and deepening business relationships. In addition to the typical hosted networking activities, after-hours parties, and spontaneous hallway conversations, a robust meetings program is essential.

Enterprise event meetings typically fall into two categories: Client-requested meetings, also known as “meet the expert” opportunities, allow event attendees to book a one-on-one session with a subject-matter expert or other leader. Sales meetings, meanwhile, help teams make the most of their time among the valuable prospects and current clients in attendance. 

Sales meetings often operate a little differently from a standard client-requested meeting. Several recent RainFocus enhancements that provide increased flexibility and customization better match how sales teams run their meetings at an event, saving time for meeting attendees and event planning teams alike. 

Plus, these enhancements aren’t just for sales. Depending on the event specifics, more flexibility and customization might also be needed for some organizations’ “meet the expert” meetings. Each feature is available for any meeting type in the RainFocus platform. 

We recently discussed the story behind these enhancements with Chris Wahlquist, senior product manager, and Adam Blaylock, product marketing manager.

Custom Meeting Locations

“At events, you have a lot of prospects and existing clients, so it’s a prime opportunity for building relationships and fostering interactions,” Wahlquist explained.

Those sales meetings can happen anywhere. Now, a new custom meeting location feature in the RainFocus platform allows teams to book a meeting at any location meeting organizers want (such as a restaurant, coffee shop, or elsewhere off-campus) rather than being limited to a preset list of standard meeting rooms (as is typically used for “meet the expert” meetings). 

Users can set any value for “offsite location” without needing to manually enter specific locations for each meeting. The information is populated in all outbound communications.

Custom Meeting Availability Hours

Previously, when creating a program, users could only set overall hours for a group of rooms, and this availability applied to all rooms. 

But the reality of managing events on-site and managing space requires agility. For example, some rooms might only be available only in the afternoons, after morning sessions have concluded. Or maybe a quiet space is subject to blackout periods to accommodate media interviews or guest speaker hospitality. 

With the new enhancement, users can set meeting availability hours at the individual room level. This option makes booking easier for everyone — for sales and non-sales meetings alike.

“Something so simple makes such a difference in flexibility,” Wahlquist noted. “Before, people were creating ‘fake meetings’ to block out time. Now, we’ve made it easy to block off unavailable meeting times in the interface.”

iCal Customization

Busy executives and sales reps often depend on the details in their calendar invitations to review vital information just before a meeting. This latest RainFocus meetings program enhancement provides more flexibility in configuring the iCal details and format for different groups of attendees. 

Specific programs within the overall meetings program can now be customized to include additional information as needed.

Role-based configuration also allows defined groups of participants (such as internal attendees) to view more information, such as sales opportunity details or background on the people they’re meeting with, without leaving their calendar app. The configuration also enhances information security by limiting private data access to defined users. 

Efficiency Improvements

Finally, several additional enhancements prioritize convenience for users. At a busy event with a packed agenda, these seemingly minor time savings make a big difference. For instance, users can now prioritize meetings with an internal meeting manager tool to zero in on the biggest opportunities. And upon arrival at a meeting, attendees can rapidly check in at a kiosk or desk with a scanner. 

Given the importance of relationship-building at events, RainFocus will continue to prioritize enhancements that make meetings even more more valuable and efficient. 

“Meetings programs are an integral part of a successful event,” Blaylock said. “Event leaders use them to generate sales and nurture leads, but also to enhance their brand identity. They want to create memorable experiences, especially for their most important clients, through meetings.” 

Ready to learn more about using meetings to boost the impact of your event? Join us at RainFocus INSIGHT 2026 for expert-led sessions and best practices from peers! Register here.