Event Lessons for All - Prepping for #INBOUND18 (The IMPACT Show Ep. 57)

In this week's episode of The IMPACT Show, Nick and I shared lessons for event attendees, planners, sponsors and speakers. With just 11 days until #INBOUND18 it's time to get ready!

Just in case you missed us live (or if you want to relive the magic), you’ll find the episode’s show notes below as well as the recording.

Enjoy and make sure to share! 

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Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear it. Comment on this blog or email us at show@impactplus.com

IMPACT Updates

Where to find IMPACT at INBOUND 2018

IMPACT is a sponsor of INBOUND again this year so you can catch us on the floor at Club INBOUND! You can also find us in the Vidyard Video Lounge which is part of INBOUND's new INBOUND& program they've just launched. You'll be able to meet, learn from, and connect with Vidyard, HubSpot, and IMPACT during INBOUND 2018. Here are some of the things you can do: 

• Connect with video experts and enter to win a Vidyard Studio in a Box
• Vidyard and IMPACT are offering exclusive 1:1 brainstorming sessions but you have to book in advance! Save your spot here.
• Visit the video lounge for 4 exclusive presentations (2 of them by folks from IMPACT!) Check out the lineup. 
• Exclusive cocktail reception - hopefully you signed up already cause this baby is sold out! 

Introducing: Throwdown 2.0

As is IMPACT tradition, we'll be doing Throwdowns again at INBOUND this year. We'll be doing Website Throwdowns and, this year, we'll be doing HubSpot Portal Throwdowns as well! 

You have the chance to throw your website or HubSpot portal in front of an expert and walk away with priceless advice (and some pretty great swag too)! The advice is free (and so is the swag), but you have to sign up in advance or you'll miss out (and nobody wants that!).

As our Director of Event Marketing, Jen Barrell, always says: we've all had eyes bigger than our canvas bags. I’ve definitely had to throw things away in my hotel room because they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. Ya know what doesn’t take up any space? KNOWLEDGE. (yeah…we went there.) So be sure to sign up for your Throwdown today!

What Marketers Be Talkin' 'Bout

Where we go over what you're saying in IMPACT Elite.

IMPACT Elite crossed 3,600 members! Know someone who would like IMPACT Elite? Invite them to join!

Building the Perfect Conference Agenda for You

Events like INBOUND are SO big and there’s just so much going on it can be hard to wrangle it all and not get overwhelmed. Here are some of my favorite tips:

• Determine Your Goal
• Download the App Ahead of Time
• Create a Shared Google Calendar (but turn off the reminders and set the right time zone!)
• Tag-team Sessions with Your Friends/Co-workers
• Don't Get Distracted by the Swag

Stalk the Speakers:
Another great thing you should do to prepare and build your agenda comes from our good friend Marcus Sheridan who always advises us to find the speakers we want to see at INBOUND online first. See if they’ve spoken in the past or created video or written content. If so, consume their content. Watch video of them speaking to get an idea if you'll like their style and content. 

Pro tip: Looking forward to a speaker? Connect with them ahead of time! Catch them before the event or, at the very least, when they walk in the room to talk. They'll be mobbed after and it's extra hard to connect at that point. Plus, they'll remember the person who took the time ahead of their talk. 

IMPACT Elite member, Chris Bryant, has already done a fantastic job of this. Check out this video he shared in Elite where he rounds up all the video related breakout sessions and events and talks about each speaker and topic. 

Nick and Stephanie's INBOUND 2018 Talks

Nick's session is called "Become a Sales Ninja: One Team's Ultimate Blueprint for Success with HubSpot Sales HUB." 

Stephanie's session is called "5 Steps to Future-Proof Your Marketing Skills Against the Rise of the Robots." 

Want to stalk us? Check out this recap of Nick's talk last year and this recap of Stephanie's. 

INBOUND 2018 Sessions We're Most Excited About

Nick is looking forward to Customer Success is Sales, Marketing, and Product Management by Brendon Albrizio, VP Customer Success at Crayon. He is also looking forward to Marcus Sheridan's talk (of course) on "Contagious Content."

I'm most excited about Mari Smith's talk on Facebook Video Marketing as well as the talk on "BFFs are the new MQLs" by Justin Keller from Sigstr. Bonus: I haven't stalked the speaker yet but I am definitely going to check out the talk titled "Privacy Matters - Permission Marketing is In." 

Inbound in the Trenches

This is where we talk about what we’re doing and what we’ve learned lately right here in the trenches. 

Tips for Aspiring and Growing Speakers

We’re working on our talks this week so Nick and I chatted about how we ended up speaking at INBOUND. We discussed why we picked INBOUND and how we picked our topics.

Preparing for a Speaking Session

We also shared advice for speakers we've learned from years past, what's keeping us up at night, and tips on how we practice for our talks. 

That's it for this week! We wrapped with our final thoughts which, as always, you can catch by watching or listening to the broadcast.

We would love your comments. What did you think of the show? Let us know in Elite. Make sure you never miss a show or update by subscribing at impactplus.com/show. 

Join Us Next Time! 

Until next time...we'll see you in Elite!