The Craft of Conferencing Podcast

Episode 4: Ari Driessen, Co-founder & CEO, RSVpify

Welcome to episode four of the Craft of Conferencing Podcast. This show features in-depth conversations with thought leaders in the B2B conferencing space. Our guest is Ari Driessen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aridriessen?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAI7bRMBt7kir22srSwotauznDcmIq4oXP8&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_all%3B6cqs28zxTc%2BvXcetSoKQzA%3D%3D] is the co-founder and CEO of RSVPify [https://rsvpify.com/], an event tech platform that began as sometning very personal for Ari. His wedding. As Ari puts it, he likes the automate things. This compulsion to automate meant Ari didn’t want to do paper wedding invitations. And the existing platforms out there that did automate the invitation process (e.g., The Knot, Evite, etc.) lacked features Ari considered essential. So Ari built the wedding invitation app he wanted tp build. And he and his team soon realized RSVPify was easily applicable to B2B events as well. Tune in for a great conversation about building an event tech. And about the present and future of B2B events. To learn more about The Craft of Conferencing or to get involved with the podcast, visit our website [https://www.craftofconferencing.com/], or write to us at Charles@craftofconferencing.com [charles@craftofconferencing.com]. Get full access to Craft of Conferencing Newsletter at charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe [https://charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 3: George Leith, EVP & CRO, Harvard Media

Welcome to episode three of the Craft of Conferencing Podcast. This show features in-depth conversations with thought leaders in the B2B conferencing space. Our guest is George Leith, currently the EVP and CRO of Harvard Media. We know George from his days as the CRO of the digital marketing software company Vendasta, where he was the master of selling at conferences. We talk to George about the do's and don'ts of selling at conferences. We talk about the event sales process he developed at Vendasta that George believes in to this day. And we talk about how salespeople should approach speaking opportunities. This is a must-listen if you sell at events. To learn more about The Craft of Conferencing or to get involved with the podcast, visit our website [https://www.craftofconferencing.com/], or write to us at Charles@craftofconferencing.com [charles@craftofconferencing.com]. Get full access to Craft of Conferencing Newsletter at charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe [https://charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 2: Phil Mershon, Director of Experience, Social Media Examiner

Welcome to episode two of the Craft of Conferencing Podcast. This show features in-depth conversations with thought leaders in the B2B conferencing space. Our guest is Phil Mershon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/philmershon/], the Director of Experience at Social Media Examiner and the force behind Social Media Marketing World [https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/], a heralded annual event for digital marketers. We hope you enjoy the show. We talk to Phil about what makes events great. it's a topic dear to his heart. Phil wrote the book on creating great events, Unforgettable: Art and Science of Creating Memorable Experiences. To learn more about The Craft of Conferencing or to get involved with the podcast, visit our website [https://www.craftofconferencing.com/], or write to us at Charles@craftofconferencing.com [charles@craftofconferencing.com]. Get full access to Craft of Conferencing Newsletter at charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe [https://charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 1: Daphne Earp Hoppenot, Founder, The Vendry

Welcome to the first episode of the Craft of Conferencing Podcast. This show features enlightening and candid conversations with thought leaders in the B2B conferencing space. We are launching as a monthly podcast. However, the show’s frequency will eventually increase to weekly. Our inaugural guest is Daphne Earp Hoppenot [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphneearp?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAUO2tYBVm13aBqQ_wPpBpLUa8Ao5BbVOFE&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_all%3B9vfch7wiQKme1Jeb9cUnnQ%3D%3D]. If you are an eventing pro you will know Daphne as the founder of The Vendry [https://www.linkedin.com/products/thevendry-the-vendry-pro/], an event-tech platform built to fix what Daphne saw as a broken venue-search ecosystem. The idea for The Vendry came to Daphne while at Yext, which produced multiple events a year and had a high-performing events team that struggled with some of the basics of doing their jobs because of a lack of efficiency, particularly in sourcing event venues. The Vendry was launched in 2019 and in July of this year, it was acquired by the meeting sourcing and planning platform Groupize [https://www.linkedin.com/company/groupize-com/]. The conversation focuses on the story of The Vendry from its inception through its recent exit. We also share some candid observations about what makes B2B events tick. One thread of the discussion touched on why people attend conferences. We agreed that some delegates are just “lobby people” who are there to do business, not to sit in the meeting hall and take notes during keynotes. We hope you enjoy the show. To learn more about The Craft of Conferencing, visit our website [https://www.craftofconferencing.com/], or write to us at Charles@craftofconferencing.com [charles@craftofconferencing.com]. Get full access to Craft of Conferencing Newsletter at charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe [https://charleslaughlin.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]