Latest / Sales Pipeline Radio / Elevating Event Content: Beyond the Stage to Long-Term Impact

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Elevating Event Content: Beyond the Stage to Long-Term Impact · Sales Pipeline Radio

• 0:15
  Matt Heinz: All right.
• 0:15
  Welcome back to Cvent CONNECT.
• 0:17
  We're here on the show floor outside of the Innovation Pavilion.
• 0:20
  Just having a great time talking to a lot of Cvent customers, people of the
• 0:23
  industry, people that just are living and breathing events on a regular basis.
• 0:27
  Very excited to have with this today for this session, Megan Martin.
• 0:29
  She's the VP of Marketing and Innovation at EMC Meetings and Events.
• 0:32
  Welcome.
• 0:33
  Megan Martin: Thank you.
• 0:33
  Glad to be here.
• 0:34
  Matt Heinz: How's the show been so far for you?
• 0:35
  Megan Martin: Amazing.
• 0:36
  Yeah.
• 0:36
  EMC won, uh, Excellence Award last night.
• 0:39
  Matt Heinz: Congratulations.
• 0:39
  Megan Martin: So we're running a high
• 0:40
  Matt Heinz: That's amazing.
• 0:41
  Megan Martin: From winning the big award last night, so we're having a great time.
• 0:44
  Matt Heinz: That is awesome.
• 0:44
  Well, there's so many things we can talk about in this session.
• 0:46
  I want to talk about content.
• 0:48
  Yes.
• 0:48
  Which is at the heart of all events.
• 0:50
  But, you know, if you're at an event like Cvent CONNECT, there's content
• 0:53
  you're experiencing this week, but that's not the end of the content.
• 0:57
  And we're gonna talk about like, how do you plan for the right content in the
• 0:59
  room, but also make sure you're getting a long tail of value for that content in so
• 1:04
  many different formats and opportunities.
• 1:06
  So, we're gonna get into that in a minute, but maybe let's start with you and just
• 1:08
  talk about what's your role at EMC.
• 1:10
  Megan Martin: Yeah, so I'm the VP of Marketing and Innovation.
• 1:13
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:13
  So obviously the marketing side, I do all the marketing things mm-hmm.
• 1:17
  For the agency.
• 1:18
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:18
  We're a full service event planning agency.
• 1:21
  I also do a lot of innovation and consulting with our clients.
• 1:24
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:24
  So, as we know, event planners are super busy.
• 1:27
  They don't necessarily always have the time to look for the new tech or
• 1:31
  the new ways and the new processes.
• 1:33
  So I try to keep my finger on the pulse of the industry.
• 1:36
  What's new what's coming, what techs?
• 1:38
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:38
  What new formats can we introduce?
• 1:41
  So as our clients are trying to innovate, we can innovate with them
• 1:44
  and we can really be that consultative arm that they can lean on us and be
• 1:48
  like, how do we make this better?
• 1:50
  Yeah.
• 1:50
  And we always have the solution for that.
• 1:52
  Matt Heinz: I mean, for the event profs watching and listening to this, they know
• 1:54
  that like there are so many things that go into it, like how good is the coffee?
• 1:56
  How close is the hotel to the convention center.
• 1:58
  Content is part of that, Yes.
• 2:00
  But like, help me understand, like for the best customers, for the best
• 2:03
  in class events, where does content fit into the planning function?
• 2:07
  Megan Martin: Yeah.
• 2:07
  I think people come to events for two reasons.
• 2:09
  Networking, the social aspects.
• 2:11
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:11
  And then the content, right?
• 2:12
  They wanna learn something.
• 2:13
  So when we're thinking about content, we're not just thinking
• 2:17
  talking heads, we're thinking value.
• 2:18
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:19
  So what are we gonna deliver that's not Googleable.
• 2:22
  Yeah.
• 2:22
  We have to have those moments where someone's gonna come and be able to
• 2:26
  consume a piece of content that they can't find anywhere else on the internet.
• 2:29
  Right.
• 2:29
  And what value does that bring them?
• 2:32
  Right.
• 2:32
  So we spend a lot of time looking at intent data with our clients.
• 2:36
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:38
  You know, we talk a lot about the funnel and like trying to do content
• 2:41
  for different parts of the funnel.
• 2:42
  Mm-hmm.
• 2:42
  I think the funnel is dead.
• 2:43
  It's more of a playground.
• 2:45
  Mm. Ashley Foster wrote a whole book about this that was very inspiring
• 2:49
  to me, and she's spot on with it.
• 2:51
  People are coming in at different areas.
• 2:53
  They're not coming in through a funnel.
• 2:54
  Maybe they're coming in sideways, they're not always gonna buy.
• 2:57
  And so are they looking at content from, I just wanna be an expert in this field.
• 3:03
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:03
  And I need to learn more.
• 3:04
  Yeah.
• 3:04
  So you're the expert and help me educate.
• 3:07
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:08
  Or I wanna know about your product.
• 3:09
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:09
  So give me product marketing things.
• 3:11
  I think Cvent CONNECT does a pretty good job at that as well.
• 3:14
  Like there's things about marketing, there's sessions about sales.
• 3:17
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:17
  There's sessions about the product and how to use it more efficiently.
• 3:20
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:21
  So when we think content, we think intent.
• 3:23
  Yep.
• 3:23
  And so why are we producing this piece of content and how are
• 3:26
  we gonna continue to use it?
• 3:28
  Who is the audience and what value are they gonna gain from consuming it?
• 3:32
  Matt Heinz: Well, you mentioned the importance of data and the importance
• 3:33
  of intent data and to be able to, even at a conference like this where
• 3:36
  you have thousands of people, how do you then customize that experience?
• 3:40
  For those different roles, those different people here, based on where
• 3:43
  they're at, either in that buying playground or in their customer journey.
• 3:47
  Megan Martin: Yeah, I think a lot of conferences organize their
• 3:50
  content based on topic areas.
• 3:51
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:52
  Instead of the value or why.
• 3:54
  Mm-hmm.
• 3:54
  If I'm coming to the conference just for networking, tell me all the
• 3:58
  ways and all the areas I need to go.
• 4:00
  Yeah.
• 4:00
  So that I can meet as many people as possible.
• 4:02
  That's right.
• 4:03
  You know, if I'm coming to learn because I need to be a better sales person.
• 4:07
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:07
  Or I need to be better at using, you know, the Cvent platform.
• 4:10
  Yep.
• 4:11
  Tell me all the sessions.
• 4:12
  Right.
• 4:12
  Not just in a singular track.
• 4:14
  So that's when we think about intent data mm-hmm.
• 4:17
  That we're looking at.
• 4:18
  And then the post follow up, like so much of data creation has to think
• 4:23
  way before the event even starts.
• 4:25
  Yep.
• 4:25
  And so a lot of our clients are creating run of shows for
• 4:28
  content, just like they would the operational execution of the event.
• 4:32
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:32
  So these sessions are gonna produce this, and we're gonna have this outcome for them
• 4:36
  and these people are in charge of that.
• 4:38
  Yeah.
• 4:38
  Or we wanna capture this at this session.
• 4:41
  And so there's almost like a run of show every single day of what they're capturing
• 4:45
  so they can look and say, oh, we noticed you had this session saved on your agenda.
• 4:50
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:50
  But you weren't able to make it.
• 4:51
  They didn't scan into the session.
• 4:53
  Right.
• 4:53
  Here's a webinar.
• 4:54
  Here's a podcast recording, right?
• 4:56
  Here's a white paper on that topic that you missed.
• 4:59
  Matt Heinz: We're here on the show floor at Cvent CONNECT with Megan Martin.
• 5:01
  She's the VP of Marketing Innovation at EMC Meetings and Events.
• 5:05
  There's so much great content and experiences and moments at
• 5:08
  conferences like this that are valuable in the moment and then are
• 5:11
  sort of either lost or forgotten.
• 5:12
  Right.
• 5:13
  We're onto the next session, we're onto the next conversation,
• 5:16
  and we lose that content.
• 5:17
  Like why are we so bad at that?
• 5:19
  And how can companies and event marketers get better at creating the long tail
• 5:23
  for the content that they're enabling?
• 5:25
  Megan Martin: I mean, at the end of the day, the teams are just siloed, and so
• 5:28
  a lot of the times, you know, the event people are moving straight on mm-hmm.
• 5:32
  To the next event.
• 5:33
  Yep.
• 5:33
  They're not necessarily thinking about repurposing that content.
• 5:35
  And marketing is following up on leads, working with sales, and how do
• 5:39
  we outreach to the attendees, right.
• 5:41
  And not necessarily thinking about.
• 5:43
  Wow, we just captured five days or four days worth of these soundbites and all
• 5:48
  the things, you know, if you have a plan in place before you even start the event.
• 5:52
  Yeah.
• 5:52
  You know how to repurpose it for 6, 9, 12 months, and then you have
• 5:56
  this year round cycle where you're just hyping it up for the next year.
• 5:59
  That's right.
• 6:00
  You've fed that feed all year long.
• 6:03
  Matt Heinz: So could you gimme an example of what that would look like?
• 6:05
  So yesterday morning opening keynote, Reggie does like 15, 20 minutes on stage
• 6:09
  and it's a broad swath of like where he sees the industry going and not getting
• 6:13
  into products, but it's sort of more of the CEO perspective, like as a content
• 6:17
  team sitting in the back of the room, how do you take that session, which is
• 6:21
  now a recorded video with transcripts, like what do you do with that?
• 6:25
  Megan Martin: So for him, something like that.
• 6:27
  I mean, that's like a trends piece, right?
• 6:29
  Mm-hmm.
• 6:29
  So, I mean, beyond the roadmap, that's a whole nother probably six months
• 6:33
  of content I could push on this Cvent roadmap that you talked about, right?
• 6:37
  Thinking about the industry trends, that can become a white paper, a
• 6:40
  LinkedIn carousel, we can push it out and six months we can be like,
• 6:44
  oh, are these trends coming true?
• 6:46
  Mm-hmm.
• 6:46
  Are they still on track?
• 6:47
  A year from now, we can say, oh, were we right?
• 6:49
  Did those trends happen?
• 6:51
  But beyond just the organizer, so, Cvent producing.
• 6:54
  Why aren't all of your ambassadors also?
• 6:57
  Yes.
• 6:57
  So what about all the influencers?
• 6:59
  What about your exhibitors?
• 7:00
  What about your sponsors?
• 7:01
  What about your attendees?
• 7:02
  Like they should be like, oh, I sat in this general session,
• 7:05
  Reggie said we should do this.
• 7:07
  That's right.
• 7:07
  I'm seeing that in my business.
• 7:09
  And you have now all these other people talking about your event that you can then
• 7:13
  repurpose their content just like you're repurposing your own keynote from Reggie.
• 7:17
  So you know, one 20 minute trends keynote from Reggie yesterday.
• 7:23
  Mm-hmm.
• 7:24
  Could turn into thousands of impressions.
• 7:26
  Yeah.
• 7:26
  If you include exhibitor sponsors, attendees, influencers
• 7:29
  that were in that room.
• 7:30
  Matt Heinz: So if you're listening and watching this, you're thinking,
• 7:32
  boy, we just had our event.
• 7:33
  Like whether it was yesterday or last month, and you're like,
• 7:35
  we haven't done any of that.
• 7:36
  The opportunity's still there.
• 7:38
  You can take that content.
• 7:39
  You could still do all of these things.
• 7:40
  Absolutely.
• 7:41
  Better yet, if your conference is coming up in the next few weeks or
• 7:43
  months, and you can plan for this.
• 7:45
  Yes.
• 7:45
  So what are some of the keys to people and companies thinking and planning
• 7:49
  before the event even happens to be able to take advantage of this in the moment.
• 7:53
  Megan Martin: That's where there needs to be so much more collaboration between the
• 7:56
  sales, marketing and events team because a sales team is gonna look at, okay.
• 8:01
  What are people saying and how do I leverage that as
• 8:03
  like a sales enablement piece?
• 8:05
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:05
  So that I can drive my pipeline, I can close sales.
• 8:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:08
  So sales are gonna look at all of your content in one way?
• 8:10
  Yeah.
• 8:10
  You should give it to them and tell them and say, what out of this
• 8:14
  agenda, what out of these sessions?
• 8:16
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:16
  Like what do you need to know so we can capture it?
• 8:18
  So then we have sales enablement pieces for the next six months.
• 8:21
  That's right.
• 8:22
  And we know what our audience is thinking.
• 8:23
  Marketing's gonna come in and be like, oh, that would be a great TikTok piece.
• 8:27
  That would be a great LinkedIn piece.
• 8:29
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:29
  Here's five takeaways.
• 8:30
  Mm-hmm.
• 8:30
  Here's what we heard.
• 8:31
  You know, Billy on the street style from the hallway conversations.
• 8:35
  You know, marketing's gonna look at it from one lens.
• 8:37
  Yeah.
• 8:37
  And then your event, people are gonna look at it from a different lens as well
• 8:40
  of like what areas were most active, what were people loving so we can continue
• 8:46
  to drive these personalized experiences.
• 8:48
  Yeah.
• 8:49
  So those are one agenda, three completely different perspectives,
• 8:53
  but they all need to be talking prior to even going on site because.
• 8:57
  If you go in with a plan, mm-hmm.
• 8:59
  You can execute and actually produce six months worth of content
• 9:02
  post-event rather than waiting till it's over and then having to think.
• 9:06
  Okay.
• 9:07
  Now you have so much data, you're overwhelmed.
• 9:09
  You're drowning in it.
• 9:10
  You're drowning in this content, and you're like, we
• 9:12
  don't even know where to start.
• 9:13
  Like if you go in with that sort of run of show.
• 9:16
  Mm-hmm.
• 9:16
  As soon as it's done, you're executing.
• 9:17
  Absolutely.
• 9:18
  And not having to create.
• 9:19
  Matt Heinz: So you go in with a plan, you go in with a run of show,
• 9:21
  and then the event happens, and then serendipity happens as well.
• 9:24
  Right.
• 9:24
  Of course.
• 9:25
  People walk by, you're like, I wanna get them on video.
• 9:27
  Or something happens in an unexpected way, or you know, we've gotta run
• 9:30
  a show for this session right here.
• 9:32
  Some things that I knew that you've been working on that I wanted
• 9:34
  to make sure to ask you, but I'm already asking you a question.
• 9:36
  It wasn't on the run a show.
• 9:37
  And so how do you balance that planned effort to help make an event successful
• 9:42
  with opportunities for things that pop up.
• 9:45
  Megan Martin: I mean, that's just where you have to be flexible.
• 9:47
  Yeah.
• 9:47
  I mean, we know that even from an event design standpoint.
• 9:50
  Mm-hmm.
• 9:50
  Like there's always gonna be things that happen that you're not prepared for.
• 9:53
  Yeah.
• 9:54
  But that's even more important to having a plan because if you're
• 9:58
  always trying to play catch up.
• 10:01
  Everything is unexpected and serendipitous at that point.
• 10:04
  Right.
• 10:04
  Right.
• 10:04
  Where if you can structure it and you know, going in, okay,
• 10:07
  we know we have people there.
• 10:09
  Mm-hmm.
• 10:09
  Oh, there's this great hallway conversation going on.
• 10:12
  Yeah.
• 10:12
  We know we have a team in that area and they have a break right now.
• 10:15
  Let's go capture some of that.
• 10:16
  Or we have a downtime, let's go get some more B roll or.
• 10:20
  You know, on the street conversations, it's just about being flexible
• 10:24
  and when you have a plan, you have the capacity to be more flexible.
• 10:28
  Matt Heinz: So clear opportunity to repurpose a lot of this into content
• 10:31
  that you can then reshare with your audience, with your customer.
• 10:34
  I think, you know, we now see a greater opportunity to make that a
• 10:36
  community element, right, where it's not just us as brands publishing that
• 10:39
  out to our constituents, but getting them to communicate peer to peer.
• 10:44
  Yeah.
• 10:44
  So how do you take some of that content and the experiences in an event and use
• 10:47
  that to spark a community that creates and shares content with each other?
• 10:51
  Megan Martin: I think you have to encourage it.
• 10:52
  When we think about thought leadership, like anyone can do that now.
• 10:55
  Mm-hmm.
• 10:55
  With platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram and TikTok and everybody
• 10:59
  wants to share their experience and to make it easy for them to do that, like
• 11:03
  have the Instagram backdrop moment.
• 11:06
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:06
  You know, give them the spaces to be their own content creator because when
• 11:09
  you make it easy for them to share their experience, people will do it.
• 11:13
  Yeah.
• 11:14
  And so give them the tools.
• 11:15
  Maybe have an area where they can record the video.
• 11:19
  Yeah.
• 11:19
  Or give the testimonial and then they can easily share it out.
• 11:22
  Or, you know, even the pre-event of that.
• 11:24
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:25
  Like people wanna go where their friends are going.
• 11:27
  That's right.
• 11:27
  You know, and having it easy where.
• 11:29
  You know, tools like Snowball, InGo, Gleanin where they can quickly share
• 11:32
  and being like, I'm going to CONNECT.
• 11:33
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:34
  Who's gonna be there?
• 11:35
  I posted something up, you know?
• 11:36
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:36
  I'm gonna be there.
• 11:37
  Who's gonna be there?
• 11:38
  Yeah.
• 11:38
  Am I gonna see my friends?
• 11:39
  What should I not miss this year?
• 11:42
  Matt Heinz: One of the tradeoffs of having a community start to
• 11:44
  create its own content is you lose a little control, right?
• 11:46
  For you lose little control of the brand, the consistency, where's the
• 11:49
  right balance between sort of brand consistency and authenticity of
• 11:53
  content that's coming from peers.
• 11:56
  Megan Martin: I think that's where you have to be engaged.
• 11:58
  Mm-hmm.
• 11:58
  Like when we think about community, we think engagement.
• 12:01
  Yeah.
• 12:01
  And if you're keeping a pulse on those ambassadors mm-hmm.
• 12:05
  And you're commenting, liking, mm-hmm.
• 12:08
  Actively resharing their content.
• 12:10
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:10
  That kind of helps you keep a little bit of control because, they know,
• 12:15
  you know, you're always around, you're watching, they want to hear it, and
• 12:19
  I think people will be more honest.
• 12:21
  Yeah.
• 12:21
  And you create more authenticity in that way.
• 12:24
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:25
  That, you know, you can just keep the conversations flowing.
• 12:28
  Yeah.
• 12:28
  Matt Heinz: Yeah.
• 12:28
  Yeah.
• 12:28
  Well, I think one of the things that I'm hearing from you is that like
• 12:30
  there's the content we create and then there's the content we inspire.
• 12:34
  Yes.
• 12:34
  Talk a little about what that means, and that's not just amongst the attendees
• 12:37
  and your customers and prospects.
• 12:39
  It's among the people at your very company and your partners, the
• 12:41
  people in your ecosystem Yeah.
• 12:43
  That are there and inspired by that as well.
• 12:45
  What are some of the best practices and even sort of the triggers and the
• 12:48
  motivators to really inspire people to use your content as a launching point.
• 12:52
  Megan Martin: For sure.
• 12:52
  I mean, that's where thought leadership comes in, so.
• 12:55
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:55
  Back to your example of Reggie's keynote.
• 12:58
  Mm-hmm.
• 12:58
  Why I could go easily on my platform now.
• 13:01
  I mean, like, this is what I heard the trends are in the industry.
• 13:04
  Here's what I agree with.
• 13:05
  Here's maybe what I'm questioning.
• 13:07
  Yep.
• 13:07
  You know, and then I can sort of spread that message, you know, even wider.
• 13:11
  I can inspire conversation, you know, what are you guys hearing?
• 13:15
  This is what Reggie said, yeah.
• 13:16
  Here's what I'm thinking.
• 13:18
  Yep.
• 13:18
  What's our community think?
• 13:19
  Are we way off base?
• 13:21
  What do we love?
• 13:22
  What do we hate about it?
• 13:23
  Mm-hmm.
• 13:24
  You know?
• 13:25
  The beauty of the events industry, we all work on so many different kinds of events.
• 13:28
  Yeah.
• 13:28
  Consumer events, business events, you know, executive dinners, huge conferences.
• 13:33
  We all bring a different perspective to it, but there's
• 13:35
  so much learning opportunity.
• 13:37
  'cause at the end of the day, it's all humans going to these events.
• 13:40
  Matt Heinz: Yes.
• 13:40
  Megan Martin: And so there's a lot of connectivity that I think we miss because
• 13:43
  we don't share more widely and openly and inspire people to think outside
• 13:48
  of their, you know, initial circle.
• 13:50
  Mm-hmm.
• 13:50
  For inspiration.
• 13:51
  Matt Heinz: So we just got a few minutes left.
• 13:53
  I think, you know, there's the common playbook of repurposing content.
• 13:56
  You know, you've got your blog post, you've got your social media post,
• 13:59
  you've got, you know, converting into small video clips and email nurtures.
• 14:02
  I, I'm curious if there's a content format or type or tactic that
• 14:05
  you don't see very often used.
• 14:07
  That is actually really powerful and I'll give you an example that I
• 14:09
  think is powerful that I've heard a lot of people starting to use now is
• 14:11
  sort of behind the scenes content.
• 14:13
  Mm-hmm.
• 14:13
  Right?
• 14:13
  Like showing Reggie in the green room, like showing some of the prep
• 14:17
  that people don't typically see.
• 14:18
  Yeah.
• 14:18
  I think, I mean we see that in the media world, right?
• 14:20
  Like bloopers and clips on the, beyond just the episodes of just,
• 14:24
  you know, the actors being real between takes, people dig that stuff.
• 14:27
  Megan Martin: Yes.
• 14:27
  Matt Heinz: Talk about that or any other sort of formats
• 14:29
  that you think are hidden gems.
• 14:31
  Megan Martin: I mean, that's definitely one.
• 14:32
  Mm-hmm.
• 14:32
  I mean, people want authentic, they want the bloopers.
• 14:34
  Mm-hmm.
• 14:35
  They want pre start doing that pre-content Yeah.
• 14:37
  Like have your speakers being like, here's what I'm prepping for.
• 14:39
  Yeah.
• 14:39
  What should I talk about in my session?
• 14:41
  The one piece that I think is most underutilized is you have these
• 14:45
  captive audience at these events.
• 14:46
  Mm-hmm.
• 14:47
  And then we don't do polling in our sessions.
• 14:50
  Yeah.
• 14:50
  Yeah.
• 14:50
  So if we started using interactive polls more in these sessions, I mean,
• 14:55
  that's great pieces of data Yeah.
• 14:58
  That you can then dump into data tools.
• 15:00
  You can then validate Reggie's thoughts on the industry, you know, ask a
• 15:04
  couple questions at the beginning of every session and then share
• 15:07
  that out and being like, here's what the audience at Cvent said.
• 15:10
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:10
  You know, 80% is.
• 15:11
  Blah, blah, blah, whatever the question might be.
• 15:14
  Yeah.
• 15:14
  I don't think we utilize polling enough in the moment.
• 15:18
  Yeah.
• 15:18
  And to be able to, you know, use that post event or even pre-event,
• 15:23
  Matt Heinz: it's amazing to be like when we're not at events, we work
• 15:25
  so hard and sometimes pulling teeth to get people to answer questions.
• 15:28
  And yet when you get a few hundred people in the room staring at you, and we still
• 15:32
  don't and we don't ask the questions.
• 15:33
  Yeah.
• 15:33
  Huge.
• 15:33
  I love that you brought that up.
• 15:34
  'cause that's a huge opportunity.
• 15:35
  Yeah.
• 15:35
  All right.
• 15:36
  We've been talking a lot about best practices for content repurposing.
• 15:39
  I love a good best practice, but I also love a good dumpster fire.
• 15:42
  Gosh.
• 15:42
  So if I were to talk about dumpster fires or cautionary tales, things
• 15:45
  people might not think about on their own unless they have experienced
• 15:48
  the pain of it themselves, what have you seen that maybe stands out?
• 15:51
  Megan Martin: I mean, immediately my brain goes back to like
• 15:55
  Fyre Festival stuff, right?
• 15:57
  And so like,
• 15:59
  there's a balance between being authentic and sharing behind the scenes.
• 16:02
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:03
  But then if things are not going well Yeah.
• 16:05
  Like being very careful about sharing those behind the scenes moments.
• 16:10
  Right, right.
• 16:10
  And you know, things can go viral very quickly for all the wrong reasons.
• 16:15
  That's right.
• 16:15
  But keeping in mind it's how you respond to those things.
• 16:18
  Exactly.
• 16:19
  More so like eventually something's going to go viral and people
• 16:22
  are gonna have conversations about something that goes wrong.
• 16:24
  I mean, there's dumpster fires everywhere.
• 16:26
  Yeah.
• 16:26
  It's more on then how you respond to that and, take it with grace.
• 16:30
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:30
  And I think a lot of people who own some of those dumpster fires
• 16:33
  end up coming out on the better end where you're like, man, we effed up.
• 16:36
  Like, yeah, we own that and here's what we're gonna do to do better tomorrow, the
• 16:40
  next day, next year, whatever it may be.
• 16:42
  Matt Heinz: I think there's something to be said.
• 16:43
  I think there is a line there for sure.
• 16:44
  I think there's also something to be said for, you know, sort of creating
• 16:47
  some empathy with your audience and letting them see, like, listen,
• 16:49
  we all live in glass houses, man.
• 16:50
  Like we're all.
• 16:51
  This is never all perfect.
• 16:52
  Exactly.
• 16:53
  In terms of having this get done.
• 16:54
  So yeah.
• 16:55
  As we wrap up here, I'm curious as you see this moving forward, you know, we've got
• 16:59
  AI playing a bigger role in creating the data for us to be able to leverage events.
• 17:02
  We're seeing more of a hybrid format where an event here may tie into a pre or post
• 17:07
  virtual event and then other channels.
• 17:09
  How is that gonna impact our content opportunities in the next couple years?
• 17:13
  Megan Martin: I mean, AI is streamlining a lot of the processes.
• 17:16
  Like, look, I will die on this hill.
• 17:18
  That AI is one of the best things that ever happened to the events industry.
• 17:21
  Mm-hmm.
• 17:21
  I mean, people are gonna be craving more human to human interaction and I think
• 17:26
  our jobs just got way more important.
• 17:28
  Yep.
• 17:29
  Into the future.
• 17:30
  And when AI is used properly, it can streamline and make things a lot more
• 17:35
  efficient, which gives us back the space and the time to be creative
• 17:40
  and kind of push the boundaries of what we're capable of doing.
• 17:43
  Yeah.
• 17:43
  Because we have tools like AI that are doing a lot of the
• 17:45
  like mundane, tedious work.
• 17:47
  Yeah.
• 17:48
  That sucks up a lot of our time.
• 17:49
  Yeah.
• 17:49
  We can now automate all of those things.
• 17:51
  Yeah.
• 17:52
  To give ourselves that creative space to like create better experiences,
• 17:56
  create better content, and push what kind of content we're putting out there
• 17:59
  because we don't, you know, have to answer 300 emails in a day anymore.
• 18:03
  Matt Heinz: That's right.
• 18:03
  That's right.
• 18:04
  Love it.
• 18:04
  Megan Martin from EMC, thank you so much for joining us today.
• 18:07
  Megan Martin: Yeah, glad to be here.
• 18:07
  Thanks for having me.
• 18:08
  Matt Heinz: Thank you.