Boldpush

Management consulting for the event industry

[Boldpush @boldpush]

Our first analysis of the #eventtech market is out. Take a look.

https://t.co/IxqgTDqjZ9

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

Somebody once said, " There are no good newsletters about events" - with my newsletter at 30K subscribers. - to justify the launch of theirs

I would say there is very bad advice out there for media companies that do events.

We are fixing that tomorrow with advice from real events and client work, with examples from the FT, NYT, WSJ, The Economist, and Bloomberg.

What will look normal for events in 2028 - agents taking over and how you sell more tickets and sponsors.

Because the MOST-read newsletter in events is in my bio, and it has 42K subscribers.

Saluti!

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

What companies like @a16z need to realize is that the new product to invest in are events.

Scalable, replicable and distributed.

The next greatest generation of builders will be in IRL experiences.

They saw it first hand with what @andrewchen built with @Techweek_

Companies with 10/15 event portfolios are being acquired for billions.

This is without any AI optimization yet, lagging behind dramatically in our industry.

I hope to see dedicated event programs in Tier 1 VC companies.

IRL is winning

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

For the third year in a row, our research will confirm that 60%-80% of registrations come in the last 4 weeks before an event.

The stupidity of some event marketing advice still used by many teams is effectively damaging the likelihood of performing.

This problem HAS NOT always been like this.

Mitigating late registrations is a 25-week mammoth project that requires an extremely accurate strategy.

Be careful.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

I just launched the new Boldpush+ landing page.

Very proud of this one
https://t.co/FFvQneRs5a

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

I was @money2020. This is my review - if you want the deck with a 40 slides analysis, ask for it in the comments

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

My friends

Tomorrow I am dropping a 9 min video and 40 slide teardown of Money20/20

6 people working on it
Two days of shooting
In depth analysis

$15k of work

FREE in my newsletter.

You know where to find it

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

Something I am observing at events. A speaker has 2 minutes to capture attention.

If they fail, people will be on their phones instantly.

A panel offers more moments to recapture attention.

Even there, a boring question or speaker will shut down attention until the next question or speaker.

This is why keynote slots are becoming increasingly harder to manage and consume.

Different for deep dives and workshops where attention is opted in.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

3,000! Registered 1200 live right now

Join us here!!!

https://t.co/JKk0MfMLN0

[WIFT.ai @WIFT_ai]

Tomorrow. @boldpush AI for Events Demo Day. 8 AM PT. WIFT is in the room.
Register: https://t.co/38qM8h1v4X

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

This is by far the biggest show floor for IMEX America I've ever seen. Also very busy.

Interesting to note the size of the pre-entrance activations. Looks like some budget is coming to events.

This is further confirmation of the interest events are getting across the board.

Also, a growing range of side events is taking place alongside the usual hosted buyer activities.

From the tech side of things, a massive rebrand of most companies with AI.

Tomorrow in my newsletter, I'll share my new eventtech ecosystem with all the companies that are making an impact on the market.

I removed a ton of them and added a lot of new ones.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

There is not going to be much left for Informa to buy very soon.

We need new event cycles.

Entrepreneurs who can start and accelerate events from zero to $2/3M in revenue in 2/3 years or 6/7 editions.

How do you do it?

- choose verticals where you have a strong community, database, media

- choose verticals that are accelerating and poised for growth.

- choose difficult and highly regulated industries that need disruption

- create a solid event model. Connection first, strong decision maker presence, 1:1 meeting powered

- be AI first. Trim all the fat and skip expensive processes and tools

- attack competition. Understand their business model and attack it. Cheaper price (not more than 30%), more value.

This model is extremely repeatable.
Established operators understand it very well.

What has changed?

The market: events are poised to 2x in the next 5 years.

Projections will be updated soon. Very few are seeing it.

Private equity sees it. $10 billion worth of acquisitions in a few months.

Stop building ai startups, if you have been laid off, stop applying for jobs, start an event.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

Jesus, Informa bought Clarion

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

I attend and consult on the biggest events in tech, marketing and media. 25 things they always get wrong:

- Shit apps with doom scrolling to find info
- Little structured networking
- Food. Sandwich and cookie if you are lucky
- 1 billion sessions, unsearchable and 10 miles apart
- zero white space
- wasted on-stage moments - reading scripts
- unbriefed staff not trained to do events
- missing session transcriptions and captions
- no attendance report
- clumsy badge pickup with QR codes or enter email
- random sessions with random people
- no rest areas, no charging areas
- poor wayfinding
- no welcome party
- no spontaneous meetup areas
- open bars - no mocktails
- no email list protection and guardrails
- wasteful swag - low quality
- lack of lounges
- lack of proper hydration stations
- lack of portable charger rentals
- lack of strong messaging about the event
- zero follow up
- bad feedback collection
- zero recorded content

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

Prediction: More media/tech companies will own venues in the future.

They will take over or compete with Live Nation. This could be for consumers, but also for their own business events.

Netflix is building in Vegas.

Apple launched a music hall in London.

Next up Youtube and Meta

Events will quickly become the only form of marketing, we believe.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

There is a massive opportunity right now to build the Bending Spoons of events:

- Take declining events with strong brands

- overhaul the processes

- inject AI

- rediscuss all contracts

- go to market

I am thinking about bringing the secret sauce to grow events.

We had awesome results for clients @boldpush - it may be interesting to scale our secret sauce.

There is nothing but growth ahead of cards are played right.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

I read many accounts of Dreamforce.
A lot of propaganda, showing off and kinda chic.

Tomorrow I have the full breakdown of the event in my newsletter

This is the Super Bowl of business events. Some things were cool, others not so much.

LIB

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

One attendee at the Create and Cultivate event shared a post on Instagram complaining about a $400 ticket and food running out quickly.

Crazy lines of people waiting to get bags of chips and then the event orders McDonalds large fries for everyone.

This is a $400 event.

The reality is that I constantly pay $1500 or $2000 to get a box with a turkey sandwich, a cookie, a coke and chips.

No dinner. Snacks are cookies and coffee. Sometimes popcorn.

To add insult to injury you have to collect points and stamps to get an espresso.

Venues are charging crazy amounts for F&B, planners are passing those prices plus cutting option to make a profit.

There is no easy solution to this. But some events are to blame.

They advertise lunch and dinner and they don’t have a strategy, they can’t budget, they don’t negotiate, they make bad destination and venue choices.

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

1k registered in 8 hours for AI for Events Demo Day

Oct 22 -> 25 companies, 5 min demos

FREE

[Julius Solaris @tojulius]

The fact I can register 2,000 people in one week for an event is insane.

At peak pre pandemic with a database of 100k people I registered 1500 people max.

Absurd.

[Boldpush @boldpush]

@tojulius 🤝