In this episode of Event Experience by Bizzabo, host Rachel Moore welcomes back EJ Oelling, VP of ABX at 6sense, for a powerful conversation on proving event ROI in today’s AI-driven landscape. EJ shares how aligning marketing, sales, and customer success around data and technology can transform events into revenue-generating engines.
Listeners will learn how to integrate tools like 6sense, Salesforce, Bizzabo, and Jifflenow to track engagement, build pipeline, and tie event activities to tangible outcomes. The discussion dives into trends like the shift to smaller, high-impact activations, the need for internal alignment and enablement, and finding the right balance between AI-driven efficiency and authentic human connection.
EJ also offers practical strategies for event professionals, covering tech integration, data organization, and team collaboration, while championing a mindset of continuous growth, self-awareness, and playing to your strengths.
Here’s what you’ll hear about in this conversation:
Enjoyed this content? Subscribe to our newsletter and get insights like these delivered straight to your inbox.
[00:00:09] Speaker: Welcome to Event Experience by Bizzabo. The podcast where we bring the best and brightest event experience leaders together to share stories, tips, and lessons learned from creating some of the world's biggest events.
[00:00:21] Speaker: I'm Rachel Moore, your podcast host.
[00:00:24] Speaker: We're welcoming back an event expert to dig into the importance of data in delivering pipeline.
[00:00:29] Speaker: EJ Oelling, VP of ABX at 6sense is about to give you all the sound bites you need to demonstrate your value in the age of AI, measure the success of your event in the aftermath, and motivate your colleagues to go to market with your activations.
[00:00:45] Speaker: There's also an honest look at tech stacks and tools, all of which can level up your next Event Experience.
[00:01:02] Rachel Moore: We're back everyone with another episode of the Event Experience podcast and, uh, today's guest is coming back full circle with us. Because we have met her before, especially if you've, uh, watched or partaken of our webinars or even our podcast episodes about our webinars.
[00:01:19] Rachel Moore: We are welcoming back the VP of ABX at 6sense, EJ Oelling, she is a marketing leader with 15 years, 15 plus. Let's emphasize the plus.
[00:01:28] Ej Oelling: I mean, there's a little plus.
[00:01:29] Rachel Moore: There's a little plus, and that means something. We don't put it there, negligently. We mean it to be there.
[00:01:34] Rachel Moore: The plus years of experience, she specializes in creating data-driven, mm, love that, personalized strategies that engage audiences and drive business growth. What every company wants to hear. Everybody wants to grow.
[00:01:46] Rachel Moore: In her role at 6sense, she leads a global program that aligns marketing and sales and customer success, and altogether they deliver impact full tailored experiences throughout the buyer journey.
[00:01:57] Rachel Moore: Uh, in short, she does events and she does all the parts of it. So, Ej, we're so happy to welcome you back to the podcast and back to Bizzabo.
[00:02:06] Ej Oelling: Thank you so much, Rachel. I'm excited to be here.
[00:02:08] Rachel Moore: Me as well.
[00:02:09] Rachel Moore: Um, and, and of course I had the, the privilege of being able to talk to you along with our other panelists on a webinar, for people who did watch the webinar or listen to that podcast episode, you might already know one of these questions, but I'm gonna kick off with that one.
[00:02:23] Rachel Moore: When you are spending a whole day on the ground at an event, what shoes are you going with to help sustain you?
[00:02:29] Ej Oelling: So, I really tried to rock like the, the Adidas, like that whole, I will tell you, I think they're super uncomfortable. They're like, not my shoe of choice. I really, mm. I tried. I then I went out and bought this random shoes. They're like Bzees, I think they're called. I, they were cheap and easy, and I'm telling you, they're like the most comfortable shoes I've worn on site.
[00:02:46] Rachel Moore: That's awesome. Oh my gosh. I have not heard that one yet on the podcast. So, I always delight when we get a new one. That's great. All right, everybody go, go check it out. But that always goes to go show too. Sometimes you just happen upon the one that that's great for your feet, for that long of a day. So that's great.
[00:03:01] Ej Oelling: I just couldn't do it.
[00:03:02] Rachel Moore: Is there anything that you're listening to, watching or reading these days that you can't put down, and it doesn't have to be events related?
[00:03:08] Ej Oelling: I only read trash, so I felt like that was not appropriate to talk about. Um, we just finished watching, so we're in a very, uh, documentary point in our lives. And so, we have gone really all in on them on Netflix or Apple TV or whatever.
[00:03:22] Ej Oelling: So we just finished, um, Amy Bradley is missing. And so I always have hope at the end that there's gonna be like a positive spin and there really usually isn't.
[00:03:30] Ej Oelling: But I tried, but we just, we went deep on that the other night.
[00:03:33] Rachel Moore: Nice. I have not. I, I, and again, I, I usually, I have a very, I feel like I'm in my bubble of like, things that I tend to go to. I don't even, I've rarely watch new shows. I'm just now watching Bones just, just to like, point out.
[00:03:46] Ej Oelling: I did not watch that one, but I know what it is.
[00:03:48] Rachel Moore: Yeah. It's, I, I don't know. I need something binge worthy. You, I could be like, "Hey, they've got, I've got a lot of seasons," so I know
[00:03:54] Ej Oelling: I got sucked into high potential on an airplane recently, so I feel like that. I'm like, okay. They're quick and easy. It's like brainless on a flight. So that's show, if anyone's looking for one.
[00:04:03] Rachel Moore: That's are awesome recommendations. Is there a particular social post or maybe a piece of media or even a hot take about events that you found interesting lately?
[00:04:11] Ej Oelling: You know, I'm always looking for something cool and weird, um, or, or I see something and I go, how can I take that and make it in my budget or work for our company? I just went to the Cannes Lion, um, earlier, uh, this summer, which was, it's a bucket list thing, and I'll tell you, I didn't get to go until much further in my career and it was so cool to see it.
[00:04:31] Ej Oelling: There are things there, I'm never gonna spend the budgets they are. But I look at some of the, there was a really cool gifting experience that I saw that I was like, how could I take that and work for my audience?
[00:04:40] Ej Oelling: I also think B2C companies do a really, really good job of really showcasing their brand in some really big wow ways. And I think about how can I take that experience into the B2B world get that similar emotional result that we're gonna get.
[00:04:55] Ej Oelling: I love TikTok. I mean, I'll look at anything. I try, always try to take it and think about how I can spin it in some way.
[00:05:01] Rachel Moore: Well, that's really smart though too. I also had an opportunity to go to Cannes Lion and it was just amazing. Um, but I, I still remember like one of the brands out there, they were like doing tattoos, like actual tattoos, which I, you might think, oh my gosh, they kept it super simple, but it was like, oh, that's something that's different.
[00:05:16] Ej Oelling: So I'm stealing that and making a version ish in our own brand for our um, B2B conference we have in November. So if anyone is coming to break you, you'll get to see how I took an idea and we're tweaking it slightly. So that's a fun one. It's funny that you mentioned that.
[00:05:31] Rachel Moore: I've met you before. But our, some of our audience may not be more familiar with you other than what I just read off about your bio and stuff like that.
[00:05:37] Rachel Moore: So, uh, I wanna give you an opportunity, tell us a little bit more about yourself, what your day to day is like at 6sense and just give us some more information.
[00:05:44] Rachel Moore: What is in your world?
[00:05:45] Ej Oelling: So, I am really stoked because I have a really unique job. Not everyone can say that they run account based experiences. It's like a combination of events, there's field marketing, we have go to market strategists who are like mini CMOs in the sales org. So that's where we have that sales marketing alignment, partner marketing, and then I help lead the European marketing team.
[00:06:04] Ej Oelling: So, it's never a boring day, let's put it that way. Many a phone call, many a Zoom call. I'm pretty sure, you know, it's like business on the top, party on the bottom here daily at the Oelling house.
[00:06:15] Ej Oelling: I'm really lucky because it's always something different and unique because there's so many different skill sets. I'm able to get my hands dirty into different buckets, which is.
[00:06:21] Rachel Moore: And the getting your hands dirty. I think everyone can relate with that. We, we know how that is, man. When you're doing events, you may be hauling a, a do a dolly with a box somewhere or, you know, getting digging around somewhere underneath, somewhere to be like, "Hey, let's make sure that's plugged in", or standing upright and then speaking very eloquently to, you know, business, uh, networking people. So, uh, it, it runs the whole gamut.
[00:06:42] Ej Oelling: Many hats.
[00:06:42] Rachel Moore: Many hats. Many hats.
[00:06:44] Rachel Moore: Well again, so happy to have you back because, uh, earlier this year, and we're in the year 2025, in case anyone's listening to this in, in years past or in years future. That's right.
[00:06:53] Rachel Moore: You were an expert panelist on our webinar Turning Event Data into Business Wins. I did have my little like, "oh, data-driven", you know, when we're reading off your bio because, yes.
[00:07:03] Rachel Moore: In the poll for that event, uh, we asked our panelists which of the following they were able to overcome thanks to event data. So I'm gonna read off those options and you and the audience who are listening and watching you can be like, the options were conveying ROI success to superiors, pulling metrics from the tech you're using, tying event engagement to sales pipeline. And so, those were the three and I think we left room for a fourth special snowflake in case anyone had something. "Ah, you didn't list what I had, but I got something else".
[00:07:31] Rachel Moore: I would love if you could expound on which one you were able to conquer and the strategy you used. So which one did you pick for that?
[00:07:38] Ej Oelling: Oh, I went with engagement, uh, tying in event engagement to pipeline. I mean, that's truly what my role is at the end of the day. I love that balance between sales and marketing, how we partner together and how we really use the data as the driver behind it. And I know we talked about it a lot on the other podcast, which you should listen to as well.
[00:07:57] Ej Oelling: I'm also gonna plug that podcast for just one second because it is the first time in my career in 15 plus. I love that we didn't go with 20, but I'm going with 15 plus years. I almost pulled over my notebook and started taking notes. Like, I was so intrigued with the topics and what everyone was talking about, and I know I preach data from the rooftops and the mountaintops, whatever we wanna call it. But I was so impressed with what the other panelists were saying as well. So if no one, if you haven't listened, please go back and listen. It was just, it was a win.
[00:08:25] Ej Oelling: But a lot of it is about like driving that pipeline because you ultimately, people engage in different ways. Maybe it's a digital campaign you might be running, but in this event atmosphere, people do want that human connection, and I think that's super important.
[00:08:38] Ej Oelling: And so, why don't you drive those human connections using the right format and the right data to ultimately, "we're here to get pipelines"?
[00:08:45] Ej Oelling: That's really the outcome we're looking for.
[00:08:47] Rachel Moore: And speaking too. I mean, obviously events can, can tick a number of boxes, right? I mean, you go out there, you get brand awareness, you know, especially important if you're kind of trying to build a brand or, you know, gain some traction in, in a crowded market. Like you are, it, it's great for salespeople, you know, we're very used to salespeople.
[00:09:04] Rachel Moore: Being at the booth because then they're able to not only interact with customers that might already be existing, but then they can talk to prospects and things like that. But you're speaking the truth. 'Cause at the end of the day, um, they're gonna ask, okay, we, we invested money into putting this event on. Are we getting that back through the sales pipeline? Right?
[00:09:20] Ej Oelling: And that's the R-O-I, R-O-E. And I know that was a lot of a hot topic as well. It's you have to show some sort of outcome. It can't just be, "Ooh, the dinner was delicious." It was like, "No, I sat next to this person. I had a super awkward conversation with 'em. But in the end, I'm getting the meeting. We're moving forward." And there has to be a reason that we can create, and this is where events come in, those unique moments to drive those connections in some way versus just like an email outreach to say, "Hi, would you like to have a conversation?"
[00:09:45] Rachel Moore: Exactly. Exactly. And thank you so much for bringing that up. 'Cause I think so much, so much of the time, and let's be honest, we, we've all met salespeople who are kind of going just for the vibes. You know, it's fun to travel and it's...
[00:09:56] Ej Oelling: That it.
[00:09:57] Rachel Moore: But they're being held accountable too. And you really are, and that's the beauty of event, of event planners, you know, event people like yourself. Who are like, "I am serving up to you on a silver platter."
[00:10:06] Rachel Moore: People who, you know, I'm creating the buffet, and now you get to just walk in and, and talk to them and make that whole conversation easier.
[00:10:14] Rachel Moore: So, so I, I just really appreciate though too because it, it is not just all about brand and stuff like that. That obviously, uh, has its place to play in there, but its role to play, right?
[00:10:25] Rachel Moore: But we, you know, we are trying to get the sales going and try to make sure we're nurturing that pipeline. And so, I think that that was so great that you, you pointed that out.
[00:10:33] Rachel Moore: But also you mentioned too, yeah, you're using data, you're able to like go back and say, "Yes, I can prove through this event and, you know, prove it to the people asking afterward that we did deliver that pipeline to you."
[00:10:45] Rachel Moore: Right?
[00:10:45] Ej Oelling: And the engagement behind it as well. You know, I know at one point we're gonna talk about tools and stuff too, but I'm gonna jump ahead to that.
[00:10:52] Ej Oelling: Let's talk about that. We're gonna talk about measurement in some way too.
[00:10:55] Ej Oelling: I mean, it's super important that, we use the click badges through Bizzabo for our user conference.
[00:11:01] Ej Oelling: It is super important for us to show how many times they click and they engage. How is it being used as a lead scanner? Who showed up to that session and who didn't? And really tracking what is the attendee journey. 'Cause the attendee journey also then connects with. What are the communications you're putting out to those attendees? How are you gonna follow up with that attendee?
[00:11:19] Ej Oelling: So, there's like a really big streamlined approach. And so, I think that that is key too. And it goes back to that data of how are you having that conversation? What's the driver behind that conversation to then drive the outcomes you want?
[00:11:30] Rachel Moore: Yeah, and, and like you said too, and I mean I even mentioned it earlier, it's not just about, "Oh, I had good vibes", but engagement is vibes, you know? And that, that being able to track that to. And demonstrate how that, that carried forward into like, "Yep, and I have a meeting", you know, and I have, I'm carrying forward this conversation.
[00:11:45] Ej Oelling: Now let's go.
[00:11:46] Rachel Moore: Yes.
[00:11:47] Speaker: We'll be right back with more event experience after the break.
[00:11:52] Ever wished your event badge did more than just display your name? Whether you're an event organizer, exhibitor, or attendee, Bizzabo's Klik Smart Badge transforms the event experience. From interactive networking to real time attendee insights and lead capture, the Smart Badge is the ultimate game changer. Visit bizzabo.com/klik, that's B I Z Z A B O dot com forward slash K L I K to learn more about the next generation of wearable event technology. Bizzabo, your partner for building conferences that captivate.
[00:12:28] Speaker: We're back with EJ Oelling to dissect her tech stack and give you ideas for your own.
[00:12:34] Rachel Moore: Let's do dig into Ops a little bit because this is the part where I, I just feel like it's, it's, you know, and I I, you know, I, I know the term of this is awkward, weird, but murder boards where like you see people have like all the strings that connect, you know, like I know all the connections.
[00:12:50] Ej Oelling: It was beautiful mind. Wasn't that the movie?
[00:12:52] Rachel Moore: Yes, yes. Or, and I think of like Kevin Feige from Marvel Cinematic Universe, where I'm like, they're literally like tying in all these Easter eggs, like that's gonna matter in five movies or whatever. And I'm like, "Oh my God, my mind".
[00:13:01] Rachel Moore: It is all about what tools you're using. Are you using them to the full extent? Are they integrating with another tool or tools that, that are crucial to you, that are crucial to your sales team?
[00:13:13] Rachel Moore: I'd love to learn a little bit more about like what your, your tech stack, your tool stack is like, um, that you integrate together to tell your team, that whole ROI story of your event successes and, and, and then, you know, kind of pivoting off that.
[00:13:26] Rachel Moore: You probably have some advice for event planners out there, like where they can plug in, you know, fill in the gaps in their own systems. But tell us about your, your tools in your tech stack.
[00:13:33] Ej Oelling: Yeah, so our tech stack, so we look especially on the ABX side, you know, we use, um, we use 6sense. Which helps, you know, kind of uncover that buyer's journey and that hidden data, like where is someone actually sitting in seat versus like kind of where their headquarters is. So, there's a lot of stuff that we use 6sense For.
[00:13:48] Ej Oelling: Then, we also integrate into Salesforce. Salesforce is our CRM, our source of truth. If it's not in Salesforce, it didn't happen. So like we really wanna make sure that again, using the right terminologies, we're using the right, um, contacts.
[00:14:01] Ej Oelling: We're putting everything in the right campaigns and organizing in a certain way. So we could track data in our dashboards that way.
[00:14:06] Ej Oelling: We also, we use Bizzabo obviously we use it as our ticketing agent for all of our events that we use. We use it for some landing pages and such as well. And the klik badges, which I mentioned earlier.
[00:14:16] Ej Oelling: And then Jifflenow now is a really, really important part of my event toolkit as well. I have been using that tool, I feel way too old to say how long I've been doing it. But that is a meeting tool where it helps record your meetings and it's like it, it organizes, they sign up, they book their meetings through it, and it then connects back into the CRM and you're able to track ROI.
[00:14:35] Ej Oelling: And for me, that has always been showcased how many Google docs have you created with table 13 is open from three to four, blah, blah, blah. It's all in the tool. We've enabled our team on it. And to be honest, like meetings are a huge part of our event play.
[00:14:49] Ej Oelling: So, you can't just go to a trade show anymore. You can't just go to any kind of third party or even our, our own events. When we do our own road shows or we're doing our own executive meetings, we use Jiffle to track all that. And again, then that integrates into Salesforce, which then we use 6sense data to figure out who those people are and it ties all together.
[00:15:07] Ej Oelling: So I would say like, those are probably my big four at the moment.
[00:15:09] Rachel Moore: Obviously there's a lot of other tools, but thank you for kind of condensing it. The big four, the the most important things that, like if these things are all talking to each other, particularly around events, we've got the numbers we need. We, we can tell that story.
[00:15:21] Rachel Moore: Is there any, well, and then getting back to like, have you ever seen, or maybe you've even like, learned from this in the past yourself, where there's a, a gap, a fundamental gap in like, "Okay, I don't have a big four. Maybe I'm really missing something." Like, you see an obvious gap that event planners have with their tech stack. You're like, "you're missing that."
[00:15:39] Rachel Moore: Is there anything that kind of jumps out at you like that you're seeing people do?
[00:15:42] Ej Oelling: I mean, you can use a marketing automation platform. I mean, obviously we use Marketo as our MAP. We have our own, um, 6sense email agents. So, we have agents on our side, so I'm also very spoiled. I wanna put that out there as well. I work for an AI company. We use AI. We have email agents, we have outbound agents and inbound agents.
[00:15:59] Ej Oelling: We try it all until it breaks to see how it works. So I'm also, I'm like really spoiled, so it's really hard for me to answer that because internally I have a lot of access to that. But I would say at the end of the day, if you can't buy a jiffle or do something like that, be really organized and figure out how to build a spreadsheet that makes sense for your audience.
[00:16:17] Ej Oelling: You don't need to overcomplicate. You can make things easier. And I think sometimes it's taking a step back, you can use AI. Obviously we had a whole conversation, Rachel and I, ai before we hit record.
[00:16:27] Ej Oelling: Find a way where humans need a human, and AI can help you be more efficient. And then maybe that's a solution where use what you can in your power, skillset and your superpower, I would almost say, and then lean into AI to kind of fill and smooth out those cracks where you need it.
[00:16:42] Rachel Moore: And it's so interesting too. I know we did talk about AI before, but we can talk a little bit about it here too.
[00:16:47] Rachel Moore: You do wanna just strike that balance, right? Because especially, and you're interacting with people, there's so many ways it can help you. You know, you're, you're doing very transactional stuff, just getting them registered, maybe setting up those meetings.
[00:16:59] Rachel Moore: But then there's that whole human side, you know, when a person, a prospect approaches your booth and like talks to a salesperson, they're having a human interaction there. But then they do set up a meeting, well later, you know, they're not gonna be like, well, am I just talking to an AI bot? I liked what I got at the event. I want that human touch so you understand me. But like you said, there's a balance to saying, "Okay, but let it help you where it can, let it fill in those gaps where it can, so the human can shine in the best way possible."
[00:17:26] Ej Oelling: And it's not like, again, like you said, like, um, an AI is not gonna fill a swag bag and, but an AI could help you build a beautiful registration form. You know what I mean? And it could condense a lookbook. And it can do all those little nuances where, when we were all coordinators back in the day bowling, like you know, the binders and all that, it's a little different now.
[00:17:46] Ej Oelling: So, how do you use AI to help you be more efficient in some of that stuff so you can get through your task list faster versus them leaving those like high touch soft skills? It's 'cause you need the human touch for that.
[00:17:57] Rachel Moore: That's right. I have a feeling that clip, that's gonna be a soundbite people share, especially if they're like trying to like combat the whole AI can do your job. It's like, "Oh, how, how great is it? It's filling the swag back."
[00:18:08] Ej Oelling: Yeah, totally. It's gonna like cut off tags and like make sure everything's folded the right way. Like an agent won't do that unless it's a secret agent that's with me in the room, right?
[00:18:16] Rachel Moore: That's right. I love it. I love it.
[00:18:18] Rachel Moore: Let's bounce over to, um, something that Bizzabo put out. A state of the industry survey, uh, which showed that two things were on the rise for this year, 2025. And we're recording this, I guess we're a little over halfway, which is kind of hard to believe, but it's still relevant y'all.
[00:18:34] Rachel Moore: But, um. Things that are on the rise this year, the number of events. So more events are happening and getting planned and executed, and the costs for those events has also gone up.
[00:18:44] Rachel Moore: What are you seeing around that and how are you at 6sense dealing with those increases or, you know, kind of coping with them, capitalizing on them, or, or just, just managing through it?
[00:18:54] Rachel Moore: How are you dealing?
[00:18:55] Ej Oelling: I love the word coping that you use. I think that's, we're all, we're all spiraling a little bit on that. I think you're, it's both. I think it's both. I mean, the, the number of events are gonna go up. But I don't think the number of events, the same type of event is increasing.
[00:19:08] Ej Oelling: I think people are doing smaller dinners. People are doing a road show. People aren't doing more and more large, large events. I think they're doing more of those macro kind of events, which I think is fine.
[00:19:20] Ej Oelling: Again, using the data and targeting the right people. So it's that quality over quantity. This is my feedback I give my team all the time. We can try to do as many things as we want if we justify it for the business. Does it make sense for us to be there? Is it a brand awareness play or is it a pipe gen play? Those are two very different plays.
[00:19:37] Ej Oelling: And then the third one I would add on top of it is in an accelerate to close play. Are we further in the pipeline and you're just helping accelerate?
[00:19:45] Ej Oelling: So when we're looking at it, this is my marketing hat and my event hat, but you're looking at your top of funnel and bottom of funnel. You're gonna interact with people very differently at the top, and then you're gonna act with them differently at the bottom.
[00:19:55] Ej Oelling: So, it's okay to have all those options that are out there. But then my other feedback would say is, but you don't have to spend the same amount of money at all.
[00:20:03] Ej Oelling: So, you can send two people to go, like work a show floor and like go, you know, the people who have outgoing personalities to have them work the room. They You could just, you could do one really high-end dinner with a top client that you're expanding with an account and doing that.
[00:20:17] Ej Oelling: So I like to think of events almost as an activation or experience. It's not a one size fits all. But choose what works for your budget and what works for your company and make sure that you're aligned to the same goals. 'Cause if you all have that same outcome you're looking for, then you can justify the spend.
[00:20:33] Ej Oelling: But if you're just like spending the spend, sounds fabulous. I haven't been there in a while.
[00:20:38] Rachel Moore: I, I, I might have been in some situations like that too. It, it's nice for a bit until, it's not. Until it's like, wait, we spent all this money and we, nothing happened with it. So, and that leads to dangerous times.
[00:20:49] Rachel Moore: So, yeah. I, oh my gosh. So agree with like, being smart about it and, and not just like, like you said, just let's throw something together but not have a very specific intent. What is your goal behind it, you know?
[00:21:01] Rachel Moore: And I really appreciate too, like I, I don't know if we've had that called out a ton before, uh, here on the pod, but about, you know, we just kinda look at like, "Oh, it's, it's pipeline generation, it's lead generation."
[00:21:10] Rachel Moore: But then that accelerate to close part. And I think all of us, especially nowadays, like you said, we are seeing a ton more of those micro events, those intimate dinners, you know, or, or happy hours. But there's a very exclusive small list of people that get to go. But it, there is a whole thing there saying, this might be the thing that, you know, again, keeps this top of mind for you tomorrow morning when you're like, I really need to make a decision. Let's go ahead.
[00:21:35] Rachel Moore: But that matters a lot and that's gonna have a very different feel than just having this giant booth at a trade show.
[00:21:41] Ej Oelling: And it makes this a very different feel, feel for your sales team. Because that's really where your partnership with sales and marketing is. It's not only helping them build what their pipeline can be, but helping them close and get that booking. It's like that's where we come in for the assist. Like, I can set you up. Now, I need you to sell and close.
[00:21:58] Rachel Moore: Right. Well, and, and really just speaks to the value of, of, uh, event marketers as well. I mean, you know, sales is doing what they need to be doing to be, you know, they're on the phones, they're on their meetings. They're trying to like, you know, bring these people along on their own. You really are providing that.
[00:22:12] Rachel Moore: Like, yeah, but let's, let's go big here and now you get to be face to face and.
[00:22:16] Ej Oelling: But nice touch.
[00:22:17] Rachel Moore: The silver platter as aforementioned. That's, that's what we're doing.
[00:22:20] Rachel Moore: You know, I've kind of talked about this a little bit throughout each question, and we know this isn't easy, and I so appreciate you, Brent mentioning too, you're like, I'm spoiled.
[00:22:28] Rachel Moore: I got the tools I need. A lot of times that can be a struggle. There can be all kinds of different nuances and struggle that event planners go through based on what situation they're in.
[00:22:37] Rachel Moore: Why do you think that event planners might be having a hard time mobilizing colleagues and their sister teams to help their event go to market?
[00:22:47] Rachel Moore: Because as we just mentioned, sometimes it can feel, it can feel like you're, well, we're on our own here. And the people, you know, maybe it's sales or other people, they're just showing up at the event, but they're, they don't care about it before. They only seem to care about it after. What did it mean?
[00:23:05] Rachel Moore: Why do you think some event planners might be struggling to get buy-in from their own colleagues to help make sure this event is a success?
[00:23:12] Ej Oelling: I have two thoughts on that. 'Cause I really thought about this question a lot before we started. One part is enablement. So really enabling your teams. I think there's a really fine balance between over communicating and communicating what really ne needs needs to get out there. Especially for some of you who might have a really large team, you probably have a ton of things that are going on.
[00:23:32] Ej Oelling: So, we do really concise slacks. We make it very like, what's in it for you? What's your action item? When it is. We use Slack here at 6sense. So we have a channel that's just ABX updates. So, you wanna know what ABX is doing? We only post it in that channel. And then I have my go to markets kind of person it out into the sales segments where needed. But, again, it's a one point contact so you're not getting the same update into like 15 different slacks.
[00:23:56] Ej Oelling: We do a master deck that's anything from like the metrics down to what you have to wear that day on site. Anything and everything you need to know that if you have a question, I'll say, look at slide 42. I don't necessarily answer the question. But I have built it in where it's like, we have given you all the information, go find it.
[00:24:12] Ej Oelling: So, I think enablement is a really big part of getting people involved, is that they feel confident and that they have an ownership in it. I think that's one part of it. The other side of it is are they using the event as a carrot?
[00:24:23] Ej Oelling: So, we go back and forth a lot, for attribution, again, I won't get too nerdy about the marketing stuff. But EBS is an attribution channel. So, when I think about, um. We wanna get the pipeline from it, right? We want it to be sourced to come to us. So are you using the event as a way to get in with that customer?
[00:24:38] Ej Oelling: So this person hasn't been responding to my emails, but then I send 'em this email to the dinner and they automatically respond. So are you using the event as the carrot to spark a conversation? Are you using direct mail as a carrot to spark the conversation?
[00:24:53] Ej Oelling: These are all things that my team is coming up with creative and unique ways to drive that connection. So think about your events, too. So sometimes people might not wanna be involved, but it's proving to your whether, whoever your stakeholder is, if it's your C-suite or if it's your sales team or CS team. What's in it for them? What's the outcome? Again, I use, I think I've used outcome 14 times today.
[00:25:13] Ej Oelling: But what is, what are they getting out of it to ultimately want? What's the reason for the event? And then you build it almost backwards that way.
[00:25:21] Ej Oelling: So we look in those two different ways. Enable the team the best way you possibly can so they have a horse in the race. And then also make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons.
[00:25:29] Rachel Moore: I think we can all sometimes fall in this rut of being like, "Well, they know why we're doing it. Duh." They they should know, you know, they already know why, but yes, they do, but they're human, y'all.
[00:25:40] Rachel Moore: They, they, marketing comes into play in your own company, colleague to colleague just as much as it does to the external world, right?
[00:25:51] Rachel Moore: Yeah.
[00:25:51] Ej Oelling: It's also, you just had a great point, Rachel, like I also need to explain some time to my MOPS team. This is why we need it set up this way because it's for this type of audience or when I work with my writers, are we writing with this tone? Are we talking to prospects versus talking to customers?
[00:26:05] Ej Oelling: So, I think you as the event nucleus, have to think about how you're gonna work with all your shared resources about driving the right messaging with that right voice, you know? So that's super important too. 'Cause then everyone understands, okay, what's in it for me?
[00:26:18] Rachel Moore: Yeah. Yeah. And, and so I appreciate too, because I think it can be easy to be like, "I'm just gonna dump you with all this information" and, you know, with no, again, no real care about like. "Yes, but are they just gonna glaze over?".
[00:26:32] Rachel Moore: We all are inundated with Slack notifications, and email notifications, and phone calls, and then just everything else personal going on. You really do, just like when you market externally, you have to like, how am I gonna make my message right to the top so that they're like, oh, that got sticky in my brain and now I remember that. And I'll go back and I will help you. Yes. Help you go get this market.
[00:26:52] Ej Oelling: My team will hide like Easter eggs in the Slack and be like, and if you read this part, click here and you'll get like a, the gift card. Like they'll, especially as someone like if it's a season where we're just hot and heavy and we're doing constant updates. I'll send some fun things there to see who actually reads it or respond with this emoji or respond with this word.
[00:27:08] Ej Oelling: And so, um, we like to keep it fun and light. 'cause at the end of the day, we're doing really fun things. We're not doing anything over the top. And so, we really wanna embrace that.
[00:27:16] Rachel Moore: I love that you do that. That's a great idea. And everybody listening, try it yourself. Because, yeah, humor or what? What am I? What? What's in it for you? Oh my gosh. Wait. There might be a gift card buried in here. Oh my gosh.
[00:27:26] Ej Oelling: Who knows? Going for it.
[00:27:27] Rachel Moore: Final and easiest question of all, where can our listeners find and follow you online?
[00:27:31] Rachel Moore: LinkedIn. I should post more, I know, but please feel free to follow me there.
[00:27:45] Speaker: Ejs skill up advice skates into the realm of superheroes and the wow factor.
[00:27:50] Ej Oelling: It's okay to make mistakes, just own up to 'em. I think that's super important. And then I also think find your wow. Find the thing that's your superpower that you wanna be known for and like, and rock it. And embrace it. And own it.
[00:28:04] Ej Oelling: And once you have it, then it's just finding different ways to, you know, build on it.
[00:28:08] Speaker: Thanks again to EJ Oelling for joining us on Event Experience, and thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love to hear it.
[00:28:15] Speaker: Connect with us on social. And Subscribe, Rate and Review us wherever you're listening.
[00:28:20] Speaker: Also, don't forget to share the show with your colleagues and friends. You can find transcripts of each episode and key takeaways on bizzabo.com/podcast.[00:28:30] Speaker: On behalf of the team, thank you. We'll gather again soon for a new episode of Event Experience.
