Situation:
We decided to create an events program as both a brand-building and lead generation strategy. While we needed to quickly launch initial events to build momentum, we faced a significant challenge: our limited network in San Francisco and particularly within the spatial computing industry. Unlike AI, the spatial computing and VR/AR industry was more geographically distributed and lacked a strong community following.

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Task:
As Director of Marketing, working alongside a new Community Lead, I needed to devise and launch a complete events program from scratch with a Q1 deadline.

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Actions:
We began by brainstorming topics that would resonate with spatial computing and VR/AR audiences. The founder advocated for high-level, potentially controversial topics, while I initially favored a traditional Product-Led Growth approach focused on product marketing and user acquisition. His argument centered on building industry trust and expertise to attract enterprise clients, suggesting that high-caliber speakers would only engage with compelling, thought-provoking topics.

Despite my initial skepticism, I committed to the vision. Our speaker recruitment strategy involved:

• Leveraging our small existing network
• Conducting targeted cold outreach
• Converting current event speakers into leads for future events

We developed a momentum-building approach:

1. Secured preliminary speaker commitments to event topics
2. Quickly published events as "more details TBA" on our website
3. Used this social proof to attract additional speakers
4. Coordinated behind the scenes to confirm dates with all speakers

This strategy created a snowball effect – each scheduled event made our program appear more established, making it easier to secure future speakers and events.

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Results:
We successfully built a thriving events program that grew from 13 attendees (mostly friends) at our first event to consistently attracting over 300 signups for our largest events. Our growth was so rapid that we once had to make an emergency trip to Ikea, assembling over 50 stools assembly-line style in under an hour. The program eventually expanded internationally, partnering with prestigious organizations like Zaha Hadid Architects and Bentley Systems in London.

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Learning:
This experience taught me valuable lessons about effective disagreement and commitment, plus pushing beyond comfort zones. While events were initially outside my expertise, the program enhanced my skills in communication, stakeholder management, logistics, and delegation.

In retrospect, both the founder's and my initial approaches had merit. The high-level content strategy successfully built our brand and community trust, particularly with partners. However, we sometimes struggled to convert event attendees into customers, with some even forgetting about our product entirely. If I were to do it again, I would push harder to align our branding initiatives with business growth and bottom-line results.

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Growth:
I'm eager to apply these insights to develop more effective top-of-funnel content, including events, with a stronger focus on conversion. My goal is to iterate on past experiences to create more impactful events that both engage audiences and drive business results.

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