The Return of In-Person Events

#289 Strategy | Dave is joined by Sydney Sloan, Chief Marketing Officer at G2, where she’s leading the charge on integrating AI into marketing, rethinking team structures, and modernizing how B2B brands build trust. Sydney brings decades of experience from companies like Adobe, Alfresco, and Salesloft, and now oversees one of the largest software marketplaces in the world.

Dave and Sydney cover:

• How to design events that truly drive pipeline, using frameworks like “Think, Feel, Do” to plan with purpose
• A smarter way to measure event ROI with Sydney’s “Revenue in the Room” approach
• How AI is transforming the buyer journey and reshaping what modern marketing teams look like

An episode that will leave you rethinking your marketing strategy, from the events you run to the org you build.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro
• (03:51) - – The return of in-person events
• (06:51) - – Building community through smarter event design
• (08:51) - – Inside G2’s “AI in Action” roadshow
• (11:51) - – The “Think, Feel, Do” event framework
• (14:51) - – Why details make or break events
• (17:51) - – Measuring success with “Revenue in the Room”
• (20:51) - – Post-event follow-up that drives results
• (28:42) - – How AI is reshaping the buyer journey
• (44:42) - – Rethinking marketing orgs for the AI era

Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/
Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership

***
This episode of the Exit Five podcast is brought to you by our friends at Paramark. You’ve heard it before – every B2B marketer’s top pain point is marketing attribution. It’s complicated, messy, and too often leads to fights with your CRO over whose lead deserves credit.

That’s where Paramark steps in. Their platform makes it simple to understand what’s driving results (and what isn’t) with tools like marketing mix modeling and incremental testing. No more relying on outdated click attribution or chasing UTM links. Instead, Paramark gives you actionable insights across channels, campaigns, and geographies to help you grow.

Paramark's founder & CEO Pranav has been in your shoes as a B2B marketer. He’s so passionate about solving this problem, he’s offering listeners a free brand assessment. Pranav will personally analyze your brand’s performance and share his insights—an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Slots are limited, so act fast. Head to paramark.com/brand-consult to claim your spot. Trust us, this is worth your time.

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

• They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
• Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
• Visit hatch.fm to learn more