Adam Torres and Hailey Ingraham discuss event planning.
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Show Notes:
Event Cadence is a versatile event management platform that helps companies efficiently plan and manage in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.Their clients range from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 giants, including names like Merck Pharmaceuticals, Intel, Sony, MIT, and Mary Kay. In this episode, Adam Torres and Hailey Ingraham, Director of Marketing at Event Cadence, explore the Event Cadence story and how it began as a bootstrapped startup that has built up revenues of $10M+ in under a decade.
About Hailey Ingraham
Hailey Ingraham has a diverse work experience, beginning with their role as a Cashier & Office Assistant at Shady Brook Farm in 2011. In 2015, they began working as a Production Assistant for ESPN SEC Network and a Group Fitness Instructor for Zumba & Barre Works & Body Pump. In 2016, they worked as a Student Runner for CNN and in 2017 they were a Bartender for Breakers Bar and Grill and a Producer, Reporter, & Multimedia Journalist for Carolina News & Reporter. In 2018, they were an English Language Teacher for the French Ministry of Education, a Creator of Travel Youtube Channel & Blog for Plane to Champagne, and a Bartender & Server for Rocco’s at the Brick. In 2020, they are the Lead of Marketing Operations and Content Marketing Manager for Event Cadence.
Hailey Ingraham has a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and a French minor from the University of South Carolina, which they obtained between 2014 and 2018. Hailey also has a Bachelor’s Degree in French Language and Literature from Université Lumière Lyon 2, which they obtained in 2016. Lastly, they attended Pennsbury High School between 2011 and 2014
About Event Cadence
Event Cadence offers extensive customization options to tailor each event to your specific needs. The platform provides a wide range of features for all your basic event needs, including registration, scheduling, material distribution, and networking. But what truly sets the platform apart is its advanced customer engagement tools, such as the Appointments suite, which streamlines meeting scheduling and facilitates seamless execution.
The platform’s real strength lies in its ability to handle on-the-fly changes effortlessly. Whether it’s last-minute adjustments to the schedule or the inevitable unexpected changes, Event Cadence allows users to manage it all from a single, user-friendly interface. This flexibility enables quick adaptation without disrupting the event flow.
Behind Event Cadence is a team of seasoned professionals who are passionate about making your event a success. Whether you need virtual assistance or in-person support, the company has you covered with their wide range of service options. The team listens to and values your feedback, ensuring their solutions meet your specific needs. Their commitment to excellence shows in their meticulous attention to detail, making sure no aspect of your event is overlooked.
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Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres. And if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today’s guest is Haley Ingram, and she is the director of marketing over at cadence, Haley.
Welcome to the show. Hi, Adam. Thanks for having me. I’m very excited. All right. So excited to have you on the show today. And I just have to say as director of marketing at a company like event cadence, a company works with everything from, , small nonprofits all the way to, , fortune 500 giants like Merck pharmaceuticals, Intel, Sony, MIT, Mary Kay.
I mean, just how fun is it to be the director of marketing at event cadence, talk to me about what you do. Absolutely. I have to say One day is never the same as the next, which is always, always a fun time. I have to say there’s a lot of great travel involved with some of these events.
As you can imagine, these big companies pick some pretty cool spots to have their events. So always love the travel aspect as well, but all in all, like I said, I really just love how every day is different. We market differently to different types of industries. So every day is different and it’s always a lot of fun.
Yeah, and , this is what I think is super unique about Event Cadence it’s in person, virtual, hybrid events. I mean, for a big, big buzzword right now, I would argue, in just marketing or in business, and I like it personally. I think, I shouldn’t even say it’s a buzzword now, because it’s kind of like taking what’s old and new or I should say what’s old, you bring it back, and what’s new is that concept of community building.
Around whether it’s a brand or whether it’s a concept, an idea and when I think about what you’re doing with in person, virtual and hybrid events, I just feel like it’s a unique solution. Maybe , talk a little bit more about that and what that looks like. Yeah, of course. So I’ll even take a quick step back if you’ll indulge me about how we ended up in this, realm of in person, virtual and hybrid.
So I started back at the company in 2020. The company had started a few years prior than that, but I started right in the fun switch to all virtual events. You remember? Oh, wow. Yeah. Stuck at home. Yeah, so it was a really interesting time to start in the event industry and to be a part of it because the landscape changed pretty much in the blink of an eye overnight. was that by design or was it already launched prior to I just might have my timeline off here. Was it prior to that of which we will not speak? No, I’m just like, or was it like, or was it already launched and done? And then that of which we do not speak happened. I would I’m just trying to get my timeline.
Right? That’s all. Exactly. So our platform had existed before that. So we were in person app primarily. So if you were going to a conference in 2017, and you needed to know what room to go to and access your materials for the upcoming conference, all of that would have been set up. So in some ways we were a little bit more prepared for the switch to virtual than other companies in our industry, which was a blessing at the time.
Obviously the COVID was not a blessing or you were saying that you don’t have to adopt what I say. My listeners. No, I say that all the time.
But we were, we were uniquely positioned to help people put on these virtual events. So some of those features that were for our in person app, we also had a web version kind of already built that people were using to plan these events. So when people needed that virtual solution, we just kind of went full force there for a few years and people were able to use our platform for their virtual events.
Then as the doors started to open back up and like you said, hybrids, very buzzy, all of that, we just kind of transitioned with that. And then now that the doors are open and people really want to get back out there, as we’ve seen with the travel numbers, our platform kind of went back to what it initially was, that in person app.
So now we run the gamut, any type of event you have, or if you have multiple events throughout the year, all of those can be run through our platform. Great. That makes a lot of sense. And I think it’s, it’s really interesting how the company was already kind of positioned for, and obviously couldn’t know.
And like what was going to happen, obviously. But the company itself, I mean , it was bootstrapped originally., the revenues are impressive. , what do you attribute maybe some, I mean, a lot of awards, you’re winning awards, 2021 people’s voice award, voice winner Webby awards event techs, I mean, award in 2022.
What do you attribute some of the success of the platform in the company? Like what, what’s the magic here? It’s a good question. , you never really know. And it’s always some combination of all of it. But I think what really makes us stand out is our team. Like you said before, we were a bootstrapped company.
I always say we’re a small but mighty team. And it’s that personal connection that we have with our customers. So, sure, we have the event team. Technology to back it up. But that personalized experience and how we’re we can be malleable because we’re such a small team because we create our own technology, we’re able to create really unique solutions for some of these large companies.
Like, for example, Those pharmaceutical companies you mentioned, Mark, we also work with a number of others. We were able to create a solution, very, very niche solution for their medical congresses, which is basically just a pharmaceutical conference of some sort. And we were able to create a solution for appointment booking that they needed for their types of events and.
Because we’re that small team, we’re able to create different features that different industries need to succeed. And I think that’s a testament to our team about how flexible we are, how we like to work with our customers, a personalized experience. I hope that answers your question. It does. It does. And actually, it leads me to my next one, which is really, you have a super unique vantage point, just quantity of events, size of company, small to large, as we mentioned you have a unique vantage point.
I’m curious from your standpoint, like any emerging, like trends that you’ve seen that you see like catching fire, whether an event in the event technology space, like just in general, like what, what trends are you seeing? Yeah, of course. Like I said, I started in 2020. So it’s funny just to see how different terms have come in and out.
There was a lot of like the virtual reality and augmented reality and no one will ever go to an event in person ever again. That was the narrative for a little bit there. Not quite what we saw play out. But, it’s okay. Of course, AI is an easy throw in that I’m sure everyone’s been talking about.
Of course, that’s changing the technology space primarily with the planning of the event. There’s a lot that can be done automatically now, but honestly, I think, while all of these buzzwords are fun to throw out and fun to theorize about, we’ve seen people kind of heading back to the basics a little bit more than you would have expected.
I think that the technology that’s the most successful for events are the features that enhance the in person experience rather than trying to just completely replace it. Does that make sense? So, for example, we have a feature called Topics of Interest. So, when you’re onboarded into our platform, there are a list of topics set by the organizer or by the attendees themselves, and they can connect different interests to their profile.
So, for example, Based on the fact that I like cold plunges and dad jokes, I can see that I’m recommended to connect to John Smith. Then we can start that conversation on the platform before we even go into the conference hall. And then we can continue this conversation after the event has concluded. So the technology is really just enhancing that networking experience in that example.
On the very basic level, maybe let’s take a step back. I don’t want to assume this, especially for people that haven’t done a lot of events in general, like what do you find is like, just the, the value of holding an event, whether it’s in person or otherwise. , sometimes I’m so deep into the event industry that I forget that other people are not a part of the event industry.
Everybody does events. Hey, but , everyone attends an event at some point, right? I think about your First concert or a music festival or a best friend’s wedding in Mexico, , people are going to events every day, maybe not these large scale corporate conferences, but events affect us all at the end of the day.
So I think the value of the events, and I know this is the Mission Matters podcast, so it ties into our mission a little bit. Our mission is to bring people together, and that’s what events do. So we’re so siloed these days, we’re behind screens, we’re not connecting with one another on a day to day level.
I think you could go days, weeks, maybe even months without seeing another person if you wanted. We have the technology in place to do so. But the problem with this, actually, I was just listening to a podcast and it’s pretty relevant to this. The US surgeon general just released like an 80 something page advisory talking about how loneliness is the newest public health epidemic.
And you might expect that, , of course, loneliness caused things like depression, but it also causes an increased rate of things like heart disease and strokes and dementia. And that he said something along the lines of it’s as detrimental. Being lonely as detrimental to your health as smoking cigarettes, which really had my eyes popping out of my head.
I could not believe that. So in that case, it ties back to our mission because events bring people together and that’s the value of events, getting people in the same room, connecting with one another, that inexplicable feeling that happens when you’re having that shared experience with other people.
Overall, I think that’s the value of events and why I’m so happy to be a part of this industry. , there’s a reason that people are flying across the globe to go to Taylor Swift concerts. I mean, people love to be a part of something. They love the connection when standing next to someone screaming the same words as someone else.
So that’s the main value of an event for me. Of granular than that, but overall, I think that’s the value. Yes, and I’ve been to at least three Taylor Swift concerts, and everyone should fly across the globe for that. They’re amazing, and whether you’re, I mean, I can’t, nothing else like it in my opinion.
Speaking of Taylor Swift, speaking of music, now you got in my mind, do you remember your first concert? Do you happen to remember, mine I’ll share I always like to get a random one in there. I saw, I remember the first concert I remember was an Eminem concert and I was, I’m from Michigan originally and it was and since he came out with a new album just now I’m like, Oh, wait a minute.
That was my first concert. That’s what popped into my head. What was your first concert? I might be aging myself or the one you remember, the one that you remember. Go ahead. Well, it’s, it’s funny because it was a Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana tour. Oh, that’s amazing. That was an epic tour. Come on. She was the biggest thing on the planet.
Oh, absolutely. It was so cool. And guess who was her opener? Who? Who? Who? The Jonas Brothers. Oh, stop. So that was like just when the Jonas Brothers were hitting the scene It was , that’s a peak of my life at that point I mean that was that not the peak of everyone’s life. I mean, come on Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. So that always makes me laugh when I think about my first concert. Been to many since then but I’ll never forget that Hannah Montana tour. And no, nor will we all. I love it. I don’t know. I think Eminem is a little bit cooler, but yeah. Oh, hi. This is, yeah, it was, it was, it was, it sounds cooler, but if you, if I think about way back then, it was he was, it was a very, very, small venue.
This is before everybody knew who he was. It was, I think like a converted church hall in the back or something like that. There’s this skinny kid up there and I’m just jumping around the stage and I’m like, what is going on? And who would have known? I’m not claiming I would have known. Yeah, exactly. It was so, that’s aging me too.
Everybody else is like, what? Like for other listeners, it’s fine. Oh, that’s amazing. I love it. And I bring that up because I hopefully I’m hoping that some of our listeners to that they’re going to be thinking about their first concerts and what what took place with them and go back to those memories because I do I agree with you with everything that you said like holding events and putting those things together and like having those shared experiences, whether they’re concerts with people in the audience or we have our very Oh First podcast conference that we’re throwing podcon coming up in September that I’ve been talking about on the show quite a bit.
And so that’s going to be like, I already know what’s going to happen. Like you have, you hold your first annual, then there’s another one. Then there’s another one, 10 years down the line, you look back and you have all these memories. And these shared experiences with other people. So if, if you’re listening to this and you’re not holding events and you have a business or a company or otherwise I say you’re missing out, like start small, you can, , scale up in time.
We started small and you can, , do it at your own, at your own pace. And you can work with great companies like Event Cadence, of course, to, to help you with that at whatever level that you’re at, as, as mentioned earlier from small companies all the way to really, really big ones. But the event space, as you can tell, near and dear to my heart, Haley, we do a solid 50 plus events here a year in the LA area and otherwise.
So we’re active. Matter of fact, I have one tonight, one tomorrow. We got, oh my gosh. Oh, sorry. Wait a minute. As I’m over here grunting. I meant to say, I’m so excited about the, I mean, when you get there, it’s the best, but it’s Oh my gosh. Well, Haley I’ll tell you, it’s been a lot of fun having you on the show today and really catching up and just getting to learn more about event cadence.
Just going, I guess, a level deeper is specifically into the company. Like how do people reach out and how do they work with event cadence? Like, like talking about that piece of it. Absolutely. And just really quickly, I wanted to jump back to what you were saying about hosting events and starting small.
So we, , sometimes give the virtual events a bad name because it makes us think of COVID times, but it really does lower that barrier to entry. As far as cost goes, you can have a virtual event, just even a zoom webinar and get your community together and get your people together. And it costs. , nothing, your zoom license, you have it.
So yeah, definitely events are for everyone, no matter how big or how small, but in the community, we’ll appreciate it. I’ll just piggyback on that briefly. Like, they’ll appreciate it. Like, you don’t know until you try our very 1st our very first conference. I remember like it was yesterday, Haley.
It was maybe a couple of years ago. And I like our first big conference that we did, like we’ve been doing some small events, some other things. And I sent, I told the other co founder, Sharag, I was like, I was at somebody else’s conference and I, we were on this thing. like, yeah, all this other stuff. And I’m like, how come we don’t have a conference?
And he looks at me, he’s like, I don’t know, should we? And I said, , I’m going to send out an email. So I sent out an email to our community and I said, Hey, if we want to throw a conference, will you come? And every, and the responses, I mean, this is. Seven years or eight years into building the company at this point.
So we had a good base just to be clear. But based off the response, like people wanted to sponsor, they wanted to come, they want to contribute, they wanted to help. And like now we’re, , years later and we’re still doing that conference and it’s a big one and it’s and it all started from an email.
So your community will appreciate it and the benefits, not just. Monetarily, of course, there’s a component to that possibly depending on what your aim is, but just like bringing people together, like the benefits that come from that. I mean, it’s hard to quantify. It really is. Didn’t mean to derail your question, but I, I do like that concept of starting small.
And I think sometimes it is easy to, to look at where somebody’s at or where their events at or otherwise, and think, wow, how did they do that? But something with us, it started with one email. That’s all it was like, Hey, do we want to? Will people come out? Will they fly in? Will they, they think this is worthwhile and everything grew from there.
Just one email. Back, back to event cadence Haley didn’t mean to derail it, but I want other people to get involved too. So go ahead, please. Well, I’m sitting here nodding along. So I loved hearing that journey for you. And if any of your audience is looking to host an event in person, virtual or hybrid, we have a really great platform for you and I would love to show it to all of you.
So just you can head to our website. That’s probably the easiest place to get started, which is eventcadence. com. We’re also on all social networks and I’m pretty much in all of those accounts all the time. So just send us a Facebook, any of the above. And we’d be happy to get in touch. Amazing. And just seeing everybody listening.
So, , we’ll, we’ll put the links in the show notes so you can just click on the link and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, If this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet definitely hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show each and every day.
We’re putting out new content, new stories, and hopefully new inspiration to help you along the way in your journey so that you can succeed and thrive as well. Again, so hit that subscribe or follow button and Haley, so much for all you do, and I appreciate you coming on. Thanks, Adam. This was a lot of fun.
Definitely got my day off to a great start. So thanks for having me.