Attendee acquisition is becoming less about volume and velocity and more about relevance, intention, and fit. As economic uncertainty, AI disruption, and changing work patterns reshape how people decide where to spend their time, event marketers are being forced to rethink not just how they promote events, but who they prioritize and why.

In this roundtable discussion, Kimberly Hardcastle, Chief Strategist at Freeman, will explore several emerging shifts influencing how audiences decide to attend (and return!) grounded in Freeman research and current industry observation. The conversation will focus on how evolving expectations should be reflected in more strategic, selective approaches to acquisition. Topics will include:

• Strategic selectivity in who we invite and how we invite them. As budgets tighten and audiences face more friction, organizers must be more intentional about prioritizing high-value attendees and aligning outreach strategies accordingly. This includes rethinking audience segmentation, messaging relevance and the signals we send about who an event is truly for.
• Using AI to support smarter, more personalized acquisition. Rather than scaling one-size-fits-all campaigns, AI can help marketers tailor messaging, channels and timing to better reflect audience needs – creating experiences that feel personal before someone ever registers.
• Hospitality as an acquisition lever. What corporate events get right about comfort, care and intentional experience design and how these can be applied to B2B shows to influence who attends, how long they stay and whether they return.
• Post-event engagement as the start of retention. Why the most overlooked phase of the attendee journey is often the most powerful and how thoughtful post-show communication, content, and community-building reduce the need to “re-acquire” the same audience every year.

Rather than focusing on tactics alone, this session invites organizers to step back and examine how external pressures and rising audience expectations are reshaping what effective acquisition looks like. The goal is not “more marketing” but more intentional marketing, aligned with the audiences most likely to engage, attend and come back.

This interactive breakout focuses on how organizers expand reach beyond their existing databases to build a healthier top-of-funnel.

Breakout topics include: Channel Strategy, Content Strategy, and Internal Sell and Measurement

In this session,  John Wilson, Vice President, Business Development, Northeast Region, CNTV, will explore how to use video more intentionally to support both attendee acquisition and retention. Rather than treating video content as an afterthought, we’ll discuss how to build a clear plan in advance for capturing the right insights, conversations, and moments, so they can be repurposed into meaningful content that keeps audiences engaged between show cycles. We’ll also discuss how to align content with growth objectives, ensuring that what’s captured and shared speaks directly to the segments you’re trying to attract or expand. Attendees will learn how to think strategically about onsite video capture, repurposing, and distribution so their event becomes a year-round engine for awareness, engagement, and pipeline development.

Make valuable connections with marketing professionals and experts.

Joe Federbush, President and Chief Strategist, EVOLIO, will explain EVOLIO’s latest Tradeshow Benchmarks and how you can apply the data to your attendee acquisition strategy.

Even strong events can’t rely on repeat attendance alone to sustain growth. In this case-study session, Lily Doerfler from AdvaMed and Rachel Scharmann from mdg will walk through how the MedTech Conference expanded beyond its core audience by building a deliberate top-of-funnel strategy.

The discussion will focus on the specific decisions behind MedTech’s awareness and paid media efforts, how data was used to identify and prioritize new audiences, and how cross-team collaboration supported a healthier registration pipeline. Attendees will leave with practical insights into what it takes to complement retention with audience development—and how to apply similar approaches within their own events.

This interactive breakout focuses on how organizers strengthen relationships with attendees and earn return attendance through personalization before, during and after the event.

Breakout Topics include: Pre-Show Personalization, On-Site Experience & Friction, Post-Show Engagement & Earning the Return