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The Fintech Marketing Lab is a podcast where Araminta Robertson, Managing Director at Mint Studios, explores, experiments, and breaks down how fintech marketing actually works in practice.
Intro: Here's a piece of advice
that sounded strange to me at first,
but actually it's pretty smart.
Design your conference booth to feel
like a coffee shop, not a trade show,
but so basically you want soft lighting,
a rug, a space where people actually
want to sit down in, and it kind of
makes sense, uh, once you hear where my
guest for today, Rachel Vel came from.
She's currently the field marketing
manager at Tactile, and before she
was in FinTech, she spent years at
Starbucks working up from barista
to running a reserve bar, and then
moved on to sales as a PDR at unit.
And you can see kind of where
that hospitality background
shows, and it's very much a
part of how she designs booths.
So specifically, she says she wants
people to sit and stay for an hour
instead of 90 seconds and run events
like a host inviting you into her home.
Taktile is a risk decisioning
platform for FinTech companies,
helping risk teams build automated
decision flows for things like
onboarding, credit fraud, all of that.
And they raised a $54 million
series B last year and work with
companies like Mercury and Zilch.
In this episode, we get into why she
designs booths to be genuinely comfortable
and why she actually doesn't care that
much about foot traffic and bad scans.
Why your BDRs are the most underrated
people you can bring to an event.
How she ties every event decision
back to pipeline, her site event
playbook, like for example, why she
never puts a panel at a happy hour.
This was a super in-depth and
helpful and insightful episode, so
I'm really excited to get into it.
Generic intro: You are listening to
the FinTech Marketing Lab podcast.
I'm Arminta from Mint Studios, a
content marketing agency specialized
in the FinTech space, and this
podcast is where we experiment,
explore, and break down how FinTech
marketing actually works in practice.
Each episode I talk with top FinTech
marketers about what they're testing,
what they're learning, and how
they're pushing the boundaries of
brand strategy and team building.
With that, let's get into today's episode.
Araminta Robertson: So, I know you
have a lot of experience, Rachel, doing
booths events, so I'm really excited
to get into the specifics in this
episode of how to do this properly.
'cause I think often it can be a little
bit vague the advice, 'cause often
events seems to be just one part of
a whole marketing kind of programme.
So I wanna start off with what are
maybe the most common mistakes that
you see companies make when it comes
to designing booths and events.
But maybe let's start with booths.
'cause I know those are
two quite different things.
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, I think the biggest
thing that we've seen that works for us,
that I see time and time again, and some
of this is space conscious for sure,
like how big is the space of the booth,
but making your comfortable, your space
comfortable to stay in, like think.
And it goes beyond like do
you have the right furniture?
I don't wanna sit on like
a tall plastic, bar stool.
Maybe that's one aspect of it, but you're
also thinking about sound barriers.
You're thinking about how do I bring
people from these like 15 minute
little meetings that happen, in maybe
a centre area of the conference floor
and bring them to our booth and have
them stay there for like 30 minutes
to an hour and like dive deep into
the product there at the booth.
And not considering that in your
booth design is, to me, I think
the number one miss that people
are, that I see with booths.
The other thing is not considering
the floor plan and this kind of
adds to the sound barrier and
making this comfortable space.
Like, yeah, you can pick the
right space that, you have a, 10
by 20 area and you just pick one.
But where is it?
Is it next to the food court
where everyone's having super
loud, non-relevant, they're not
interested in hearing, any sort
of branding conversations or you
putting it next to the stage.
And maybe there's an aspect to this,
if you have the stage, like who are
the speakers of the stage up there?
These are the big heavy hitters at the
conference, sees as like the top folks.
Is there any branding opportunity?
And make a big, bold, put your logo that
faces right on the stage and maybe the,
like the speakers who are up there and
staring at it for, 30 minutes at a time,
might think like, well who are they?
I'm looking at 'em and it's super bright.
Maybe I'll take a spot.
It's all these little things
that you have to consider for the
entire, like expo hall, that all
comes down to the same aspect.
It needs to be comfortable to stay in, not
only for your guests, but also your team.
Araminta Robertson:
No, I really like that.
So could you share maybe some
examples, you don't have to share
the names of companies that haven't
done this very well, or you were, you
went into their booth area and you
were like, this is not comfortable.
Like, what are some examples of
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, I mean you have
like your basic like eight by eight
booth spaces where you have maybe two
chairs and like a folded table maybe.
And a lot of this is not, I get it.
Like I, I understand like you're limited
to your resources and your space.
So there's a thousand companies
that do it this way, but what's
different is even if you have these
little eight by eights, right?
Like the, a plant can go a long
way, like a the colour scheme.
I think one of the things that drives
me nuts whenever I walk up to this
is they have one back wall where they
have this opportunity to, talk about
what they do, showcase their brand.
And it's like, there's like a novel
written on there and it's like,
who's sitting and reading this novel
that you've printed on the back?
Like visually comfortable too.
It doesn't necessarily have to be
like, oh, I have a private room with a
door and here's our coffee station and
here's all this visually comfortable.
It makes sense and it feels approachable.
And I think the other thing too that you
can control, no matter what size booth
you have or how complex or not complex
you decide is the number of people
that you have in your booth as well.
Like if you have a crowded area, no
one's gonna want to come up to you.
I know it sounds a little
counterintuitive 'cause you want your
booth to be the one that's like lively
and excited.
You could have that aspect, but if
you only have room for four people and
you got four staff members and taking
up all the room, people are coming by
maybe glancing and not stopping in.
But this all comes
Araminta Robertson:
it's intimidating, right?
Is that what you mean?
Rachel Verrill: yeah, a little
intimidating where it's like,
oh, they're too busy, like, no
one's available to talk to me.
Or maybe I'll come back later
when there's only one guy there.
People are shy.
But,
Araminta Robertson: Totally.
Yeah.
I think it's not specific, people
that I've seen, it's just, you see
it over and over again where they
have the default furniture and just
like one backdrop behind them that
just maybe offers a little too much
information that no one's gonna read.
Rachel Verrill: It's a bit of a miss.
Araminta Robertson: I think
what makes me sad when I see that
is like the missed opportunity.
'cause you already spent so much
money on a booth and I think a lot
of people know now that's not enough.
Like you can't just spend
that money and expect sales.
Like you really have to be
smart about it and do something
different and all these things.
And so it pains me 'cause I'm
like, oh man, they spent so
much money and maybe they're not
using it as much as they could.
And that's, as a marketer,
I'm like, oh God, the ROI,
Rachel Verrill: I know.
Araminta Robertson: painful.
So, you say sound barrier, so I
think that's quite interesting.
Do you mean like when they go
into the area, I guess you need
a bit of a bigger booth, like
somewhere that's a bit quieter.
Like what do you mean
exactly by sand barrier?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, if you can't
have, if your booth allows for the
space to have like a quieter area, but
there's ways to do this where even is
like a, like psychological, like, oh,
it feels like we're in a quieter area.
Like it's one thing to have like a
table and four chairs and a screen,
but if you can build that table in
four chairs and just scoot it a little
bit into like between two walls and
maybe just the first two chairs are
in there and the the other two are
sticking out, but it feels like a room.
Like, it feels like you've
just entered a new space.
Walls, fake walls, half walls
go a long way for a booth.
And these things, like, it
makes people feel comfortable.
It makes 'em feel a bit away from
like, the chaos of the expo floor.
And a lot of times they do provide some
sort of like, block from, the basic,
like what's happening on the other
booth right next door, and that's, Fake
walls and little walls can go a long
way to help with the sound barriers.
And then, yeah, it's the piece I said
like, okay, if you're next to the loudest
stage on, that's like constantly running
panels with a very loud microphone.
It's like the, it could be distracting
for the guests that you have at the booth.
So picking an ideal space
on the floor where it's not
gonna be too noisy around you.
I think that's super important.
Araminta Robertson: and are
there other ways to make it cosy?
Like, this is just me thinking out
loud, but maybe you could add like a
little, some decoration that's like
relaxing or, I don't know, a pot of
tea, I don't know, stuff like that.
Like where, sit down and have
a tea or something like that.
Rachel Verrill: yeah, offering like
a little cup of coffee if you can.
Even just a Keurig machine or a little
espresso machine that you can have
offering that up to your coffee.
I would say rugs.
Use rugs.
I don't see people use rugs.
Like you'll see rugs in recording
studios because they do exactly
what they're supposed to do.
They muffle the sound just enough
where it's comfortable to the ears.
There's not a lot of echo.
it's an easy thing to purchase and roll
out, and it kind of gives a cosy home
vibe as well.
It footprint, like if someone's
wearing high heels, all of a
sudden you're not hearing clicking
as people pace around the booth.
Like little things like that.
Use rugs, use soft lighting.
If you can control the lighting in
your booth, I think that's huge.
Don't have fluorescence.
Don't make it look like a doctor's office.
Make it look like a
coffee shop if you can,
that would be great.
Araminta Robertson: yeah.
No, this is great.
I think I am, I like the wrong idea.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna take that.
So we're gonna talk about side
events in a second, but maybe we
could dive a bit deeper into booths.
So, yeah, I'd love to hear your
process for designing a booth.
I mean, we already talked a bit
about some tips there, but like,
from start to finish, imagine
we've got someone listening who,
their job is now, okay, money 2020.
We have a booth.
me and my team, we need to put
this together and obviously
get the best out of it.
Start with kind of the vendor
selection and then maybe design,
and then we can talk about
people and all that and strategy.
But yeah, how would you
kickstart that process?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah.
If you are an event marketer who
has gone to all these events before,
take a chunk of your time when you're
at a conference to walk the entire
floor and see what booth you like
and write down what's good and go
introduce yourself to their marketers.
I almost guarantee you, whoever
is in contact with their vendor
is there at the conference.
Talk to them, ask the
marketers, Hey, who'd you use?
I love it.
Like, gimme the details.
Do your own form of networking
to find the right vendors.
If you haven't gone before, vet the
websites that you can for booth vendors
by, say, I would say always work with
like a booth, booth design agency,
especially for these large conferences.
If you have like a larger space and
you wanna run a more unique concept,
work with a booth design agency and
come with a broad concept, and don't
be afraid to think outside of the
box I've seen it all with booths.
Like people are like, I want my
booth to be a t-shirt print shop.
I want my booth to be a little casino.
I want my booth to be a food truck.
I want my booth to look like
an Abercrombie and Fitch.
All of this is possible.
And the things that they come back
like you can tweak and I've always had
really positive experiences working
with these booth design agencies.
And I'll do it.
I'll just continue doing it.
You own the creative, but they're the
execution layer that you absolutely need.
Especially if you're in a team
like me where I'm alone in my role.
I'm the only field marketer
at tactile right now.
And I could use the extra hands.
And I imagine for a lot of startups
that is going to be the case.
You're not always gonna have this
huge team of like 10 event or field
marketers on every conference,
Araminta Robertson: one
quick question there actually.
Do you think it's worth still
hiring an agency if it's a small,
like eight by eight as you said?
Or is there any size where it makes sense
or one where it's like too small, just,
Rachel Verrill: I think for your
eight by eights and your small
ones you might wanna work with a
design contractor for the back.
If you're not someone who has like
a good eye for design or anything.
I think that's fine.
I wouldn't work with a booth contracting
team for like an eight by eight because
Yeah, unless you're doing like a full
build from the ground up, I would
say like you got like a 10 by 20
or anything bigger, 20 by 20 of one
of the large spaces on the floor.
Work with like a full booth design
agency, if not work with a design agency
because they can help you with that back
splash, which is gonna be like almost
your only chance to have some sort of
like creative control over what you do.
Find a good contractor and work with them.
I I think for your eight by
eights and everything, that would
be, that would what I
Speaker 3: sense.
Rachel Verrill: then other piece That
I would say in my process is after you
work with the broad design and you sort
of own this, you have to think about
the whole team that you're sending.
For us personally, for events like
Money 2020 where we have these demo
stations built into our booths, it's
very important that we're sending
our solutions engineers, which you
don't see a lot at conferences.
You don't see these like technical roles
like going, but these are anchor people
at the booth and I need to make sure that
I have a space that makes sense for them.
So getting their feedback ahead of time,
like, Hey, you're gonna be running demos
from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on the floor.
What is important to you
before I design this booth?
Like, get it straight from the source,
but also allow your AEs and your BDRs
and even your executive team or sales
leadership to give some feedback.
I would say don't limit it.
You don't want too many cooks in
the kitchen, but think about your
most important, who are your anchor
people at the booth get their
thoughts and feedback for sure.
And then trickle down to like, okay,
maybe my BDRs are gonna be running around.
I don't need to take all their
feedback on the booth design.
Araminta Robertson: feedback do
you think they would give you?
Like, what are they gonna say?
Are they gonna say I need a comfy chair?
Is that the kind of stuff, or is it
more like, I need this space so I
can show this part of the product?
Something like that.
Rachel Verrill: I think comfortable
seating and a comfortable space
is always the first thing.
They're like, well, fast wifi,
most of these booths, especially
for the bigger ones, you're
having to pay for your own wifi.
And they're like, I don't want any
glitches or anything like that.
Like, let's ensure that the
wifi is top notch at the booth.
A hundred percent.
We'll get that for you.
The other piece is like it's
all in the little details.
Like if they're sitting there all
day and I'm handing them snacks
to fuel them, or like, Hey, I got
you a plate of lunch or whatever.
Have a little trash can underneath
the table that they can like
access quickly and keep the station
clean and and everything there.
Make sure you have charging ports
so their laptops can stay charged.
It's just about the
experience and making them as
comfortable as possible.
Araminta Robertson: yes.
No, that's really great.
And so interesting what you were saying
about who's joining at your booth.
We've had Kate from mid desk on as
well on this podcast, and she also
shared that what you were saying,
like important to have experts as
well, not just salespeople, because if
not, it can be intimidating as well.
And also especially if I don't
wanna say a CEO comes along, like
being able to speak to the experts
or the people who really know their
stuff can really show that you're
legits and credibility and all that.
So how do you pick who's coming and
how do you like to set it up yourself?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, I think we
have such a wide range of people who
go, but I think you have to think
at the top of the food chain and
the like bottom of the food chain.
But I'm gonna put big old quotes here
because my secret weapon for conferences
and side events are my BDRs and my SDRs.
I think it's a big miss when event
marketers or even sales team, sales teams
don't wanna use their BDRs at events.
I have never seen a hungrier go get 'em.
They will prep the heck out of
these events for your senior
executive leadership that is
there, but incredibly busy.
And you do a buddy system.
like, you have your AEs, your sales
leadership, your CEO, and your
solutions engineers, and each BDR that
you send is paired with this team.
And they're managing the schedules
and the meetings and the prep for
their entire, like, let's say week at
this conference and having them there
to sort of do these intros, book as
many meetings as they can ahead of
time and on the floor, they're like
meeting every day before the conference
with our CEO and be like, hello Mike.
These are the people you're meeting today.
This is everything you need to know.
Having that in person goes So, so far,
so you have your BDRs, you have AEs,
BDRs are there for like booking meetings,
scheduling everything, generating new
leads and new pipeline AEs are there for,
accelerating their open deals, meeting
with people that they've met with before.
they can run demos as well.
If there's a station open and a
solution engineer is not available, an
AE can run a demo as much as they can.
We have our sales leadership
for follow up meetings.
Like let's say day one.
We have a 15 minute meeting and they're
super interested to be like, Hey, our
CEO's here, he's available at 2:00
PM why don't you come by the booth?
We'll sit with him and you can
ask him everything he knows.
So it goes all the way up and
it's good to have a wide range.
And then you have your marketers,
like, I think if you have a big booth
concept in a side event happening at a
conference, you should be in attendance.
You don't always have to like
be in the booth at all times.
You should be there to make sure
everything's looking spotless and
it's running smoothly and everything.
Everyone has what they need, but
I think it's important to have a
little bit of marketing presence as
Araminta Robertson: yeah.
Nice.
And actually, just to go back quickly
to design we didn't really talk about
strategy, I guess, because you mentioned
leadership and you also mentioned
that you would, you could have like
a food truck theme, a t-shirt theme.
Like how do you decide on the theme
of the booth and kind of what, yeah.
What's the strategy there behind that?
Rachel Verrill: I would say the
biggest thing is don't overcomplicate
it for your entire year.
If you pick a design for your first
big conference of the year and
it works your second big biggest
conference of the year, do it again.
we kind of have our like
booth designs in year series.
So like for 2025, we ran the same
design where we had two demo stations.
We had our logo being the structure
of the booth and like a side closet
and everything that you need.
And we did that at the three biggest
conferences of the year and it worked.
And then we decided, well that was
great, let's have a bigger space.
And so for 2026, all those big conferences
where we have these big booze, we
upgraded our spaces for all of them.
And we were like, well, we
have to think of a new design.
so we came up with one good
thing that we wanna run.
And for us, we're kind of going with this
like coffee shop meets Ikea showroom,
like cosy, this comfortable vibe.
We will run this same
concept for all of that.
I think the big mistake to try and
like, okay, for the March event, we're
gonna do a food truck concept and then
in June we have to do the storefront.
Cause it's just way too much
work and it's really unnecessary.
So I would say that's the biggest piece
As far as like the specific design.
It depends if you're doing like the,
if you wanna run yours like a t-shirt
print shop, you better have good swag.
I think that's the biggest.
If swag is important to you at
a conference, make it make sense
to the concept of your booth.
If you're doing a food truck, hand out
coffee and that will be your activation.
Maybe you don't need a
t-shirt on the side of that.
If it's all about branding and
thought leadership for you guys or
seeing like technical or whatever,
make sure you have big screens.
Make sure you have big words and you used
your ceiling space as much as possible.
Hang something down from the ceiling so
someone way across the expo hall can see
the word, of your company from far away
deciding what's important to your team.
And then the theme will come
naturally, but stick to it.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Yeah, that makes sense.
And you said before we started recording,
like do this in the quieter months maybe.
I imagine that's what you were
doing in December, like do your
planning and all that in December.
Maybe don't do it like two weeks
before the, I mean, I don't
think many people do that, but
Rachel Verrill: Oh, impossible.
Two weeks before the event.
But yeah, take advantage
of your slow Seasons.
I know it's tempting to like lean
back and be like, Ugh, I can take
a break and everything, but you
should be planning for the next year.
Like December is always slow
for events and conferences.
People are winding down, going back
to their hometowns, what have you.
That should be your time where
you should planning, you should be
planning for the entire next year.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Yeah.
Nice.
So if we go back to booths then, how
do you like to measure kind of success?
How do you try and make sure
that you get the most out of it?
I imagine it depends a little bit,
obviously, and it'll connect to your
wider marketing strategy, but maybe
you can use an example of maybe the
strategy was, I don't know, x bringing
more leads or whatever it was.
And then how did the
booth connect to that?
Like how do you Yeah.
Make sure you make the most of them.
Rachel Verrill: I'll say two things.
that's a, maybe a slightly controversial
take for many marketers here and one
that I think is the number one driver
of our event marketing strategy, which
is if you aren't a pipeline focused
marketer, you're missing a huge KPI.
There is not a team that I work with
more closely than the BDRs for any event.
It could be these big conferences
or it can be a 15 person dinner,
or it can be like a hundred person
happy hour or whatever it is.
I work so closely with the BDRs
and we share the same goal.
I think it's actually important to, to
note that before I was in event marketing,
I was A BDR and I did that for many years
and that actually inspired my growth
into this new role because I was the
person who was being sent to this event.
And I thought, well, what do I
need out of these as a BD or like a
sales focused person?
How can I then turn into the person that's
curating these events with that mindset?
so for everything we do, every decision
I make as an event marketer is for
pipeline and generating pipeline.
Driving pipeline that's already
existing and leading towards
ultimately closing deals, of course.
And then there is the added things.
There's brand opportunities, there's
thought leadership that I have to think
about how do I frame tactile in a way
that, brand is everything that people say
about you when you're not around because
you've inspired them to think this way.
I have to think about those as well.
So it's BD and sales goals and some,
but pipeline should be the number one.
So when we think about booth design,
I'm thinking about what structure can we
set that will actually start a deal from
start to finish That's the ideal scenario.
you come to a conference and you
meet someone for 15 minutes and
then they come to the booth, they
have a demo, and then you invite
them to do the to the evening event.
And they have a great time that they
wanna see you the next day, and then maybe
they're meeting with the CEO and they
bring their CEO and then the last day
of the conference are signing the paper.
We've actually had this happen,
Araminta Robertson: Wow, that's great.
That's amazing.
And it's probably faster 'cause
it's, I imagine your sales cycles
are long like most B2B enterprise.
But because it's in
person, everyone's there,
Rachel Verrill: In person accelerates it.
It's not only in person matters,
but also the right people.
Like you can start the whole journey.
You can have your BDR intro meeting,
your AE deep dive, your solutions demo,
and your executive decision all in
the same area if you staff correctly.
But it's all focused on the same goal,
which is, yeah, generating pipeline.
my controversial take is like most
marketers are standing there with badge
scanners and scanning every single
person that walks up in the booth . No
, If you're scanning the badge of someone
who's just walking up and grabbing
a t-shirt from your swag thing and
walking away, you're missing the point.
Like those names don't matter.
You have to track the names, where the
quality meetings are a actually happening,
what are the BDRs actually booking?
Who are the people sitting down
and chatting with your team
in a real way, these are the
names that you need to track.
As a marketer, I don't care about
how many footsteps were in my booth.
Araminta Robertson: It's like the
physical representation of like a
report download versus a book a demo.
Like same as a marketer.
I honestly, I, that's why I don't believe
in gating, so I'm like, I don't care.
if you downloaded a report you wanted
to download a report to read a report
doesn't necessarily mean you were
looking for a payment solution.
Right.
Or whatever it is.
I mean we track them 'cause
they're interesting if they're
gated and if they're, but
usually we leave them ungated.
What we really care about
is the book of demos.
'cause that's really
the quality as you say.
So it's like the physical rep.
Yeah, totally.
I agree.
Really interesting what you're
saying about, I love how you used
to be A BDR and now you can really
you know exactly what they need.
So what is it that you have
found they really need from
their marketing field marketer?
What is it that really
helps 'em get the job done?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah I think
there's a one point about the
comfortable spaces for sure.
I mean, you don't wanna throw your teams
into chaotic spaces that aren't efficient,
and then there's the little details that
they don't even know that they want.
Right?
and I'm gonna talk about name tags
here for a second When I attend
an event and I don't get a name
tag, I'm like what are we doing?
Like, and I'll further it, if I do
get a name tag and all it says is
Rachel Verell and zero information,
I'm also like, what are we doing?
It's important for your team and
your, it's your job to make sure
that they're set up for success.
So our name tags are readable and they
offer all the information that you need,
name, title, company for every guest.
And if they don't have one, you're
write, you find someone with good
handwriting at check-in, and you're
writing some, you're writing it for them.
And then we've even gone
further with name tags.
And these are the little details that
I think like, okay, thinking as a
BDR salesperson and now transitioning
into a marketer, these are the things
I didn't even realise I needed.
Let's say you're hosting an event and you
have your CEO going, your head of sales
going, and you are head of partnerships
going, and these are like the three top
names, but they all have different goals
and they all wanna talk to different
tier one prospects that are in the room.
You have your name tags and you
have a coloured bar right above
on the top make colour code them.
Hey, everyone with a green
name tag, that's your guy.
Find the green name
tags only focus on them.
Head of partnerships.
You're on blue head of sales.
you are on orange.
And the guests have no idea.
They don't know like what this
means when they got an orange,
when they got a green one.
But your team does.
And that's what's important.
And so little details where
it's like, Hey, we only have
two hours for this happy hour.
Let's make the most of it.
I wanna make sure that if I'm using my
CEO and my topic leadership at this event,
how do I make the best of their time?
These little details go a long
way where your sales team set up,
but now as a marketer, you have
the tools to execute on this.
I think that's the biggest thing
that I've noticed since my transition
over, like, what were the little
things that I didn't even realise,
Araminta Robertson: I love that tip.
Because I was gonna say, obviously at
an expo you can't really ask, people
to, to have their name tags and stuff,
but really smart if you're doing your
own event to have it colour coded.
I can already imagine the guest being
like, so what are the colours mean?
And you're just like, oh, don't worry.
Rachel Verrill: Look at your company
colours like, I mean, we're blue in this
lime green like, or purple and lime green.
All right.
We'll have purple ones and lime green
ones and we'll sign them that way, it's
Araminta Robertson: No, that's cool.
That's really smart.
I love that.
So we were gonna talk about side events.
We've just talked a lot about booths,
but I have one last question about
booths, which is, yeah what have you
found makes someone stop at a booth?
You know, They're
walking through the expo.
Maybe they're your pro, like an ideal ICP.
what do you find works and anything
that you can share that you've tried
at tactile that, that has worked there?
Rachel Verrill: I say unfortunately
because I think this is probably
like the hardest part of the job
when it comes to designing booths.
But the unique or the better, I mean, you
definitely wanna stand out in that aspect.
If you can have some sort of
interactive activation that makes sense.
Like, yes, you can have a claw
machine and maybe that's interesting
and it keeps people there.
Or you can do the Lego set things.
I've seen people do that.
But make sure to make it make sense
and tie it to the brand and also
have someone available to talk.
If you're gonna have a claw machine,
someone's gotta be on the claw machine.
But yeah the unique or
the concept the better.
That definitely makes
people stop and remember.
I mean, you talk about
Kate Young at mid desk.
I mean, I will never forget the mid
desk booth at Money 2020 this year.
It was incredible.
Like,
they decided to do a lifestyle
brand and they made their booth
a storefront and it was like four
sides square and it was gorgeous.
They had like sofas and like dark
green and browns and copper golds.
And they had like a, their greeting desk
on the inside was like a register, like
where you could check out your items.
And they had all this custom swag
that was made exactly for this
lifestyle brand that they built.
I mean, look at me like I, I don't
work for mid desk, but it was
incredible and I will never forget
it.
Oh, they're so good.
And I remember going up to Kate
and I was like, who did this?
I need to know who you
worked with this on this.
And not only for this,
like who's your swag?
Like who made your t-shirts?
Who made this incredible duffle bag?
And they also made all their swag.
VIP only.
And you can only get if you
book a meeting, which was like,
oh,
much to the chari of me.
'cause I was like,
I want everything.
So
if you can afford it and you have the
space for it, go bold with your concept.
The other aspects.
I think using screens I think
really helps if you can afford
like a, like an LED screen back
wall or like something on the side.
I think that those really stand out.
I've seen like neon lights are kind
of big, like outlining your booth and
making your big logo shine Backlit with
neon, like just pops, like big pops.
And then of course what you say,
actually I'm gonna wind this back
because the other thing the, I think
really helps is people underestimate
team t-shirts at these conferences.
when I tell my team like, Hey,
we're gonna have a team T-shirt.
They're like, oh, but
like, we dress so well.
Like, I wanna wear my own clothes.
be like, I know I get it, but
it's like you could be away from
the booth and if you have a team
T-shirt, that's interesting enough.
Or maybe it ties to it in bold enough.
It's like you're floating booths, like
how can we spread this branding as
far and wide as we can That's like
allowed with the conference and team
T-shirts is a perfect way to do that.
It's also just easier.
Not everyone loves it, but I think it's
a underestimated aspect of booth design,
Araminta Robertson: yeah, definitely.
And it's also like they, they stand out
so much more like, I don't know, green
or blue or whatever with the same colour.
When you see them walking about,
you're like, oh yeah, I know that.
And it's also, every time you see them,
even though you're far away from the
booth, you're getting repeated message.
It's like, you know what they say it was
seven times, you have to see a brand.
Before, I can't remember it was
seven, but you know, you're seeing
it every single time more and more.
So that's a huge one.
Rachel Verrill: we sent 19 people to
Money 2020, which I think it was a lot
of people, but that's 19 people with
these t-shirts that say decisions matter
repeated all on the back of the T-shirt.
And I can't even tell you how many
people went up and they're like, what
are these shirts that I'm seeing?
And you, it's only for the team.
You can make some that you can
give away, but only for the team.
And it's like, oh, it's tactile.
Let's chat.
And this was happening inside the
expo hall and outside the expo hall,
and I think it's really important.
Araminta Robertson:
Wow, that's really great.
Okay, we need to talk about site
events 'cause we've been you've shared
so many great tips for booths, but
site events also are super important.
So you've got the site events
that obviously are happening
during the conference.
Right.
And you've already mentioned that
this is also a really good way to
activate and an important touch point.
So maybe we can talk about those first
and then we can talk about site events
in general, the types that you do, happy
hours, dinners, all these kind of things.
But yeah let's start with the
side events during conferences
or all that kind of thing.
What have you found works quite
well there and what is your
kind of objective with those?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, I think
venue selection like anything
is very, very important.
Like where you decided your side
event should be convenient to
the location of the expo hall.
I think that's like do your best
to scout out the area, if you can,
if it's like if you're hosting a
side event or the conference is in
your city, go in person and see it.
I would say always go
in person if you can.
If not, maybe get on a call with
someone an event organiser or
the event staff at the restaurant
or the bar that you'll do it.
Have a unique concept.
I don't think you need
to over theme these.
I think that's really important
when it comes to side events.
And one thing that always sounds like
a good idea, and I get it why people do
this and event organisers do this, but if
you're doing a side event that's happening
after like a nine to five expo hall
experience for all your guests, don't have
a panel at your happy hour, controversial
take, but people are exhausted,
sat and panels all day
in the central hall.
What they want, they wanna
go enjoy themselves, they
want to connect with people.
And you can do that.
You can have more natural networking,
offer them like a great open bar and
then a nice comfortable space in a
private setting, like a good food,
private room, everything there.
Don't make them sit and listen to
something for another 30 minutes.
cause what I'll tell you, no one, like
people will talk over you, no shame.
And then it just really looks
like a disaster unless you really
have the space to accommodate it.
I would say you can do a panel at
your happy hour if you have like a
stage and some lighting and proper av.
But if you just set up some
chairs in the corner and you're
having people sit and hopefully
listen, I would advise against it.
The other thing is branding.
I said, don't over theme these.
And I think that's true.
However, if you're doing it, especially
connected to a conference, try and tie
it in to the theme of the conference.
for example, we did an event
FinTech Nerd Con last year in
Miami, which was in November.
FinTech Nerd Con as a first year
conference had a very, very strong
brand, which I really enjoyed.
They, if anyone saw it, it's
very eight bit video game kind of
looking and feel, and they kind of
leaned into this like nerd concept.
We decided to do a happy hour as a part
of the our strategy at FinTech Nerd Con.
And first of all, I use the word Nerd con.
We called our event Nerd Con Night Shift.
We opted for the late night event, which
was started at 8:00 PM which FYI don't
be afraid to be the late night event nerd
con night shift, and the design for it
was eight bit palm trees with a night
sky and one of those little coins that
you see on like Mario games or what or
whatever
at the bottom.
And the text is eight bit.
And it, people immediately know that
this is four guests of FinTech Nerd Con.
Of course, you can still craft your ICP,
you can make a curated list of invitees.
But I think where we were successful is
like the association between the two was
so strong without it being like, I didn't
have to work with like event organisers
at FinTech Nerd Con to make that happen.
And there's opportunities
to do that everywhere.
Like if you're even putting a skyline,
like if you're doing an event in New
York City, put the skyline somewhere
in your branding or Vegas, put the
Vegas strip somewhere or like put some
dice or like the cool number seven.
Like add something that's related to
either the area or the conference theme
that you're already working off of.
Araminta Robertson: So many great tips.
Okay, so how about side events in
general, or I shouldn't call 'em side
events, just like general events.
What are your favourite we've got
happy hours, we've got dinners.
What are your favourite ones to do for
specific, I don't know, goals, and how
do you make them like, memorable or
really, really work well for the company?
Rachel Verrill: There's a few things.
I hold a strong opinion that all
companies, especially startups who are
really trying to build their identity
and build their brand, should have at
least one form of like repeated event.
It could be a global dinner series
where you have its same naming
structure and you do these dinners
in all cities that you service, or
everywhere that you have a home base.
Like for us, for example, we have
offices in Berlin, London, and New York.
So we'll always try to do a dinner
in New York, London, and Berlin.
And
then
Araminta Robertson: all of them?
Rachel Verrill: I am managing all of them.
It's a lot of work, but it's great
because when you templatize it,
right, like when you call it the same
thing and you have the same, sort of
graphic that you're working on for
the event and everything, it's easy
to make this repeatable, but you just
are serving like a local audience.
So I think everyone should
focus on having at least one
sort of repeated series event.
And then everything else you
have your, like one-offs.
Like, okay, maybe you're hosting
like a VIP suite at a sporting event,
which I think are great events.
Those are the easiest ones to fill.
FYI
people are excited,
they'll go on a weekend.
Like people love those kinds of events.
My other favourite ones, and this is
a bit of a I'm not sure how many other
event marketers have built events from
the ground up like this, but I will work
with my AEs and be like, who are your
champion people in late stage deals?
They'll tell me and they'll say, this
one guy, I really wanna elevate him
as a thought leader in this space.
I think he's great.
He's our champion.
let's make a panel let's make an
event specifically around him as
a centrefold of this panel and we
can add a moderator and everything
else, and let's invite people to it.
And I want our champion
to be a thought leader.
And it's less about us.
It's not like I'm putting, our CEO
on the panel every single time.
It's like, Hey, your chief risk
officer at this company is a
genius and is super excited about
what's happening with AI and risk.
I want him on stage and we can have
tactile moderating the discussion.
Sure.
Araminta Robertson: So just to
clarify you're getting your prospects
champion, not your not tactile champion.
Like as in I see, like a prospect.
Okay.
Okay.
Smart.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rachel Verrill: like our prospects who,
maybe they're not our customers yet,
but they're absolute rock stars and
they're like our main point of contact
that the AE is like really connected
to, like, as the deal goes along.
Yeah, finding opportunities to
elevate them and making them
sort of the star of the show.
And we've done these like panel
events and then what's great is like,
okay, great, where do they live?
They live in San Francisco.
Let's do this in San Francisco.
We'll make it as easy
as possible for them.
We'll find a place with a nice
stage and yeah, av, and a great
staff and we'll do a panel and
happy hour to follow those events.
I mean, it helps so much
with deal acceleration.
It helps so much with relationship
building and it also helps so much
when you're interested in like,
hey, when you're a software where
you're helping experts in a space,
it doubles down on that sentiment.
Like, Hey, you guys are the experts.
We're just helping you with
like, what, our product.
But we wanna continue to treat
you guys as you should in,
as the experts of the space.
So we're giving you these opportunities.
I think events like those are
really interesting and fun.
They're fun to organise and you have
pretty much free game on what you want to
talk about and how you wanna design it.
But the most important thing is
like you're connecting and elevating
your community, which is great.
Araminta Robertson:
Yeah, this is so good.
And the sporting events.
So just so I understand, could you
explain that a little bit more?
Like how does that work?
Do you pick an event and then, hire
a room and you just invite prospects?
Like how would you set that up?
Rachel Verrill: Yeah, so typically I
would recommend, like if you're gonna
do a sporting event, yes, you can pick
any old baseball game or anything,
but maybe make it a bit more of like a
championship game that's happening, right?
Like for example, we're having one we're
actually doing a co-hosted event with one
of our partners in Chicago and the big 10
college basketball tournaments happening.
And for the championship game, we
booked the like VIP FanDuel suite.
It fits like up to 40 people.
And you have a great view of the
court, but you also have like open
bar and like screens and tables where
people can like mingle and network
and feel like it's a, honestly it's,
it feels like a VIP experience.
they have a separate entrance, there's
parking passes available for them.
It's all these things where hey,
have a good time on us, and I
think people underestimate, like
sometimes at all, it's all it
Araminta Robertson: I
know we're so human, right?
Rachel Verrill: so human.
Araminta Robertson: amazing.
To be honest.
I would love
Rachel Verrill: Yeah.
And, and I'm telling you, this event is
happening on a Sunday and people are like
excited to be there.
Araminta Robertson: that's cool.
Rachel Verrill: So yeah.
I think those events are fun.
I think make them interesting
like sporting events if you can.
Maybe some of the bigger games if you
have to spend a little bit more to
make that happen, co-host the event
so you to help with the costs there.
But yeah, those are always easy to fill.
Araminta Robertson: This is so cool.
Well, amazing.
Thanks so much Rachel.
there's so many more questions I have,
but I also wanna be conscious of time.
But this has been so helpful, so in
depth, so like specific, it's really
refreshing to have such specificity.
So really, thank you so much.
My last question, a little fun
one, you have mentioned a pet peeve
already but maybe we can broaden
to events and not just booths.
Biggest event, pet peeve.
What is
Rachel Verrill: Ooh.
Yeah I truly think my number
one answer is the name tags.
No name tags is my number one pep pee.
But I know I mentioned
that.
I would say like.
Keep your space clean.
whether it's a booth, whether it's a
side event, , I hold the mentality where
it's like when I'm hosting an event,
I'm truly that I'm, I am on host mode.
and I'm in charge.
Like, what do they say?
Like wealth whispers or something.
Like, it's all these little things
that, like when you're in your home
and you're hosting a dinner party,
light a candle in the bathroom
and make it smell good, whatever.
No one's thinking about it,
but make it nice for everybody.
It's on me and my team, and
I always emphasise this.
I'm like, guys, if you see an
empty cup, I don't care who you
are, pick it up and throw it away.
and I know there's wait staff.
I know that, but we're
also paying to be here.
So let's let's all pitch in and make
sure our space is clean and comfortable.
And yeah.
I would say if you're not conscious
about the cleanliness and of your event
or your booth, you make the big differe.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah,
no, that makes sense.
And I like what you're saying.
Imagine it's your own home.
Imagine you're doing a dinner party.
And for me it's the little details when
I notice these things, it really, because
it's a bit like in general with marketing
or with, this is what I say about content.
If they put a lot of, if a company puts
a lot of energy into making something
like content or an event, great.
Then we use that as a
proxy for the product.
If they've put a lot of effort into the
event, then likelihood is they put a
lot of work and energy into the product.
If the event is great, likely
the product is as well.
And so, yeah, we always just always have
to think about how that's how people
are thinking when they attend an event.
And that's, that's why when I
do events, like there's a lot of
pressure that I put on myself.
'cause I'm like, yeah, like this
is how people are gonna perceive
your brand if it's not good.
So, yeah.
Amazing kudos for doing great events.
'cause I think that's yeah, there's so
much work that goes into them and it
can, make a huge impact when done well.
So,
Rachel Verrill: Role.
Thank you.
I love what I do.
I truly think I have the
best job in, in FinTech.
I really do.
Araminta Robertson: it's a lot of fun.
No, I agree.
Well, thanks so much Rachel.
Really appreciate your time.
Thanks for sharing so many incredible
tips with us and our listeners.
And yeah, I'm excited to see you at
our, the next event, whichever it
is, from Deem Top or Money 2020, and
I'll check out the tactile booth.
I'm excited to see you.
Rachel Verrill: Thank you so much.
Yeah.
outro: Thanks for listening.
You can find show notes and
information about guests@www.mint
copywriting studios.com/podcast.
And finally, huge thanks to orama
TV for producing this podcast.
Thanks for listening, and
see you at the next episode.