We have access to mountains of data from summits, user conferences, global roadshows, and third-party trade shows, but rarely a clear explanation of what that data actually means or a confident path to action. 

The data we’re collecting is gold. And we have really incredible event technology partners leading the way. Rainfocus, EventMobi, Cvent, EventBase, we know them well. These tools gather awesome data and are only getting better at doing so. Session scans, lab check-ins, booth traffic. Individually, they provide valuable insights into our attendees’ journeys. Holistically, this data can unlock understanding far beyond any one event—or even single-brand portfolio. 

Attendee journeys today are more complex than ever. Our audiences are traveling the world and participating in a matrix of experiences. First, and more broadly, as humans experiencing culture and consumerism, and, more specifically, as B2B event attendees. The brands they interact with exist within ecosystems of tools, platforms, and products that influence and activate all around them. 

When we look at event data, there’s huge untapped potential to engage with our audiences in the way they care about most. Real business impact. Tools like Vivastream help us get there. 

Vivastream is an event analytics platform that focuses on closing the measurement gap. Their tool seamlessly pulls data from wherever it already lives and unifies it into a clear, connected view of your event portfolio. No manual clean-up or complicated workarounds, just a simple way to see, understand, and act on the insights your team already has.
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We recently chatted with Nick Fugaro, Founder and CEO of Vivastream, about the opportunity for event technology and audience data to validate events as the #1 marketing channel of the future. This article explores how, as event leaders, we can close the measurement gap, make data work for us, and guarantee that each engagement is a smart one. 

Fugaro revealed three core moves to close the measurement gap and give your sales team a pipeline cheat code. Check ‘em out.

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See your attendee within an ecosystem. 

Challenge: Siloed reporting hides patterns you can’t afford to miss.

Understanding attendees across an entire event ecosystem—proprietary, third-party, virtual, and roadshows—unlocks deeper insights into their motivation, decision-making process, and purchasing behavior. It allows us to anticipate their needs and plan our next touch points.

Example: Global brands use dashboards like this to visualize attendee-level engagement across marketing activities in a single, easy-to-understand view that presents a clear view for sales and account teams. This snapshot displays in CRM systems like Salesforce and includes events attended, overall engagement, upcoming sponsored events they are expected to attend, owned products, sales opportunities, and topics repeatedly explored over time.

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Takeaway: Seeing the full picture reveals behaviors, interests, and gaps is gold for sales teams and highlights the significant value events are providing to the company. It eliminates the guesswork for sales and account teams by showing event activity and product engagement. It’s the foundation for every strategic decision that follows. This context shows us who we’re talking to and where they are in the journey.

Make your next action your best one yet. 

Challenge: Data is everywhere, but acting on it effectively is hard. 

Too often, teams default to generic follow-up messages like, “Thanks for stopping by our booth, let’s find time to connect!” When insights are fragmented, guessing becomes the default action. 

Example: With unified, account- and attendee-level visibility, your next action becomes your best one yet. An account-level dashboard can instantly show how a specific organization engaged at your event, including:

• Attendee details
• Product interest
• Purchasing roles
• Most visited booths
• And more

Drill down further into attendee snapshots, and you can see:

• Engagement score and depth of participation
• Topics repeatedly explored
• Signals of near-term interest based on session and booth behavior

Instead of a generic outreach, sales can now say, “I saw your team spent time exploring automation and emerging tech. Based on what you’re already using, here’s where we typically see opportunity next.”

This level of precision targeting is like giving your team a pipeline cheat code.

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Takeaway: This level of visibility gives teams clarity on who to reach out to at the right time, with the right message. When you can clearly see what your audience is signaling, your next action becomes obvious. Follow-ups get sharper. Conversions move faster. 

Push it further, faster with smart automation. 

Challenge: Manual follow-ups are slow, inconsistent, and too often, prone to guesswork. 

Now that we understand our attendees’ behavior and intent, we can combine with AI agents to automate post-event engagement to deliver more targeted messaging, faster. We’re talking while-they’re-still-in-the-room, faster. 

Example: This example shows how a technology company leveraged AI-generated email and account reporting to achieve a 92% follow-up rate within the SLA in just five days.

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Leveraging relevant, behavior-based event engagement data and automating your “next best action” amplifies your strategy and lets teams focus on building meaningful relationships that lead to real business results.

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Big Idea

The measurement gap is narrowing. Tech is getting smarter, AI is making it faster, and new platforms like Vivastream are broadening our understanding of attendee behavior. This has massive implications for event outcomes. 

Think about your own events. Are your teams’ follow-ups generic or data-driven? Are cross-event insights clear and actionable?

If not, it’s time to take a smarter, more holistic approach. The benefits are massive: faster ROI validation, smarter next steps, and more strategic engagement with attendees. 

Help your teams spend less time chasing, guessing, and manually stitching together insights, and more time engaging where it matters. 

The next move is yours.