🎤 [Phase 4] Conference and event strategy #332
Description
Description
Establish conference presence to build brand awareness, generate leads, and establish thought leadership in developer and AI communities.
Conference Strategy
Phase 1: Speaking Opportunities (Low Cost, High Value)
Goal: Build credibility without booth costs
Target Conferences (Year 1)
Tier 1: AI/ML Conferences
- AI Engineer Summit (Oct, SF)
- Audience: AI engineers, builders
- Talk ideas: "Building Memory for AI Agents", "Explainable AI in Production"
- PyData (Multiple cities)
- Audience: Data scientists, ML engineers
- Talk ideas: "Retrieval Systems at Scale", "Vector Search + Graph Reasoning"
- MLOps World (Multiple cities)
- Audience: ML infrastructure engineers
- Talk ideas: "Production Memory Systems", "Monitoring Retrieval Quality"
Tier 2: Developer Conferences
4. Next.js Conf (Oct, SF)
- Audience: Next.js developers
- Talk ideas: "Building Search with Next.js 15", "Server Actions + Semantic Search"
- React Summit (Nov, Amsterdam/Remote)
- Audience: React developers
- Talk ideas: "Building Search UI with React", "Streaming Answers in React"
- API Days (Multiple cities)
- Audience: API builders, platform engineers
- Talk ideas: "Designing Developer-First APIs", "4 Routes That Do Everything"
Tier 3: DevOps/Platform
7. KubeCon (Multiple cities)
- Audience: Platform engineers, SREs
- Talk ideas: "Deploying Search at Scale", "Kubernetes for ML Infrastructure"
- DevOps Days (Multiple cities)
- Audience: DevOps engineers
- Talk ideas: "Building Reliable Retrieval Systems"
Phase 2: Booth Presence (Investment Phase)
When to Get a Booth
Signals:
- ✅ Budget available ($10K-$50K per conference)
- ✅ Sales team in place
- ✅ Strong brand recognition
- ✅ Enterprise collateral ready
Booth Strategy
Goals:
- Lead generation (>100 qualified leads)
- Brand awareness
- Partnership discussions
- Customer meetings
Booth Activities:
- Live demos (10-minute loops)
- "Ask an expert" sessions
- Developer challenges/contests
- Swag (useful, branded)
- Meeting space for customers/prospects
Phase 3: Hosting Events (Brand Building)
Developer Workshops
Format: Half-day, hands-on
Topics:
- "Building AI Agents with Memory"
- "Semantic Search Workshop"
- "API Design Best Practices"
Venues:
- Co-working spaces
- University computer labs
- Partner offices
- Virtual (Zoom)
Meetup Sponsorships
Communities:
- AI/ML meetups
- Next.js/React meetups
- API developer groups
- LangChain user groups
Sponsorship Package:
- Venue rental
- Food/drinks
- Speaker (Lightfast founder/engineer)
- Swag
- Cost: $500-$2K per meetup
CFP (Call for Proposals) Strategy
Talk Proposal Template
Title: [Compelling, Specific Title]
Abstract:
[Hook - Problem or interesting question]
[What attendees will learn]
[Key takeaways (3-5 bullets)]
[Why you're qualified to speak on this]
Talk Outline:
1. Introduction (5 min)
2. Main Content (30 min)
- Point 1
- Point 2
- Point 3
3. Demo (10 min)
4. Q&A (5 min)
Target Audience:
[Junior/Mid/Senior] [Role]
Takeaways:
1. [Specific actionable takeaway]
2. [Specific actionable takeaway]
3. [Specific actionable takeaway]Approved Talk Topics
1. "Building Memory for AI Agents with MCP"
Target: AI Engineer Summit, PyData
Angle: Practical, implementation-focused
Demo: Live agent with memory
2. "Designing Developer-First APIs: Lessons from 4 Routes"
Target: API Days, Developer conferences
Angle: API design philosophy
Demo: API playground walkthrough
3. "Making AI Explainable: Citations in Production"
Target: MLOps World, AI conferences
Angle: Production considerations, trust
Demo: Citation tracking system
4. "Search by Meaning: Semantic Search with Next.js"
Target: Next.js Conf, React Summit
Angle: Full-stack implementation
Demo: Build search UI live
5. "Team Memory: Solving Context Loss at Scale"
Target: Engineering leadership conferences
Angle: Organizational problems, solutions
Case Studies: Customer stories
Event Execution Playbook
Pre-Event (2-4 weeks before)
- Finalize talk slides
- Practice demo (test backup plans)
- Promote talk on social media
- Schedule meetings with attendees
- Book travel and accommodation
- Order swag/materials (if booth)
- Pre-event LinkedIn post
During Event
- Arrive early, test A/V
- Network actively
- Collect leads (business cards, LinkedIn)
- Live-tweet insights
- Take photos/videos
- Schedule follow-up meetings
- Attend relevant talks (networking)
Post-Event (1 week after)
- Share talk slides on LinkedIn
- Upload recording (if available)
- Write blog post recap
- Follow up with leads (within 48 hours)
- Thank organizers
- Send swag to promising leads
- Add contacts to CRM
Conference Materials
Speaker Materials
- Slide deck template (branded)
- Demo environment (reliable, fast)
- Speaker bio (short/long versions)
- Headshot (high-res)
- Talk recordings (for future CFPs)
Booth Materials (Future)
- Booth design and graphics
- Demo stations (2-3 laptops)
- Lead capture system (iPad + form)
- Swag (t-shirts, stickers, notebooks)
- One-pagers (50-100 printed)
- Business cards
Swag Ideas (Useful, Not Wasteful)
- Developer stickers (laptop-friendly designs)
- High-quality notebooks (developer-themed)
- USB-C cables (actually useful!)
- Socks (quirky, memorable)
- Avoid: cheap pens, low-quality t-shirts, plastic junk
Budget Planning
Speaking Only (Year 1)
Per Conference:
- Travel: $1K-$2K
- Accommodation: $500-$1K
- Total: $1.5K-$3K per event
Year 1 Budget (4-6 conferences): $10K-$15K
With Booth (Year 2+)
Per Major Conference:
- Booth space: $5K-$20K
- Booth design/setup: $3K-$10K
- Swag: $2K-$5K
- Travel (team of 3-4): $5K-$10K
- Total: $15K-$45K per event
ROI Tracking
Metrics per Event
- Leads Generated: Qualified prospects
- Pipeline Created: Total opportunity value
- Brand Impressions: Attendees + social reach
- Partnerships: Discussions initiated
- Content Created: Talks, blogs, videos
Success Criteria
Speaking Engagement:
-
50 leads from talk
-
10K social impressions
- 1-2 partnership discussions
- Talk recording for future use
Booth Presence:
-
100 qualified leads
- $50K+ pipeline created
- 5+ customer meetings
- 10+ partnership discussions
Conference Calendar (Year 1)
Q1
- Submit CFPs to 5+ conferences
- Speak at 1 local meetup (practice)
Q2
- Attend 2 conferences (speaking)
- Host 1 developer workshop
Q3
- Attend 2-3 major conferences
- Sponsor 2 local meetups
Q4
- Attend 1-2 year-end conferences
- Plan Year 2 conference strategy
Acceptance Criteria
- ✅ Submitted CFPs to 5+ conferences
- ✅ Accepted to speak at 2+ conferences
- ✅ Delivered 2+ talks in Year 1
- ✅ Generated 100+ leads from events
- ✅ Talk recordings and blog posts published