Event Strategy Playbook: How Founders Should Choose Their Events for the Year

Criteria for selecting events, avoiding conference tourism, and linking travel to concrete business goals.

In her first year operating between Seoul and Dubai, a health technology founder, whom we will call Lina, accepted almost every invitation she received.

She attended a Web3 summit in Singapore, a general startup conference in Europe, a health expo with few decision makers, and several local meetups “to stay visible.” Her calendar was full, her photographs from the events appeared impressive, and her travel budget was exhausted by November. Revenue, pipeline, and investor progress were almost unchanged.

The issue was not a lack of effort. The issue was the absence of a structured event strategy for founders that linked each trip to concrete business goals.

Most founders recognize that events can support customer acquisition, fundraising, partnerships, or reputation. Far fewer treat events as structured investments with clear objectives, selection criteria, and a way to assess results.

This playbook outlines a practical approach to choosing events for the year, building a coherent portfolio that reflects the company’s stage, and turning each trip into measurable outcomes.

1. Begin with business goals, not dates

Before reviewing any event website, clarify what the company needs in the next twelve months.

Think in terms of specific outcomes:

• Revenue and pipeline in defined markets
• Capital and investor relationships at a particular stage
• Key hires in product, technology, sales, or operations
• Partnerships and distribution channels
• Positioning and credibility within a niche or ecosystem
• Learning from founders one or two stages ahead
• A reliable peer community, particularly for cross-border work

Select two or three priorities and express them in concrete terms. For example:

• “Secure five new qualified B2B leads in Japan or Korea.”
• “Establish relationships with ten early-stage investors who understand deep technology.”
• “Build recognition as a reference point for cross-border manufacturing between Europe and Asia.”

Events then assume a defined role. Each one is evaluated according to how it supports these priorities, rather than simply filling the calendar.

2. Understand what each type of event delivers

Once goals are clear, it becomes easier to distinguish between event types and to decide which functions are necessary in a given year.

Flagship conferences and expos
Large, branded events with prominent stages, exhibition halls, and media presence.
Useful for: visibility, trend analysis, high-density networking, and early positioning in a region.
Risk: significant cost and effort with limited depth if attendance is not planned carefully.

Vertical or niche events
Events focused on a specific sector or theme such as financial technology, health technology, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, Web3, or women founders.
Useful for: targeted leads, specialised partnerships, and investors who understand the sector.

Community-driven gatherings
Meetups, founder circles, small retreats, and private dinners.
Useful for: trust, candid discussions, long-term peer support, and introductions that emerge over time.

Functional events
Events centred on a role or skill, such as product management, growth, sales, user experience, or leadership.
Useful for: developing the competencies of founders and key team members.

Local and global events
Local events: more accessible, support regular participation, and help establish presence in a specific city such as Seoul, Limassol, or Berlin.
Global events: higher cost, but can condense months of outreach, learning, and networking into a few days.

For many founders, an effective annual plan includes:

• One or two anchor events that merit significant investment
• Two or three tactical niche events aligned with sector and market
• A small set of local or community gatherings attended consistently

3. Apply clear criteria before saying yes

When an invitation arrives, a structured assessment helps maintain discipline. The following criteria can be scored individually or considered qualitatively.

Audience fit

Relevant participants include:

• Target customers or users
• Investors whose sector and stage focus match the company
• Distributors, resellers, and channel partners
• Media, accelerators, and ecosystem organisations connected to the roadmap

If it is difficult to describe who should be met in meaningful categories, the event is unlikely to be strategic.

Stage fit

Review the typical profile of attendees and presenting companies:

• Idea-stage and student teams
• Early-stage founders and seed funds
• Growth-stage scale-ups and later-stage capital

A significant mismatch in stage tends to result in courteous but unproductive conversations.

Market and geography

Cross-border founders have limited opportunities to be physically present in each market. Locations should therefore align with the company’s current or near-term focus.

Questions to consider:

• Does this city or region appear in the company’s 12–24 month plan.
• Are relevant regulators, corporates, or ecosystem players present.

A single well-chosen visit to a priority market often provides more value than several trips to less relevant locations.

Format and access

Examine the programme beyond keynote sessions:

• Is there structured matchmaking.
• Are office hours with investors, corporates, or mentors available.
• Are there small roundtables, workshops, or well-curated side events.

Also consider visibility opportunities:

• Speaking engagements or panels
• Startup programmes with pitching and feedback
• Exhibition space with meaningful visitor flow

The central question is whether the format facilitates access to key stakeholders or keeps most attendees seated in large audiences.

Cost and value

Total cost includes:

• Ticket, flights, accommodation, visas, and insurance
• Time away from product development, customers, and hiring
• Cognitive load and recovery time associated with travel

Against this cost, estimate plausible value:

• Anticipated number of serious leads or investor discussions
• Partnerships or pilots that could realistically result
• Positioning benefits such as media coverage or recorded talks that support credibility

If the expected value cannot be articulated clearly, the decision tends to resolve itself.

Timing

Even a suitable event can be poorly timed:

• Too early for a credible product demonstration or pilot
• Too late in a funding cycle
• Overlapping with critical deliveries, examinations, or hiring phases

In such cases, the most strategic choice may be to note the event for a later year.

4. Reduce conference tourism

Conference tourism describes a pattern in which travel, social media visibility, and a sense of being “in the scene” drive decisions more than strategy.

Typical indicators include:

• Attendance driven primarily by the destination or by peers’ participation
• No written objectives set before departure
• Many talks attended and very few one-to-one meetings arranged
• Minimal structured follow-up or integration of insights into the business after returning

A few simple rules can prevent this pattern from dominating the calendar.

Rule 1: Written objectives for every event
Define one or two concrete outcomes in advance, such as:
“Ten investor conversations focused on pre-Series A in Korea,” or
“Three potential distribution partners in Southeast Asia.”

Rule 2: Minimum number of pre-arranged meetings
Commit to attending only if a threshold of relevant meetings can be scheduled in advance, for example five or ten. Failure to reach this number usually signals insufficient relevance or density.

Rule 3: Protected follow-up time
Reserve follow-up time in the calendar before travel arrangements are finalised. This time is considered part of the event investment.

Rule 4: Annual travel cap
Set an upper limit on international event trips, such as three per year. This forces clear choices about where travel is genuinely justified.

After applying these rules, Lina restructured her second year. She cancelled several general conferences, doubled her participation in focused health technology events, and committed to a monthly founder gathering in Seoul. Her pipeline attributable to events increased, even though she travelled less.

5. Build an event portfolio for the year

Events become more effective when planned as a portfolio rather than as isolated decisions.

Anchor events

Anchor events are major investments in terms of time, budget, and attention.

For each anchor event, clarify:

• The primary business objective
• The role to pursue (attendee, exhibitor, speaker, panellist)
• One main metric that will define success

Examples include:

• “Initiate at least two discussions about clinical pilots with hospital groups in Asia.”
• “Generate twenty qualified leads for a cross-border software solution.”
• “Record three strong talk segments that support positioning in European markets.”

Tactical niche events

Tactical niche events are smaller and more focused on sector or geography.

Examples include:

• A specialised manufacturing summit in Germany for a Korean machine tool company
• A Web3 builder event for a product that operates in that ecosystem
• A health technology conference in the country where the next clinical partnership is desired

These settings often lead to concrete collaboration more quickly than broad, general conferences.

Local and community rituals

Finally, select a limited number of local or community events to attend regularly, such as:

• Monthly founder meetups in a key city
• Accelerator demo days
• Sector-specific breakfasts or salons

Consistent presence in these environments builds trust and generates warm introductions that later enhance the value of larger conferences.

6. Make each event count: before, during, after

The return on event investment depends heavily on preparation, behaviour during the event, and follow-up.

Before the event

• Set numerical targets: number of investor introductions, partner discussions, or leads.
• Review the list of attendees, speakers, sponsors, and participating organisations.
• Create a target list and initiate outreach early with clear, modest requests for short meetings.
• Prepare materials: a concise one-page overview, an updated deck, a structured demonstration, and easily shareable links.
• Align the team on concise, consistent language describing the product and its ideal users.

During the event

• Identify the three most important outcomes for each day.
• Prioritise one-to-one meetings, small roundtables, and relevant side events.
• Take brief notes after each significant conversation, including identity, context, and proposed next step.
• Capture appropriate content for future use, such as quotes, images, or short clips that support the company’s narrative and credibility.

After the event

• Send personalised follow-up messages within forty-eight hours.
• Deliver all promised materials, introductions, and links.
• Schedule more in-depth discussions with high-priority contacts.
• Enter new contacts into a customer relationship management system or structured spreadsheet with clear tags (for example, “Investor – Korea,” “Partner – Japan,” “Talent – Frontend”).
• Review the event against its original objectives: what worked, what did not, and what should change in future participation.

Over time, this process produces internal data. Certain regions, formats, organisers, and communities will repeatedly demonstrate impact; others will naturally fall away.

Sidebar: Seven questions before purchasing a ticket

1. Which specific business goals for this year could this event support.
2. Which categories of people should be met there (customers, investors, partners, media).
3. Does the typical attendee profile match the company’s stage.
4. Is the location aligned with the 12–24 month market roadmap.
5. Does the format provide real access through matchmaking, office hours, or smaller sessions.
6. Is the total cost justified by a realistic, concrete outcome.
7. Is time already reserved for structured follow-up after the event.

Founders who work across borders face real constraints: visas, long-distance travel, limited time away from teams and families, and often limited budgets. A considered event strategy respects those constraints and uses them as a design boundary.

A calendar constructed on this basis may appear lighter. The work flowing from those carefully selected trips tends to be more substantial: clearer pipelines, stronger partnerships, and a reputation that grows in the ecosystems that matter most to the business.

Article by The Global Founder Editorial Team.