Why Live Events Are the New Secret Weapon for Prospecting in 2025

Sales development has changed. Fast.

Just a couple of years ago, a good SDR might send 100 personalized emails a day. Now? With tools like Clay, Instantly, Smartlead, and 10+ burner domains… that number has exploded.

1,000+ emails per day per rep is the new normal.

The result?

Our inboxes are wrecked.
Reply rates are falling off a cliff.
And cutting through the noise is harder than ever.

So what do you do when email becomes noise?

You stop trying to shout louder—and you anchor to something real.

My Playbook for ASAE Annual (and Why It Works)

Instead of blasting out another “quick question” sequence, I’m using the upcoming ASAE Annual Meeting (August 9 in LA) as the centerpiece of all my outreach.

Here’s how I’m working it:

• ✅ Found customers attending → Booked in-person meetings
• ✅ Found prospects attending → Reached out with a simple message:
  “Will you be there? We’re showing the future of sponsor management.”
• ✅ Found customers who know those prospects → Asked for warm intros
• ✅ Found competitors → Took notes
• ✅ Found potential partners → Started conversations

This isn’t about selling.
It’s about relevance.

Why This Works So Well

People love talking about events they’re already planning to attend. It’s timely, relevant, and doesn’t feel like a pitch.

Compare that to your average cold email—which gets ignored, deleted, or hits spam.

Live event–anchored outreach gets 5–10X the response rate in my experience.
And the meetings? They actually show up. They’re real.

This isn’t just a play—it’s a movement.

The Future: DealRadar

Eventually, we’ll build DealRadar to automate this:

• Real-time alerts when your target accounts register for events
• Smart email drafts tied to event presence
• Warm intro suggestions based on shared connections and conference lists

But until then?

It’s me, a spreadsheet, an attendee list, and a whole lot of hustle.

If You’re Prospecting in 2025…

…and you’re not anchoring to live events like ASAE, SaaStr, or Cvent Connect?

You’re swimming upstream.

Cut through the noise by tying outreach to where people already plan to be.
It’s the highest-signal move I’ve found this year—and it actually works.