Unofficial Ultimate Guide to the Marketo Summit 2015

Now Available: Marketo Summit 2016 Guide

Read below for 2015 updates. See the 2015 Marketo Recap.

Last updated: 2015-04-10, 11:20 AM ET

It’s that time of year again. Spring is here and that means we have another Marketo Summit. Last year, over 6,000 attended in San Francisco. With over 100 sessions and multiple parties to choose from, it’s hard to decide which ones to attend. Use this guide to navigate this awesome event.

As a bonus, download the RevEngineInsider Marketo Summit 2015 Session Planning Cheat Sheet below.

We will update as needed with official and unofficial tips. If you have a tip, comment below the post or send an email to jcoveney@revengineinsider.com.

1) Which Sessions to Attend? – Develop a Plan

The Marketo Summit is a fantastic opportunity to meet many like-minded marketing professionals and learn new things. If you come out of the event with three actionable items that you can implement within the next three months, you are a winner.

DID YOU KNOW? You can attend a maximum of nine sessions—less than 10% of sessions offered. Unless you can clone yourself, you must plan in advance for success.

How do you navigate which sessions to attend? As others such as Josh Hill and Lindsay Khan have noted, plan in advance.

There are so many great sessions at the Marketo Summit, it can be very overwhelming. Honestly, it’s like going to a great restaurant, you really can’t pick a bad session. Don’t worry, Marketo is recording them all so you can catch up on the ones you missed.

Where do you start?

For my planning, I take a three step approach. Maybe yours is different but planning in advance is key.

1. I start with the ten Marketo Champion sessions where Marketo’s top users show off top tips and tricks. I’ll probably get to 3 or 4 sessions. See the Ten Marketo Champion Sessions.
2. I then fill in most of the remaining slots with a few priority topics. For example, I am really interested in learning about new complementary technologies, personalization and analytics. I’ll find a mix of sessions that match to those topics.
3. I work in a wild card and attend some random session to learn something new that I didn’t expect.

See the Complete Session List

Marketo Summit 2015 Session Planning Cheat Sheet

Download the Marketo 2015 Session Planning spreadsheet–a must-have 1-pager to complement the official Marketo app. It will help you pick the sessions that make the most sense for you. Great for printing out as a backup as a quick reference or if your phone goes dead Download (XLS) A RevEngine Insider Exclusive

Get the App

To make the most of your experience download the official Marketo Summit 2015 mobile app today! Log in with your registered email address and use the password summit15.

Go to ddut.ch/summit15 on your mobile device.

2) Get a Free Pass

No time to dig deep into marketing best practices? Don’t have the budget for a full pass?

Get a free pass to the Expo Hall and both key note sessions. Use the Registration link below and select Keynote/Expo Free Pass in the dropdown list.

Of course, if you want the full experience with all meals, breakout sessions, and gala, choose the Full Pass.

​Register for Event

3) Follow the Event Real Time on Twitter

Follow live during the Summit at #MKTGnation. We will also cover the event with live updates, pics and videos at @RevEngineMarket.

#MKTGnation Tweets

4) Don’t be a Hermit – Network

If you are sitting at the table at lunch or waiting in line for a drink, break out of the shy mode. Here are a few ice breaker questions:

• What is the big thing you are looking to learn this year?
• Any big wins at your company last year around marketing automation?
• Have you had much success with [feature you want to learn about]?
• What is your favorite cartoon character? (OK, maybe skip this one.)

5) Stay Active – Fun Run

You’re in a great city to get outside and get some exercise. There’s no better way to start off the conference than participating in the 5K fun run on Monday morning. Last year, the day featured 70 degree weather so hopefully we will be as lucky this year. If you are a slow runner, you’ll find me at the back of the pack.

The race will start and finish at South Beach Park next to AT&T Park at 7am sharp on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 7am. Marketo will provide bus transportation to/from the Marriott.

There is no direct link to signup. To register, go to your Summit registration confirmation.

4/2 UPDATE: The folks at Marketo just let me know the Fun Run is FULL…Sorry, no walk ups. As alternative, take a walk/jog over the Golden Gate bridge.  I did that last year and the view was amazing.

Course map

6) Party Like a Marketing Rockstar

Looking to put those boogie shoes on? Last year, Maria Pergolino came out with a fantastic list of Marketo parties not to miss. Check back later for a link. In the meantime, this post will serve as party central.

If you having a party you’d like to promote, send me an email.

Marketing Nation Kick-Off Party

• What: Marketo’s pre event kickoff
• When: Monday, April 13th – 5:30-7:30 pm
• Where: Expo Hall, Moscone Center
• Sponsor: Marketo
• No registration required. Must have a pass.

VIP Happy Hour to Kick Off Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit

• What: Delicious cocktails and yummy bites, Live music from a local band, A grand prize giveaway of a drone
• When: Monday,  April 13, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Where: Optimizely’s headquarters, 631 Howard St, Suite 100 (just 2 blocks from Moscone)
• Sponsors:  AdRoll, Bizible, Optimizely and RingLead
• Register

Summit After Party

• What: After party, Open Bar, DJ, Hors D’ Oeuvres
• When: Monday, April 13th @ 8pm to 12am.
• Where: ROE, 651 Howard St, San Francisco
• Sponsors:  Pedowitz Group, Allocadia, Certain, SnapApp, Dun & Bradstreet (NetProspex), LookBookHQ, Mintigo
• Register

B2B MARKETING FUSION PARTY

• What: Tease up your hair and bust out the leg warmers…it’s about to get totally tubular, and totally 80’s at the B2B Marketing Fusion Party during Marketo Summit!
• When: Monday, April 13th @ 9pm
• Where: 111 Minna, San Francisco
• Sponsors:  Demandbase, Lattice, Influitive, Vidyard, Spiceworks, Uberflip, LeadMD
• Register

Expo Happy Hour

• What: Marketo’s cocktail hour to end the first day of sessions
• When: Tuesday, April 14th – 5:30-7pm
• Where: Expo Hall
• Sponsor: Marketo
• No registration required. Must have a pass.

The Marketing Nation Gala

• What: Marketo’s flagship party
• When: Tuesday, April 14th – 7:30 – 11pm
• Where: Historic City Hall
• Sponsor: Marketo
• No registration required. Access available to Full Conference Pass holders only.

7) Win Cool Stuff

We’re tracking all the cool prizes that vendors are giving away at the Marketo Summit. We expect this list to grow as more vendors submit their prizes.

If you know of any great giveaways, email me so I can add to the list.

8) The Vendor Infographic (Updated 4/9)

Want to prioritize which technology to add to your marketing stack? Pierce Ujjainwalla over at Revenue Pulse sent over this awesome Infographic from knak.io that breaks out all the vendors.

4/9 – An update was made earlier today to the graphic so click to view the latest edition. (Sharable)

9) Learn the Ecosystem

Marketo is your platform. The partners are the accessories that fuel that platform. Whether your organization needs to plan an event, clean data or manage content, check out the Expo Showcase that is open daily.

Last year, over 100 partners exhibited.  This year, I’ve counted at least 120 logos on the sponsors page including Lean Data, Ringlead. kapost, infer, zoominfo and others.

List of Sponsors

10) Become a Pro

If you are looking for a deeper dive in Marketo training, spend a day at Marketo University to learn the skills and techniques you need to know. Choose to attend an array of courses from 4 different tracks designed for beginner to advanced level users.

Already a pro? Consider signing up for the Marketo Certification test.

• Monday, April 13th: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM PT
• Tuesday, April 14th: 7:00 AM – 6:30 PM PT
• Wednesday, April 15th: 7:00 AM – 6:30 PM PT

Checklist: Ace your Marketo Certified Expert Exam (Steve Moody) Updated 4/8/2015

More Info

• Register for Marketo Summit University
• Get Certified

11) Get to the Keynote on Time

If you want a good seat for the keynote, make sure to get to the auditorium at least 30 minutes before. Last year, Hillary Clinton’s speech was standing room only.

Phil Fernandez, Arianna Huffington, and John Legend lead the keynotes this year on the opening day. The keynote starts at 8:50am on Tuesday April 14^th and runs til 11:15 am. 8:15 should get you a good seat.

On Wednesday, Sanjay Dholakia and Salman Khan take center stage starting at 9:15am. Over/under on the excitable Dholakia saying “Who is in the nation?” is three.

Available via Live Stream (New 4/8)

Announced 4/8, Marketo is making the keynote available via a live feed for those of you who can’t make the event. You have to register.

Register

12) Read Other Great Resources

I will add to the list as new articles are written. Email me if you see any I’ve missed.

• Six Tips to Get the Most Out of Your First Marketo Summit (Lindsay Khan)
• Marketo Summit 2015 – Here we come! (Josh Hill)
• Handpicked Sessions to get you most of the Marketo Summit 2015, San Francisco, this April 2015 (Ritika Suneja)
• Attending Marketo Summit? A Cheat Sheet for Success (Justin Gray)
• 5 things I’m looking forward to at the Marketo Summit 2015 (Jen DiMaria) updated 4/5/2015
• 5 Must-See Sessions at Marketo Summit 2015 (Amanda Nelson) updated 4/6/2015
• 3 Marketo Summit 2015 Networking Opportunities You Must Know About (Alex Shipillo) updated 4/8/2015
• Visitor’s Guide to the Marketing Nation Summit (Anneliese Niebauer) updated 4/8/2015
• How the Smartest Marketers Optimize Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit (Alexis Mohr) updated 4/10/2015
•  Marketo Summit 2015: A Product Feature Wishlist updated 4/10/2015
• 3 Expert Tips to Get the Most Out  of Marketo Summit (Jeff Coveney) updated 4/10/2015
• 7 Things To Do at Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit 2015 (Emily Salus) updated 4/12/15
• The Dos and Donts of Marketo Summit (Jessica Cross) updated 4/12/15
• The 415 Guide to Marketo Summit (Anne Murphy) updated 4/12/15

13) Want to Catch up at the Marketo Summit?

I will be in San Francisco Saturday through Wednesday and would love to catch up with any of our readers. Besides the parties and sessions, below are a few places I will definitely be. Stop by and say hello:

• The Marketo Champion Bar: Got a question? Stop by Marketo’s Smart Bar inside the Community Lounge. Several Marketo champions including Edward Unthank, Kim Para, and myself will be taking questions on top tips.
  • When: Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 11:00am – 11:40am.
• The Tale of Two Lifecycles Session: Josh Hill and I are co-presenting on top tips to simplify lead lifecycle management. If you are trying to measure your funnel conversion rates or put in a best practice model, we will share some tips.
  • When: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 2pm.

14. Free Ride From Airport: Get The Uber App (New 4/8)

Just got in a great tip from Steve Moody over at Beachhead Marketing . Most of us are familiar with Uber which is San Francisco based.

What you might not know is Uber offers a ride pooling option in San Francisco where Uber splits the fare if you agree to share the ride with someone else. It’s called uberPool and here is how it works.

Translation: Instead of dropping $50+ for a ride from SFO to the city, the ride will cost a whopping $15—a pretty nice savings. The little known secret is that many folks aren’t aware of the option, so many times you’ll get a ride with no other passengers.

And if you are new to Uber, you get a $20 credit so you’ll be riding for nada. Discloser: We get a free ride too when you register.

Download Uber and Get a $20 Credit

https://www.uber.com/invite/uberrevengine

15. Google Shopping – Forget to Pack Something? (New 4/8)

And here is another San Francisco area based business. You may have heard of them–Google.

Get same day delivery to hotel if you forget anything. https://www.google.com/shopping/express/.

In the spirit of Google, enjoy this clip from the Internship.

16. San Fran Google Map (New 4/10)

Our friends over at User Training just made this cool phone-friendly Google map to help you find the best nearby food, bars, & more: http://bit.ly/1CzVIPw  #MarketoSummit

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