Secrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience

Secrets To A Successful Eloqua Experience
Eloqua Experience is annually one of the hottest tickets when it comes to marketing
conferences. But with thousands of attendees and a dizzying schedule of events, seminars,
parties and more, it can be challenging to take best advantage of the event and ensure you
head home with the new skills, best practices and contacts you need to be more successful
managing your marketing programs moving forward.

Why Attending Events In
Person Is Still So Important 2

In addition to setting the agenda and session schedule, it’s a good idea to put a little
strategy into how you’ll maximize the overall Eloqua Experience trip. Plan ahead to make
this year’s Eloqua Experience visit more productive and successful. The following pages
offer some specific best practices and recommendations.
Matt Heinz
President
matt@heinzmarketing.com
@heinzmarketing
Brian Hansford
Director, Client Services
brian@heinzmarketing.com
@remarkmarketing

Must Attend Sessions

3

Things You Can Learn
At Your Next Conference

4

How To Take Notes
At A Conference

5

The Dos And Don’ts
Of Conference Hashtags

6

Marketing Automation
for Vertical Industries:
Q&A With Marilyn Cox

7

How To Make The Most
Of The Parties And
Networking Events

9

San Francisco—
One Of The Best Cities To
Host Events. Here’s Where
To Eat and Drink
10
Getting The Most Out Of An
Awesome Conference (Once
You’re Back At The Office) 12

Why Attending Events In Person Is Still So Important

There are many reasons why Eloqua Experience is a good
use of time, but in general I’m a big fan of regularly
finding events that get me out of my office, away from my
usual environment, and somewhere I can accelerate my
business, my own learning, and my value to our clients all
at the same time.
I love the growing trend of online-only conferences, as
well as the ever-present availability of webinars to help me
learn. But nothing will replace the value of being there
live. Five reasons for this.

Meet New People And Deepen Existing Relationships
Social networks are great, I use my LinkedIn and my entire
online system for meeting new people and maintaining
relationships. But nothing can replace doing it with a
handshake, a smile, and seeing the whites of their eyes.
Whether you do it in the lobby of the conference hotel,
on the trade show floor, at the evening parties or even
while playing golf, these are the relationships that go
deeper, that develop long-term preference and business
value for you over time. It’s differentiating, in your favor,
in a way that online networking can never be.

Get That “Out Of The Office” Perspective
Away from the regular tugs at your time, the same four
walls you stare at, you can have a different perspective.
You’ll naturally think about things differently. You’ll have
an entirely new set of stimuli (visual, auditory, written) to
spark creativity and innovation. You can get this even by
attending an event in your home town. No matter how
you do it, getting outside of your regular environment is
worth it more often. Why do you think teams go “offsite”
for executive meetings and brainstorms? Same reason.
Focus On New Opportunities
(With Your Complete Attention)
If you’re going to an event or conference in person, do
yourself a favor and give it your full attention. Don’t travel
across the country only to stay in your hotel room and
on “regularly scheduled” conference calls you could have
just done from your office. A couple of these are fine,
but otherwise let yourself be immersed in the event itself
with your full attention. This can mean sitting through
keynotes and panels, focusing time on the trade show
floor, scheduling blocks of time with important partners
or customers or new faces, etc. You won’t have these
opportunities anywhere or anytime else. Take advantage
of them now.

Talk To The Vendors
Yes, they want to sell you something. And some will either
be too aggressive or ignore you. But every vendor on the
show floor knows something that you don’t. It’s your job
to learn from them. Ask them questions about their slice
of the industry, what they’re seeing from their customers,
what they see moving forward. Try to find the product
managers in the booth who spend most of their time
listening to customers and translating those needs into
new product features. They’ll often have the best insights
into what’s now and what’s next.
Use The Casual Moments To Your Advantage
Set up quick coffee meetings with people you’ve just
met, or haven’t seen in awhile. If you need to catch up
on email, do so in the hotel lobby or in an otherwise
public place so you’re move likely to run into something
you want to talk to. Invite new people to lunch or dinner
or drinks to get to know them better, and learn from
them. If you do eat alone, do so at a location close to the
conference and eat at the bar. You’ll likely be sitting next
to someone else from the conference you can talk to and
learn from. Take a long, early-morning walk and take a
notepad or digital recorder to record new ideas, priorities
for the day, etc. There are countless ways to squeeze more
value out of the more casual moments when you travel.

2

Must-Attend Sessions at Eloqua Experience 2013
These are the sessions at Eloqua Experience 2013 that I
MUST ATTEND. I have followed or known several of
these people for quite some time and I am really excited to
see what they will share at EE13.
Most of what I focus on and my interests lie in strategy,
process, analytics, content, and data health. So here it goes,
Brian’s Must Attend Sessions for Eloqua Experience 2013.

Targeting: The Power of a Data Washing Machine
in Lead Creation
Amandah Magnarelli, Director, Database Marketing,
Forrester Research, Inc.
9:45–10:45 Friday October 25

Engagement: Spin A Story That Stands Above The Noise

Forrester has been a long-time Eloqua user and
Amandah’s presentation on the Data Washing Machine fits
perfectly with my focus on data hygiene.

Ardath Albee, CEO, Marketing Interactions, Inc.
11:00–12:00 Thursday October 24

Analytics: Optimizing The Demand Waterfall With
Predictive Scoring, Analytics, And Eloqua Magic

I have followed Ardath for several years and I greatly
respect and admire her ideas. She’s in an elite class in
understanding how to develop and deliver content to
engage with a B2B markets.

Wade Tibke, Director, Demand Gen and Operations,
Tableau Software

Analytics: Don’t Just Score Leads—
Predict Your Next Customer
Brian Kardon, CMO, Lattice Engines, Jascha Kaykas-Wolf,
CMO, Mindjet, Abner Germanow, Director of Worldwide
Marketing, Juniper Networks
I have followed Brian Kardon since he was the CMO of
Eloqua and I respect his strategic vision and how he looks
at Revenue Marketing. I know Mindjet is a leading user
of Eloqua and I’m very interested to hear the story, along
with Juniper Networks, how they use analytics to predict
the next customer.
Marketing Technology: Eloqua In The Fast Lane—
Tools To Enhance Your Automation Efficiency
Ryan Schwartz, Director, Marketing Systems and
Operations, DocuSign
In my book, Ryan Schwartz is the World’s Top Eloquan.
Period. He knows the system better than anyone I know
and he has driven a phenomenal revenue marketing
operation at DocuSign. Not only that, Ryan is just a
darned nice guy and he loves to listen and share ideas on
using Eloqua. I’m especially excited for Ryan’s session
because he’s presenting new tools he and his team have
developed that the entire Eloqua Community will be able
to use.

Wade is another amazing Eloquan and he runs the
marketing ops for Tableau. Tableau is a fantastic company
with very strong marketing efforts. I’m very interested to
see Wade’s presentation on how Tableau grew and tracked
SQLs year over year.
Engagement: Customer Marketing:
B2B’s Best-Kept Growth Secret
Megan Heuer, SiriusDecisions
Megan is another person I have followed for a long time
and have yet to see speak in person. B2B marketers are
notorious at forgetting about the customer once the sale
is closed. Customer engagement is a huge opportunity for
B2B marketers to grow loyalty and revenue. I’m sure she
will have some interesting ideas.
I’m also looking forward to Wednesday before the event
to get some updated Eloqua information and training.
Here are the Wednesday sessions I’m interested in:
Advanced Salesforce.Com Integration Demonstrations
Nathan Lichte, Oracle | Eloqua
Wednesday 8:30–10:00
Improved Custom Subscription Management
Tracy Traeger, Oracle | Eloqua
Best Practices: Introducing Eloqua To Your Sales Team
Alison Thomas, Oracle | Eloqua

3

Things You Can Learn At Your Next Conference
You’re there to close some business, meet partners, hear
speakers and network with fellow attendees. But if you
look between the lines, and pay closer attention to what’s
going on around you, you can also absorb a ton of best
(and worst) practices about running or participating in a
successful conference.
For example:
Booth Practices And Tactics (The Good, Bad And Ugly)
Which booths drew your attention and why? Which were
you embarrassed for? Break down the booth appearance,
attractiveness, giveaways, staff performance and etiquette.
What ideas could you take away for your next event, and
what tactics and/or behavior will you remind your team
to never do again? Take notes and take pictures to remind
yourself of what you’ve seen and want to emulate (or not)
next time.
Guerilla Tactics
Rival online services will attend Eloqua Experience too.
They’re just hanging out on the sidewalks, placing ads on
taxi cabs and doing other creative things to get attendee
attention on the fringes of the official event. There’s a

fine line, of course, between being creative and getting
attention, and crossing the line and being obnoxious at
someone else’s conference. This applies as well to those
who execute guerilla tactics at their booths, in the aisles, at
the conference hotels, and so on.
Panel And Presentation Best Practices
Who gave the best presentations and why? Was it because
of their content, their performance on stage, their visuals,
their examples? Similarly, who was awful and why? Almost
any event you attend will feature both ends of this spectrum.
Follow an event’s Twitter hashtag and you’ll get a real-time
sense for what other people think as well (and why).
Event Management Best Practices
The details behind executing a successful event are endless.
But the best conference experiences pay attention to
the little things. Signs telling you where to go, people
in colorful t-shirts to answer your questions, constantly
refilled water dispensers at the end of trade show aisles,
etc. What are the little things you noticed at your last
show? What little things gernated buzz from attendees
(either live or via the chat boards on Twitter)?

4

How To Take Notes At A Conference
Create A System In Advance
No matter how many (or which) of the steps below you
incorporate for your next conference, have a system or
game plan in advance. Know what you’re going to do,
what tools and/or software you need, so that when you
get there you can focus on the content and use your predetermined system to capture it.
Come Prepared With Your Own Tools
That system you determine to use for yourself likely
doesn’t include those cute, hotel or conference centerbranded notepads and pencils you’ll find on the table in
front of you. Those are fine for emergencies, but likely
aren’t your best note-taking tool.
Use A Keyboard If Possible
In meetings, I try to use paper and pen to take notes, as
I don’t want those I’m meeting with to see me with my
nose in my laptop constantly. But at a conference, it’s
different. I prefer a keyboard to speed up data capture,
plus begin my note indexing right away (based on where
notes are captured and saved). I most often use Microsoft
Word, but Evernote is a great tool as well for quick notetaking stored and accessible in the cloud at all times.
Have Paper Or Tablet Handy For Sketching
I do still have that notepad handy (see this post for how I
process hand-written notes later), especially for sketching
more visual notes—graphs, sales pipelines, and other
things that are more difficult to type.
Have Email And Your Social Media Dashboard Open
And Ready For Immediate Action
There will likely be ideas, web sites, referenced articles and
books, etc. you may want to take action on or alert others
to right away. You may also want to cut-and-paste some
of your best notes into your social media channels (using
the conference hashtag, for example). Have your email and
preferred social media dashboard (Hootsuite, Tweetdeck,
etc.) open in the background (ideally in offline mode so as
not to distract you with every inbound email from back at
the office).

Highlight To-Dos And Key Points In Your Note
For Easy Access Later
If you want a quick way to identify action items, followup notes for your team, and otherwise scan through notes
(either on the plane home or as soon as you get back
to the office), mark them with an empty box or star or
something you’ll recognize. Be consistent with whatever
you use for note-taking back at the office so it’s fast and
easy to process.
Name And Save Files By Topic, Speaker Or Session
Designate a folder somewhere on your hard drive (ideally
somewhere that syncs to the cloud too) to save a full file
of your conference notes, and consider separate notes (i.e.
separate Word documents) for each session, topic or speaker.
That way you can name the notes in a way that’s faster and
easier to find later. This works if you’re taking notes entirely
in a cloud-based service like Evernote as well.
Dedicate Time To Review And Process Notes Post-Show
The sooner you do this, the better. Do it on the plane
ride home, or while waiting for the flight, or at minimum
schedule time for yourself as soon as you’re back in the
office to process action items and immediate next steps.
If you don’t do it quickly, you’ll get sucked back into
office life and fire drills and you’ll never do it (and all
those good ideas and takeaways are more likely to get lost
forever).
Publish or share your notes with your team (with due
apologies for format).
Unless you’ve been asked to prepare and publish a
formal conference report for broad consumption (i.e. to
an executive team or clients), simply make your notes
available to your team as is. Unless you wrote them in an
entirely different language, I bet they can figure out what
your digital chicken scratch was attempting to say.

5

The Dos And Don’ts Of Conference Hashtags
Most conferences these days feature a hashtag for both
attendees and followers from afar to “meet” each other
and share highlights from the event. For both marketers
and enterprising individuals looking to accelerate their
own networking ROI, conference hashtags also represent
a significant opportunity to catalyze your objectives.
But like a lot of things, there’s a right way and a wrong
way to do it. Below are a handful of best and worst
practices for your next event.
Do
Retweet and reply to others. Especially during an event,
Twitter is about the community. It’s not enough to just
share your own tweets, ideas and contributions with
others. The more you interact with fellow attendees—
reply to their ideas, retweet their content, etc.—the more
likely others will follow you, click on your content, and
otherwise engage with you during and after the event.
Give attribution where it’s due. If you’re sharing a
comment from the stage, give credit to the presenter. Use
their own Twitter handle whenever possible. Not a bad
way to get the speaker’s attention (and have him/her both
follow you and retweet your quote). If you make it look
like the idea or quote is yours, everyone else at the event
will know it didn’t come from you. And that’s not a good
way to build credibility.
Share statistics. The fastest way to get your hashtagged
tweets to go viral is to quote statistics shared throughout
the event. Without fail, statistics tend to drive greater passalong especially among those both following the event
from afar, as well as from their secondary followers.
Start watching and posting early. Don’t wait until the
conference starts to follow and participate in the hashtag.
Start watching at least 1–2 weeks beforehand. Volume will
be light, but your own posts are most likely to be noticed,
and you’re more likely to find people you want to meet
once you get there. Consider writing a specific pre-event

blog post and posting it in the hashtag feed a couple days
before the event. Great tactic to drive immediate retweets
and visibility.
Find and meet the high-volume tweeters. Pay attention
to those who are most active on the feed, and ask to meet
them while you’re both in the same place. High-volume
hashtag tweeters are also often among the more influential
tweeters in that particular industry, association or
community. Exactly the kind of people you want to know
you and your business.
Don’t Do
Share only links. It’s OK to share a link to a blog post
you’ve written that relates to something just covered at the
event. Just don’t do this exclusively. Others following a
conference hashtag, especially those at the event live, don’t
have time to click on and read your blog post. If you want
to get noticed and retweeted, limit your message to 140
characters for easy and fast reading.
Pitch your product. Not the time or place. It’s blatant
and looks a little desperate too. Enough said.
Make up a fake persona. You laugh, but I’ve seen it done
more than once. At a Sales 2.0 conference, for example,
a services company decided to use a fake persona to
contribute to the hashtag feed impersonating a “sales 1.0”
professional. It was annoying, interruptive, and completely
backfired on the business. Be yourself.
Tweet or post pictures from parties. There’s a thin line
between the good party pictures, funny party pictures, and
dang-I-wish-I-hadn’t-posted-that pictures. Save yourself
from having to differentiate by leaving Twitter behind
once the cocktail parties begin.
Over promote your upcoming session. I know you’re
excited to be on the panel. And proud that your CEO is
going to be on stage. But the eighth tweet reminding us
isn’t helping.

6

Marketing Automation For Vertical Industries: Q&A With Marilyn Cox
We are honored to share this interview with Marilyn
Cox, Industry Marketing Principal with Oracle Eloqua.
Marilyn has developed a fantastic series of content for
Eloqua Experience 2013, focused on helping marketers in
specialized industries such as Life Sciences, Non Profits,
Sports Marketing, Manufacturing and Financial Services.
Oh, and she’s also a college football fanatic and loyal
follower of The Ohio State University.
Q: What Is Your Role At Eloqua Now?
A: After spending six years as an Eloqua customer, I now
have the opportunity to “pay it forward” as a Marketing
Principal with Oracle Eloqua focused on Industry
Marketing solutions. Oracle Eloqua recognizes that the
best way to empower the customer is to develop a solution
and a series of best practices that directly address the
unique challenges and needs of that customer’s industry.
We are continuing to invest in the customer by developing
an industry solutions team consisting of product managers
and industry specialists. Acting as the voice of the
customer I bring marketing best practice insight to the
development of the Oracle Eloqua industry products,
campaign blue prints, analytics and reporting, and
enablement tools.
Q: What Challenges Do Marketers Face In Industries Such
As Life Sciences, Healthcare, Sports Entertainment, Non
Profits Or Manufacturing?
A: Each industry has marketing objectives unique to
their business and Oracle Eloqua wants to provide
the tools that empower the customer to achieve those
goals. When speaking with customers and prospects in
different industries, Oracle Eloqua learned that while their
horizontal solution can certainly scale across all vertical
spaces and various company sizes, there was potential to
do more for the customer.
Manufacturers market differently than a traditional
software company because they often rely on channel
partner engagement. Non Profits are not concerned about
lead scoring, rather membership growth and loyalty.
Financial services has a strong focus on advisors and agent
enablement.
With volatile changes in the healthcare space, marketers
for healthcare and insurance are now tasked with
communicating to the patients and members as well as
providers. The heart of sports entertainment is its fan base,
and converting a guest to a fan is a primary focus.

Q: How Does Eloqua Approach Supporting Customers
In Specialized Industries?
A: The first thing we do, is listen to the customer. No
one can better communicate the challenges and needs of an
industry, than the customers that actually work in that space.
The industry solutions team has invested time and
resources in listening to, and understanding, the customer.
We’re defining what modern marketing means to each
vertical space. With insight into these industries, and
extensive experience working with Eloqua, the team is
working to build a solution that will deliver the most value
to the customer.
Leveraging digital body language to deliver personalized
1:1 communication will continue to be a focus.
Developing data models, reporting, integration with other
3rd party industry software, and campaign blue prints for
each industry product is certainly important. We’re also
heavily focused on developing training, content, and other
tools that will enable each industry customer.
Delivering value to the customer does not stop once
the solution is implemented. Addressing the industry
objectives throughout the entire customer journey is also
a priority. I’m looking forward to the industry roundtable
discussions at this year’s Eloqua Experience.
It’s an opportunity to learn more about the customers and
validate many of the things the Industry Solutions team
has been working on.
Q: How Does Marketing Automation Help Specialized
Industries Connect And Engage With Customers?
A: Many of these industries are at an advantage when
using marketing automation because it’s a competitive
advantage. Adoption of marketing automation technology
is not as widespread in these industries like you see in
the tech sector. And while adoption is relatively new, it’s
certainly needed.
Whether communicating with partner channels,
members, fans, agents, advisors or payors, personalized
1:1 communication is necessary. The ownership of an
organizations brand belongs to these audiences. They
must develop a relationship with these individuals, and
they can do that by capturing that digital body language,
customizing messaging, and delivering relevant content at
the right time.

7

Understanding the behavior and interests of their
audience can also aid an organization in making smarter
business decisions. Marketing automation can provide
financial service firms with insight into advisor and agent
revenue potential. Non Profits and sports entertainment
organizations can identify and leverage member and fan
advocates.
Manufacturers can determine which channel partners are
engaged and using the tools provided, as well as make
decisions on channel resource allocation.
Q: How Does Ohio State Football Compare To Eloqua?

Industry Marketing Sessions
At Eloqua Experience 2013
If you’re already registered for Eloqua Experience
2013 and would like to attend any of our industry
sessions, contact me at Marilyn.e.cox@oracle.com
and I’ll get you registered.
Wednesday October 23rd 8:30–10:00
Modern Financial Services Marketing
Best Practices

A: Ha! You mean “The” Ohio State Football... Well, aside
from the scarlet and gray color wheel, both have a very
passionate following. I can travel anywhere and run into
fellow Buckeyes and Eloquans. It extends beyond brand
recognition.

Modern Financial Services Roundtable Discussion

Eloquans and Buckeyes share sentimental ties to the
organizations. They both have incredible leadership. It’s
that leadership that develops strong unified strategies and
recruits amazing talent. Both win, and they create the most
amazing experiences for their fans.

Modern Manufacturing Marketing
Roundtable Discussion

About Marilyn Cox

Thursday October 24th 12:00–1:30
Sports Entertainment and Non-Profit Marketing
Q&A Lunch

You can follow and contact Marilyn on Twitter
@marilynECox. Marilyn Cox is the Marketing Principal,
focused on Industry Practices, at Oracle, Eloqua. She
researches, strategizes, provides guidance and delivers
marketing expertise to Eloqua customers by way of
embedding industry-specific best practices as an integral
part of marketing automation and revenue performance
management solutions.

Modern Manufacturing Marketing Best Practices

Thursday October 24th 12:00–1:30
Life Sciences/Health Care Marketing
Q&A Lunch

Friday October 25th 12:00–1:30
Manufacturing Marketing Lunch
Friday October 25th 12:00–1:30:
Financial Services Marketing Lunch

Marilyn received her degree in Political Science
from The Ohio State University and is the author of
BusinessisChildsPlay.com. She classifies herself as a left
brain mind living in a right brain world. When not geeking
out over marketing analytics, she enjoys Ironman training
in solitude and Ironmom conditioning with her two
children.

8

How To Make The Most Of The Parties And Networking Events
Networking events are a great opportunity to relax and
enjoy the company of fellow attendees, but they’re also an
important opportunity to meet new people, add to your
network, and create new business opportunities.
Here are six tips for better engaging and leveraging these
parties in your favor (while at the same time enjoying
yourself and having fun!)
1. Take Plenty Of Business Cards
(But Don’t Lead With Them)
After-hours parties and networking events aren’t
meant to be all business, but you also don’t want to be
caught without the means of sharing your basic contact
information with someone you meet. Don’t lead with
your card, unless the event is explicitly a card-exchange or
business networking event. But after sharing conversation,
if you’re interested in following up afterward, make it easy
for the other party to do so.
2. Dress Down (A Little) But Remain Professional
If the networking event is right after the formal meeting
and in the same location, you can assume the same
business or business casual attire is fine. But if the party is
at a separate time or location, feel free to dress down a bit.
If you were wearing slacks with jacket or suit, for example,
jeans are probably OK. But don’t go crazy. Jeans with your
shirt and jacket (no tie), for example, says dressed-down
but still professional. And you can always lose the jacket
if you need to look even more casual, depending on the
event and surroundings.
3. Be Polite But Proactive
As you work the room, make eye contact and say hello to
those you pass. Introduce yourself proactively and offer a
handshake. If you approach a circle of folks already

engaged in conversation, wait until a lull in the
conversation or until you’ve been invited to introduce
yourself. Respect the room and existing relationships and
conversations, but be proactive about getting in there and
meeting new people. That’s why you’re there!
4. Remember To Write Down Names, Contexts
and Deliverables
Over the course of the night, you’ll likely meet a lot of
interesting people. But it’s important to remember who
they are, where they’re from, and any context about the
conversation (or things you offered to share with or send
them later) for your follow-up. If you get a business card,
write the context or deliverable on the back. As a back-up,
carry a piece of paper or notebook to write down their
name, email and what you promised to send their way later
(offering to send something also gives you the “cover”
necessary to write this down without looking too geeky).
5. Focus On Them And Ask Good Questions
The easiest way to get people talking is to ask questions.
What they do, why they’re at the conference, what have
they learned so far, etc. Have a few standard, starter
questions ready and keep watch, in their answers, for things
they’re particularly passionate about. The more they talk
about themselves, the more memorable you will be for
asking (and the most likely you’ll find something based on
those interests you can follow up with afterward).
6. Don’t Overdo It
Nobody makes a good impression at parties by getting
drunk. It’s difficult to impossible to execute the above
opportunities when you can’t think or speak straight. Have
a drink. Or two. Enjoy yourself. Just know your limits, and
don’t let yourself get in a position you might be regret the
next day.

9

San Francisco—One Of The Best Cities To Host Events.
Here’s Where To Eat And Drink
I’m in San Francisco at least once a month these days for
clients and conferences, and invariably these trips have me
staying in and around Union Square. It’s close to Moscone
Center and some of the larger hotels that host conferences,
so I’ve gotten to know the surrounding area quite well.
This includes where to eat and drink, off the beaten path
and the tourist spots that are everywhere down there.
Over the next several weeks, B2B sales and marketing
professionals will descend on the Union Square area of
San Francisco, specifically for event such as this week’s
Sales 2.0 Conference, next week’s Eloqua Experience and
November’s Dreamforce.
This isn’t a definitive guide by any means, but if you’ll be
joining one of these shows and are either hungry or adultthirsty, here are a few recommendations. Maybe I’ll see
you there!
For A Classic Greasy-Spoon Breakfast
You can’t beat Pinecrest Diner, just a block up from the
Hilton. Perfect greasy spoon from the menu, booths,
counter, and surly staff. It’s open 24 hours, so great for
an early power breakfast or hangover cure before heading
back to conference sessions.
For A Hof Brau Experience
Check out Lefty O’Doul’s. The bar there is underrated,
and great for a quick beer and a couple innings of a
ballgame. But you’re mainly going there for the platter
meals—corned beef, prime rib, sammiches and more. It’s
a San Francisco institution, and fun for a quick lunch with
fellow attendees.
For Fast, Fun, Boat-Delivered Sushi
Check out Sushi Boat. It can be easy to miss, as it’s
basically just a door heading down to a basement
restaurant. The restaurant centers around a sushi bar
surrounded by a moat, in which wooden boats float a
variety of small plates. They make great teriyaki and other
Japanese dishes too, plus it’s only a couple blocks from the
Union Square Hilton and Moscone Center.
For All The Garlic You Can Stand
Check out The Stinking Rose. It’s a cab ride away from
Union Square but worth it, especially if you like garlic.
Just confirm that your meal mates like garlic too, or plan
on jogging back to your hotel to get it out of your system.

Most restaurants start you off with bread and butter. At
The Stinking Rose, it’s bread with warm roasted garlic
paste. Amazing.
For Great Steak And Frites
Across from the Marriott Marquis and just two blocks
from Union Square is Annabelle’s, a small and intimate
but casual French place with a nice menu and experience
bartenders. They can make anything you want, and I
recommend the steak and frites if you’re hungry.
For A Great Meal AND Great Cocktail
Check out Absinthe, a short cab ride west and behind the
symphony hall. It’s packed all the time so get reservations.
The first time I went there I was by myself in town for
the evening, started three back of the bar with a cocktail,
and left four hours later having finally found a seat at the
bar for a couple more cocktails, a great meal, and two
new friends on either side of me. Good drink, food and
conversation on both sides of the bar.
Best Burger And Manhattan Combo In Town
The Four Seasons bar doesn’t have a TV, so if you want to
watch a game you’ll need to go somewhere else. But if you
want an amazing burger and great cocktail, plus a chance
to run into someone famous, check out the Four Seasons.
They have happy hour specials pairing burgers and
cocktails. Plus, I’m serious, I’ve run into actors, singers
and sports stars there regularly. Good people watching if
nothing else.
For A Secret And Amazing, Prohibition-Era Cocktail
My favorite bar by far in San Francisco is Bourbon &
Branch. It’s less than two blocks from the Union Square
Hilton, but you’ll have a hard time finding it. The front
door is painted black—no signage, no indication of what’s
behind it. You will need reservations, even to sit at the
bar. You will also need the daily-changing password to
get in. But once you’re in, it’s Disneyland for old-school
cocktail fans. Dimly lit, a phone book for a cocktail and
spirits menu, plus a secret library bar in the back that’s
only accessible by pulling out a single book from the secret
library wall door. Seriously cool. Make your reservations
now (and take me with you!).
For A Great Cocktail And Cigar
Another short cab ride but worth it to Cigar Bar & Grill.
Good food and drinks, but outside in the patio you can
10

also enjoy one of a great selection of cigars. Nothing better
than hanging out with old or new friends, sipping on
Single Malt and puffing a stogie. If you like that kind of
thing.
For A Great Italian Meal Without Going To North Beach
If you have time and a reservation, there are some amazing
Italian restaurants all over San Francisco. But just a half
block from Union Square in the Sir Francis Drake hotel
is Scala’s Bistro. Small, good food, great ambiance. Good
for a quick lunch between sessions or a nice dinner with
partners, prospects or customers too.

For A Good Dive Bar
This is the glaring hole in my personal recommendations,
so I went to Oracle Eloqua social community manager
and San Francisco resident Lauren Harper for a
recommendation. She recommends Burritt Room and
Mikkeller Bar in the Union Square area for “safe” dives,
but also Local Edition, Rickhouse and Jones Bar.

For The Best Chinese Food In Town
That’s saying something for a city like San Francisco, and
although I haven’t been everywhere, nothing beats House
of Nanking. Another cab ride into Chinatown, and it’s a
tiny place that doesn’t take reservations, but every dish is
amazing.

11

Getting The Most Out Of An Awesome Conference
(Once You’re Back At The Office)
You’ve just returning home from an awesome conference.
It was two-plus days of amazing speakers, great networking,
and tons of ideas. You have 21 pages of type-written notes,
full of ideas. And that doesn’t include hand-written notes
on the back of business cards, other ideas embedded in
presentation decks received from speakers, etc.

list(s), bigger projects worth considering on their own list,
etc. Sorting your notes into something more actionable is
the only way to ensure you’ll take action, and doing that
now (when you’re not yet in the midst of your “usual”
work) ensures it gets done while those notes and ideas are
most fresh in your mind.

The flow of inspiration and ideas at a conference like this
can be overwhelming while still away, but it gets worse
when you’re back in the office. Unfortunately, those 21
pages of notes often get relegated to a pile on the side
of our desks, or forgotten altogether once we dig into the
backlog of emails, re-engage in the daily fire drills, and
otherwise get overwhelmed by trying those great new ideas
in the midst of the everyday madness that surrounds us.

Triage: You will only be able to handle a fraction of
those great ideas right away. And if the rest have to wait
a couple weeks to tackle again, you really won’t have lost
much. Be disciplined about what you (and/or your team)
can tackle now vs. waiting for later. Keep a specific list of
“someday” projects and plan to review them regularly.
Doing this ensures the ideas are part of your regular review
without feeling like you have to tackle them all right away.
The last thing you want to do when you return from a
great conference like this is act like a “crazy maker” and
change everything you and your team is doing. It’s best to
give yourself time to adjust back to the office pace, perhaps
put some of those ideas in perspective, then have a system
for review of those ideas to pick the right ones up as
appropriate.

To get the most out of the conference, and maximize
your productivity and execution on all those great ideas,
you need a little preparation, a little discipline, some
organizational best practices and two short sharing
exercises. Here’s what I’m thinking:
Take better notes: 21 pages of notes can be intimidating
as you review them later. Next time, as you take notes
during a conference, create a system for yourself that
identifies the key ideas you want to review later. Put
checkboxes, for example, next to things you specifically
want to add to your to-do list later. Put a different symbol
next to ideas you think are great, but know will take
additional thinking/planning. In essence, organize your
notes as you take them to make next step capture faster
and easier later on.
On the plane home: You likely want to tackle the backlog
of work from the office as soon as the conference is over,
and on the plane home. Instead, give yourself time to do a
few things on that plane ride (the lack of connectivity and
phone access works in your favor to keep you focused).
First, go back through your notes come up with a few
highlights or “headlines” you want to share with your
team (or even just for yourself). Think about the 3-6
primary takeaways or themes, and write a short email
with these bullets to your colleagues. This quickly and
immediately share the most important learnings, and
invites your colleagues to inquire to learn more (making it
more likely those ideas will live on after you land). Second,
start going through the rest of your notes in more detail to
capture specific, immediate to-do’s into your usual to-do

Publish your notes: This doesn’t have to be fancy, but
take the time (still on the airplane if you can) to type up,
lightly organize and publish your notes. Organize them by
the “themes” you identified above if possible, and don’t
overdo it. Don’t worry about editing, complete sentences,
or anything like that. The goal here is to make your notes
more complete and readable, but also something your
colleagues can review and get their own ideas/inspiration
from as well. Share these notes with others on your team
for review, schedule a meeting to review together if you’re
so inclined, and consider setting up a repository for notes
from additional conferences, seminars, webinars, etc.
Imagine having one place for you and others to read,
remember and gain further inspiration from the past.
Execute: If you’ve identified things to do right away (from
small tasks to bigger projects), give yourself a deadline and
hold yourself accountable to getting them done. There’s
nothing worse than attending a great conference with tons
of ideas, then letting most of them slip once you’re back
to the regular routine. You invested time and money to
challenge the way you think, the way you do things, and
what’s needed to accelerate your success. Make sure you
do something about it.

12

More Information About Us
About Matt Heinz
Matt Heinz is the Founder and President of Heinz Marketing Inc. Matt brings more
than 12 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of
organizations, vertical industries and company sizes. His career has focused on delivering
measurable results for his employers and clients in the way of greater sales, revenue
growth, product success and customer loyalty.
About Brian Hansford
Brian Hansford manages our marketing automation practice and specializes in
developing demand generation and marketing automation strategies for our clients.
Brian is a 20 year veteran of the technology industry Brian is an Eloqua Product Master
and frequently speaks on and publishes original content on B2B marketing, database
health, content marketing and marketing automation.
About Heinz Marketing
Heinz Marketing is a Seattle marketing agency focused on sales acceleration. Heinz
Marketing helps clients achieve sustained sales success by growing revenue from existing
customers and cost effectively identifying and winning new customers.
Contact Heinz Marketing
Heinz Marketing Inc.
8201 164th Ave NE, Suite 200
Redmond, WA 98052
877.291.0006
www.heinzmarketing.com
acceleration@heinzmarketing.com
Learn More About Heinz Marketing
Interested in learning more creative ways to make the most of your marketing?:
Request your FREE 10-minute brainstorm at www.10minutebrainstorm.com
Join our newsletter:
www.heinzmarketinginsights.com
Check out our blog: www.mattonmarketingblog.com
Follow Matt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/heinzmarketing

8201 164th Ave. NE, Suite 200
Redmond WA 98052
Ph. 877.291.0006
www.heinzmarketing.com

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