Recap: The Partnership Flywheel - Making Events Work in 2026
Event budgets are easy to burn and hard to justify. This week the room dug into the practical side: which rooms are worth showing up to in 2026, when a side event earns its keep, and where the actual buyers spend their time. Operators who live on the conference circuit shared what works.
The best takes of the evening
"A speaking slot at a giant conference is for the photo op - no one's listening. At a 60-80 person focused conference, every single person sits through every talk."
Dash
On mega-conferences vs focused events - pick your rooms accordingly.
"If you're fundraising, 80% of your event selection should be about which investors are actually attending - and whether they've backed projects like yours."
District
On picking the right events: if builders are already talking about it on X, the quality projects will be there.
"As a project, a side event is non-negotiable. No one cares about your product unless you make them care. If you can be entertaining on stage, it's worth something."
Burnt Banksy
On the side-event meta - make others fall in love with your product.
"You need to know exactly why you're going and who you're looking for. Otherwise it's 100% failure - you'll get torn apart by all the different conversations."
Sumex Labs
Have a plan before you land. Pro tip: record a short video with the person you just met - it works way better for follow-up.
"In a bull market everyone has money and a big story. In a bear market people ask specific questions: do you have a working product? Do you have real users?"
Narek · Flipper
On what changes in a bear market - focus on qualified conversations and follow-up meetings.
"First step is preparation. Know which side events and dinners your people will be at. For KBW or Token2049 you plan two weeks in advance."
RealFin
How to properly prepare - and never lose sight of your goal at an event.
"The goal is connections that convert into real deals after the event."
Sveatoslav · Rhuna
The 'beyond crypto' angle: their team is serving one of the top-3 global festivals - 400,000 people over 4 days. Plus: digital memorabilia and collectibles are booming.
The throughline
Nobody argued for a bigger booth. The consensus treated events as a targeting problem rather than a spending one: pick small rooms where people actually listen, choose conferences by who attends rather than headcount, treat side events as non-negotiable, arrive with a specific goal, and measure success in follow-up meetings instead of badges collected. In a slower market, that discipline is the entire game.
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Speakers: Dash, District, Burnt Banksy, Sumex Labs, Narek (Flipper), RealFin, Sveatoslav (Rhuna). Full recording on X ↗