INBOUND 2016: "The One That Was Scheduled On Election Day"

Here's how I picture the INBOUND 2016 conference event planning committee:

Person 1: "Hey so how are we going to make this year different guys? I mean, we've got almost 15,000 people coming to this conference, and we had freaking AMY SCHUMER there last year. How are we going to top that?"

Rest of Room: "Yeah that's true, I don't know..."

*everyone sits and thinks hard*

Person 2: "Okay, I have something. So we will probably have almost 15,000 people attending this thing, right? And we all know that those inbound marketers like to drink, right? Last year Club INBOUND was such a huge hit.

So I say, we do everything the same, but instead, let's have the conference begin right on the day of one of the most high-profile elections in decades. And then everyone will get drunk. We can call it The INBOUND Games. Like a rif on the Hunger Games. It'll be great."

*thoughtful murmuring ensues*

Person 1: "Does anyone have a better idea? Nope? Alright, sounds like a plan!"

I jest, I'm sure this isn't what happened. In fact, according to their very helpful, informational blog post they published about this issue, they've been locked into those dates since 2012. And there's only like, one venue in all of Boston that can contain all of us enthusiastic, evangelical inbound marketers, so their hands were tied. 

How HubSpot Managed to Stay Ahead of This Situation

Also, in their defense, they've done a very good job of trying to smooth this issue over. When I read the first line of the post, my first thought was, "Crap, how/when do I get an absentee ballot?".

Guess what the second sentence was. A link to apply through a third-party organization to request an absentee ballot. That is probably the smartest, most helpful thing they could have done.

Are you wondering what the heck INBOUND 2016 is and what inbound marketing is and how you ended up falling down this internet rabbit hole? No worries, take this time to learn your something new for today!

It is also a prime example of the entire philosophy behind inbound marketing. They sat down and thought about their personas. They put themselves in the shoes of Marketing Mary and thought it through. They asked themselves what additional questions or pain points Marketing Mary might have now that she/he has been made aware of this issue.

1. Marketing Mary, or Marketing Eileen at least, is still going to want some way to vote.
   
   
2. The obvious solution to that issue is an absentee ballot.
   
   
3. But, according to our research, Marketing Mary is a young professional. She/he has probably only had the opportunity to vote in a presidential election once or twice in their lifetime. They might not know they best way to apply for an absentee ballot.
   
   ***Disclaimer: I'm completely making this persona research up by the way, I have no idea what the age range of their infamous Marketing Mary persona is.***
   
   
4. We should provide a simple, painless way for Marketing Mary to apply for an absentee ballot. Bonus points if she/he never has to leave our site to submit the application.

Thus, a third-party absentee ballot application was embedded onto the INBOUND site.

HubSpot = 1, Pain-in-the-Ass Scheduling Issue = 0

I specify embedded because they thought that step through as well. I am all for providing my name, email, company, and job title for the use of the marketers/salespeople over there. I would feel like a hypocrite if I balked at providing my own information while asking for the same info from others.

On the other hand, I'm not into sharing my personal mailing address, birth date, and political party affiliation with the fine folks over there in Boston. I'm sure they're all on the up-and-up, but that's just TMI for my tastes.

But they thought through this pain point as well. Instead of electing to just drop one of their forms into the page to collect that info, they embedded the encrypted form from the third-party. And then made sure to mention that in the instructions.

HubSpot = 2, Pain-in-the-Ass Scheduling Issue = 0

On their absentee ballot landing page, they also took the opportunity to throw some quick notes off to the side mentioning that we all need to remember how to be courteous to our fellow INBOUND-oneers, even if they vote on a different side of the aisle than we do.

No offense to them, but if people did make it that far down the page to read that note, once you get four drinks in them at Club INBOUND, and I think there will inevitably be some issues with the whole courtesy thing. 

HubSpot = 2, Pain-in-the-Ass Scheduling Issue = 1

Which Side Wins, INBOUND 2016 or Their Scheduling Issue?

At the end of the day, I'm sure INBOUND 2016 will go smoothly and everything will be just fine. For one thing, it will give INBOUND presenters some great fodder to kick off their sessions. 

And the entire event will probably even be better off for it, because there will be an underlying current of humor; something to look back on like an episode of Friends: "The One That Was Scheduled on Election Day".

At least, that's what I am hoping for, as HubSpot doesn't need any more snafus for their poor PR people to manage right now. See Dan Lyons, his book Disrupted, and this thoughtful LinkedIn post in response by Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan.

What are your opinions on INBOUND 2016 being on an election day? Good thing, disaster waiting to happen, or don't care? Do you think they could have taken additional steps to handle the situation better? Share the love in the comments below!