{
 "source": "The Sales Traveler — the Index Desk",
 "license": "Free to use with attribution to The Sales Traveler. See https://thesalestraveler.com/press/",
 "dataUrl": "https://thesalestraveler.com/data/conference-roi-index.json",
 "slug": "conference-roi-index",
 "name": "The Conference ROI Index",
 "url": "https://thesalestraveler.com/conference-roi-index/",
 "entityNoun": "Event",
 "measures": "published commitments",
 "period": "2026-07",
 "methodology": "A conference pass plus travel is a $4,000 bet. We scored 10 marquee B2B events on 15 published commitments that decide whether the bet pays: meeting infrastructure, audience transparency, cost clarity, and follow-up rights. Top score: 80 (INBOUND). The biggest budgets buy the fewest promises.",
 "scale": {
  "rawMax": 15,
  "displayMax": 100,
  "formula": "round(raw / rawMax * displayMax)"
 },
 "categories": [
  {
   "id": "M",
   "label": "Meeting infrastructure",
   "checks": [
    "Official 1:1 matchmaking app",
    "Hosted/brokered meetings program",
    "Bookable attendee meeting space"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "A",
   "label": "Audience transparency",
   "checks": [
    "Attendee count published",
    "Audience/title breakdown published",
    "Past attendee companies published"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "$",
   "label": "Cost clarity",
   "checks": [
    "Ticket prices published",
    "Sponsor/exhibit pricing published",
    "Lower-cost expo tier exists"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "L",
   "label": "Logistics",
   "checks": [
    "Hotel blocks bookable online",
    "Venue Wi-Fi committed to attendees",
    "Session recordings provided"
   ],
   "max": 3
  },
  {
   "id": "F",
   "label": "Follow-up",
   "checks": [
    "Lead scanning available to exhibitors",
    "In-app messaging through event",
    "Slides/content published post-event"
   ],
   "max": 3
  }
 ],
 "entities": [
  {
   "rank": 1,
   "name": "INBOUND",
   "category": {
    "M": 2,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 3,
    "L": 2,
    "F": 3
   },
   "score": 80,
   "note": "Publishes the fullest attendee-facing set: a real networking app, meetup spaces, prices, breakdowns, and on-demand recordings.",
   "subtitle": "HubSpot",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 2,
   "name": "SaaStr Annual",
   "category": {
    "M": 2,
    "A": 3,
    "$": 3,
    "L": 2,
    "F": 2
   },
   "score": 80,
   "note": "1:1 matchmaking and braindate zones as core product, plus the rare published sponsor rate card. Recordings gated to pass tiers.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 3,
   "name": "Web Summit",
   "category": {
    "M": 3,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 2,
    "L": 2,
    "F": 2
   },
   "score": 73,
   "note": "Matchmaking at 70,000-person scale and a published audience breakdown — the mega-event that commits like a boutique one.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 4,
   "name": "AWS re:Invent",
   "category": {
    "M": 1,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "L": 3,
    "F": 3
   },
   "score": 67,
   "note": "No matchmaking, one price tier — but committed venue Wi-Fi (rare) and the deepest free recording library in tech.",
   "subtitle": "Amazon",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 5,
   "name": "SXSW",
   "category": {
    "M": 1,
    "A": 3,
    "$": 2,
    "L": 1,
    "F": 3
   },
   "score": 67,
   "note": "A discovery engine with real app matchmaking and tiered access — built for serendipity, not scheduled pipeline.",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 6,
   "name": "Shoptalk",
   "category": {
    "M": 3,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "L": 1,
    "F": 3
   },
   "score": 67,
   "note": "The hosted-meetings program — guaranteed 1:1s — is the strongest seller-ROI commitment on this list.",
   "subtitle": "Hyve",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 7,
   "name": "Money20/20",
   "category": {
    "M": 3,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "L": 1,
    "F": 2
   },
   "score": 60,
   "note": "Brokered-meeting infrastructure built for dealmaking; costs and recordings stay behind the sales conversation.",
   "subtitle": "Ascential",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 8,
   "name": "CES",
   "category": {
    "M": 0,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 3,
    "L": 1,
    "F": 2
   },
   "score": 53,
   "note": "Scale without scheduling: published prices and exhibitor lists, no committed path from badge to booked meeting.",
   "subtitle": "CTA",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 9,
   "name": "Dreamforce",
   "category": {
    "M": 0,
    "A": 1,
    "$": 1,
    "L": 2,
    "F": 3
   },
   "score": 47,
   "note": "The biggest show in software publishes attendee counts and prices — and no meeting infrastructure an AE can plan a trip around.",
   "subtitle": "Salesforce",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  },
  {
   "rank": 10,
   "name": "Gartner CSO & Sales Leader",
   "category": {
    "M": 2,
    "A": 2,
    "$": 1,
    "L": 2,
    "F": 0
   },
   "score": 47,
   "note": "Analyst 1:1s are a genuine brokered-meeting commitment; nearly everything else requires the license conversation.",
   "subtitle": "Gartner",
   "ruledBy": "Editor-in-Chief, The Sales Traveler",
   "ruledOn": "2026-07-22"
  }
 ],
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  "contact": "rachel@thesalestraveler.com",
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}