Why should brands attend email events?
Still have a question, spotted an error, or have a better explanation or a source we should cite?
A few honest reasons, because most conference marketing oversells it.
The most practical one: mailbox providers and ESPs announce policy changes at industry events before they blog about them. If Gmail is planning to change how it handles DMARC alignment for forwarded mail, someone on the Gmail team will mention it at M3AAWG before the postmaster blog update. Attending gives you weeks of lead time to prepare instead of scrambling to respond.
Second: the relationship you build with an ESP postmaster team or a Gmail deliverability contact before you have a problem is infinitely more valuable than trying to reach someone when your sending is already blocked. Email deliverability can move fast in the wrong direction. Having a direct contact who knows your program matters when something breaks at 2am before your biggest campaign of the year.
Third: in-person conversations filter nonsense faster than anything else. The email industry has an abundance of confident advice online, some of it good, most of it oversimplified or wrong. Sitting in a room with other practitioners and asking "does this actually work?" produces better answers than reading blog posts. Conference hallways and dinners are where the honest takes live.
If you're weighing whether to invest in conferences versus other professional development, the value scales with how actively you participate. Attending sessions and leaving right after gets you information you could also get from recordings. Building relationships and joining working groups is where conferences pay off in ways nothing else does.
For finding the right events to attend, major email marketing conferences covers your options.
Contributors
Who worked on this answer
Every name links to their profile. Every company links to their site. Real people, real accountability.
