Reflecting on Planhat Open

When B2B companies have tens of thousands of active users on their platform, they throw an annual conference. A few years ago, our (small but mighty) marketing team pushed me to arrange a user conference.

When I first proposed a “non-conference” event in Malibu, California to my closest team, it was met with resistance.

Someone said, “We probably shouldn’t do this – it’ll be a total Fyre Festival. You’re just not an events guy”.

I laughed. Everyone laughed. And people genuinely thought that was the end of it…

Now the dust has settled on our first official Planhat Open in Malibu – and Planhat has settled back into regular routines – I find myself missing everyone and everything about the week that just passed. And if my inbox is anything to go by, the customers and friends that joined us seem to feel the same way. This is a love letter to the unique moments Planhat Open created, and everyone who made it possible.

First – a quick reflection on what we set out to do here.

Having been in B2B SaaS for almost two decades, I’ve been to my share of conferences.

Dreamforce, this force, that force. One day we’re in the big data business, then we’re a social company; this year it’s work-from-home, remote first, distributed and the next it's “in person or out”. These events usually involve big stages and big egos; shiny shoes and short-lived statements. 99 times out of 100, these events are an exhausting rinse-and-repeat, flavor-of-the-month cocktail of endless talks, forced networking and merchandise.

No matter whether big or small – near or far – I’d almost always head off with a sense of hope and return more tired, and less inspired, than when I left.

Pushed from speaker to speaker, session to session, and meeting to meeting, I’d shake a lot of hands but feel as though I’d actually met nobody at all. If there’s anything we’ve learnt from our roles as customer managers who’ve spent the last decade building a customer platform, it’s that real relationships are hard. I’d even go further to argue that authentic relationships are almost impossible to form in inauthentic settings, like corporate dinners, on stage and at conference centers.

This is where the seed of Planhat Open was planted.

We wanted to create a space where our customers got to know us well. Where we could connect authentically without too many PowerPoints or rehearsed speeches. The best way of getting to know your vendor is to spend quality time with them and their closest crew. You’ll get a sense of their culture, quality and potential.

So last week we invited 150+ CXOs, VPs, runners, surfers, musicians and wine tasters from more than ten countries – ranging from Chile to Canada, and the UK to the UAE – to spend a few days with us in our quiet corner of Malibu. No sponsors, no pitching, no nonsense.

Somewhere away from everyday pressures, with the space to form meaningful connections over a glass of wine, on a surfboard, on the trail – or even some live music.

We swapped out a relentless presentation schedule for casual co-working, punctuated by small discussion pods on hot recent topics. Instead of structured meetings, we encouraged our guests to get to know each other, our new hires, our juniors, our product team, execs and our beloved in-house Creative team during downtime at our Ranch and in the Malibu hills. After all – the better our customers know us, the stronger our community.

Some personal highlights:

• Meeting so many of our customers one on one;

• Seeing our team (including our most senior execs!) rise to the occasion as chauffeurs, ushers, event planners, photographers and more – all to welcome our guests with warmth and hospitality;

• Some incredible music performances from Folk-Blues duo @andysixstring

  
  

As ever, the beauty is in the small things.

It’s hard to retell the small gestures, the rides, the surf, the chasing-desserts-at-midnight or the after-party after-the-after-party in a blog post on the internet.

To everyone that came to Malibu last week: Thank you!

Suffice it to say, Planhat Open is here to stay.

Sign up here. We can’t wait to welcome you.

Until the next time,