Our Thoughts, Learnings, and Reflections Following INBOUND 2023
Another year, another INBOUND. ✅ Our team just got back from the conference, and we're excited to share what we've learned!
In case you didn’t know: INBOUND is HubSpot’s annual, three-day conference where business, marketing, and sales leaders can attend workshops led by industry experts and connect with fellow HubSpot community members. Also thrown into the mix are a few inspirational talks with celebrities — this year’s featured celebs being Reese Witherspoon, Derek Jeter, and a comedic performance by John Mulaney.
That’s all to say that INBOUND is a week full of learning, networking, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. And our team sure got their fair share of all of them. Here’s what some of Evenbound’s INBOUND attendees had to say about their time at the event.
Hunter Burin
HubSpot Implementation Specialist
Hunter was a top learner at INBOUND, with a whopping 39 HubSpot Academy certifications!
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
Kyle Jepson’s “Things Every HubSpot Admin Needs to Know.” He shared a ton of helpful tips on how to troubleshoot and implement different tools in HubSpot. He also included in his slide deck over 130 minutes of demo videos for people to access afterward, which were great.
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
The calendar tool in the Sales Forecasting beta. It pulls all of your meetings from your online calendar and your tasks into one place to help schedule your day. It also gives you easy access to the contacts you are meeting with that day to learn more about them.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
There are A LOT of new tools in HubSpot, all geared toward making the tool a one-stop shop for your day. Implementing these can help ensure that you no longer have to hop between tabs all day to get things done.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
Does watching WWE in my hotel room count? Lol. If not, the appetizers we had at our happy hour were all amazing.
Anything else you’d like to share about your INBOUND experience?
I finally got to meet Kyle Jepson in person, and I shook his hand. So that was pretty much the highlight of my week.
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
“Grow Better With the Power of CRM Extensibility.” I really enjoyed learning about all the CRM development tools at the conference, but this talk specifically showed real-world examples and even walked through some code!
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
CRM development tools. These tools will give us the power to create totally custom functionalities and experiences that are tailored for each client. Using the power of HubSpot and React.js, I will be able to create a practically unlimited suite of custom CRM cards to give users the power to review and manipulate data, all from a very central location, quickly and easily.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
HubSpot seems to be pursuing a business model that is less focused on providing actual marketing support and is instead focused on creating software that allows extensive integration and customizability, then relying on partners to tap into that power and provide that marketing support to clients. I'm personally a big fan of this move, as long as they actually follow through.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
The HubSpot Developers Meetup. One night HubSpot hosted a meeting for developers with free drinks, food, and great conversation. I was even able to speak with many prominent developers at HubSpot and give my feedback and insight as someone who works in the platform every day.
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
The HubSpot Spotlight — specifically Andy Pitre’s discussion on new HubSpot products and Dharmesh Shah’s discussion on connection with AI. Here’s my recap:
Andy Pitre’s Discussion on HubSpot Products — Andy Pitre, from HubSpot's product team, highlighted the challenges businesses face, such as understanding AI and keeping up with customer expectations.
1. HubSpot introduced the "HubSpot Customer Platform," encompassing the entire customer journey, from lead generation with Marketing Hub to payments with Commerce Hub. It centralizes customer data, offering insights to drive growth.
2. HubSpot AI is a significant release. Unique due to its content knowledge, business context, and understanding of customers, it aims to supercharge connection and growth. Features include assistants for swift work, agents for automation, predictive insights, and ChatSpot, which combines HubSpot's CRM with ChatGPT.
3. To aid content creation, HubSpot AI now features the "Content Assistant," assisting with writing, and recently, image creation. They also introduced SMS as a native channel in HubSpot, a streamlined CRM experience, and launched a new Sales Hub to address the needs of the sales community.
4. HubSpot has continued to expand its ecosystem with over 1,500 apps, 6,000 Solutions Partners, and a community of 3.2 million members. They're collaborating with LinkedIn for enhanced B2B connection tools and offering a new Service Hub with AI Support Assistant to help teams save time and serve customers better.
Dharmesh Shah’s Discussion on AI — Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of HubSpot, has a keen interest in generative AI. He reflected on the journey from his initial conversations with Sam Altman of OpenAI to his experimentation with GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) and its subsequent evolution to ChatGPT.
1. Development of ChatSpot — Shah's enthusiasm for AI led him to develop ChatSpot, a merger of ChatGPT and HubSpot CRM, which enables users to access HubSpot CRM functionalities through a natural language chat interface.
2. Impact of Generative AI — Generative AI is set to revolutionize sales, marketing, and customer operations, with its potential value estimated at $2.6 trillion annually. Despite its vast potential, Shah warned of its inherent challenges and the need to foster trust.
3. Future of AI and its Multimodal Direction — Observing the younger generation's interaction with AI, Shah predicted the AI of the future will combine text, images, video, audio, and code inputs to provide richer, more dynamic experiences, evolving into "agent AI."
4. HubSpot's AI Evolution and Advice — HubSpot is entering the era of "smart CRMs" that integrate AI. Shah emphasized the importance of data in differentiating AI models and encouraged businesses to invest in CRM systems that embrace AI to drive customer relationships.
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
I am most excited about HubSpot's AI Forecasting tool because I think one of the best first use cases for AI is "crunching numbers" because it can be a very useful second lens for reporting.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
My biggest takeaway is that HubSpot is starting to go upmarket and focus significantly on CRM tools that can compete with enterprise-level tools like Salesforce.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
I really enjoyed trying some of the amazing beer at Trillium.
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
It’s a tie for me! I am a big Andrew Huberman fan, so it was cool to see him speak in person. I also loved the session with Jen Spencer from SmartBug Media on “How to Curate a Vibrant, Remote-first Culture at Scale.” It was exciting to see things we have already implemented at Evenbound that SmartBug is doing too, plus it was loaded with new ideas for us to continue to grow our employee experience and culture.
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
Sales tools and the customization of CRM records in the activity feed by individual or team. I think this really pushes HubSpot into being a robust and full solution for an entire team.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
Be adaptable and ready to use AI to create a better experience for your clients.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
I got to see a few of my Boston friends which is always fun. Also, Hunter and Ben took us to a cool bar where there is no menu — you just tell the bartender what vibe of drinks you like. I was totally skeptical, but it turned out delicious!
Anything else you’d like to share about your INBOUND experience?
I always love time together with the Evenbound team, and I truly loved seeing how our team interacted with others. Hunter got a special prize because he was a top learner at the conference (hello 39 certifications!). Plus, because Darren used to work for HubSpot, he was like a celebrity there.
Ben Johnson
Director of Client Services
Ben celebrated 10 years at Evenbound this year!
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
“How to Curate a Vibrant, Remote-first Culture at Scale.” I took a lot of great ideas away on how other remote/hybrid companies work on building team culture, and I am excited to see what we can implement at Evenbound.
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
HubSpot AI was my favorite announcement (specifically how all hubs will be tied to HubSpot AI). I am excited about how this will make things easier for the end HubSpot user!
I also saw a sneak peek of a client health feature that is in early development. I can't wait to see how that tool progresses.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
AI is designed to help us get things done faster — not replace positions.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
We made it an outing to have dinner and watch the first Detroit Lions game of the year!
What was your favorite INBOUND session?
Aside from the big product updates and the announcement of HubSpot AI, I was really impressed with a session I attended on LinkedIn Ads by AJ Wilcox. It was a really great deep dive into that system with a ton of valuable insights and ideas.
Which new HubSpot product are you most excited about?
Hands down, the new relaunch of Sales Hub. There is so much opportunity with these new tools. It's clear that HubSpot is targeting Salesforce and these new tools solidify HubSpot's position in the enterprise market.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the conference?
For me, the biggest takeaway is the community of people around HubSpot and the opportunity that it represents to do great work together. I love the technology, I love Boston, but I really love the people that I got to interact with last week.
Did you do anything fun while you were in Boston?
It seems that John was all business all the time, as he didn’t provide an answer for this prompt. 😊
Anything else you’d like to share about your INBOUND experience?
I would encourage everyone with a HubSpot license to spend a few moments on www.hubspot.com/new and learn about the product updates. Then ask yourself if your team is going to adopt these new tools on their own. If not, perhaps we should have a conversation about how we can enable these tools across your team to drive Q4 growth and a strong finish to 2023.
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