Georgetown alumnus Ryan Costello fell backward into event management. He graduated with a degree in computer science and then swiftly realized he didn't want to be a coder. That's when he stumbled into politics and fundraising. And of course, with politics comes the many, many events — networking events, fundraising events, happy hours, parties and so on.
So it comes as no surprise that when Costello decided to make the jump from politics to event technology, he was wildly successful. Event Farm is known for its innovative event planning and marketing technology. This includes new approaches to registration services, such as nontransferable invitations, and experiential technology, like hologram selfies or virtual golf.
The D.C.-based startup closed a $6.1M funding round and acquired Boston-based startup, Attend, in September, and it has offices in D.C., L.A. and Boston.
How did you get started with event marketing and event technology?
I got out of Georgetown, and I didn't want to be a coder because I was not very great at it. So I got into politics. I was in lobbying for about five years.
But I became an events director falling into it backward. What's fundamentally important in that process [of organizing an event] is that you have the right people in the room. If you don't have the right people in the room, you have interns there. If you have interns there, the sponsors aren't going to write the checks. So if I have the right people in the room, I raise more money. That was exactly how I measure my effectiveness.
When I was looking for solutions to try and help me restrict access and get the right people there — How do I get so-and-so to come? And not just their friend? — there weren't any software solutions out there that were focused on this. There was ticketing software, there was event software, but everything was from the lens of "Sign up, buy a ticket, I don't care who it is."
I became an events director falling into it backward.
No one was really talking about a really simple thing of a nontransferable invitation.
So Event Farm started because Todd [Cornett, Event Farm co-founder] and I wanted to make the Congressional Blues Festival better (an event I worked on in the early 2000s), but we couldn't find anything in the market.
In the past, you all have included hologram selfies and virtual golf at your events. What inspires these different types of fun things you include in the event?
The stuff that you're referring to is what we call EFX, which stands for Event Farm Experiential. It's a part of our business. Think of it almost like a business unit within our company. What EFX is trying to do is deploy technology within an event. Once you're there, what software do you interact with as an attendee?
This is technology that we're deploying that has business intent. It's not just we're putting holograms up because it's cool. We're putting a hologram up because that moves the business forward. If that sells more Samsung phones, then we're going to put a hologram up.
If that sells more Samsung phones, then we're going to put a hologram up.
You all closed a $6.1M round recently. What are your plans for Event Farm moving forward?
Our short-term plan is the make sure that we're capitalizing on what I think is the conversation here about event technology. Not a lot of people are talking about event marketing as its own category within the marketing organization and it's own technology and how important it is to the bottom line. So our job for the next 18 months is to tell that story as loud as we possible can.
We have hundreds of costumes across the globe, namely in North America, and huge clients -- Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, HBO, Disney. These guys get it. Our job is to service that market, but also hopefully get the rest of the world to understand that this is actually a thing. This is a requirement to how you operate a marketing organization in 2017.
Why keep an office in D.C.?
D.C. is where we got started because we went to Georgetown. So that was organically the reason. We grew up in the market and that's where we got our start.
D.C. is a huge events town. It's got all the political stuff we're talking about, trade associations, politics — there's tons of events. I think that for us early on there was an appreciation for what we were getting at, so it really felt good being in DC. We just happen to start there, but it wasn't like we were in a non-event town.
What's interesting about D.C., of any center for event technology, D.C.'s it. You've got Social Tables, InGo, us, Nvite, Cvent. There are a lot of event technology companies doing really well in D.C. I don't know where that came from, but I think it's a lot of coincidence. But there's a hub now, and we're proud of that and want to be a part of it.
It will never get easier, it will just change.
What are some events that have been favorite or that you've grown from or learned from?
I'm not going to think about it in terms of what event do I love attending. They are so different. But I'll give you an example of what is interesting to me. I think that from a business standpoint, a company like HubSpot and Salesforce has done an incredible job of building an ecosystem or a world around everything that they're trying to do.
It's just amazing to see that a company could put on something that could be a movement, and we're doing something similar. We had our first Offline Summit in June in New York. The Offline Summit is our attempt at that.
We're learning from and trying to adapt a lot of stuff to create a movement, to try and create a community around this idea of "Wow, this topic matters. How do we maximize it? How do we learn from it? What tools can we use?"
What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
I am probably one of the most persistent human beings that I have ever imagined, and my persistence is tested all the time because it's really really really hard. With the exception of a few standout companies where everything comes easy, it will never get easier, it will just change.
I think going into that and knowing it, eliminates frustrations that may cripple you. I always find myself going "When is it going to get easier?" The answer is never, and you need to be OK with that.
So enjoy solving problems, and you will enjoy entrepreneurship.
