Streamlining Healthcare Events with All-in-One Solutions with Arielle Smith, Vice President of Growth at Event Cadence

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket.

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so excited to have you back with us on our show because today I've got the privilege of hosting the outstanding Arielle Smith.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_00]: She serves as Vice President of Growth at Event Cadence.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: They're a versatile event management platform that enables companies to efficiently plan and manage in-person virtual and hybrid events.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: If you guys are listening to this, we go to a lot of events and we work with companies that do events.

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm excited to hear the innovative work that Arielle and her team at Event Cadence are up to specifically focus on healthcare and pharma industry.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So Arielle, thanks so much for joining.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for having me.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It is a pleasure.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And look, before we unpack what Event Cadence does, tell us a little bit about you.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: What inspires your work in healthcare?

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So I have somewhat of the classic but unfortunate story that I had a family member who passed away from complications of cancer.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_01]: When I was about 13, my mom fell ill to breast cancer and then when I was 18, she passed from complications.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So just for many reasons at that time, I decided to start my path towards medicine in general.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_01]: With that being said, I graduated my undergrad.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I did a bunch of resume enrichment programs.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I got a job at a biotech lab and I started studying for my MCATs and I was very much on that path.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And then what seems to be like a very random weekday in 2014, I was studying at a Starbucks and I met someone that just completely changed my trajectory.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: From that point, I started working for a scientific media agency and they were designed around just creating rich content for sales reps to just better sell whatever therapy or drug that they're selling.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And I honestly loved it.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I never looked back.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: So since then, I've done some other things, but it's all been within like a tech umbrella.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've been with Event Cadence now for almost seven years.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Amazing.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I will just say that I'm truly grateful to have found this role and what I'm doing because I really do feel like it still gives me that healthcare perspective that I was looking for.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_01]: But I just have so many creative avenues and liberties now working within tech.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So cool. I love that.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: You met this game changer person and you did that gig for three years.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, you've been doing what you're doing for 10 years.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And it all started with your mom and there's so much work to be done in healthcare still.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: We shouldn't have those kinds of losses.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And it powers a lot of the entrepreneurs and leaders that we have in this space to make a difference.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So I want to learn more about how Event Cadence is helping you do that.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: How is it powering you up?

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And what are you guys doing to add value to the ecosystem?

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_01]: So here's my elevator pitch.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: We help bring pharma employees, healthcare employees, everything that they need to know about their organization's events or activities all in one place.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01]: This could be anything from their travel itinerary to sessions in which they're supposed to attend, which healthcare practitioners they should be engaging in and of course why.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It could be giving them their company's resources or documents.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It could be reviewing the purpose or a goal of why they're even attending the event in the first place.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: It could be for lead generation.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: It could even be for social media posts like for that competitive intelligence edge.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The list really does go on and on, but at Event Cadence everything is focused around intention and clear direction for why we're doing what we're doing for the organization.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So for example, for a medical congress, an industry conference, which I will say is like by far our bread and butter, a big part of what we do is we streamline appointment scheduling between the pharmaceutical company, our client, and their HCPs.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And of course in turn this facilitates conversations that advance medical research, advance science, and it ultimately advances their business.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: That's cool.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I imagine it's more than a calendly. Help us unpack that and the difference maker that it is.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure. The best way to put it is truly all in one.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not asking attendees to download multiple platforms or access multiple websites.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: It is one single platform and as soon as, whether they're prepping for leading up to an event or whether they're on site at an event, like everything that they need is at their fingertips in one single place.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But what's our difference, right?

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It's no secret that the event tech space has become quite popular over the last few years.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of software companies out there that overlap with what we do.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: There's even more agencies out there that will like manually mimic a solution for quite a heavy press tech.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I will say while we do still work with some other verticals and industries, we stand out simply because we were truly designed for the healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_01]: All of our features have been really crafted and perfected to envelop what the healthcare industry expects from their employees.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to go back to my earlier example at Medical Congress.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Employees take ownership of managing their own appointments.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: They can find available rooms to book those rooms for those appointments and instantly they can even see who else from their organization is meeting with both internally and externally.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And they can do this all on their own, all in one place.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: This level of visibility not only helps with organizational alignment, but it really helps to eliminate duplicative efforts.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So all of that really impacts the company's ROI for using us in the first place.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, big time. I love it.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And I want to give a quick shout out to the customer success team because what we do, we really feel like we have a competitive edge in our space because of our CF team.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We take the time to listen to every single account that comes in the door.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's a very personalized approach to using our software and our platform.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Every account is going to be set up differently.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to use it differently.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And we really go in very detail with our accounts to understand what that looks like.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So they are the best suited individuals to maximize our customers' experience, not only because they know the platform in and out, but because they genuinely care.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just want to say that most of our customers will continue to come back to us and contract for our CF team specifically, just to have them available for whatever might come up.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I love that, Ariel. Thank you.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And a big shout out to the CF team at your company.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I love it. And thank you for clarifying.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It's so confusing.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And on top of that, there are so many platforms.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And on top of that, we spend so much money going to these conferences.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So you painted this picture of now, instead of kind of getting through the fog after the event, loading and unloading stuff into the CRM.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Like everything's happening real time.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And I can say these X meetings are going to lead to X dollars.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: We could forecast this is going to go great.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yep, exactly.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_01]: In so many different ways.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: That could be anything from renting meeting room space, right?

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And how many rooms do we need for this upcoming conference?

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: To did we send too many team members on site?

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Was it really needed to put that many boots on the ground?

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: There's so many different like analyses that you can run from that.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And the longer that we have, the clients that we have, the more and more robust that picture becomes.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I love it.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, there's a lot we can unpack here and certainly excited to if we have more time at the end.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So let's continue.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Like you've outlined and I like to focus on differences, right?

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And so you've outlined that you guys are an all in one shop.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: There's other folks wanting to do this all manually.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Is there a software that is behind it all and intelligence that you leverage to make this happen?

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Us?

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yeah.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Human intelligence, muscle.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we've developed it.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything that I've been talking to thus far is coded and developed by us.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, granted, we integrate with a lot of other platforms out there.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not trying to be everything to everyone.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: The perfect example is just registration.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a huge component to just events in general for the healthcare industry where it's like registering yourself, right?

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Registering your people for an event.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not over there, right?

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Like we're the experience, right?

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The registration is a whole other ball game.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So of course, we're going to integrate nicely with platforms that do that.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: But now everything that I've said thus far is we've developed it.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Love it. Yeah. And that's what I was getting at, right?

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys have a software, a platform that you guys home grew that enables this experience backed up by your CS team.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Got it. Love that.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. Well look, it's been seven years and you've done a lot there.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys have grown specifically in healthcare.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: What's a big setback that you guys have been faced with that really turned into a big learning that's made you guys better?

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure. Okay.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to go a little cliche with this one, I have to say.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It should not come as a surprise to hear that COVID was a pretty significant setback to a technology company centered around events.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Events? Yeah.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, at the time I alluded earlier to it, but at the time we greatly widened our scope to all different virtual events and all different industries.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: We just, we had to honestly like it kept our bootstrapped startup afloat.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_01]: But I do often wonder if it took our eye off the prize a little bit.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: We shifted focus away from improving the technology that we developed for healthcare and pharma.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But now that the industry has returned to what we saw as pre-COVID numbers, we're in a really good place.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: 90% of our revenue is coming from healthcare and pharma.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_01]: But I want to say like hindsight's 20-20.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like for half my learning here is focus on the customers that you have and their specific needs.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Because when you try and reach everyone, you reach ultimately no one.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_01]: At the same time, I'm very blessed to be sitting here today with you.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know if I could say that if we didn't go down that rabbit hole to keep us afloat.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm all about staying flexible, staying fluid.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: We are a small tech startup company.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: You have to be if you want to make it.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm quickly learning just within the past couple years in this space that like,

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: if you get off track, you got to get back on track quickly.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Because there is always someone like in the wing ready and willing and able to take your spot.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's the reality.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: That is the reality.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like the jungle.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the jungle out there guys.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So you better be vigilant.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I love that lesson.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It reminds me of the four A's.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever you're in a tough spot, you basically acknowledge what's going on.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: You accept that it's going on.

[00:11:45] [SPEAKER_00]: You act and you attack.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So once your actions measure up, you attack.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys did just that.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: You stayed afloat.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you brought your head back up from surviving to thriving again.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Right? And back into your sweet spot.

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, thank you.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: That's so great.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That's so great.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for sharing that.

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a question that I've been asking often.

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_00]: What's one healthcare trend or technology that will change healthcare as we know it?

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I am not going to say AI.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_01]: That is such an obvious and a given.

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sorry if anybody said AI.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: But you can create an entire podcast about AI in healthcare.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to go in a totally different direction.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not even going to talk about technology or platform.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to leave your audience with this.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: For all my years in working with healthcare, there's a key element that resonates.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's proven incredibly hard to achieve this element.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is cohesiveness.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: An organization's ability to present themselves as a single unit, acting as one, and always with the patient's best interest in mind.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_01]: That's frankly what we need the future to be.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: But in my opinion, that theory that patient first, it has to start at the smallest level of an organization and really radiate outwards.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: So it starts with an employee or a set of employees that don't really have any direct contact with a patient or affiliation with a patient.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And their best practices, their standard operating procedures, they're all crafted through this patient first lens.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It's incredibly hard to achieve yet is top of mind for every account that I've personally spoken to.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So that cohesiveness that positions these companies differently in their space, it makes them appear more likeable, more easier to work with, more humble to the individuals who are in turn advancing their business.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And those individuals, they're the clinicians, they're the scientists, they're the researchers, they're the hospital administration.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It is all connected and it really does all matter.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Which is why at Event Cadence, we are constantly striving to help organizations find that unified approach, find that unified alignment and with a purpose.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's awesome.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Cohesiveness folks.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Cohesiveness.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what it's about.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It's beyond technology.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And the higher up in an organization you go and you try to have these AI or technology conversations, they always go back to people.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Seriously.

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_00]: It's always about people, right?

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And what culture do we have to adopt technologies and be more cohesive.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So, Ariel, I love that you went there with this.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Definitely shows that you've been having conversations at those levels because that's what matters.

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what matters.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Love it.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. Here we are at the end.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to ask you one closing thought and then the best place that our listeners and viewers could get to know you more and learn more about your company.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I would just leave you with that.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We at Event Cadence were really stoked about the future and then ultimately what it holds for us.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_01]: We are a tech driven company.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_01]: We're passionate about developing solutions for our customers to make their lives easier.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It sounds so basic, but it's not.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And we wouldn't be here if we weren't passionate about that.

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So with that being said, I would love to ask your listeners if I said anything today and it sparked any thoughts or ideas or interests, we would genuinely love to hear from you.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It is how we as a company, how we grow.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So we are on all socials at Event Cadence.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also find us on our commercial website, eventcadence.com.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Other than that, thank you so much for having me.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it's such a pleasure, Ariel.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And we will make sure to leave all the ways to get in touch with you and the Event Cadence team in the show notes.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So I appreciate you providing us with that call to action.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Folks, take advantage.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Now's the time.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: You can't afford to be disjointed in your efforts.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And when you have companies like Event Cadence to help you be more cohesive, you got to take advantage of it.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So jump into it.

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't be afraid.

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Be bold.

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all for tuning in.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And Ariel, thanks for being with us.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks.