Inside the Manifest Content Engine with Tanzil Uddin

If you’ve ever wondered how a massive industry event like Manifest manages to feel timely, relevant, and most importantly useful, this is the episode for you. I’m sitting down with Tanzil Uddin, SVP of Content and Partnerships, to peel back the curtain on how they build a world-class agenda without falling into the vendor karaoke trap.

Tanzil explains the listening tour strategy that begins almost a year in advance, where the team interviews dozens of shippers and industry leaders to identify the real world friction points in the supply chain. We discuss how they balance long term trends like AI and automation with sudden, disruptive headlines like new tariffs or geopolitical shifts. Tanzil also shares his advice for anyone looking to get on stage, emphasizing that Manifest isn't looking for product pitches. They’re looking for high level use cases and collaborative solutions.

Whether you’re a first time attendee looking to navigate the Venetian or a seasoned logistics pro curious about how the industry's biggest conversations are curated, Tanzil breaks it all down with a focus on practical value over hype.

What we cover:

• The Research Phase: How Tanzil’s team uses a listening tour to gather intel directly from shippers and manufacturers.
• Agility in Content: Why the Manifest agenda is never truly final until the weeks leading up to the show to ensure it reflects current market conditions.
• The No Sales Rule: Tanzil explains the strict vetting process that keeps product demos off the stage and puts problem-solving front and center.
• Speaker Criteria: What the content team looks for in a moderator and why diversity of thought is non negotiable for their panels.
• Mastering the Manifest App: How to use the 30 day window before the show to build a strategic battle plan and avoid the dreaded hallway FOMO.

Watch this interview on YouTube

Links: 

• Connect with Tanzil at Manifest/Hive Group on Linkedin
• Purchase your Manifest 2026 ticket (save some money by using our link!)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:42

Most conferences are either miles of boots or a TED Talk cosplay convention. Manifest tries to be neither. Pianzo Uden is part of the team responsible for what gets on stage, who gets invited, and how they keep it from turning into a vendor karaoke. Welcome into another episode of Everything Is Logistics, a podcast for the thinkers and Freight. We are proudly presented by SBI Logistics, and I'm your host, Blake Milligan. And now Manifest, the future of supply chain and logistics, returns to the Venetian in Las Vegas from February 9th to the 11th, 2026. And SVP of Content and Partnerships, which is also part of the Hive Group, is Tanzo Udin. He's going to be joining the show to talk about those behind-the-scenes moments of event coordination that bring together, uh really brings together every aspect of the industry we know and love and one of the uh really best industry events that I've ever been to. So it's a must-attend event for me if you pay attention to any of my socials over the last few years. I've never missed a manifest. Don't intend on starting now. And so, Danzel, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00: 1:43

Thank you so much. Really appreciate that, Blythe. Glad to be here. Look forward to talking all the things manifest and supply chain with you.

SPEAKER_02: 1:50

Yeah, absolutely. And so for a lot of folks, we have had conversations previously with Courtney and Pam and Dan, um, who are all part of the content and the leadership, and Dan's part of the the sales process. And now we get to peek behind the curtain a little bit from the content side of things. And I was going through some of my notes from those previous interviews. And I noticed when Courtney was saying that after Manifest is over, not to, I guess, sort of put the cart before the horse, but for timeline's sake, after Manifest concludes, the actual event, work has already started on the next event. And Courtney mentioned that you all do what's called listening tours, where you just call people up and just listen to what they have to say for a few months. Is that still, you know, part of the the manifest plan, or are you already moving into 2027, you know, for planning purposes?

SPEAKER_00: 2:41

Yeah, it's a good question. It's pretty much a mix of both, to be very honest. So if I look at just content for this example, Pam Simon and myself, we are constantly trying to keep a pulse of the community. So Pam through startups and investors primarily, and myself through those that are in supply chain leadership. Most more times than not, it is the chief supply chain officer or a similar executive in a supply chain for a shipper company. On both ends, we're trying to talk to as many people as possible. Just get on calls, get feedback on this event, uh, where the headspace is, how are they navigating existing disruptions in the global supply chain? And this kind of, we just we notate it everywhere. We literally have a folder that we share amongst ourselves, just notating what we're hearing from who, where they fall into the supply chain, what role they play, so on and so forth. And we're already the the the light bulb is already going, we're already thinking about what we need to make sure we monitor. For example, in this case for the 2027 event. So today we'll already, in the back of our minds, have an idea of the who and what at the very least, of issues that we need to make sure we continue to monitor so that we can ask more people and who we know that we would invite. And then in addition to that, there is like a wait list that we we have pretty much every year. We're very thankful for it, but there's a lot of interest to get on the manifest stage. So there's a pretty large pool of those that are what we call our running wait list of people that we will reach out to just to get on these calls, in addition to those existing relationships that we have, just to continue that going. It's like a domino effect now. So then once the event concludes in February, in March slash April, we're pretty much starting the planning cycle. So you probably have like two weeks maybe to decompress, but week three and beyond uh going into March, you're already starting to plan out the following year's event.

SPEAKER_02: 4:35

So that's super interesting that it starts on the the shipper side of things where you you find out what their pain points are because it's such an interesting shift over the last you know handful of years, ever since COVID, obviously. Um, but then you know, manifest getting started at the tail end of you know the whole, I guess, sort of lockdowns and you know, people starting to come back to conferences is really that 2022 time frame where you're trying to figure out what is the pulse of the industry. And it makes perfect sense that it would start with the shipper side of things, and then you figure out their concerns and you figure out what's at top of mind for them. And then if I have the assumption correct, I would imagine that the logistics providers would come in after that, after you find out what's what's the I guess what the shippers want to know and what the shippers are struggling with, and then maybe what the logistics providers and the entrepreneurs are developing solutions around.

SPEAKER_00: 5:30

Yeah, 100%. It's pretty much, I would argue a lot of our program is written from the lens of the shipper. Because if you look at so many of the disruptions that have happened since 2020 and now, if you look at the pandemics and war crisis and socioeconomical challenges, geopolitical disruptions, it all falls back to more times than not that retailer, that manufacturer. And everyone wants to hear their perspective of how they're navigating. A lot of the solutions that exist for more times than not are geared towards how are we helping our Sherpa community solve some of these? How are we working with them and how are they working closely with us? So it's kind of like we're in from that lens, and the others, kind of the other perspectives fall into place almost where, yes, to your point, we'll now go to this logistic service providers. Pam is already talking to startups and investors, we're understanding what they care about, but then it also kind of branches out into, for example, if I'm now talking to a logistic service provider, yes, it's how are you contributing to this solution, tackling these problems with your shipper partners? But what are the challenges that you're now facing? What are some of the issues that you're experiencing as you're trying to work with your shippers and get to your customers or whatever the case may be? So now you just have a full breadth of different issues and themes and topics that you you can hit on and different perspectives that all of your sessions can represent because now you have a mix of that startup, that investor, that logistic service company, that shipper. We try to go towards that ecosystem being represented per pretty much each conversation that's being had on our stage.

SPEAKER_02: 7:04

And so for a lot of, you know, I would imagine for for folks who work in events, like you, you really want to nail down, you know, some of the things that you can nail down as as early as possible. And part of that are the guests and the agenda topics. And from what I understand, you guys are building out this agenda for, you know, the for the next year. I mean, you're already kind of thinking about it, as you said, uh, for 2027. I remember last year when Courtney said, well, you know, as soon as the election happened, then one thing that came to the forefront that wasn't really on top of mind of a lot of folks, but turned into a major topic was around tariffs. And so having to make some agenda swaps or agenda additions to cover that big topic was something that had to be done, you know, in December and January leading up to the event. How do you prioritize what those topics and how those those big how do you determine what's going to be big enough to make an agenda shuffle?

SPEAKER_00: 8:03

That's an amazing question. So that's exactly we try to keep the agenda as fluid as possible. So we lead it with the people first. You want to confirm the people. We we are always people first. So the first type marketing communication that you'll see is speakers confirmed, not topics. We start sharing a hint of topics or themes. I think this year we shared around August or September. Our complete agenda went out a couple weeks ago, maybe last week or the week before, so December. And we do this because it needs to stay nimble to your point to be able to account for it's never a dull moment in supply chain. Something always comes up seemingly, and something big enough where you need to cover it. So, how do we determine if it's big enough where we're hearing about it? Just like I said, we're keeping the pulse of our community, constantly on calls with them, constantly chatting, texting on emails, whatever it is. And we're hearing, hey, are you guys covering this? Uh, what are you hearing about tariffs, for example, from others? I would love to be able to see some sessions about it. I need to be able to connect with peers, for example, if I'm a shipper, it would be really great for me to be seated with other shippers who are tackling this also, just so I can benchmark, hear their thoughts on how they're approaching it. So when you hear it from enough people, when you see enough coverage about it, and publicly, of course, you do know it's something that you must cover at an event like this. It's the right position, it's the right platform to you, you already have the ecosystem on their one roof. It is the right time to cover it to some degree. So that's kind of how we approach it. But keeping our agenda as flexible or nimble as possible helps us or enables us to be able to do that. So topics, to be frank, although we did share the complete agenda a couple weeks back, we'll still make updates all the way up until the point the app goes live, which is about one month before the event. Uh, we'll still make updates during the lead up to the show, probably even a week before, but we try to get as complete as possible by the time the app goes live. So, pretty much a month before, like I mentioned, where okay, these are our topics, at least 95% of our topics are set and defined. We have a big room for the 5% in case we need to update anything accordingly. But but it's like a revolving door in terms of the program and the different stages that we're planning out throughout the year.

SPEAKER_02: 10:16

And so you're confirming the people first, because you just mentioned that you have, you know, a waiting list of people who want to be able to be on stage at Manifest. So you're confirming the people first, and then you're kind of getting more of a pulse from them to get roundabout sort of agenda focus overall, and then you're kind of dialing it in after that, if I understand the flow correctly. Now, for the speakers themselves, what how do you know who's going to be good on stage and who isn't?

SPEAKER_00: 10:45

Yeah, so we have a, I will say maybe a standard approach, but again, still keeping it flexible. So the standard approach is I'll go back to shippers. We will always prioritize that shipper perspective first. We want that chief supply chain officer. This is under my wheelhouse, that chief supply chain officer, that chief procurement officer, or a similar executive that's representing a company of all sizes. So it's not just the large players and global players, but also the small to mid-size because they also have a story to share in this world of technological advancements, they're doing a lot without tech. They're doing a lot on a non-tech path. You want that story represented also. So we'll start with those shippers and the shippers meaning those that are brands, start to consumer, manufacturers, retailers, all of them. You start there, and then Pam and our sales team that are working with a lot of the great service and technology companies that get involved with Manifest or actively thinking about okay, who can who can speak to planning and procurement, for example? Who is doing something very innovative across logistics or rail or ocean freight? Who is this doing something really innovative across visibility, whether it's end-to-end or a certain area of the supply chain, who's doing it? Who are we hearing about a lot in our calls? So our shippers mentioning them, are shippers referring us to them. We use all of that and then consider or take into account who we need to or know we need to invite from that technology, that innovative startup, who's secured amazing funding recently. Um, but that's kind of how we started. So to my point again is kind of almost from the narrative of the shipper. They're directing a lot of it without realizing, they're just sharing where their headspace is. But we really take that into account. We ask them for referrals, who they're working with, who they've had great experience working with, that leads into or feeds into a lot of the startups that we do invite, inevitably.

SPEAKER_02: 13:29

And so from those conversations, you kind of have to, and one thing that I do love about Manifest, and this is something that that Dan Reese, who is um head of sales over at at Manifest, and he mentioned that he doesn't want a sales pitch up on the stage, he doesn't want the audience to feel like they're being sold to, because that is a common feeling for a lot of industry conferences, is that you you're just gonna you're getting bombarded with sales messages. And so how do you, I guess, sort of uh massage the situation that yes, we value your opinion, we want you up on stage, but please don't, you know, cross that invisible line.

SPEAKER_00: 14:06

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I that's one of my favorite questions. Um we work with a lot of people that we invite from a tech perspective, and we love them. We we we really it's a one of the key pillars of our audience is going to be that tech service, whether you're a startup or an established org. Number one thing is it's it's CEO or C level only. So that's kind of how we start off. It's CEO, CTO, CIO, CO. No sales, marketing, biz dev, commercial product. So we start with the functional role that we invite. More times than not, that kind of helps us trim the fat a little bit where it's your leadership, you're talking about the broad vision of the company, you are able to talk tangibly on key partnerships that you've delved into. And then from there, you go into this is how we want our narrative to be. The narrative is real use cases, real world examples, tangible ROI that you can speak to, and lessons learned and failures, because along the way, as you work with whether it be logistic service providers or shippers or three pale companies or whoever they are, you are able to share some lessons learned too. And more times than not, people in the room really appreciate that being able to hear people that are candid enough to share some of the failures, whether you want to call it that, and how they navigate it accordingly. So we try to steer our speakers more towards that. And this goes to shippers too. Can you talk to real examples? Um, it's really the how versus the if I'm I'm just gonna call it out. No, we're gonna talk about it in a bit, or almost expect to. Uh, AI to some degree. So if you're talking about AI, it what does that mean for you? Is it actually AI? How are you defining it? And how are organizations actually applying it versus the all kind of where do we see this headed? What is the potential of AI? Uh, so we try to control that narrative as much as possible. And we do that by honestly, I was just on a prep call right before this. We get on prep calls with every single speaker that comes to manifest. So we have 400 plus speakers, we're on prep calls with all of them through November, from November start starting in November through through pretty much the show dates. So this is how we get on and share this with them um over a call and just align on that accordingly.

SPEAKER_02: 16:17

Yeah, as someone who's been a you know a moderator a few times for for manifest, you guys are so detailed. And I don't think that anybody else who hasn't done it knows how detailed you guys get into the sessions because I I I well, I guess first I should I should back it up a little bit from a moderator standpoint. How do you go about choosing who's gonna moderate the panels? Because choosing the speakers is one thing, but I think the moderator is a a little bit of a different beast. So, how do you, what is your thought process? And maybe for the audience who's interested in you know becoming a moderator or a speaker in the future, what tips can you give them to kind of stand out?

SPEAKER_00: 16:52

Oh, yeah. Well, you just mentioned that you're one of the gold standards. I think you've moderated uh the you know panels for almost every year of manifesting. We always have the the blights of the world, the people that we've worked with from year one, where we just know they're able to direct a narrative and work with us in the vision that we we see for our sessions. And, you know, the great personality on stage like yourself and and and the others that are really we would really invite every year, where there's this charismatic energy, and we just feel that, you know, like we said, we're we're talking to our community throughout the year, almost every day, every week. And so we get that, we build relationships with them and and share our vision with them, and they really carry that on for them. It's almost like you're you're event champions, right? You're champions of of the event and the community. Uh, and and we we trust that they'll they'll be able to direct the almost direct but steer the panel members to success, really, because you know, panel members want to speak to these things, but it's the moderator's job to help get it out of them in some instances. So that's one thing is where we we we have a list, I would say maybe a dozen or a couple dozen of people that we just are comfortable with inviting every year. The second step to that is we will always look for, we prioritize the the tier of type of types of people that we'd invite. So it's usually those that are like publications or associations, or you know, they've got a podcast, they've got a media company, whatever the case may be. We tend to lean towards those for our moderators first. Uh, we're also partnered with them, just like we are with you. And so, as a from a media partner, you know, manifest partnership capacity, we usually would invite them, they're reporters, editors, journalists, whomever they are. The second set are consultants, because consultants, if they're, for example, if we've got a panel with shippers, they're already in the weeds of working with shippers directly. They're working with chief supply chain officers, they know the the day-to-days that these individuals are going through. So they're able to ask, I don't want to say targeted questions, but specific questions about those that day-to-day of where is your headspace? Well, how are you navigating some of these challenges? And they're able to get a little bit more out of the shippers or the speakers on stage. And then the third tier I would say would be investors. We like investors because we go to, and and Pam, as I mentioned earlier, works with investors. She has a close relationship with a lot of the funds that come to the show. She's able to work with them already in inviting some of the key startups to our show. And so they have a full pulse, of course, obviously enough, of the startup community, and they're able to moderate a lot of our sessions that have startups. So they're able to, we just know that they're able to ask some of those, just like I said about consultants with shippers, they are able to ask some of those key questions that hit at home for the startups and get a little bit more out of them. But it all comes back to what the speakers are comfortable with sharing. We still try to make sure it's as comfortable as possible. We try to say share as many examples as possible. Please share real world examples. However, they'll still get to whatever they're comfortable with. But the more we do that, the better for our audience on site.

SPEAKER_02: 19:53

And so you do all of these things, all of the prep work, the agenda, the speakers, you know, matching up the speakers with the moderators and the topics at hand. How do you know when the event at the event, how do you know that that the panel was a success or not?

SPEAKER_00: 20:10

Yeah, we use feedback. Uh, we we have our NPS Pulse event and we do have call-outs of which did any sessions stand out to you? What types of sessions, what what them stood out to you? This is how actually you talked about our launch in 2022. You know, we were historically and probably still are to some degree, but especially when we launched, it was a very logistics-heavy show. And the feedback from our audience was this is amazing, but we would love to see more planning, procurement, source, manufacturing. Today, manifests encompass all aspects of plan, source, make and deliver as a result. So you get that feedback uh from the the participants in the room. The second thing we do is we try to ask the we try to leave the audience with a question of were you able to take something from the session that you can apply back to your your company or office next week and not next year? That is one question that we try to leave all of our attendees with. And if we can answer yes to that, that there is something that I took back with me to my team that I can apply next week or next month, then we that's the barrier for that's the that's the staple or foundation for a successful session.

SPEAKER_02: 21:23

Now switching gears a little bit to the the user side of things, you mentioned earlier that the app launches about a month before the event. Now, if I am a new user, because I will say from just the media standpoint or the media side of things, the outreach for Manifest is unlike any other conference. I'm already, I mean, we're recording this in the early part or the mid part of December. So we're going to air this in January, but I'm already getting outreach from people about coordinating meetups and interviews and things like that while at Manifest. Um, so the outreach is incredible. On the user standpoint, or just I don't want to call say like a regular attendee, but that's kind of where I'm going. So if it's a typical attendee, you're not a moderator, you're not a speaker, you are just going because you want to learn and you want to take part in the in the sessions and learn as much as you can and see what's on the on the expo floor. What advice would you give them a month out to start building up their agenda and their experience for coming to manifest for the first time?

SPEAKER_00: 22:25

Yeah, so it's it's all about the prep. We make our app available a month before for that reason. People are already starting to connect now in December, to your point. They want to start connecting as early as possible. The best thing to do is you you browse that app, you review a few things. So one thing is our attendees will all be visible in the app. So once they start logging in, setting up their profiles, you're able to network it with each other right away. So it is sending that connection request, that message, whatever it is, and setting up your meetings beforehand. A lot of the meetings are taking place on the 9th of February. On the 9th of February, it's our kickoff. We just have content happening. Expo is not open, so attendees are pretty much coming in for these sessions and to take the meetings that they've already scheduled or coordinated. So you're already starting to network in the app. So we would definitely recommend that. Number two is reviewing the agenda. You review the agenda, you see all the sessions that are happening between February 9th through February 11th, and you just map it out by what you like. So if you're operating and planning, the agenda is pretty intuitive where you're able to literally filter out sessions just for planning, for example, or filter out sessions just for maritime and ports. You do that and you kind of build your own agenda within an agenda for the week. So now you've got meetings, you've got sessions that you will attend already mapped out the month before the show. And then you want to look at our exhibitors. It's very clearly laid out. The floor plan is shared there, and you'll know who is situated where. So that on the 10th or an 11th, when the expo is open, you're able to map that out too. These are the solutions that you want to go and experience, touch and feel, so on and so forth. Pet a puppy or two, which I'm sure we'll talk about, but uh while you're there and have a little bit of fun while you're there. But the whole point of it is where you are able to pretty much create your own menu, if you may, one month before the show of meetings, of sessions, and technologies that you want to experience while there.

SPEAKER_02: 24:25

Yeah, because I don't think a lot of people know, or are there a few people that I know of that came to the 2025 manifest event and they thought the expo floor would be open on the first day, and they didn't realize that, and they were already flying out early the next day. So they missed the expo floor, which is like one A and one B is for manifest for me, is like one A is all of the speakers and you know the topics that are covered, which are you know a high bar as far as content is concerned. But then the expo floor, you could just get lost in for those two days. So it's that first day that to your point, you could set all of those meetings and get, you know, they make the connections ahead of time and then spend, you know, the next couple of days exploring the expo floor because it's just it will sometimes take your breath away. All the stuff that there is to do, plus, you know, you have to make the obligatory stop uh to the puppy lounge because it's once you're talking to all those people, you're gonna get tired of talking to them and you need a refresh. So head over to the puppies for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 25:26

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's it's you you yeah, so to your point, you you take those meetings of the knife and you get to just really experience the expo on that second day, the 10th.

SPEAKER_02: 25:36

And so as you're at as we're coming up on the fifth year of Manifest, which I think is just incredible. So we had you know started in 2022, and then now we're at the year five. So I'm curious, what are some of maybe the most memorable moments that you've experienced at Manifest over the last five years?

SPEAKER_00: 25:55

Yeah, no, I will start off with, you know, it's it's uh it's an easy one, but it our launch was interesting because it was it happened during the peak of the Omicron variant, and it's hard to believe it was, you know, we're going to 26, so it was technically it was four years ago. Our event was at the event was in 2022. This is year five of Manifest, but that event was 22. We were all masked up, everyone was wearing masks uh at Manifest. Uh, the year one of the years. You had to get tested before you went, I had to get tested before you went, so which is unbelievable unbelievable to say today. And we had 1,500 attendees, and there was this pent-up demand to just be in person amidst what we all experienced since 2020 at that time, and it worked to our favor in that sense. Where once we got to the event, once everyone got to Vegas and we were at the Paris, it it felt like already from year one, it was like my LinkedIn connections have come to life here. And we've kept that moniker throughout the years where it does now feel like if you're in supply chain, the LinkedIn community is here, and we're all just catching up at this point. So that energy is there, and it never left since year one. So that's for sure, that's the standout. And I would say for me personally, throughout the years, is we launched Leadership Suite this year at Manifest. Basically, leadership suite is a private forum for chief supply chain officers that attend the event. This has happened because since year one, we've tried to prioritize the presence, like I mentioned, of shippers, but the leadership from the shippers. So you had about a handful in year one, maybe a dozen in year two. This year, this past Forever, we had 60 of them. And we had them, and the common feedback was we love what you do from a startup's perspective. That's the main reason why we're coming, is because we get to see all these startups and under one roof, companies that we otherwise would not have known existed. However, to 1A, 1B, 1B is are my peers going to be there? Are people at my level in the room? Well, yes, there are 60 of them this time around, and there is leadership suite where you're also able to connect with each other in that private forum. So now you get to get the best of both worlds, you get to see the and experience the startups, but in real time, get that your the thoughts of other chief supply chain officers from other verticals on those startups that they just saw. Maybe they're already working with some of them. So you get the best of both worlds while they're um that's memorable memorable for me because we launched that this year and it was a really big hit, big hit enough where after the event concluded, I was introduced to five other chief supply chain officers from people that were in the room this year. Next year, we have close to 90 confirmed for a leadership suite. So it's really cool to see that uptick in chief supply chain officers that we've seen throughout the years, and you know, we'll continue that trend for sure. It's it's one of our biggest priorities. And then lastly, I would say our expo is one of the best ones. It's biased probably, but it is one of the best ones I've seen because of how interactive our exhibitors are. So it's not your you you touched on this in the intro, I loved it, but it is not your traditional floor plan booth setup. It is, it is these massive, we have a massive list of activations there. The puppy laws are just one of them. You've got you've got golf, you've got mocktails, you've got arcade, the arcade, you've got the backyard, you've got the headshot studio, the salon. There's so many things that you can touch and feel while connecting with that exhibitor. So, this is to my point of us creating this energy in the room where A, it's your LinkedIn connections coming to life, and everyone is just open and friendly and and ready to talk to you if you just go by and say hello.

SPEAKER_02: 29:37

I mean, as you're sitting there talking, my memory bank was just getting like, and I was like, oh gosh, I forgot about that. I forgot about the I think it was USHIP that did uh you know ugly freight booth. But you could go there and you can get your nails done, you get your hair done. And it's as far as like being a woman at a conference, which obviously manifest goes above and beyond to cater to women because they have their women's luncheon, which has just grown tremendously through the years. Uh, but being a woman and being at that event and being like, oh wow, there's actually stuff for me here too. That it was that was great. You also had um, I believe I'm blanking on the actual company that has it, but they have a magician for the past couple of years that comes through and does all of these different magic tricks and you know, just things that you would not expect to see at a you know a business conference, quote unquote. If you're just listening to I'm doing you know, air quotes here. Um, but that's what I've always loved about manifest is that it you don't feel like you're at a conference. And I think that that was part of the messaging, if I'm not mistaken, that you want it to be a conference, not a trade show. Is that accurate?

SPEAKER_00: 30:45

Yeah, it's it's not a trade, it's not a trade show. We want it to be a show, it's just just show. And it's it's to your point, just about some of these exhibitors, our just like we do with our speakers and programming, our sales team, our partnerships team does a wonderful job of getting our sponsors to open up and do those kinds of activations. And we give a lot of credit to our sponsors and exhibitors who do it because it almost like disarms you, I would say. And you're just disarmed and and you're all again, like to my point, it's just ready to converse throughout the week while you're there. And then you you said the women's lunch, there's so many others that the women's lunch are after parties, which are are incredible hits year after year. Um, but it's all about creating that energy throughout the week while you're there.

SPEAKER_02: 31:34

And it's creating that energy that fosters the connections that they can keep on building, you know, whenever they go back home and they can hopefully continue those connections and meet up at future events. Because if I'm not mistaken, manifest is also doing smaller events around the country. Is that still I know you had one in Boston, I believe. Um, but what what is sort of the, I guess, the mindset around those different events?

SPEAKER_00: 31:57

Yeah, so we have the minifest meetups mostly ran by by Pam on the team, but the other others on the team, like Katie Day, have supported to bring shippers there. But primarily it's been geared towards like that startup and investor community. So Pam partners with a lot of investors that come to our show. We usually have about 70, 80 people for the minifest. So, yes, to your point, we had one in Boston, we had one in New York. And yeah, it's just nice to get that community still still together. You know, you obviously you have the main event, which is the main event, but you have these mini fests throughout the year, two to three, and you would have those startups and investors get together. They would bring their portfolio companies, we would invite other startups that are not a part of investing, you know, don't have the funding yet, but we'll get them in the room. And so you're keeping those conversations going year-round. And like I mentioned, Katie Dade or myself would help bring shippers too because you kind of want that perspective in the room as well. But we're definitely excited to continue to do those MiniFest meetups.

SPEAKER_02: 32:54

And a lot of people are starting to notice, including other companies, because Manifest was actually, or I guess the parent company was acquired, or do I have that correct? Um, purchased by Hive Group, who is now uh working with Manifest as well. Uh what is what is sort of the, I guess, the details behind that relationship and how you hope it to help grow with Manifest.

SPEAKER_00: 33:15

Yes. So Manifest was indeed acquired by Hive Group. It happened back in May. And Hive Group are the or is the organization that acquired and runs the wonderful Shop Talk events. They they have a portfolio of events such as Shop Talk, they have Possible and others under their umbrella. And Manifest is now a part of the family. And of course, we're excited to work with them. But the the key thing for us is we are big fans of how they run their events. They've got, you know, just one example. Their shop talk events has meetups, shop talk meetups, where it is one of the most incredible meetings programs I have ever witnessed for events, where you're looking at hundreds of thousands of meetings, real meetings that are happening at their events year after year. And being able to tap into those kinds of resources that they up to they have, they possess, and and just bolstering what manifests will become into in the future is is very exciting for us. Um, but we imagine more shippers, more brands, more tangible meetings happening, and all backed by you know they're what the wonderful resources over at Hive for sure.

SPEAKER_02: 34:24

And then to well, it definitely to give you an opportunity to kind of toot your own horn, but you just won an award. I just saw a post from him, who I think uh what the best attendee acquisition model in the trade show executive magazine.

SPEAKER_00: 34:40

Yes, yes, at the Gold 100 in Palm Springs. That was amazing. You know, we're we're very thankful, of course, to Trade Show Executive Magazine and Gold 100 for including uh including us. And we were excited to be nominated for this and let alone win it. We, you know, our attendee acquisition model is very people driven. I was uh was blessed enough to be able to get on stage and talk about how we approach it, but it is very, very uh team folk driven where our marketing spend is extremely relatively low, and it's very driven by the team spreading the message and getting champions for your event, just like you and others, where you're talking about us and you're introducing us to people, and there's this huge word of mouth that's working to our favor. And yeah, we we were up against extremely big shows like a modex, I believe that was one of the nominees, and a massive coffee show uh run by Claren, I think. And it was you know an honor for us to be able to get that recognition.

SPEAKER_02: 35:41

Okay, so what were some of the tips that you could share, you know, openly with us? Working with podcasters, I think is you know, or creators is is one of the bigger ones, which is super appreciative of, which I not a lot of events still don't do this. I don't know why they don't, but um you guys do a great job of it. So it's it's something that I feel comfortable, you know, shouting to the moon every time about how great this conference is.

SPEAKER_00: 36:05

Yeah, I think it'll be cliche, but it's the the relationship is key. We're all the entire team from from Courtney to to the our sales team, programming team, uh content operations team. We all develop relationships. It's not just putting together an event together and kind of ticking boxes. We are actively building relationships, becoming friends with a lot of these people, uh, really. So I'm in with the shippers, Pam is in with investors, Dan, Babs, and Leo, and our sales team and Katie Date, Kathleen, they're all closely tied with the people they're working with, and it's very reflective of our event, which is an ecosystem event, pretty much touching everyone. So it starts with the relationships there. And yes, podcasters are key, journalists, uh, media associations, Courtney is very close with our partners, and it's really enabling them first understanding what's what do they value first. It starts there, what do you like to see at events? Then we go into here's how we can work together, here's how we'd love for you to spread the word. And we say, here's how we will spread the word, here's how we will get you involved. And this is what we do with every single startup, logistic service provider, shipper that comes to our show. It's understanding what they value first. So it's almost walking the show in their boots or shoes, if you may, uh, as to them to the as much as possible to the best of our abilities. So building that relationship and getting them to spread the word or enabling them. So the way we enable them is equip them with everything they need, take the work off of their plates, everything from the the digital stuff, the banners that they'll post on social to the actual messaging. So we would even paste a messaging that we would like for them to use, and they just go and post it. Because you know, it's just not as they're not gonna actively think about things to write about our show, let us do it for them. They want to share post about it, they want to talk about it. Um, so it's definitely about building that relationship and enabling them with everything they need to make it easy for them to do so. And it's almost like and I'll go back to to Jay Weintraub, who's the CEO of Connective, uh, the parent that was the parent uh brand or holding company for Manifest. He always started off with, you don't often see Tesla or Apple do ads or commercials. It's the people, it's it's you telling me about that iPhone, or it's me telling them about that Tesla car that I just purchased. So that's what Manifest uh wanted to embody. It's it's the word of mouth that we want out there globally, really. And it starts with the relationships that we build.

SPEAKER_02: 38:35

Yeah, it's it's definit from like a media perspective, just that first year, you guys having a podcast booth, a place where I can go and record and and not have to worry about that, you know, finding a good place, finding chairs. Hopefully, somebody doesn't take your chair, like you know, all of these little things that are sort of taxing that ends up affecting your content. Because if you're stressed about all of those things that hopefully you shouldn't have to worry about, but you do have to worry about if you're at any other event. Um, but at manifest, you don't have to worry about that. So the content that you're able to record is that much better because you're not stressed out about things that, you know, are kind of outside of your controls. But so simply by having the podcast booth or even, you know, just sending out suggested messaging points and images and graphics. I, you know, I think Clara from the, you know, the social team, she sends out at least one email a month with, you know, graphics that you can use and suggested copy. And, you know, we we take that and we put it in our own voice and we send it out to our audience. But it's it takes the the first draft, I guess, sort of mental bandwidth. It takes that pressure off so that you can talk easier about the product. So kudos to y'all for for doing those little things and thinking outside the box in that regard, because it really does help, um, especially from a content creator standpoint, where sometimes you're just looking at the screen and you're like, I don't know what to say. But sometimes you guys providing that, it's like, oh, I can I could work with you know 75% of that, and then I'll put the 25% of it of my personal spin on it. So then that way it feels more personal and you know, hopefully, you know, results in people registering for the event, and then they, you know, cycle repeats itself where they go and they have a blast and then they want to come back for you know for future events. I I am curious. Last couple of questions here, you know, that I saw on the the website, you know, it's about 7,200 people that you're expected to attend this year. Like, how big can this go? And do you want it to get what is the right size for for manifest?

SPEAKER_00: 40:42

I I love that question. It is something that we talk about, and you know, just with the with the hive part of it too, because they run shop talk and shop talk gets, I think it's close to 10,000 attendees, at least their flagship one or over well above 10,000. And it you do ask the question of when is enough enough, really? What is we don't have like an answer to the number of attendees? The question that we ask is, or two questions I would say is number one, did you get every part of this ecosystem in the room? What I mean by that is are rail operators accounted for terminals, are shippers, startups, investors, ports, are they all accounted for? Not just in the room, but do you have something for them? So that's to my point of did you walk the show from their perspective? Are there solutions? For them? Are there sessions for them? Can you have a marketing agenda, if you may, or marketing messaging just for that carrier, for example? So that that's one. And number two, is it the right person from those organizations, meaning the leadership? Is it that CEO? Is it that chief supply chain officer or COO or whomever? We'll continue to ask that every year, and we'll always find gaps to fill. So one example is, and this is something that we're adding new, is cold chain. Code Chain was something that we never had at Manifest. We introduced it a little bit this year, that this year there was a stage just for cold chain during our kickoff. Went extremely well. The reason why we introduced it is because what did you have? The food and beverage, the QSR, the temperature controlled individuals represented. Well, evidently the answer was no, years one through three, because we had the maybe handful that attended tell us, hey, I didn't have enough Fermi at this event from a cold chain perspective. This is why we think you should feature it because of its tremendous growth. Now we know where cold chain is headed at the very least, from a growth perspective. So we introduced it to the point now, next year there's an entire pavilion just for cold chain, in addition to the stage that existed already. Cold Chain Pavilion will have the those next-gen technologies and solutions that are operating in the space, temperature control, packaging, software visibility. And there's a stage inside of that pavilion inside of my Expo Hall this year as well, where a lot of these QSR, food and bev technology companies will be participating. So you ask those questions of we're at a place now where we can see where the gaps exist. We can procurement is another great example. It has its own stage for next year because there just wasn't enough for the indirect, direct sourcing, supplier risk management, and that procurement, that chief procurement officer. So we introduced that. So we'll continue to ask that question of did you get every single goes back to is the is the ecosystem actually represented, who's missing, and who is the right people, who are the right people from those organizations that need to be there. So we'll see where that goes, whether it's 10,000 attendees. We don't know the number that it falls on, but we want to be intentional of who's in the room from where. And it has to be leadership and it has to be the right organizations.

SPEAKER_02: 43:45

Yeah. I mean, if people are fine still finding incredible amounts of value from the show, they keep on, keep yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 43:53

Hey, look, we love it. We we love being able to move to the Venetian. Uh, we love being able to have 400 plus exhibitors. So we'll, you know, we're excited to continue on this journey.

SPEAKER_02: 44:02

So if I am, I was gonna say from a what should a podcaster pay attention to, but just a regular, you know, attendee, if they're showing up to this event, are are there two or three must attend either topics or the expo floor? What are you where are you kind of, I guess, leaning towards?

SPEAKER_00: 44:22

Yeah, that's a hard one to answer. It will depend on who you are. But what I will say is if I were an attendee, first thing I would do is what do I care about? Where do I operate in the supply chain world? Because a lot of us are very niche, you know, we might just be to drayage or ports or whatever it is. Once I start there, I want to know is there something for me? And I will find that answer if I just filter the app, for example, by sessions and just filter it out by drayage in this example, and I will see those sessions that exist for me. And the same applies to the expo. I will be able to see if I just type in keywords, I will be able to see which exhibitors at least at the very least operate in this world, and I will go find them. So you can kind of steer your experience accordingly based on what you care about personally. And I, as an attendee, will start there. The second thing I would do is what are the networking events and receptions that are happening? I will keep an eye out for that because this is where I'll get a chance to comfortably, candidly talk to as many people as possible while I'm just enjoying a drink or whatever. That begins with our opening party on the 9th, and that continues on through the 11th, uh, through the 10th, and of course our closing party uh on the 11th. So I would definitely keep a lookout for all of the receptions that are happening. We also have external events, so a lot of our sponsors, partners are having dinners, receptions around the hours of manifest. So you can kind of stay connected around the clock. We also share that with respects to who made that information available to us. So if sponsors and partners did share the events that they're hosting, we will make that available for everyone. So I would do those two things. I would browse what hits at home for me, and I would also keep a lookout for all the receptions that are happening, including the women's lunch.

SPEAKER_02: 46:04

Yes, I uh live and breathe in that app because it has everything that you didn't to your point. I just did I totally forgot about the third party parties that are events and meetups that are happening that you guys also list in the app, just in case you wanted to check that out and check out the availability of it. I have done in the past where I'll take the expo floor map and I'll print it out and I'll put it on a clipboard. And shout out to to Shay Dixon, who is who's been to Manifest before. And I believe she was one of the panelists last year. Um, but she was she taught me this trick where you print out the expo floor map and then you highlight in green the people that you want to go visit. And so it's kind of like a low tech plus the high tech solution just to kind of keep my job done, I guess, my my map brain correct of who I need to talk to. And then that way everything else kind of fills in.

SPEAKER_00: 46:52

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Some of us prefer that. And that's that's exactly right. It's it goes back to preparing as much as you can.

SPEAKER_02: 46:59

Yeah, for sure. And it definitely happens. Uh the last year I started prepping for manifest, uh, the week after that week after Christmas, right before New Year's, that kind of break, it gives you a good, you know, sort of, I guess, less emails that you can kind of focus on what are going to be my top priority goals. And once I have that mapped out, then you know, January, the meeting invites start, and then that's where I can kind of place my priorities of who I'm gonna target and and why, or who I'm gonna take a meeting with and why, which I'm sure I don't know if it's helpful for other folks, but you really have to treat this as like a battle plan um going to manifest.

SPEAKER_00: 47:32

No, exactly, exactly. You want to wear comfortable shoes, shoes too. So that's another that too.

SPEAKER_02: 47:37

Bring deodorant, bring some gum, wear comfortable shoes.

SPEAKER_00: 47:41

Yep, yep. Take it from experience. I was suffering year one. I wore, you know, I tried to be cute and wear very nice shoes, and feet were killing me by the end of that day.

SPEAKER_02: 47:50

Yeah, it's it's you have to you're because you're gonna get those 20,000 steps in, if that or it at least that I should say.

SPEAKER_00: 47:58

For sure.

SPEAKER_02: 47:59

Uh Tansil, um last couple questions here. Is there anything that's important to mention uh that we haven't already talked about?

SPEAKER_00: 48:07

Yeah, so I would say uh a couple things. One is well, first, if you're not involved with manifest yet, I would definitely, since the app isn't live, we talked about the app being live, but the app isn't live yet. You can still prep ahead. All of the information that's relevant is up on the website right now. So if you hover over sponsors, if you hover over agenda, those are the two main ones. And if you hover over speakers, you'll see everything that you need to in terms of planning ahead of time before the app goes live. And then there's also our companies attending page. So we do update that in real time every week or month, where you'll get an idea of all the companies that are already confirmed for manifest. And the job titles, more times than not, are going to be the C level CEO, chief supply chain officer. So you can kind of get an idea of who you can expect to meet. So if you're not involved with these yet, definitely reach out to anyone from the team. You can submit an inquiry or you can reach out to one of us directly. We'll be happy to get to get you involved for sure. Uh, but if you are involved, you could still start preparing now, especially if you do. I don't know who does have time to unwind because it is peak season. But if you do have some downtime during the holidays and you're able to browse, I would recommend going on the site and doing so.

SPEAKER_02: 49:13

Yeah, for sure. It's definitely one of those things that you want to be ahead of the game as much as possible because once you're there, it is just it's everything else takes over. And you, if you do not have that priority plan, then you you might get overwhelmed quickly, which is I I think it didn't happen my first year. Um, I think it was my second or third year is when I was like, I need to start planning in advance for this. Like, I can't just show up and just record podcasts. There's gotta be other things that I do and people that in conversations that you prioritize. Um, okay, Tanzel, uh, where can I send folks to connect with you to uh register for manifest? I got that link already, so I'll put that link in the show notes. Um, but anything else that you feel uh we want to send the audience to or you feel it was important for them to know?

SPEAKER_00: 49:58

Yeah, I would say the two main would be manifestvegas.com and the manifest LinkedIn page because we do post one thing that I did not mess mention is we do our kind of podcasts, but it's our Fest Live interviews, and we we we distribute those Fest Live interviews throughout the year. They go out pretty much every month or every other week. And these are interviews with people that are part of the manifest community, a mix of startups, shippers. We will do a cold chain one very soon. Uh, we have already been posting some of them, but basically, some of our cold chain speakers are talking about what they wish Santa would bring from a technology perspective for the cold chain market. Uh, so that will be a fun one, but I will definitely check out the LinkedIn page for those interviews that we have been distributing.

SPEAKER_02: 50:43

Well, amazing because you guys do such a great job of not just you know planning an incredible agenda, but making content throughout the entire year, in addition to recording content live at the event. So you guys are, I think, a step ahead and have been a step ahead of any other industry event. And I I would probably go out on a limb. I don't have that much experience in in other industry events, but I would go out on a limb and say that you guys are top-notch, you know, compared to those uh industry events as well. So I'm sorry, what was that?

SPEAKER_00: 51:14

We're very thankful. Thank you, thank you so much for that.

SPEAKER_02: 51:16

Oh, please, I absolutely you've done such an incredible job and appreciate your time here today. Uh and and can't wait to see you in a few weeks. All right. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 51:27

Thank you very much for having me. Yeah, less than two months away. Fast approaching.

SPEAKER_02: 51:31

Yeah, February 9th to the 11th at the Venetian. Once again, we will have a link to register for the event in the show notes. Uh, you don't want to miss it. You're already, you're gonna have, you know, you're gonna have FOMO. So why don't just go ahead and purchase your ticket now so you don't have to worry about it. You can start the early access to the game planning. So um, Tansel, thank you so much for all of this incredible insight. Hopefully, you know, a lot of folks found value in it, first-time attendees, uh, future moderators or speakers, and uh, we can continue building on this momentum of the the best industry conference. So thank you again.

SPEAKER_01: 52:06

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Everything Is Logistics where we talk all things supply chain for the thinkers in freight. If you like this episode, there's plenty more where that came from. Be sure to follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a conversation. The show is also available in video format over on YouTube just by searching Everything is Logistics. And if you're working in freight logistics or supply chain marketing, check out my company Digital Dispatch. We help you build smarter websites and marketing systems that actually drive results, not just vanity metrics. Additionally, if you're trying to find the right freight tech tools or partners without getting buried in buzzwords, head on over to CargoRex.io where we're building the largest database of logistics services and solutions. All the links you need are in the show notes. I'll catch you in the next episode and go jazz!