Let's answer some INBOUND and Hubspor questions!

Hello, you've reached the HubSpot Helpline Helpline.

Help behind helpline helpline.

It's Rob, it's George, it's Casey and Kyle. Come with a problem and leave with a smile every Friday at 3. Come and join us as we help you with HubSpot. Open up your LinkedIn. Just make sure you call in and leave a voicemail about HubSpot. Make your Friday divine with the HubSpot helpline.

What's up everybody? I am joined and humbled to be in the presence of some absolute legends. Admin of the year, Admin of the decade, Admin of the century candidates. We've got Chris Carolyn, Mr. Profoundly Pro 4000 who's done 8 million live shows this year. He's cranking them out. I'm also joined by Casey Greyhound of the Helpline Hawkins who apparently we have a live audience in her kitchen area watching this. That's the rise of popularity of this show has been absolutely meteoric.

Not just the dogs this week week.

Not just human audience.

Human audience this week and animals too.

But I'm also joined by George B stands for whatever you want it to be. B Thomas, the man with the humans there, the voice mod. He's a legend. And then last but certainly not least, a man who just rejoined last week, Kyle Jepson. He now has, I think Carolyn said, a starting the starting five basketball team. Congrats once again being a dad again. Your kids are lovely. And you my good friend, have been going over your inbound prep for inbound and your sessions that we were able to help you figure out last week with George. Talk about action sets. It's a great place to start. It's almost speechless after that. That's what I do with these intros is make them so long winded that people forget.

And that's our show. Thanks everyone for tuning in. See you next week.

That was a great show. Yeah, but I think we should start anywhere that Chris Carolyn, the producer of the show wants to. There's been a lot of packing, a lot of getting ready, a lot of last minute prep, a lot of finalizing notes and talks and I am just here rambling. So Chris, I'm going to turn it over to you to ask some pertinent questions about what it is we should help the people with today as they prepare make the final preparations for next week in San Francisco for Inbound 25.

Well, I think we've highlighted two things we'd love to help people with today and that's the group of people who by no Choice of their own will be suffering from major FOMO next week because either they can't go or they can't go. But some just because it's in a different part of the world this year. So usually they would be there, especially a bunch of HubSpot natives in Boston. So I think we could give them some advice on who to follow and what kind of content to look for. But then the other group is we're in a new place. Maybe how to accept the overwhelm instead of try to prevent it. So those who are going for the first time, but those who have been there every year and it's in a new place, how to keep your bearings and not let it get the best of you.

Yes, I've never been to San Francisco before. I've been inbound four times, so this will be fourth. This will be off 22, 23, 24. This will be my fourth inbound and I've never been to the city. My advice to myself is travel with a pack. I tend to get lost very easily and get winded easily, which I've heard isn't a good combination because San Francisco is hilly. I'm gonna need some Dr. Scholl's immediately. It's on my packing list. Will be getting those. But yeah, for the other you mentioned people that either can't go for whatever reason or that are familiar with Boston and that's the only place or people that can't go. How to tune in, how to be involved, how to be engaged with anything that's going on there.

Yeah, I'd love to hit the how to tune in thing. The HubSpot keynote on Wednesday will be live streamed to YouTube and LinkedIn and X& so definitely tune in. That's where the big product announces are. That's where y always gives some strategic advice. Definitely worth watching. And then they're recording kind of a lot of sessions this year. There's a blog post on the inbound website with a list of their schedule for when those recordings will hit their YouTube channel. So follow the inbound YouTube channel. I checked my sessions are being recorded. They're. They're going to hit YouTube sometime in October. So it's going to be a long, rolling journey. But there's a lot of resources there whether you're going or not. Re watching those recordings, sharing them. I think. I think there's going to be a lot of value there.

Yeah, I, I definitely think that I'll chime in here too because I love the idea of their YouTube channel of HubSpot But I would also say like, if, if you're not ready to like do the hashtag thing on LinkedIn or the hashtag thing on X, like there's gonna be bite sized snippets, there's going to be full blown, you know, pieces of information. Interviews and yeah, interviews literally in the, in the green room. Before we started this, I, I asked Chris, hey, can we get the two shows that I'm doing in the evening on a channel? So Chris, you can talk about that in a minute of like an actual channel that they might go in. But, but at least make sure you're checking out the hashtag Inbound25, you know, on all your favorite social platforms. Because I mean the, the correspondence and the amount of interviews that are going to be happening and people are going to be putting online because Chris and I and some other folks were literally. Rob, I think you might have been on there too, actually. Casey, you might have been on there too actually.

We are all inbound correspondence.

George, you might know a couple of them.

Yeah, you might know some.

The amount of correspondence and the amount of interviews that were kind of like doled out to us, you know, like for instance, I'll just give you like Kit Bodner is one of the people that I'm meeting up with to actually do like a quick interview with and like a couple other folks as well. Actually, I think it's Dylan. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Kyle. Dylan. I'm meeting up with him as well to do so just like there's gonna be a massive amount of just FOMO focused content for you to get access to. Even though you can't be there for.

Anyone who's watching, who's not an inbound consultant. Don't feel bad. I'm also not an inbound consultant.

Maybe someday, maybe I have never.

Inbound correspondent. Yeah, I just put correspondent. Yeah, hashtag is scrolling along the bottom. If you follow that on any social, I guarantee you will find a ton of valuable content. We've got like 50 or 60 inbound correspondence.

Yep.

And the other thing George mentioned, we'll be trying to stream as much as possible the morning show, late show. Most of my streams will try to come from the profoundly page just to make it easier for people to follow along.

Yep.

Yeah. Casey, you had something. Go ahead.

Yeah, I mean I've. This is my first inbound, so I would call myself the expert on following from from afar. The most qualified at how to follow from afar. And yeah, following those hashtags, there are a ton of inbound Correspondence to everyone's point. So follow the ones that speak to you if you're watching that might be one of us but just, you know, whoever's voices and point of views kind of are engaging to you and that's different for everyone. So you can always find someone who has a unique point of view or, or I guess a similar one to you and what they're doing as well. So yeah, just keep following.

We should have let Casey go first because I, I'm actually here like counting going well this will be my 14th year.

Yeah.

Never actually watched it from afar.

Of.

What I'm talking about but so okay.

I've never been so I don't really know what I'm talking about when I say this. But you can still be involved and not be there. I think that's important and I think a lot of people feel the fomo. I certainly for years have felt FOMO not being there. But there are enough people sharing content, there's enough places that you can follow along that you, you can keep up with what's coming out of Inbound even, even from your basement.

And I'm not going to push back on this. But as somebody that's probably the second most junior. Kyle, George, Chris been around Casey, you've been in the HubSpot ecosystem for probably the same if not as much time as me. I just happened to be at Inbound a couple more times. But you said find the people.

Brag about that.

Point of views.

Brag about that.

Well look, I'm definitely not bragging. Then you'll bring me to the point. You said find people whose, whose voice, tone, point of view, like their subject, whatever they're reporting on. As an amount of correspondent resonates with you, I would say pay attention to all of it because a lot of the even finding some of you George, like I had no idea from either a LinkedIn perspective or whatnot and just kind of heard from people. So you were not on my radar two or three years ago we met, hung out at afterparty. Been following you since then. But it's like speaking to a more broad and general audience. Absorb as much as you can if possible and then kind of narrow down because there, there will be a ton of new stuff. There'll be a ton of new. I used to end every video with have you seen HubSpot lately? If not, check it out. So you might just only you might be like the rest of us and be the biggest George B. Thomas and Kyle Jepsen fans in the universe and miss out on the great perspective that Chris and Casey have to share and what they're talking about. So I would. I would just add that along to what you said.

I would say too, whether you're going or not, there will be a long tail of content the weeks and weeks afterward trying to recap everything that happened. So I find when I'm at inbound, I'm not super great at keeping up with everything everybody's posting because I'm at inbound. But for weeks afterward, there's plenty to tell me all the things I missed even though I was there.

So, yeah, there, there may even. Here's the thing too, is pay attention. I'm gonna piggyback on what Kyle said. Pay attention to, like, post inbound, because you'll also probably find that there's pockets of content that you didn't know would be there. For instance, I'll let the cat out the bag. I'm recording my entire inbound session. Not at inbound, because I can't, but before I get to inbound. So, like my presentation deck, what I'm gonna say is literally going to live on the Internets. And once I'm done with inbound or do my first talk, I will release to the world, hey, if you couldn't be here and you want to see my session, here's where you go see my session. So there's other folks that might be doing stuff like that, where you can actually get like, the goods, if you will, independently from where those speakers are broadcasting them post the event.

And I've been paying attention to you on this show and so much like Dave Matthews or Grateful Dead or whatnot, according to you, what you're going to say live and what the recording is recording, there will be some differences. So I'll plug George B. Here and say watch both whenever they come out because he's mentioned that his talk can change up until he goes on to the stage. So, you know, watch both there. I'll. I'll ask this really quick. Yeah, trying to back up for those of us Kyle just said, like, it's hard for him to keep up while he's there. For other people who are here still working, it might be hard for them to absorb video content or it might not be out yet. Is there a more Cliff Notes or written or documented versions of some of the important updates that are not specifically not video content that people have to wait for? Where can they find that? Is there a place where they can find a written or a documented version of the inbound?

Goodness, this Is a thing I should know, but because I've been on leave, I don't really know. Often HubSpot will have HubSpot.com new and it'll be basically, it will go live as the keynote is happening and it'll be like a highlights reel of. Here are the features we announced here. Any, like, new frameworks we announced. Here's. Here's kind of like Cliff Notes of a lot of things. It's usually not exhaustive. It's usually like top five, but it's, it's, it's pretty instantaneous and it's a good place to start. I. Again, I don't know. I haven't heard for sure that we're doing this that year, doing that this year, but we have done it, I think every year previous. So, yeah, the promising pattern.

The other thing I'll say too is if you don't work at an agency or if you do find maybe one of your favorite agencies that is a content engine because they will write articles and launch articles. Yeah, super.

Yeah. Guaranteed. Already have them written and scheduled to publish. It's gonna be a flurry.

Already been invited to some recap shows. Yeah.

Any of HubSpot's top partners will have blog posts and social posts and videos and webinars and all kinds of stuff happening.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So here's something I want to say that I'm curious this year because we didn't have this years previously. And I'm going to test this, by the way, while I'm at Inbound. I'm going to ask Chat GPT for like, updated information around Inbound or HubSpot to see, like, what it's actually able to pull from the Internet and deliver to me in, like, these micro pieces of content. Like, imagine a nightly recap, but you're literally getting, you know, agent or deep research to please go out and look for the articles in the last 24 hours around inbound and, and deliver me like, XYZ, you know, I'm gonna try that this year because we haven't had that way of getting these, like, micro nuggets of information historically.

That's wild.

That's a great idea. So is the thought there just to do it, like, maybe tonight to start, like, get a baseline of what that initial report would look like and then do it every day until next Friday. I mean, is that kind of the.

I'll probably wait until, like, things kick off. So, like Wednesday night. Right. I'll probably have a prompt ready and try it and see what happens. If it Works. It'll be on my website, sidekickstrategy.com if it doesn't. I never had this conversation. These are not the words you're looking for.

Like, clip this, later clip this.

But if it doesn't work, I'll do every night, right? And I'll post it as a thing. Because my gbt, it already talks like me, it acts like me. And so if I can get it to do the right research and give like a, a day at Inbound, and it's like 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 words, I'll publish it. And whoever's not there, boom, there you go.

And what a great resource to have next year for a point of comparison was like, wow, chat. GTP5 was lame.

What was recently, it couldn't beam this.

Directly into my memory in my brain. Like, that's, that's so sad. Why did we think this was cool?

I recently asked Perplexity, Claude and GPT to do deep research on what HubSpot can do. And it was three very different, like, deep research answers. So if anything, like, people just, it's helpful to learn about what's available and how it's being processed. And when I saw that, it was like, oh, okay. It's not like any other humans that are around me that might give me three different answers about what HubSpot can do. But I love that idea. George, I wonder if I could ask. On that note, not that we're moving forward too far, but as advice for me, probably, because last year I think Nico and I got together on Sunday after and did like a two and a half hour stream to recap. Any thoughts on what good recap content looks like?

I mean, I will tell you that I'm already scheduled to do a recap webinar with an organization that helps solopreneurs. And what we're doing is we're just gonna pick two each of the top sessions that we go to to then recap those specific sessions. So one direction you could go is like, here's the top five. You know, maybe you have like three or four people on the show or whatever. Well, here's the top four or top five, you know, sessions we want to recap. Other than that, it. You might do like a timeline version of like, okay, so this happened and that happened, and this is what we learned in that moment. Almost like a timeline slash, behind the scenes type thing, but like post actually when the scenes were happening anyway, you know what I'm saying? But that's two things that come to mind as far as what that might look like. I mean, listen, you just pulled off like a massive value first session. Like imagine doing a recap and it's like 10 people for like 30 minutes each recapping their inbound like favorite three things. You have a day's worth of content. And like people who weren't there, probably like a metric butt ton of value that they would be getting from all those lessons Learned from like 10 humans.

I'm notoriously bad at this. That's why people follow me around and force me to do skits and videos and interview people. But the. You can't recap knowledge if you don't capture it. So as, as burdensome as it is, bring out a camera, a phone, bring out a voice recorder. Listening to the 10k pitch that we're, we're doing yesterday, Ask Elephant has some really not to directly plug them, but they're, they're great, that kind of stuff. To be able to record and capture your thoughts or what is actually happening is the only way you're going to have any kind of content to recap later. And so the creativity is how you choose maybe to present that or piece it together or what you find the most valuable from the day. But like my advice to everyone and myself is take pictures or record video or record notes or your voice audio, any of that as much as you can, because you will forget like only been three times. But there is such an explosion of information and there are so many new people that you have conversations with and connect with that that you can make it to the end of day one and, and unfortunately not remember much of what happened. I think that's just called being a human.

Can I double down on this? Can I double down on this? Okay, so one, go to your phone and download voice recorder, voice recorder. Two, sit by a speaker in every session that you go to. And I don't mean the person on the stage, I mean the thing where audio comes out to the people so that you can get a good recording. Three, record it. Because voice recorder also lets you then transcribe it, which then you can copy and paste it from voice recorder into your chat GPT. Step four, create an inbound 25 project. And for everything that you're copying, you're going to paste it into that inbound project and you're going to run the transcript and you're going to give it a prompt like, hey, please pull out all of the major things that I need to know out of this talk. Give me three action items. Give me three reflective questions. Get whatever, build the prompt. And so now every session you go to, you have a recording, a transcript and a chat, GPT or cloud project that you actually can then go back and you can ask all of the inbound project any questions that you want to ask on any of the sessions that you now have put into the project. Like here I'm going to tell you, like, last year I blew people's mind because in my session the day before, I got to hear Andy Petrie do the whole like, here's what we're launching. And I recorded it and I transcribed it in last year I sent it over to my content strategist and the next day we had an article on our website. As soon as he left the stage for the real version for everybody, there was an article there. I was just in an event last week. Last week, Thursday. Yes, last week, Thursday that I sat in this event, there was five major sessions. I got to hear people like Les Brown, Damon Johns, Mick Hunt, couple folks. But I recorded every session and I created an article for each session and I was able to send five articles to Mick, who was like the leader of this lead Loud conference. I was able to send him five articles before I even got in my car and drove home from the event. I'm telling you, voice recorder, transcribe into your AI assistant to then be able to use it later is just the way to go.

I'd like to remember this moment in history because not only did George agree with me, he doubled down and then explained in absolute step by step detail how to do that with success. So I'm on to something here in the recording. Yes. Capture content. That way you can recap it.

Yep.

Also hearing, don't try to catch them all.

No, it's possible.

Pick your favorites.

Inbound has so many different tracks and things. Like, it would be hard to even be a part of a network that heard every single talk.

Yeah.

What do you guys feel like the right mix is? And I'm guessing it's going to be. It depends. But between networking and attending sessions, that's a great question.

Don't ask me that. I feel like we could have different answers almost from everybody.

Because I thought you would say it depends.

Well, since I'm already talking like there. There is a very real mixture of trying to extract value in increments when you're there as a vendor or working a booth, it is. It's not the same. Like you do not have the liberty to go to as many sessions as you want. It's. And that can Feel weird, but it's. It is kind of work. And you're there to, you know, get leads, have demos, have conversations, showcase value, extract value from other people like that. It's a. It's a different mindset when you're going as a vendor and. And trying to contribute versus going as an attendee or somebody that's there more specifically to learn and connect than it is. So my. For me, the balance is like, if. Funny story to interrupt myself, 2022. Kyle Jepsen or Kyle Jensen or somebody was. They were like, yeah, go see this guy's session. It's great. And I got so lost trying to figure out where the heck you actually were that I missed the whole thing. Ended up. I think we ended up running into each other later at the party. But, like, have a map. Inbound app has a map on it. Use it. I'm sure that, you know, you've registered, but the Moscone center is gigantic.

But. And I will say, as a person who has never been to the Moscone center, my understanding is it's multiple buildings and we're not in all of them.

Three. And we're in two.

Yeah. So there's. There's one building of the Moscone center that inbound is not even happening in. Right. And I guarantee you I'm gonna find my way into that building at some point and wonder where everybody.

That's where I ended up in 2022. I was like. They're like, you're. Sir, you're at the Omni. And I was like, oh, crap. Well, Kyle. Kyle Jensen's not here is either. Like, Kyle Jepsen is on stage over there. Yeah, it was. It was a nightmare.

Thank you. Thank you ahead of time.

Dropped.

Thank you ahead of time to the inbound team members that are going to be stationed in front of that building.

Do not come in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes. Sacrificing yourself while we're on the shout out, I'm gonna give a very large, loud public shout out to Gabby Herrera.

For.

As an inbound correspondent, their team has done a phenomenal job of making people like me have some clue of what's happening by providing information and context, by putting a map in all of that. Like, I am scared to ask directions. It's genetic, I guess, but whatever. Like, they've taken care of so much that I can just show up and. And be there instead of having to figure things out along the way. And they've made. They've made the accessibility. I mean, I don't want to say Tenfold from what it was a year or two ago, because that seems like it wasn't already good, but it's just improved so much. So. Gabby, shout out. You deserve it. Your whole team does. Yeah, there you go.

So what you said map in there. Let's get specific, because specificity wins the day. If you haven't downloaded the app yet, the inbound app, download the inbound app because you are going to want to use those maps. The other thing I'll say is, I didn't know this, but Chad Hahn from the Hub Heroes podcast let us know that there is a tunnel that goes underneath from one to the other. So, like, if you don't want to have to cross the street, there's that. And. And I learned on a correspondent thing, or maybe it was an inbound speaker thing. I don't remember which one. I've been on both. There's a. Also, like, a sky bridge that you can go over as well. So, like, I would. I would tell you, like, maybe just spend a little bit of time, like pre. The first day, if you get there early, of just mapping it out a little bit in your brain and kind of figuring out those. Those things.

So George says if you get run over by a car, it's your own dumb fault. You should have taken the sky bridge or the tunnel.

I guess maybe those words equal that. I'm not sure.

Yeah, that is. That could happen to. To me. If anybody on this call, we're gonna get run over. Two of you at least are on state. It's gonna be me. So hopefully I don't have to call Pound law or whatever. Morgan and Morgan, while I'm in San Francisco. There was. There was something else that you talked about that's more of back to Casey's question, and I didn't let anybody else answer it. But, like, how do you balance that? Sessions versus connection versus whatever. I'm gonna let you re. Ask the question because that kind of derailed us into some other stuff. But for you, like, let's say you're. This is your first inbound, and I'm sure you've signed up for as many sessions as possible just to have things to be on, you know, on the radar. But what. What would you guys tell Casey or anybody else who's first inbound it is for balancing all that.

Yeah. So one. That's not the question that I thought you were gonna ask, which is interesting because I thought you were gonna ask, like, how should I. How should I figure out what I want to learn about as Far as like what I'm good at, what I'm not good at, and what would push me to the next level. So maybe Rob, we talk about that later in the show. But to answer your question, Casey, this. I'm going to give you a real simple thing that I do and that's I use my gut. If I'm in a moment where I feel like the value that I'm giving or the value that I'm getting from the human in the hall, I will not move and go to the session that I thought I wanted to sign up for two days, two weeks, two months previous. So there, there has to be this kind of level of be in the moment even though you're scheduling moments ahead of time. Okay. Now the other side of this is realize there also is a plethora of networking opportunities before the sessions and for sure after the sessions. As long as you're careful about how many of them their beverages you have on the after side. Because at one point it becomes networking and a couple drinks later it is no longer networking. Just know that it is something else entirely. But, but my thing to you is use your gut and don't be afraid to pivot if you feel like this, you're getting more or giving more value than where you perceive or think you might get from a session.

I think what I'm about to say is the same thing just said in another way, which is, you know, some registers, some sessions have to be registered for ahead of time. Some of them fill up. So definitely build out your schedule. Azure Plan A. Here are the sessions I hope to get to that might be a mix of learning sessions. And also there's this brain dates thing that's interesting. That's a very structured approach to networking. But I would say if as you're rushing off from one session to another, you run into somebody you only ever knew on LinkedIn before and now you're meeting them in real life or whatever. Or if you see Casey or Rob or George or me, like take the opportunity to stop and say hello. Right? Because that is not some of these sessions you're going to be able to watch on demand afterward. Having a real life in person conversation with someone is not something you're going to be able to do afterward. And as we're such a remote and diverse and global group, we've got to cherish those opportunities as they come up. So I would say schedule yourself full, have, have it all in there, but then have that just be your plan A and be open like George was saying. To serendipity, to. To whatever happens in the magic of inbound, right? And if you get caught up in a really good conversation with someone, please don't say the words, oh, I got to get to this session. Here's. Here's my card, right? Just keep talking. Keep connecting with that human. As long as, like, George said, the value is there.

The. And here's the other thing. I want to throw this out. And, Kyle, you can tell me if you feel the same way. If you do, see, if you're gonna be there and you see us in the hall, by all that is holy, will you please let's, like, come up and have a conversation. Like, do not be the. Like, oh, there's Kyle Jepsen and just keep walking. Or, oh, there's George B. Thomas. Like, don't do that. Like, get a fist bump. Get a high five. Get a hug. Whatever. Whatever is your flavor. And, like, actually have a conversation. Because, listen, I stand in these four walls of this little room in my house, you know, 360 some days a year. And when. When I'm at inbound, I want to have interactions. I want people who are watching the customer platform podcast or hub heroes or any of our videos. I want them to, like, feel like they can come up and engage at least with me. And so please be that person that's like, all right, let me go say hi. Let me have an actual. Let me have a conversation. Like, please. And.

And there will be. Like, there will be a HubSpot Academy space, right? So if you have watched videos on HubSpot Academy and one of those professors, you really like their content, let them know, because I can tell you, as someone who did that job for a long time, you record videos and you publish them, and you don't know what the impact is. You can see a chart that tells you how many views it got. But the magic at inbound of even just one person coming up and saying, hey, you did that course. I really liked it. It really helped me with my job, or whatever your story is. It just makes their whole life. And so look out for people who work in this. The HubSpot ecosystem is rich and full of people who are producing content all the time, and most of us have really no idea if we're really making a difference in anyone's life. Even those of us who do fairly interactive things can see the chat here. Hey, Lyndon. Hi. I'm excited you're gonna be there. Sorry, Distracted. Like, I. I really think that it means it's never an imposition. It always means so much when you tell a content creator that you like their content. So absolutely make space for that. Not just as you're walking around the hallways, but go to the HubSpot Academy space. Come, come find, you know, Max Cohen at the Happily Station or Rob at the Super Station or wherever these people are and let them know they've, they've. They've been a positive influence on your life or your career.

Yeah. One of my favorite all time inbound memories, by the way. And this was back when Mark Killens was still.

That's the next topic, by the way, but continue.

Yeah.

When Mark Killens was heading up the HubSpot Academy, I made it a point to go to the HubSpot Academy area. And we gathered all of the professors that were there at that moment in time just so I could tell them how impactful what they do on a daily basis is and how I've been able to become who I am and live the life that I have based on the education that they get. There were some tears and like, it was a very emotional moment, but you could just tell, like the words coming out of my mouth was making a greater impact with future fuel for the next things that they would create because it was a real human with a real story of like, hey, this, this is how you are making my life better. And I'm just here to say I appreciate you and so do that for somebody as you're walking around the halls. If there is somebody who has, you've been following them and they've made an impact in your life, just let them know because that is fuel to the future. Fire, ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah, I do.

Oh, my God.

Okay. I do the Sprocketeer Power hour every Friday too, where just like, some people get together and chat. And one thing we were kind of talking about is how inbounds this, like, opportunity for this niche network to come together. Like I was talking about, I was telling them about when Georgie, when you joined the morning show. And I'm trying to explain this to my husband why, like, I'm so excited that you're joining the morning show. And he has no idea what I'm talking about. And it's just kind of cool to, you know, have a chance to meet these people that like, I spent years following and learning from and everything like that. And other people think it's cool too.

Yep.

Yeah, I think Rob and I have talked about this before, but basically, if somebody is walking around inbound, they are giving you open permission to come and say hello. Like, there's no boundaries like that. It doesn't matter who they are. Even if you were to catch Yamini, like, walking around, I know that she would love for you to say hello. Right. And that's if, like, it's different. That's what makes this. I've never been in another place, like, where that's. You can feel like. And this is from the first year, like, because I can be pretty introverted, especially when put in these situations with a bunch of people. And what you don't want to do is have some regret because you didn't say hi. I literally walked right by Devin Bella Bean, not muster the courage to say hello because I. That's really hard for me to say hello to a complete stranger that's not expecting it.

Yeah.

Part of that is, is they are expecting it. Right. So don't even worry about that part. But then next year, when it was about to happen, when it was happening again, right before Ryan Reynolds talk, I was like, all right, not again. I'm gonna go up, say hello. He asked to do, like, a video with me so he could show it to his kids about, like, the, the good things I was saying about the impact he had. So, like, even, like, they find ways like this, this community find ways to like, just. Oh, yeah, we're all human. Like, it doesn't matter who we are everywhere else. We're going to be human in this moment.

Yeah.

And it's. It's so good.

Chris, I need you to do me a favor before you leave for inbound this year, because this will be year three, right?

Yeah.

Okay. Need you to go to the store. Maybe after this, just drive down the store, and then you get one of those clicker counters. Okay. Because I'm telling you, brother, the amount of people that you won't have to worry about saying hi to, but will be trying to say hi to you after all the content that you've been creating for the last couple years. So I want you to get a counter.

There's a, There's a free app.

Do they sell that at the store?

Not.

Not at my local grocery store, but there is a free app. Honestly, Chris, I feel you. I, I consider myself a pretty introverted person. I like Saturday after inbound every year. I, like, don't leave bed. Right. I can't. But I don't mean that to discourage anyone from coming up and saying hello to me. And I, I, I found, like, a couple of inbounds ago, I came back, and I was just so exhausted, and I was like, My, I was, my wife is like, why are you so tired? I was like, you would not believe how many people said hello to me. And she's like, well, like, how many? And I was like, I, I, I don't even know how to quantify it. Right. And so like last, last year, I did. I installed a little app on my phone. And as people said hello to me, I just tapped it and I could quantify it. I could come home and tell my wife, you wouldn't believe. Today it was this number. I don't remember what the numbers are. And like, it helped me manage it better. Inbound no longer wears me out. It is, it is a thrill to meet every person who wants to talk to me and to, to start to understand the impact I'm having and to see opportunities, how I could increase my impact. Right. So you don't have to buy a clicker counter, Chris. They're perfectly.

No, you do, Chris. We need to see clicks.

I tried to get my friend Camille last year, our live audience, to make an audiograph book for me, and I put a bunch of names in the book and was trying to get her to autograph those.

Nice.

I'll say that this is a longer story. In the interest of time, I'll shorten it and give kind of a synopsis, but this is potentially cringe and it is a hundred percent true. Inbound significantly changed my entire life. That is not a joke or an exaggeration. Eight years ago, I was a firefighter in 2020. So five years ago I was at a telecom company. 2021, I started at RP, did not even know what HubSpot was. I failed the interview twice, got on as like part time, worked my way up. I'm decently smart. So eight months after starting, I went to Inbound for the first time. Matt Bolian said, because of COVID you know, RP is an elite partner. We've never been, blah, blah. We want to make a statement because of who I am. I was like, well, I'm just gonna wear an orange suit. And I did. Yeah. And the security guard check in person said, who are you supposed to be? And just instinctively, I said, I'm the mayor of Inbound. Didn't they tell you I was coming? Boston Globe interviewed me. Vice Media did an interview. I was featured. Like, all of that stuff happened. I actually met and talked to Kyle because. So I've had some, like, incredible stuff happen through that. But 2022, 2023, 2024, I got, I was in the Partner Advisory Council sitting Right next to Yamini last year. Dharmesh came up, saw me, he was walking out, saw me, waved and came up and talked to me about some of the video content that I made. And that is from eight years ago, putting out house fires and doing EMT calls. So that can happen. The thing you need to do is like, be available, be there and, and to everybody's point, not be afraid to be yourself and say hello and like, put yourself out there in some small way. Because the crazy, crazy thing is I was supposed to like, hey, goes that Kyle Jepson guy that you called his name wrong. See if you can talk to him at our after party, right? That was like an assignment that I had. And I find myself now doing an interview or interviews, a show weekly with two of the people that I was charged with, like, finding information out about. It's mind boggling the amount of impact financially, like career wise that a silly little conference has had on mine and my family's life legitimately.

And I, I don't know what it is exactly about HubSpot that generates such a friendly ecosystem of partners and, and customers, but everyone at inbound is really nice. Like, you have. You will go through airports on your way to inbound where you will meet people who are grumpy, people who do not like their job, people who do not want to be where they are right now, right? And you will sit on airplanes where like, you are crowded and you are unhappy, and you will get to Moscone center and it will have the same number of people crowded into the same amount of space, and it will just exude warmth and joy. Everyone is so happy to be there. Everyone is so happy to see you. Everyone wants to meet you whether it's your first time or your 14th time. Like, honestly, seriously, as you're waiting in the security line, just like turn around to the person behind you and be like, hey, where you from? What brings you here? And you will make a new friend and you can boop your badges after you get them and you can talk on the Internet afterward. It'll be great.

Yeah, it's the culture. Because by the way, that's the thing that reeled me in in 2012 was like, man, these are really helpful, like humans and they're cool and like. And that ecosystem has amazingly been able to stay very close to kind of the original ecosystem, even with the massive amount of growth that it's had. And there's just, there's just something about that dang orange Kool Aid or that dog that people Keep eating. It's. It's crazy.

There are. And this isn't not intended to be diminishing at all. More of, like, an uplifting, communal thing. So hopefully it's taken that way. But there's only one George B. Thomas, but there are hundreds of George B. Thomas, like, people. There's one Kyle Jepsen, but there are hundreds of. George said in a hallway, he makes decisions based on, like, what kind of value is being given and taken in that moment. I've experienced that from people on this call, and I've experienced it from dozens of other people the same way where I know they have to go to a session and I mean to be like, all right, I know you got to go. And they still want to have conversations and talk and figure out ways in which they can help me. So although there is only one, the one and only George B. Thomas, there are tons of people with the same mindset of they would seek first to help and give value rather than to be on a schedule or extract value. And it's very selfless in that way. And so the only. The only thing left to do is, like, action cures cowardice. So if you're. I'm also very introverted in which you would not think about some of. If you've seen any of the content. I do.

Yeah.

But I have very much of the same Kyle effect of I'm destroyed after inbound. I. That period. Next sentence. I. I love going up to new people and meeting them. People have now crazily started coming up. Hey, I saw this video. Hey, I did this. Hey, you're. Because of the affiliation with A, B, and C, people, we want to talk. Like, there's also not to cheapen it, but there's, like, financial value that can come from just, like, going and talking to people at all. So this is less of a HubSpot, more of like a. A communal and. And behavioral psychology or social type of advice piece. But you. You never get to have those opportunities or make those connections if you don't, like, wave or shake a hand or go put yourself in front of those people.

Yeah.

Except if you try to give Chris Carolyn a hug when he hasn't really met you in real life and he's in the middle of a conversation with somebody else. That was a mistake on my part.

Oopsie.

That was a good memory.

I think.

Chris. Yeah.

All I remember is I almost did the same thing to you that I did to Devin the first time where I, like, walked by you. And then I was like, now Let me go. And I'm like, rob. Hey, man. Good to see you. Sorry we didn't talk. We're doing content starting next week. Cool. All right. Cool.

And legitimately, we've been doing it since the beginning of this year. There's an accountability part that happened. I know. We have nine minutes and a hard stop, so some final thoughts we. I just shared my kind of inbound journey and the way that it's. Whether it's LinkedIn cringe or not, it's legitimately. I can prove in several different ways how it's changed my life. George shared. Chris, Kyle, even Casey. As, like, I would hope you answer.

What would you.

What would you hope your inbound memory is from this year? Or what would you like hearing the other four? I'll let you go last. Like, does this help equip you in any way to make that, like, first substantial inbound memory? Chris, what about you? What's a cool moment or a favorite inbound memory that you've got?

I mean, it was so cool last year just having people walk up to me, like, saying that they've seen my content. Right. There's nothing like it. And that's what I was gonna give Casey the advice. Same question I asked George. I was like, dude, what do I do when people that I've never met before, like, act like they know me? And it. It was like, that's why I've kept going.

That's.

It's like, you can get buried in the metrics, and what am I supposed to be doing each day? But then when you hear that in person, like, there's nothing. There's nothing like it. And I would anticipate, like, and guarantee for Casey that that is about to happen to her.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

If you're watching this, I'm so awkward. I'm so sorry.

Right.

I'll give you some advice to gave you, Chris. Get real good at glancing at name tags and looking back up real quick. And all you got to do is grab the first name. Just call him Bob, Call him Susie.

Can I. You know, this is not an inbound story, but this has really had a big impact on me. I don't know how many of you on here or people watching know Clayton Christensen, you know, the innovator's dilemma, theory of disruption guy. He's a longtime Boston person. I. I go to church with his son, so I. I knew him personally before he passed away, and the first time I met him, I was, like, awestruck, because here is, like, the most important business thinker in the world legitimately. And he's like 6 foot 9 or 6 foot 10. He's like this giant of a man. And I walk up to him, I'm just like, hi. You know? And clearly, of course, naturally, he's experienced that a million times before. And he knows why I'm coming up to say hello, right? He's like, ah, here's another person who. Who is intimidated by me and just wants to say hello because his first words to me were, hi, my name's Clayton. Right? And, like, that has always stuck with me. And so, yeah, I mean, we're all wearing name badges, and by all means, get good at glancing at them if you can do that without looking like a weirdo. But, like, it is okay to introduce yourself. It is okay to not know who someone is. I am perpetually lousy at recognizing people in real life that I know very well on LinkedIn because their profile picture is only, like, this big, right? And my brain filled in those gaps absolutely incorrectly. And they'll be like, I'm so and so. I'll be like, no, so and so looks much more like Mickey Mouse, actually. And so, like, I think it is okay to start from a very basic level. Even with people you've known for a long time or you're meeting someone for the first time, just get really good at saying, hi, my name is, and say your name really clearly and they will reciprocate.

I was laughing at that. George, too. But I also thought how incredibly funny it would be if Chris shaved the beard.

And no, nobody would have any idea, right?

Nobody would have a clue.

That was the first trick I understood because I've always been bad at going up if I don't know you. As soon as the beard started happening, that was the icebreaker that I had been missing. Somebody will always talk about the beard. So the people that show up in, you know that they've got the. The fairy wings on, like Sarah, like, you do you in whichever way you want.

Maybe it's a suit.

Oftentimes that's enough to like, to start the conversations.

Yep.

Yeah. I would just say as long as it's genuine and genuinely. I did not want to talk about HubSpot because to def. Really to distract from the fact that everybody there was smarter and knew more about it than I did. So I was like, what am I going to do? I'm gonna wear a suit and make the conversation about that. And, man, did it work in kind of reverse. Kyle, shout out to you specifically, because I think it was after 2023, when I got your phone number and we called and chatted and you gave me some really, really good advice. I don't know how well I've followed it, but it has stuck with me and been impactful. I'll leave what you said to me, but again, this is somebody that I was like, watching videos of how to use the product in trainings and onboarding for a year and two years later, maybe, maybe less than that. I'm talking to a phone, on the phone to this guy who I respect, who's one of the best human beings, like, genuinely kind. Also had the same vibe of. Feel kind of awkward here, talk, you know, like doing this and giving me like personal brand and like positioning advice and sharing some of his, you know, how that had impacted him. So it's not all going to happen next week, but if it's your first time going or if it's your second time or if you want to get more out of it, like put, put a little more effort into it and, and that might just be showing up and saying hello to one or two more people than you normally would or, you know, making it, making a little bit, you know, 1% more effort than you normally would. And the results, as somebody that has experienced them and can testify to them, have been pretty, pretty insane even for. I would consider myself kind of an outsider in a way. Not now, but, you know, looking at the journey of the three inbounds and then this one, it's definitely been. Been transformative. George, what do you have?

The word that comes to mind is persistence. Like, you just have to get in the vehicle of being able to be real, consistent with the things that you're providing to the world. And then all of a sudden it starts to shape into some of the stories that we've heard that we've talked about today.

Yeah. Yeah. You're up.

I mean, I'm, I'm looking forward to meeting like, you guys.

I'm.

I have all these Internet. I mean, that's like, truly, I, I have all these Internet friends that I've never met. They're all floating heads in my mind. But yeah, I am truly, like, just really excited to like, meet my friends. That's it.

That's a great place to start. I mean, legitimately is. That's kind of how it started for me and Chris and George and Kyle kind of referenced. This is like they knew only of the profile pic or the avatar. But I can promise you, if that's all, you know, that's not enough. Like there's so much more to everybody on this call that I've gotten to know with this show and with other stuff and by following you around and meeting in person and. And it's all. I would. I would go as far as to say it's almost a disservice not to make an effort and to find out a little bit more than just what the avatar is or what they post about. Like, that's not a representation, truly, of who the people are. And 99 times out of 100 I've experienced, it's worth it. There's a lot more to. To those connections than just a. As Kyle said, a tiny little pig that my brain has filled the rest of in incorrectly.

Yeah, it's funny. I know we got to close this out, but I want to double down against, you know, real mayor of inbound, Rob, something that you're talking about here. If you think that you get value out of my videos, wait till we sit down at a table together and I have context to who you are as a human.

I don't know if there's anything else we can or should say after that. Thank you, George, Kyle. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Casey. Get ready for your first inbound, and we will see you in San Francisco in three days. Bring on inbound 25, guys. Hello, you've reached the HubSpot helpline.

Helpline, Helpline.

It's Rob, it's George, it's Casey and Kyle. Come with a problem and leave with a smile. Every Friday at 3. Come and join us as we help you with HubSpot. Open up your link in. Just make sure you call in and leave a voicemail about HubSpot. Make your Friday divine with the HubSpot helpline.