Road to INBOUND 2025 with Chris Carolan #inbound25

SA foreign.

LinkedIn friends, HubSpot Nation. Time for another episode of let's build the road to inbound 2025. And I'm willing to bet this is probably going to be the highest energy episode that we end up having on the show because we get to hang out with the goat.

George, knock it off. Knock it off. Just a guy who happened to fall in love with HubSpot in 2012. I don't think there's any goats, horses, or cows related to the story, but I'm. I'm doing fine, Chris, thanks. Thanks, by the way, for like subtly telling me that I need to bring the energy to this interview.

Oh, see, there's no doubt. I don't even need. That's the thing. I don't even need to tell you. It's just gonna. It's gonna happen even if it's not there right now. But I'm sure we could dig somewhere in your background and find some. Some farm animals.

Oh, without a doubt, without a doubt.

But yeah, so let's waste no time because you've been doing this for a bit, showing up to Inbound every year for a while, with which I think is a big part of the story. But yeah, tell us about that. That moment of. Of love at first sight.

Yeah. So it was 2012. So what is this? 2025? So 13 years I've attended inbound and what, for the last nine have spoken at Inbound, but love at first sight. It was 2012. We had one tickets because we were part of this world's largest webinar where Mark Killens, Chris Ledolce, Sarah Bedrick, like Old School OGs of HubSpot Academy were doing this webinar thing back when X was Twitter and you could do tweeting. It was like the amount of XYZ tweeters and 5% of that will get free tickets. Long story short, we won tickets. Zach Basner and I from Wild Boy Design back in those days, headed to Boston, sat down in this big room, and all of a sudden I heard Thunderstruck, I believe was so ACDC song. And there was a helicopter on the screen. And there was these two guys that came out of the helicopter with orange jumpsuits. And then all sudden they actually showed up on stage. And of course, that's Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shaw. And they started talking about marketing and how like marketing and dentists were maybe the most hated types of humans on the planet, but how the world was changing. And I'll never forget Dharmesh talking about Franken Systems. And this was back in a day when I was working on WordPress websites and trying to cobble things together and, and they started talking about a better way, a human way. And as soon as I heard that human way, I was like, I need some HubSpot in my life. And so we came back, we got HubSpot for our agency. I started using it, started doing their webinars before there were certifications. And then one certification became 2, 3, 6. And over the years I think, Chris, I've had an all time high of like 42 HubSpot certifications. But it was the second love at second site was the ability to self educate and understand that there was no ceiling to what I could learn and where I could go with the software and the academy that was HubSpot and HubSpot Academy.

I mean it's hard to, hard to resist that, that message, oh, we're going to be humans, we can just be humans. And that's okay. Yeah, awesome. We must be in the right place. So for those of us my first inbound was 23. Tell us about the room, what that looked like in 2012 and how it's changed since then.

Well, 2012, it wasn't at the BCEC. It was back at their old location, which I don't even remember the name of that location, but it was at their old location. And I think there was a mega total of like 2500 of us in the room, which, which by the way, if you think now, you know, it's like 10,000, 16,000, 20,000, like, who knows how many will be there this year. But it was like this small group of 2500 people. There were like two levels to the auditorium we were in. And I'll never forget, it felt intimate. It felt like a movement, like something was happening and we had to be part of it. And I'll never forget sitting in there and I think this was literally part of like what has turned me into who I am other than, you know, God's great design of us winning tickets and being there anyway, is that I was sitting in the top level and I was listening for the first time ever in my life. Gary V or Gary Vaynerchuk speak at inbound 2012. And I could have swore you that he pointed up to me in the seat that I was sitting and, and he said these things and I was like, man, I want to do that. I want to do that right there. Like, I want to get on the stage, I want to teach people. Like, I wanna, I Wanna impact, I want to influence. And so it's just this, like, divine, you know, moment in time where it just felt like this was the right thing that should be happening for the, the space of marketing at that point. This is like before sales and services, like, it was just like a marketing movement of this, you know, ragtag group of 2500 humans who are ready to take on the world and do some spectacular things when they got back home.

So. So thinking about last year, let's start there because we know this year is going to be different in San Francisco. Yeah, we're all anxious to see how. But last year I think they mentioned 15,000 in the BCEC.

Yep.

And the time of. How have you seen it? How do you think? Let's, let's frame it like this. How have they been able to keep that vibe while going from 2500 to 15,000? And what have you seen kind of change to support that?

Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I think that I would be lying if I said it hasn't changed because it has changed a little bit. Like it can't feel as intimate as it did. But does it still feel intimate? Yes. And I think some of the things that I've watched them do is just the design of spaces. And what I mean is spaces around the entire bcec. Sure, you walk down into the main area and you've got these like, collection spaces and you've got the vendors and you've got like the VIP places and all of that. But even when you're walking around the bcec, there's places that you can sit around as a group and you can do things right. Even to the way that they lay out, like, the things that are possible. If you go to last year's agenda or this year's agenda, it's not just like a lot of events. It'll be like, and here's another speaker on a stage, and here's another speaker on a stage, and here's another speaker on, like, they do things a little bit different where it might be like this group thing or. Well, that's even another thing. Like, you know, Christians at Inbound, Black and Inbound, like all of the, like things. You know, of course they changed the name, I think over the last two years, but I, I still remember when it was like Devin, you know, previous co host of the Hub Heroes podcast, were. He was like the precipice of like that even being started. So it's almost like when you think about a mega church and they have, like, small groups. So inbound has kind of taken that mentality of like, hey, we've become this mega church of inbound marketing, sales, service operations, cms, content, commerce. Like, so let's have these like subgroups that you can meet. So a lot of design and layout, a lot of creating groups and it still does feel like it's the right place in the right thing. I think a lot of that comes down to probably the most important things are mindset and message. Like they're very cognizant of who's getting on stage and what they're going to be teaching for the way that I feel like they would want humans to act or interact once they get back home.

Yeah, I love that. And even as they, they're constantly changing, but always with the core of like, people need to go and, and say to themselves, which I've heard so many times, like, I'm supposed to be here. This is the right place. I've found my people all the different ways that we've heard. And these little micro events, even the difference between 2023 and 2024, where you start to see like the community space, it's like many events inside of the big event. So whether you want to go to the main stage or you want to go to a specific meetup, brain dates down to the level of one on one, like setups. Right. And everything in between, it's been awesome to see. So I'm curious, since you've been doing it that long and you've been a speaker so many times, we'll get into your. What you're going to be talking about in a little bit.

Yep.

What are you maybe like expecting to see? Because so much of them, so much of that design, like the lawn on D. Right. There's like the whole space outside of the venue that they work with as well. Like the big front entrance. We're in a different place now.

Yeah.

What, what are you looking forward to? About. About it being in San Francisco.

That's an interesting way to position that question. Because I don't know if I'm looking forward to anything because I have no idea what to look forward to. Like, if you were asking me that question, it was in Boston. I'd tell you I'm looking forward to the escalator ride down into the pit for the first time because I get to see everything from a distance. I tell you that I'm excited to walk into like, you know, 221B because it's like the place, whatever, whatever. And, and I am also the type of human That I kind of try not to have expectations. I'm a very firm believer in the serendipity of it all. And so I'm, I, I would say that maybe I'm coming to inbound 2025, less expecting and more anticipating. What, what will it be? What is possible? What can they create with it being in this new space? Because by the way, I've never seen this space ever. So it'll be like new hotel, new conference center, new designs, new layouts. And, and so the thing that's very interesting to me around this question, Chris, is actually it'll be a educational moment in a moment where I'm actually trying to educate humans because I'm just trying to get the lay of the land and trying to intake. Everything's brand new. You know, after so many years, some of the stuff I could just kind of like put blinders on and been like, yep, seen that, been there, done that. Okay. Boom. Not this year. This year it's gonna have to be like eyes wide open and like really paying attention to like everything that's going on because it's just so brand spanking new.

Yeah. I think what comes to mind is our kind of the message we started the day with on the AI show. Like even you who've been doing it for a while, there's so much that you used to be able to plan for and now you can't plan for any of it. So I think that mindset of being prepared for the unexpected, knowing that it's lucky that we get to hang on to the fact that this team, the inbound team, has been able to do this year after year while not losing that core experience we've been talking about. So that's Count on that.

Yeah.

It might be a completely different space. It is going to be a completely different space. It's going to be completely different spaces within those spaces.

Yeah.

But everybody is on the same level as far as there are no paths like, well, trodden. Everybody's going to be figuring this out together.

Yeah.

So maybe help folks, before we get into your, your talk, like, how do you, what are you choosing? What can you choose to control versus create space for the serendipity?

Yeah. Well, so the only thing I can control right now is making sure I'm creating the best, you know, 90 minute presentation slash human experience possible. That's the only thing that I can control. I can also control that I can start to invite the guests that we'll have on for the late night show because we're doing the late night show again, I can make sure that I'm prepared for the customer platform show. Like, like, so there's things that I'm speaking at or doing at Inbound so I, I can control my calendar. Like, how much more can I add to it and when do I just need to cut it off? Because I need to go to some sessions and learn some stuff or sit in, you know, I guess a hallway. They'll still have hallways. I expect that. Sit in a hallway and have those magic moments that I've had year after year. I want to go back to your expectations, by the way, because one thing I will expect and I know what will happen is there'll be transformative moments for me, for others. Like I, without a doubt, I know no matter where we're at on the planet that that'll be happening. So yeah, I, like, I'm just trying to control the little bits and pieces, the, the, you know, the beeps, the bops, the boops of how I'm gonna be involved. And then the rest is just gonna be like, whatever comes. I know there's a couple people, clients and non clients, that want to have beverages. I'll try to fit that in. I can kind of control that. But other than that, dude, to be honest with you, it's like pack a bag, catch a flight and hold on for like three or four days and just do the best you can. Which, by the way, could be how we're also living life, but it's definitely how I'm gonna do the inbound 2025 event this year.

Yes, indeed. And I'm so happy you mentioned the shows that we get to do. This is the part that, you know, the team is always working on ways to show appreciation to the community. And as correspondents, we got some special opportunities to really just be intentional about all the, all the value that all these community champions have been adding to the ecosystem on LinkedIn, on Reddit and the community. Like, giving us an opportunity to really do that while we're at Inbound is so exciting. But even there, we don't know what it's going to look like. So all we can do is show up. Like, we can control how we show up, like on the day of. So if, if, whether this is new for you or you've been going to Inbound forever, like try to focus on that piece, the more you set expectations on what's going to be happening and when, like just kind of take it in and if you allow for that, the serendipity will happen. It happens every single. Every single time. And I don't know about the hallways, man. I've seen some warehouse situations where they just kind of set up and. Yeah, who knows? Over. Over in Cali, they do things differently. We never sometimes, but. Yeah. So what is this talk number 11?

Well, I think it's talk number nine or 10.

Okay, let's see.

2015 or 2016. 2016. I think if I'm being safe was the first year I talked. So what, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 21 to 2, to 3, 24. Talk number nine. I guess we'll go with.

See how I did that. Yes. Nine times. Well, you did it by being human. Yeah, Just saying it out loud. Live show. But that's really, I think, at the core of your. Of your talk that you're. You're coming with this year. So a guy that loves AI more than most people I know right now. Yeah, let's start there. You chose to talk about humans.

Yeah, I've been talking about humans for years, by the way. I mean, if you go back to the days when I worked at the sales line with Marcus Sheridan, I would end my videos with don't forget to be a happy, helpful, humble human and do some happy hub spotting along the way. If you pay attention to the fact that I did the beyond, your default podcast, it was all about being human and, like, creating yourself to be the best human you can be. Because for years and years, I had been teaching people about HubSpot, you know, best practices, the tool, and I came to this realization of, like, the best way you get great HubSpot users is to have great humans. Which, by the way, ties back into 2012. Like, it's all about the humans. And. And for me, that's been something that I've picked up and I've run from, you know, for is like, it's all about the humans. If you go to George B. Thomas, it's literally my tagline is catalysts for growth. Growth of humans. Like, that's what I'm talking about when. When you see that. And. And so this year, I did something different, by the way. Usually historically, when I submitted for inbound, I would give them three different talks, and I would let them pick the talk that they felt I would do. Which, by the way, here's something that's interesting, is how many speakers have done multiple inbound talks, but it's been the same talk, just a little bit different from the year before. Each year I've done a completely different talk. Okay. And so this year, I was like, you know what? No, I've brought out the Superhuman Framework because of the beyond your default podcast. I had talked to you on a whole like Superhuman Framework for hr. I've been talking about Superhuman Framework for Marketing, Superhuman Framework for just Personal Growth. So like I'm just a firm believer in the four cornerstones and, and the H pillars of Superhuman Framework. And so this year I, I submitted one talk and the talk that I submitted was Superhuman Centric marketing that converts. Because I feel like in a world that is riddled with AI and I don't mean that in a negative way, although it probably comes across as a negative connotation. I love AI. I use AI Plethora. Right. I use it as an assistant. It's never powered. It's human powered, AI assisted. But I wanted to have a conversation of like this journey that we've been on because by the way, I've been a participant of what I'm going to talk about in the very intro where I'm going to talk about Mad Men marketing to inbound marketing, to where I feel that we are now or will be in the very near future because of this AI world we live in. And that is the need for Superhuman Centric marketing. Doing it a little bit different in a different way because things have changed. Well, just things have changed. So that's, that's why it's not, it doesn't have AI in the title. We will talk about AI along the way here and there. Heck, I might even share some prompts that people could use in conjunction with the Superhuman Framework. But it really is getting back to the, the humanness of it all. And again, the four cornerstones, 10H pillars, some content strategy, things like that.

Yeah, well played because one, they, they made it very clear that they have been inundated with submissions in recent years. So everybody had a maxim. 2.

Yep.

And also like I don't know how you submit an AI talk back in February knowing that it's going to be relevant in September.

Yeah.

So sticking to first principles and human stuff like we knew that wasn't going anywhere so.

Well, it's funny too because you're kind of alluding to something that I don't know how you do almost any talk where right now and it be. But that being said, one of the reasons that I picked a 90 minute talk is because I historically know that I get to use my own computer, which means I can be updating my presentation until the moment that I step on stage. Now the inbound team is probably freaking out right now that I would say that, and I know that's not what we're supposed to do, but in the understanding of how fast paced the world is moving, if I know that I'm picking a session where I can use my machine, I can tweak and iterate and add. Because I might, I might have a conversation a day before and somebody says something, I'm like, ooh, I need to talk about that tomorrow. Right. Or I might do something like I did last year, where I literally created a piece of content in under 24 hours based on the product release piece. And I knew that that needed to be the case study or story inside my presentation. Well, because I had my machine and could, I could add it in like last minute. And so understanding some of that is kind of nice. As a seasoned inbound speaker.

Yeah. Like really going above and beyond to, to make it the most relevant.

Yeah.

Like talk possible. Because relevancy and very close to timeliness, which is very, like, people assign value to that in a big way, as they should when the world is moving at speed, at the speed that it is right now. So how about as we, as we wrap up, how about a message to the other correspondence that may be newer to the content game? They're going to be at an event. What are the kinds of things? Let's say you're there, so you're there. You're not going to be able to see everything. You've got stuff going on. What do you hope to see, you know, from the rest of the crew to help you stay informed of what? Everything that's going on at Inbound.

I mean, I think there's a couple things. One, if you see something or you're being part of something that inspires you or educates you, share it. Like, just share it. And by the way, I literally was just on another interview, Women of HubSpot interview with Danielle Urban, and she was talking about how sometimes she battles with, like, putting things out on LinkedIn or saying things, because all of our friends are in this circle and of course they know what we know and see what we see. Just remember that your circle isn't the people that need you. And so when you get inspired or you get educated, like create that content and put it out there, because somewhere there's somebody that doesn't know anything about inbound. Somewhere there's somebody that doesn't know anything about HubSpot. And you may be their Gary Vaynerchuk moment. You may be the world's largest webinar moment for them. Right. And so I say that because if it inspires you and educates you, what I'm hoping it is not is noise and nonsense. Please do not go to Inbound and create noise and nonsense on the Internet. That disrupts people who are actually looking for inspiration and education.

No, that's the best advice. Don't overthink it.

Yeah.

Like feel it. And I'll choose not to. Word. Use the other word that you don't like right now. Related to feeling. Feeling it. Yeah.

No, don't use the V word.

I'll wait until our call in show later today to bring that back up. There you go. But that's what this is about and that's what Inbound's about. That's why we're doing correspondence. It's really to just help get the message out. Right. Because even if it's up to 15,000 again.

Yeah.

The customer base is over 250,000 now. There's so many people who aren't going to be there. And don't overthink it. Like, oh, I'm sure this is super obvious. Some. Everybody else is sharing it too. When you can just in the moment share those experiences, like it automatically has a take and you don't overthink it. And it's. If it's you sharing your actual experience, there's always a space for that.

Yeah.

And you only need to hit one other human being, you know, for that to be value.

So there's. There's two things I want to jump in and say here real quick, Chris. I know that we're. We're already reaching time, which time flies when you're having fun. Here's a couple mindsets that I. I always try to remind myself of. One, I don't care if 50 people actually share the same thing as me. They have not shared it from my perspective. And your perspective is important. And your perspective is the differentiator of your content to anybody else's content. Okay. So who cares if. If it impacts your gut, your heart, your soul. Share it, create it, do it. The other thing I want to lean on is it only needs to be one person. And there's this game I play in my head where I'll say, imagine being the one person that brought Billy Graham to Christ. Imagine being that one person. Right. And so you never know your perspective and your content put out into the world the one person that you will actually create. Like, did, did, did, did HubSpot Academy know they were creating George B. Thomas? No. Did they? Without a doubt. With the world's largest webinar in 2012.

That's it, folks. Just show up, bring value, and even if you're not there with us, we'll be making as easy as we can to enjoy the experience alongside us. George, thanks so much for helping us build the road to inbound today.

Love it. Thanks for having me, Chris.

We'll see everybody next time. Have a great weekend.