Accelevents Tom Ferry case study I In-Person event

Tom Ferry is a real estate business coaching firm and member organization that empowers over 5,000 real estate professionals to be the best sellers they can be. Since 2003, they’ve hosted a mix of private and public events to share best practices and educate their members on emerging trends in real estate. 

We sat down with Kristen Rolapp-Hampton, Director of Events, and Danica Jenners, Senior Events Manager, to discuss why they chose to partner with Accelevents and how our partnership has grown over the past five years. 

Tom Ferry Challenges: 

• Transitioning from in-person to virtual events during the pandemic
• Juggling multiple tools for different pieces of event management 
• Registration complexities for various member types and guests
• On-site badge printing at scale without wifi  
• Importing and exporting data from system to system

How Accelevents Helped Tom Ferry Achieve Their Goals 

Their annual in-person Success Summit generates 5,500 in-person and 3,500 virtual attendees. They host over 45 events per year with a mix of virtual and in-person formats. Since partnering with Accelevents in 2020, they have completely transformed how they build, manage, and host events. 

Tom Ferry Use Cases:

• Mobile App
• Sponsorship promotion
• Salesforce integration
• In-app notifications
• Badging and mobile kiosk
• Admin app for monitoring event and session check-ins

“The thing we love about Accelevents is that the partnership is so solid.” 

Kristen Rolapp-Hampton, Director of Events

When our partnership began during the pandemic, their team knew they needed to pivot to virtual events, but they had no idea where to start. They were aware of solutions like Zoom, but believed there had to be better alternatives available for the types of events they host. As they evaluated solutions, they realized Accelevents checked all the boxes they needed, given the complex integrations with their existing systems.

Navigating Challenges During Uncertainty 

The shift to virtual events proved to be a major success for Tom Ferry. They were able to transition their in-person events to a virtual format through our partnership before eventually shifting back to in-person & hybrid events.  As Kristen & Dancia’s events shift, Accelevents was equally flexible and innovative, keeping the Tom Ferry team at the forefront of event technology. 

As our partnership grew, Kristen and Danica were able to consolidate their event tech stack. One notable consolidation was the migration from Boomset to Accelevents for event badge printing. This migration allowed for real-time check-in data to instantly flow back to Salesforce, keeping their sales team informed of attendee activity. In addition to using the native Salesforce integration offered by Accelevents, the Tom Ferry Digital team also expanded the integration with additional Salesforce objects for member tracking using the Accelevents API. The depth and flexibility of Accelevents removed manual processes for the Tom Ferry team and their paying members. Ultimately, allowing the team to create better experiences and attendees to focus on the event, not battling tech. 

“Between the partnership and support you get, you can’t go wrong with Accelevents. Any time we need anything, you guys are right there.” 

Kristen Rolapp-Hampton, Director of Events

Key Outcomes for Tom Ferry 

1. Time Savings and Productivity 

• By consolidating their event tech stack, Kristen and Danica were able to reduce the number of redundant tasks between systems. This gave them time back in their day so they could focus their energy on what matters most: adding value to their members and sponsors. 

2. Accurate, Timely Data and Reporting 

• Gone are the days of exporting and importing data from system to system. Tom Ferry is now in a position where they utilize automated workflows with Salesforce to synchronize member registration, attendance data, engagement data, and more in real-time. 

3. Hosting Events at Scale 

• Since partnering with Accelevents, Tom Ferry has been able to scale the number of annual events hosted from 12-15 to 35-40 per year with a mix of in-person and hybrid. They have also scaled up their largest annual event, the Success Summit, which generates over 9,400 registrations.