Welcome to Swoogo's Unconventional IRL, 2023. For those who don't know me, I'm Jihan, Partnership Manager here at Swoogo.

This is the first time that we're back in-person with our customers since 2019, where legend has it, the 2019 conference took place in a church.

This year, we're in a speakeasy.

I'd say we've had a rough few years.

And later on, we'll talk about navigating the industry post- those rough COVID years.

Since it's been so long, and it's the morning time, let's get the energy and the blood flowing. I'd like everybody to do me a favor and stand up, please.

Thank you.

And now I would like you to sit if this is your first year using Swoogo.

Alright. Let's have a round of applause.

Thank you all for coming on your first year. How about two years using Swoogo?

Alright?

Three, three years on Swoogo.

How about four?

Four years using Swoogo. Alright, now we're getting into our real OGs. Five years on Swoogo.

Six. Wow.

Seven. And eight.

Wait.

That is amazing.

We have the best customers in the biz. And we are so grateful that you've taken the time out to travel here to Portland, to leave your friends, family, and be here with your people.

A sense of community is so important in this industry. For example, by a show of hands, how many of your partners, spouses, family, and friends know what it is that you actually do?

I work ... my mom still asks what an agency is, and I worked for an agency for fourteen years. Just like, what, what ,wait. What do they do again?

So you might be wondering why we took it back to the elementary school days and put you in assigned seats.

For so many years, we heard you ask, "Well, how are other Swoogo users doing it? What do they do? What are the best practices?" So we've purposely connected you with others who can benefit from your story.

And later, we'll have some customers take the stage for a good, old-fashioned show and tell.

I've always said you gotta keep it weird, Portland joke, to be in the events industry. Right? To see an idea go from concept to creation is unlike a high I've never experienced before.

Although we are in Portland, so that could change to this week.

The countless hours, the travel, the endless asks to make the impossible possible yet you do it every day, and you're always looking for ways to do it better, which is why you're here.

So we want you to be ready for a day jam-packed with thought leadership, knowledge sharing, food, and an overall sense of belonging.

Please speak with each other, make new friends, ask our experts who are in the back. Speak with our partners, ATS, who provided our on-site registration. I know you all saw that, through put. Right? That was so fast Nike wanted to sponsor them. That's another Portland joke.

Thank you to our partner BW Events, who made all of our Figma dreams come true with our amazing registration and website. And SpotMe is here as well to talk about all things mobile app.

Without further ado, I'd like to pass it to the coolest CEO on the block. Chris Sykes.