Marketing conferences have long competed on scale: bigger expo halls, bigger stages, and bigger attendance numbers.

But according to Christian Muche, founder of POSSIBLE and co-founder of DMEXCO, that model is changing quickly.

In a conversation with NextBigWin, Muche shared how he believes agencies should approach conferences as a business development channel, and why the most valuable resource events compete for today isn’t budget, but time.

“The most valuable thing is asking for people’s time, not their budget,” Muche says.

As companies become more selective about how they spend both time and money, conferences are increasingly expected to deliver something far more tangible than exposure or networking — they must help drive real business outcomes.

From Trade Shows to Curated Experiences

Marketing conferences didn’t always look the way they do today.

In the early days of the digital marketing industry, events were largely large-scale trade shows built around exhibitor floors and massive attendance. Companies built booths, scanned badges, and hoped to capture leads from thousands of attendees walking the expo floor.

Muche experienced that model firsthand while building DMEXCO.

“When we launched DMEXCO, it was designed as a trade show… a mass event, 60,000 people at the peak time,” he says.

But attendees’ expectations have changed significantly.

Executives today expect events to deliver more curated experiences, targeted conversations, and a better return on the time they invest in attending them.

“Today the expectations are far higher,” Muche says.

Instead of simply gathering thousands of people in a convention center, modern events increasingly focus on smaller sessions, curated meetings, and more structured opportunities for interaction.

The Three Jobs Conferences Serve Today

For agencies and brands, conferences now serve three distinct purposes.

First, they provide content and inspiration through speakers, panels, and industry insights.

Second, they create opportunities for networking and relationship building.

And third, increasingly, they generate business opportunities.

“Content and inspiration… networking… and the third part is business opportunities,” Muche says.

That third category is becoming more important as companies scrutinize the return on their event investments.

As companies become more selective about where they spend their time and budgets, events are increasingly expected to generate tangible outcomes, from partnerships and collaborations to new business opportunities.

Designing Conferences Around Business Opportunities

That shift toward business outcomes influenced how Muche designed POSSIBLE.

Launched in Miami in 2023, the conference was designed to combine inspiration, networking, and structured business interactions in one environment.

Rather than simply hosting keynote sessions, Muche wanted POSSIBLE to actively facilitate business connections between brands, agencies, and technology partners.

One of the ways the event does that is through curated meeting programs designed to connect agencies, vendors, and brand marketers.

“We organize up to 3,000 meetings in this space on the beach over three days,” Muche says.

These types of structured meetings are becoming increasingly common across the events industry as organizers try to deliver measurable value to attendees rather than simply providing networking opportunities.

For agencies, that shift turns conferences from marketing moments into potential business development engines.

Why Showing Up Isn’t Enough

Despite the growing focus on outcomes, many companies still approach conferences the wrong way.

One of the most common mistakes Muche sees is companies showing up without a clear strategy for how they’ll use the event.

“You cannot just show up and say I’m looking forward to letting people stop by,” he says.

Instead, the companies that generate the most value from conferences treat them like structured business development opportunities.

“As soon as the door opens, you have to set up your meetings,” Muche says.

That preparation often begins weeks or months before the event. Successful companies schedule meetings in advance, plan client gatherings, and coordinate internal teams so they can capture insights from sessions while others focus on networking or meetings.

For agencies, that preparation can be the difference between leaving an event with a few new business conversations or leaving with nothing more than a stack of business cards.

Why Agencies Need to Be Where Their Clients Are

For agencies specifically, conferences often serve to strengthen relationships with existing clients while also meeting potential new clients.

Muche points out that events like POSSIBLE attract a significant number of brand-side marketing leaders.

“Agencies have to follow where the clients are,” he says.

With roughly a third of attendees representing brand marketers, conferences can offer agencies direct access to the people responsible for major marketing decisions.

That proximity can make events one of the most efficient ways for agencies to stay connected to their clients while also building new relationships.

What Smaller Agencies Should Do

Not every agency has the budget to sponsor an event or create large activations.

But that doesn’t mean smaller firms can’t benefit from attending conferences.

“At least show up and bring your team,” Muche says.

However, simply attending is often not sufficient.

“It’s not enough to come with five people and wait to run into people in the hallway,” he says.

Instead, smaller agencies should focus on scheduling meetings in advance, attending targeted sessions aligned with their expertise, and taking advantage of structured networking opportunities offered by event organizers.

Even without large sponsorship budgets, conferences can still provide opportunities to build meaningful relationships.

The Future of Conferences: Quality Over Scale

Looking ahead, Muche believes conferences will continue evolving toward more curated, higher-value experiences.

The era of massive industry gatherings built purely around scale may be fading.

“I don’t believe in pure mass events anymore,” he says.

Instead, he believes the future of conferences lies in delivering higher-quality interactions between the right people.

“It’s all about quality,” Muche says.

That focus on quality over quantity could shape the next generation of industry events.

POSSIBLE returns April 27–29, 2026, in Miami Beach and is expected to bring together thousands of senior marketers, agencies, media leaders, and technology companies from across the industry. More information about the event, including registration details, is available at possibleevent.com.

A Fast-Changing Landscape

If there’s one lesson Muche has learned from building conferences over the past two decades, it’s that the event industry evolves quickly.

Strategies that worked five years ago may no longer deliver the same value today.

“I’m not thinking about five years from now,” he says. “I’m thinking about the next 12 months.”

For agencies looking to generate growth through conferences, that mindset may be the most important takeaway.

Events remain one of the most powerful ways to build relationships, share ideas, and create new opportunities. But like the marketing industry itself, the way companies use conferences is constantly changing.

Those who adapt and approach events strategically are the ones most likely to see the real return on their time.