About this episode

Bethany Murphy discusses the decline in effective event networking and strategies to improve it, alongside budget management and the role of AI.

Only 15% of event organizers say networking is effective in 2026, down from nearly 50% the year prior, according to Bizzabo's 2026 Benchmarks Report . Bethany Murphy, Senior Director of Global Strategic Events at SentinelOne, returns to Event Experience to explain why — and what to do about it. With 20+ years in the tech sector, Bethany covers how to design networking that actually works, why high-performing teams treat their events calendar as a portfolio, where AI creates real operational value, and how to manage budget ROI when show services costs are rising 10 to 15% year over year. For transcripts, quotes, and more, visit: www.bizzabo.com/podcast/sentinelone-event-networking-budget-roi-ai

People in this episode

Host: Bizzabo

Guest: Bethany Murphy

Topics covered

• event networking
• budget management
• AI in events
• event ROI
• event design

Keywords

• event networking
• budget ROI
• AI
• event design
• SentinelOne
• Bizzabo
• 2026 Benchmarks Report

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SentinelOne, Bizzabo

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