Data without answers
Zendesk's experiential marketing team was already collecting post-event feedback: NPS scores, session ratings, attendee demographics. But the data they had wasn't answering the strategic questions that mattered.
How do different attendee roles experience the event? Which sessions resonate with which industries? What's actually driving engagement? With a flagship customer conference forecasting 2,000 external attendees, decisions were being made on experience and intuition rather than evidence.
"We were making decisions that weren't really data informed… all of this was mostly a hunch."
Dean Armintrout · Senior Director, Global Experiential Marketing, Zendesk
A specialist partner, not another tool
Dean had been aware of Explori for several years through the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX) and peer recommendations from senior event professionals. When the time came to go beyond internal analysis, Explori stood out for a specific reason: deep specialism in event measurement.
"We knew we needed a third party… someone who lives and breathes event measurement data."
Dean Armintrout · Senior Director, Global Experiential Marketing, Zendesk
A pre-planning research programme built for strategic decisions
"Even in the first couple slides we knew this was the right decision."
Dean Armintrout · Senior Director, Global Experiential Marketing, Zendesk
Evidence-led decisions across the programme
The analysis validated some strategic instincts, and challenged others. Key findings shaped decisions across content, experience design, and event strategy.
From instinct to evidence, inside the organisation
The most significant impact wasn't just on the event itself. The research gave Zendesk's experiential marketing team a new level of credibility with leadership. Findings were shared across executive leadership, global demand generation, and event strategy teams.
Explori designed and managed a pre-planning customer research programme for Zendesk's flagship Relate event: a comprehensive survey project covering recent attendees and non-attendees.
The managed service covered the full project: survey design, question architecture, analysis, and strategic reporting. The complete insight report was delivered within days of the research completing.
"The team feels like they finally have the tools and the backup they need to tell the story."
Dean Armintrout · Senior Director, Global Experiential Marketing, Zendesk
Continuing the partnership
Zendesk and Explori are continuing the partnership. Post-event analysis following Relate 2026 will extend this work, connecting the pre-planning research insights to measurable event outcomes.
"Don't underestimate what great data analysis can do for personalisation."
Dean Armintrout · Senior Director, Global Experiential Marketing, Zendesk
Zendesk is a leader in AI service, empowering organizations to combine automation and human insight to create effortless, personalised customer experiences at scale. Their global experiential marketing organisation runs customer conferences, third-party events, executive engagement programmes, and large-scale digital events across multiple regions.
Event Intelligence & Pre-Planning Research
Ready to move from event data to executive decisions?
Talk to the team. We'll show you what measurement looks like for your programme.