It had been a while since I traveled to an event like this. Meeting new clients and proposing ideas face to face used to be a regular part of my schedule. Then, for a couple of years, it simply was not. This is the story of why I went back, and why the Monaco Yacht Show was the right place to start.
Why did I stop going to events?
Not because of one big decision. It happened the way these things usually happen: the calendar filled up with client work, meetings moved online, and the trips that used to anchor my year quietly disappeared. Over the past couple of years, what used to be routine became the exception.
The work did not stop. But something else did. Without face-to-face meetings, building relationships and discussing business possibilities became noticeably more difficult. You can run campaigns remotely. You cannot build the same level of trust remotely, not in the markets I work in. And in a world that thrives on personal connections, you cannot afford to stay off the grid for too long.
What does face to face give you that email cannot?
I am not against digital outreach. A big part of our work is exactly that, and I have written about how we run cold email campaigns that actually book meetings. Email opens doors. Video calls keep projects moving, and there are days when a good meeting tool is the most used thing in my stack.
But a contract that depends on trust rarely gets signed on the strength of a thread. In person, you get the unscripted parts: the aside after the official conversation ends, the introduction you did not plan, the honest answer someone gives you when there is no agenda and no recording. Those moments compound. They are where partnerships actually start.
Why the Monaco Yacht Show?
Because it is the perfect concentration of the world we serve. The people who attend are exactly the audience high net worth marketing is built for, and many of my older clients and friends from the aviation and luxury space are there in the same week, in the same port. If I was going to restart with one event, it had to be one where a single walk along the docks can mean five real conversations.
For me, the show was a starting point for more: more ideas, more partnerships, more success. That was the whole thesis of the trip.
How do I prepare for an event like this?
Honestly, the preparation matters more than the plane ticket. Here is what I do before an event of this caliber:
- Decide who I actually want to see. I write the list before I look at the program. Old clients first, then the people I have only ever met in an inbox.
- Tell people I am coming. I posted about the trip on LinkedIn and messaged the people I wanted to meet. If you are attending, let's meet and talk is a sentence that fills a calendar surprisingly fast.
- Prepare something worth sharing. I do not show up with a pitch. I show up with what I have learned, and this time that meant distribution strategies I was genuinely excited to compare notes on.
- Leave room for accidents. The best meeting of any event is usually the one you did not schedule.
What did I want to get out of Monaco?
Three things, in this order. Reconnect with old friends and clients, because those relationships are the foundation everything else is built on. Get back into the high-energy conversations I had missed, the kind that do not happen over email. And share distribution strategies with people whose businesses live and die by reach, because that exchange sharpens both sides.
Notice what is not on the list: leads. Events like this reward patience. You do not walk the docks with a quota. You walk them with curiosity, and the pipeline follows later.
What does this mean for your marketing?
If your deals depend on trust, and in luxury, finance and aviation they always do, in-person presence is not a nice-to-have. It is a channel, with its own preparation, its own follow up and its own compounding returns. Digital keeps you visible between handshakes. But every so often, you have to go make some waves in person. Pun intended.
Frequently asked questions
Is an event like the Monaco Yacht Show worth it for a marketer?
If your clients live in the world the event serves, yes. The value is not the booths, it is the density of the right people in one place. I went to reconnect with clients and partners in the high net worth space, and one good conversation can pay for the whole trip.
How do you follow up after meeting someone at an event?
Fast and personal. I write within a day or two, while the conversation is still fresh, and I mention the exact thing we discussed. No generic brochure, no newsletter blast. If we agreed on a next step, I propose a concrete time. The event opens the door; the follow up walks through it.
Do in-person events replace digital marketing?
No, they feed each other. Digital keeps the relationship warm between meetings and makes people check you out before they shake your hand. Your website, content and social proof do the vetting silently. I treat events as the trust layer on top of everything we run online, not as a separate channel.
How often should you go to industry events?
Often enough that people expect to see you. I learned the hard way that staying off the grid for a couple of years makes relationship building visibly harder. Pick the one or two events where your clients actually are, commit to them every year, and skip the rest without guilt.
Founder & CEO of RB Creative Digital. Nearly two decades in SEO and digital marketing for mortgage, aviation and AI-first companies, with clients in the UK, US and Romania. His work has been featured on Forbes, Entrepreneur and HuffPost.
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Edited and designed by Marius Stefan · Reviewed by Cristina Gabriela
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