Partner summits Partner marketing, run as a program

We plan partner summits, sales kickoffs (SKOs), roadshows and appreciation days for companies that sell through partners, in any industry, so your partners have a reason to stay close all year.

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What you get

• Scope. Summits, kickoffs, roadshows and partner appreciation, planned as one calendar instead of a string of one-off dates.
• Outcome. Each partner event has one job, written down before a venue is booked, and every partner relationship has a named owner for the follow-up.
• Timeline. We start about 12 weeks before each event, while the date, the venue and the guest list are still yours to choose.
• Who it’s for. Channel, partner and field marketing leads at companies that sell through resellers, distributors, dealers or agents.
• Who it’s not for. Companies with no partners yet. If the job is finding your first partners at industry shows, trade show consulting fits better.

How does the program run?

If partners only hear from you at a trade show, you’re one more booth on their list. A program puts you in front of them between shows, with a reason for every visit.

1. Plan the year. Put the events on one calendar first, so each one sets up the next.
2. Pick the result. For each event, decide what should be true 30 days afterwards. A renewal signed. A new offer in their pitch. A joint plan for next quarter.
3. Invite with a reason. Choose which partners need to be there, and give them something worth the trip.
4. Build the day around the result. A summit, a kickoff, a roadshow stop or a thank-you day, shaped by what partners should leave with, not by the venue’s package.
5. Name the follow-up. Every partner has an owner before the doors open, so the conversation carries on the week after.

What’s the record behind it?

Part of that program was a partner appreciation day called Cheers Around the World. On November 5, 2024, the day before the IT Nation Connect conference in Orlando, Breach Secure Now bought each partner a ticket to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, plus a second ticket for a guest. Partners were already travelling for the show, so the event gave them a reason to arrive a day early. The invitation framed the day as a thank-you.

She also built and ran a monthly partner event series for Breach Secure Now.

Read the Cheers Around the World case study

Remember: events aren’t just about new leads, they’re about cultivating your long-term partner relationships, too.

Events Authority is led by Tracie Crites. She leads every engagement.

Common questions

What kinds of partner events do you plan? Partner summits, sales kickoffs, roadshows and appreciation days, one at a time or as a series across the year. The example above is partner appreciation. The other formats get the same planning: one result up front, the right partners invited, a named owner for the follow-up.

How is this different from corporate event planning? Partner events are for the people who sell for you. We plan them around what helps partners sell and why they’d give up a day to come, and we run them as a series rather than a single date.

When should we start? About 12 weeks before the first event. For a full year of partner events, set the calendar first and work back from each date.

Is this just for tech companies? No. Any company that sells through resellers, distributors, dealers or agents has partners who need a reason to stay close. Tracie’s record is at Breach Secure Now, in the IT channel, which is where the example on this page comes from.

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Planning a customer event or a product launch instead? That’s corporate event planning.

Where do you start?

Send us your partner calendar, or the one event on it that worries you most, and tell us what it needs to do. The assessment is complimentary.

Get your event assessment