The Playbook: Top 5 Ways to Turn Executive Dinners into Pipeline

Most partner marketing leaders know the drill: MDF-funded dinners, steakhouse slides, rushed networking. The problem? Prospects forget them by the next morning. As Ami Arad from 6sense puts it: “Very few executive dinners are ever memorable.”

This Playbook explores how to reimagine events through the Experience Economy — designing moments so differentiated, guests would actually pay to attend. Here are the plays that matter for alliance and partner marketers.

Play #1: Charge Admission in Your Mind

“What would you do differently in your business if you were to charge admission?”

Takeaway: This question from The Experience Economy reframes event design. If your dinner carried a ticket price, what would justify it? For Ami, that meant immersive touches like sabering champagne, surprise calls from reps mid-dinner, and invisible ink menus that revealed account insights.

Why it matters: Partner marketers face the constant risk of MDF clawback. Forgettable events waste dollars and credibility. By designing experiences worth paying for, you prove pipeline impact, justify MDF spend, and create stories partners want to amplify.

Tactical Move: Next time you plan an MDF-funded dinner, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes: what would make it worth $200 of their time? Build backward from that.

Play #2: Tie Experience Directly to Your Message

“It’s not just doing shocking things for the sake of shock. I’m tying it into the content of the dinner.”

Takeaway: Experiences shouldn’t be stunts—they must reinforce your GTM story. At 6sense, cookies designed as "forms" underscored their No Forms, No Spam, No Cold Calls message. UV flashlights revealed “dark funnel” insights hidden in the dinner menu.

Why it matters: Partner marketing is under pressure to prove ROI and alignment with joint messaging. Experiences that embody the solution stick far more than slideware. They also give partners visual, shareable proof points.

Tactical Move: Translate your core partner message into an experience. If your alliance centers on AI, let guests “predict” outcomes live. If it’s about speed, design an exercise where response time is the punchline.

Play #3: Make Face-to-Face Time Irreplaceable

“As everything becomes more digital… it just puts a higher value on face to face if and when you can make it happen.”

Takeaway: AI and automation make digital touchpoints easier but more forgettable. In-person events — if designed well — become rare, high-value interactions that deepen trust.

Why it matters: Cloud providers increasingly judge MDF on pipeline contribution, not activity logs. In-person events that produce quality conversations deliver the trust and ROI needed for renewals.

Tactical Move: Skip the badge scans. Measure your dinners by executive meetings held, quality conversations logged, and partner co-sell opportunities created.

Play #4: Partner for Bigger Impact

“We worked very tightly… ironing out who’s funding what, who’s responsible for the landing page, confirming attendance, follow-up.”

Takeaway: Partner events fail when roles blur. 6sense and Gong co-hosted executive dinners by locking down responsibilities, from funding to follow-up.

Why it matters: For partner marketers, MDF often requires co-funded activations. Disorganized execution leads to wasted budget and missed pipeline. Alignment with your partner ensures every dollar works.

Tactical Move: Build a pre-event charter with your partner: who owns budget, invites, follow-up, and reporting. Review it together before launch.

Play #5: Experiment Relentlessly (and Drop What Doesn’t Work)

“Every marketer needs to be willing to experiment… My first sales lunch wasn’t a failure, but it definitely wasn’t a success. We never did it again.”

Takeaway: Not every idea will land — and that’s fine. Ami learned that sales leaders skip lunches but show up for dinners. The point is to test, learn, and adapt quickly.

Why it matters: Partner marketers can’t afford to repeat low-yield events. Rapid testing keeps MDF dollars tied to what actually drives pipeline.

Tactical Move: Run a post-mortem after each event. What was memorable? What drove pipeline? Double down on winners, cut the rest.

Action Steps for Partner Marketers

1. Adopt the “charge admission” mindset—design dinners guests would pay for.

2. Map experiences to your GTM story—reinforce your joint value prop.

3. Track quality conversations, not badge scans—align metrics to pipeline.

4. Lock down partner roles early—budget, invites, follow-up.

5. Experiment, measure, iterate—make MDF work harder every cycle.

Final Thoughts:

In a digital-first world, unforgettable in-person experiences stand out. As Ami’s playbook shows, partner marketers can reinvent the executive dinner into an ROI engine by blending creativity with discipline. The question is: if you had to charge admission for your next MDF dinner, would anyone pay? That’s your bar.