In the Suite

EP 96 Everything New at Edge: Inside Informa’s Top Wealth Management Event with Dan Rubinetti and Shannon Rosic

• Tina Powell • Season 3 • Episode 96

Share episode

Send us a text

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome two powerhouse leaders in financial services and events: Dan Rubinetti and Shannon Rosic of Informa. If you’ve spent any time in the wealth management industry, you know their names are synonymous with top-tier industry conferences, innovative programming, and—most importantly—community building.

Dan Rubinetti, who helped launch Edge just four years ago, has been a driving force in transforming WealthManagement.com’s approach to advisor-centric events. He’s championed the creation of best-in-class experiences that focus on peer-to-peer learning, actionable content, and technology-driven solutions for RIAs and senior leaders. With a keen eye for what resonates in the industry, Dan has played a pivotal role in building Edge’s reputation as one of the can’t-miss events on the annual calendar—now moving to the breathtaking Boca Raton Resort in June!

Alongside Dan is Shannon Rosic, a tech-savvy leader and respected industry voice, known for curating wildly successful educational tracks and superstar speaker lineups. Shannon’s ability to translate feedback from advisors and sponsors into real, tangible improvements is the secret sauce behind Edge’s “choose your own adventure” conference model. Whether you’re into investments, tech demos, or RIA practice management, Shannon ensures there’s something for everyone.

But that’s just the beginning.

In today’s episode, we dive behind the scenes of Edge’s evolution—how attendee-driven feedback, bold new partnerships, and a relentless focus on community have set a new standard for industry events. We talk about the future of advisor learning, the importance of next-gen mentorship, and the rise of women in wealth management. You’ll also hear about exciting new features: roundtables, allocate meetings with AI-powered connections, and keynote speakers who embody leadership and resilience—including former NFL quarterback Alex Smith.

Plus, Dan and Shannon share candid tips on thriving in high-stress environments, the power of collaboration, and how Informa is opening doors for advisors of all backgrounds to find their tribe, invest in their growth, and shape the industry’s future.

Get ready for a high-energy, insightful, and heartfelt conversation with two of wealth management’s most innovative event leaders—right here, In The Suite.

🔗 Links & Resources
Dan Rubinetti LinkedIn  
Shannon Rosic LinkedIn 
Wealth Management EDGE - June 10 - 12, 2025 in Boca Raton, FL

🤩 Thanks for listening, we appreciate your support and 5-star reviews of our show!!!

❤️ Please follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inthesuitepod/

📧 Want to get in touch? Email me at tina@growintentionally.com


Wow. Dan Rubinetti and. And Shannon Rosic. Take a seat in the suite. I am so happy to see you guys today. You're God fresh off the heels of Nashville. I can seriously, I can't keep up with you both. Lucky you. Tina, you got a two for today. Okay. You did, you did. Thank you so much for having us, Tina. Oh, I'm really excited you guys. We're gonna kick this off. I had to do an episode. So you know, one of the things that we get asked that intentionally all the time. What events, Tina, should I go to where, where you know, I want to do this and I want to meet these people and what are the, what are the top 10 events? Edge is a top 10 event. It is coming up June 10th to 12th, 2025, the Boca Raton Resort, which is freaking beautiful, you guys. Absolutely beautiful. Okay. It's coming at a great time of year June 10 to June 12, the resort. And so naturally I want to talk about it. We're fresh off to off the heels of future proof. And I know that Kelly Waltrick are our dear friend. You guys, like we're all, everybody, we're all buds. Yeah, for sure. If you're listening to this episode, this is really just like, this is a love fest of just. I see Dan and especially Shannon everywhere for years and years and years and you know, intentionally has a really great relationship with Informa. We love our clients being at your events. We love so much of what you're doing. The Wealth Management industry awards, by the way, everybody get your nominations into that. But one of the things that I feel that and a reason why I wanted to bring you on the show is because you've done some really incredible things with Edge. It is, it is not the same Edge from last year. And I really think as advisors are dealing with this amazing volatility and like we. The last, last week, two huge market drops. You really need to be in a peer to peer learning environment. And I think Informa, Dan, Shannon, everybody on your team have been such. Been, you know, the backbone of some really incredible industry conferences where people can kind of come and learn from one another. So I'm going to shut up here because I want to just like, how do you want to kick this off? Tell us. Like, there's so many new things for Edge this year, I don't even know where to start. Yeah, well, I think you nailed it when you said it's not the same as last year, even the year before because we take our, the feedback that we get from all the attendees Very seriously. So heck, we even moved venues. We love our Diplomat, but like you said, a whole new venue this year that we're thrilled about. Heck, I haven't even seen it in person yet. So I'm legitimately very excited to experience my own conference. Just because it just looks stunning. It really just provides a setting that, you know, we're very proud of and we're proud of the caliber of people that will be coming to this event. But Dan, I'll throw it to you if you want, like just to, just to kick it off, give us, you know, give us the 30,000 foot view here of Edge and then I'll kind of get into some of the fun new initiatives we have this year and we'll go from there. No, thanks. Shannon and Tina, thanks again for having us. Of course, we're thrilled to be here. I was, I had the good fortune of being on your podcast, I think a year ago when we were at one of the other industry events and you guys are always such good partners of ours and we'll talk a little bit about that partnership for Edge and we'll let Shannon talk a little bit about our CMO think tank. I think one of the things when we came here. So I personally got here almost four years ago to help launch Edge and really it was a brand in the industry@wealth management.com that just didn't have an advisor focused event. But we're writing for advisors every day. So one of the initiatives we had and with our, you know, our fearless leader of the event business, Michelle Davidson, who, she and I came over sort of together and to help launch this, you know, we thought about what would resonate well with the, with the industry and that would be sort of this third party, independent advisor focused event that can incorporate not just sort of investment strategy for the advisor, but technology for the advisor and, and a specific set of content for RIAs and senior level folks from the RIA, firms that were managing a lot of money on behalf of their clients. So that was sort of the impetus of starting Edge. And over these past few years it sort of has steadily grown and I really think it's all about the content and the speakers that we're able to get. And that model for us has attracted the advisor. So they're trusting the content, they're coming. And with that, you know, we're fortunate that there are firms that want to sponsor and support events like this to get obviously in front of the advisors, but really to create, to your point, Tina, this very collegial industry event where people, you know, come together and share ideas, listen to great content, talk to our editors, get interviewed by people like Shannon, who's so well known and liked and respected in the industry. And it's just created this sort of this incredible event that people can really get behind. And I get so many inbound emails of. Dan, I heard about your event. I heard about Edge this year more than ever, and I think it just takes some time to build the reputation. But, you know, I've gotten more and more of these. I heard about Edge. Can you tell me more? Why should I be there? And I think, you know, that's everything in the industry is the reputation. And then we partner with firms like you guys and, you know, others on the media side that get the word out, and it really has become something special. Not to mention, I have been to the Boca Raton Resort. I did the site visit, and I can promise anyone listening to this show or seeing us, you really got to see this place. It is outstanding. It's one of the greatest venues for an event in the country, and we're thrilled. And again, you know, kudos to Michelle for choosing this resort, because while we did love the dip for the past few years, I think the Boca Raton Resort is even more spectacular in just every aspect. So, yeah, I'll kick that to Shannon now because I know she's got some fun things to share, too. Yeah, I'm hoping, Shannon, I know that you've lined up such an incredible group of speakers, and if I could just enter at one other thing here. I, too, have been to the Boca Resort, too. I was there for a SIFMA OPS conference here years and years ago. It is so classy. And the great thing is, is that when you come to an industry event, you could spend like a day before or day after you're getting that incredible room rate. I have to tell you, you know, you could bring your spouse, you could bring your significant other, you could bring your family, and then make, like, a couple of days out of it. It really is a breathtaking resort that unfortunately get a chance to stay there. But at least I went. So, yeah, kudos to Michelle. Hey, Shannon, let's talk about this mighty lineup that you have here, too. I mean, one of the things that I think why there's a lot of interest are because of the speakers there. It is stacked. We are thrilled. And again, it's just a testament to kind of where we sit in the industry and the reputation we've built just off wealth management.com as well. And our Incredible editorial staff. You know, it takes a village to program something like this. And I always joke that Edge is the choose your own adventure conference because if you've ever been, you know that we kind of have these three tracks, if you will. Dan mentioned we have the well stack track which is everything that I program. I touch all things tech. As everyone knows at nauseam at this point we have our, we have our investments track and then we also have our RA Edge track which is all the practice management content. So it really truly is an all encompassing picture of what's happening in the wealth management, which is why people get so excited to come. You talk to any attendee for events and they're really just looking for education and networking, right? Those really are the two biggest things that folks are coming for. And then obviously some of the speakers to hear from their peers and colleagues and folks that they admire. And this year we're thrilled. We're going to have Michael Kitces and Joe Duran kind of duking it out in a financial feud on stage and see if we can get some differing opinions out of them. We're even looking to have some economists duke it out a little bit as well. Coming from the bull and bear side of things, it seems especially relevant considering everything that's happening right now. Hope everyone has strapped in for that. You know, we have the tech demos are back with live judging again. So that is, we've already sold, completely sold out of the demos. So tech is absolutely on fire. We'll be leading tech tours again. I'll actually be one of the guides this year or the couple other fellow colleagues. Those resonated really well last year and it was a lot of fun just to see attendees kind of self opt in to learn about all the technology players that we're going to have. We had over 40 last year and we're on pace to do that again, if not more this year in terms of tech vendors that'll be on site. So we, we can't wait to see all of those demos. You know, we have folks like Marwazakaria, Oleg Tishkevich that are going to be taking, taking the stage, talking tech and everything. There we'll have Davis Janowski, who I adore, I go to. He's one of the most talented technology reporters, everybody. If you're not following Davis Janowski, if you're not, well, first of all you should be connected to Shannon, Dan and DAVIS all on LinkedIn for sure. You should really be following Davis's thought leadership. It is incredible. We'll also Put a link in that. In the show notes we'll put a link. Shannon's podcast also too is really on fire. Guys. These are some. One of the things that I think that you're gifted at. Shannon is really getting to the heart of the like the why you know it's not just like hey, it's really how do these things serve advisors that I think has been the deep domain experience that Informa brings. Like okay, well tell us why this is important for advisors. So yeah, I didn't mean. I just I lit up when, when when I hear names like Davis. And one other thing I want to compliment you guys on. Little known fact here, right. T3 took a little page out of your playbook and did some tick tors this year. But you know what? It's flattery anything, right? Exactly. So. So when I knew I I heard I just had to mention that yes they were an amazing things that that edge that you guys brainchild for for edge last time and it really worked and it had a lot of staying power. Who's the keynote? I know that there's some really cool. That's such a hard decision when you're planning an event too. Like the fact to get really great keynotes is hard. People don't realize it and that that. Is one of the hardest aspects of programming because you can really go in any direction. And so generally it's myself, Dan and Michelle kind of sit down and brainstorm and have huddles and think about, you know, what's going to resonate with folks right now. And I will admit this may have been a bit of a selfish play on my end. Not that I'm a massive Chiefs fan or anything, but we are so, so, so excited to be able to welcome Alex Smith to the stage. Former first round draft pick back in 2005 when he went to the 49ers and then I became a Chiefs fan actually during his era when he came over and was quarterback for us and he just completely turned that organization around. So I will be interviewing him and I am going to do my best to not f all over that stage and keep it as professional as possible. But we're so excited. He just has an incredible story too of resilience if you're not familiar with it. He suffered a basically a career ending injury that almost killed him and he was able to come back from that and still play. And now he, he has an incredible podcast called the Glue Guys. I highly recommend checking that out with Shane Bier and Ravi Gupta and they talk about Some sports and business and the intersection of that. So he is thriving off the field as well now. So I could just couldn't be more thrilled that I get to actually sit down and pick his brain for a little bit. Oh my God. Congratulations for that. That again, the story of resilience, the whole peer to peer learning, all of that. Another feature, which is reason why we wanted to have Dan Rubinetti here in the suite is that, you know, look, we love women's empowerment. And in the beginning of in the Suite, the first year, like I made a big faux pas and I only mostly had women on the show, which wasn't like a bad thing. I just felt like women weren't getting intention, right. But there are so amazing men. And Brian Hamburger and I had an arm wrestle. He's like, hey, how come no dudes on the show? And I was like, well, because, you know, we need, like we need to hear more, more women's voices. But I was like, I'm hearing you, Brian. We'll make sure that we have more, more of our male ambassador sponsors. Dan, you've been a friend. You've been a friend to so many. Shannon, myself, I can list a million people. Suzanne Syracuse, also to you up there. But let's talk about the Female Advisor network. You're doing something again really intriguing at edge and a lot of us come to these events as single people, right? I don't. Ladies listening. You know exactly what I'm talking about, right? You're sign up for an event. It's like, who's going for my firm? Nobody. Because like the firm could only afford to send one, one person. These female events for me personally and I just went to the Schwab one at Future Proof have tethered me to like the most amazing people at my table and just I never feel alone when I go to an EDGE conference or Fusion conference or somewhere. They're. They've made a meaningful effort for women to be with one another, which is another reason why I wanted to have you on the show. So Dan, could you talk a little bit about that? Sure. Happy to. Before I joined wealth management.com I spent a number of years at Investment News with Suzanne Syracuse. And Suzanne actually hired me a few years ago and she had come up with sort of this Women Advisor summit concept where we did, you know, female Advisor events around the country, various cities, very successful, highly engaged audience. And you know, when we all sort of departed from, from in, nothing was really happening for, for the female advisors of substance. I mean there are some things out There, of course. But I thought, well, why don't we just kind of take this concept and bring it over to Edge and let's try something with a partner. In this case, it was Schwab and that team who, who I did work with at Investment News and at RIA Edge Los Angeles, which is coming up in October of 2025. But last year, in its second year, you know, Shannon and I sat down with Michelle and said, well, I did this thing with the women advisors at I and I think there's. There's something here. Let's create something. Let's try this and let's have a breakfast. And at that breakfast, let's invite through our VIP team, female advisors. And we're not going to ignore the men and they would be welcome, but we really wanted to focus in on the female advisor. So we created a breakfast and with that, Schwab sponsored it. Our friend Leslie Tabor and her team were willing to do that and they just had a great morning session together in this sort of very informal roundtable environment to discuss some of the initiatives going on with female advisors. And then we took some of that content that was learned there and the next day presented it on stage, the findings. And it went so well that we replicated it again at Nashville last week. And this time we had Russell Reynolds and Nationwide sponsor that similar concept. Suzanne hosted, Shannon parted. We all sort of participated, not, not so much me, but I was there and listened and highly successful. And then following that, we did a session the next day on, on the findings. So it's. It's Female Advisor Breakfast. It's fab. It's fabulous. I will take credit for that one. I'm pretty good sometimes with the names, but, you know, Shameless Plug. But I think it's starting to really catch fire and we're going to do it again in June in Boca and pro again in Los Angeles at RA Edge west in la. So, you know that that is one of the things that we're always trying to come up with the next engaging opportunity for the industry, for sponsors, for our speakers. And you know, there's more coming. Just there's only so many days we have at these events and we have to like, be. Be conscious of that. But. But yeah, thanks for asking about that because we are pretty excited about where that can take us. Another theme that seems to be that the industry seems to be addressing head on is the idea of next gen. I just actually finished a mentor session with a candidate, a marketing candidate who wants to be in financial services. Marketing. So we sat down and you know, we looked at a resume. We had a discussion with, with her and I gave her some really great advice that I, that I'm going to put in a LinkedIn post and I can't wait till the day that she, you know, finally gets a job offer. But one of the things that the industry has had a pulse on, especially Informa and Edge, has been this idea of next gen, right. We're not only saying like, hey, we've got a massive problem, we need more people, more young people in this industry. But you're providing a real gateway here for people to do it. So I'd love for you to talk about it. It's one of the things that I get a real kick out of is like meeting people, especially at food trucks. I don't know what it is like with events and food trucks. Like young people just line up for like tater Tot fries. Like it just happens. So, you know, you guys have put a lot of thought and into attention to next gen. So tell us what you're doing with Edge there again. And if you're an employer that's listening, if you're a financial advisor, if you're an ria, please do me a favor. And you know, this is an incredible opportunity to really invest in the people who are helping your firm grow. So you know, Keen, Keenan, keen ears on what Shannon is about to share with us on Edge. And if you can make sure that your, your next gen team's going and that's. You nailed it. That's exactly what we're trying to do is just encourage firms to, to grow that next generation, those G2, G3 leaders. And so this was something we actually started last year at Edge, we actually designated an ambassador. So Aravind Sitham Parapillai is coming back again as our ambassador. If you haven't seen him, check him out online. He's all over socials. He's a very vocal advisor. Young, up and coming, knows his stuff, is super passionate about what he does, loves his clients. It comes through in everything that he does. So he will be our ambassador again. Look for him on site. We're talking about maybe getting him a sash so he's going to look like a prom king or something. But he's in, it's fine. Love that. So, but we, we've been very, you know, specific when it comes to the content that we want to provide these folks. So we are actually going to do a Michael Kitces. Ask us any, ask me anything or ask us Anything session. So folks will be able to actually sit down in the room with Michael and ask those awkward questions, ask those hard questions that maybe they're not getting the answers to, you know, from other folks or other resources that they have. So we're very excited about that. We will have mentor mentee speed dating. If you'd like to be a mentor, please let me know. Hit me up, DM me, whatever it takes. We're always looking for mentors for this next generation. Basically what that is exactly as it sounds a speed dating style where next gen advisors can come meet peers from their industry. So think the Karina Diamonds of the world will be mentors and you can just chat with these folks at a dedicated time during this, during the conference and have a special meetup area for that. So we'll have that going on and we are actually also partnering with the Fincer Foundation. So those of you familiar with Jamie Hopkins and Kate Healing, everything that they're doing over at the Finser foundation, they're going to be bringing I think around 20 students or so to, to Edge, which I just think is an incredible opportunity. Every time I see students on site and event I say man, I wish I had had a program like or just accessibility to opportunities like that when I was coming up in college because heck I graduated I had no idea what I wanted to do. And so to see these 19, 20, 21 year olds come and already have a vision for what they want and are comfortable just getting in front of folks and talking to peers that to me that always touches me because I didn't have those opportunities. So we're trying to create those as much as possible while on site. So it's certainly grown from last year and again just you know, if you are an extra advisor, you come, you have full access to the conference, all of the sessions, all of the receptions, everything like that. Again, choose your own adventure but you have access to any and all of it. I want to give a big shout out thank you for bringing up Jamie Hopkins and Kate Healy from Finser foundation and then for doing the Finserve mentorship program which I'm happy involved in. I saw Samantha Allen was also too added to the roster lately for that. So I know that she's organizing the next meetup and I want to give a shout out to my mentee Bethany Blair who is, who's recently landed an opportunity at Goldman Sachs. So I really much believe that in the power of mentoring just a little bit goes a long way. So that's an incredible organization. Another Thing that I saw that Edge was doing differently this year, which really excited me were these idea of number one, the allocate meetings and as well as the roundtables. I think that Informa is like you guys are infamous for bringing like always having roundtables and bringing people together. I really love that Dan. I think it speaks to one of the things you were talking about when Suzanne Syracuse years and years and years ago. If Shannon and I kind of rewind the tape. When we were in New York City at Investment News, Women to Watch and Women events I noticed you were always sitting at a round table so that you're able to meet people. And then I remember and I know that you, you even have the round tables as part of the wealthy. So you're, you know, fostering peer to peer learning environments where people can be together. So talk a little bit about roundtables and allocate meetings again because inquiring minds want to know. That's a great point. You know, and it's a little strategy in the event business. If you, if you put a roundtable together with people, they will talk to one another, right? Instead of sitting classroom style. When you're next to somebody it's, it's like a dinner table when that conversation just becomes very natural and flowing. You know, the meetings are something we're really leaning into even more and more here. And one of the things I think our team does exceptionally well and I don't know if the rest of the industry does it and we know how important meetings are, making those connections and we certainly want to lean into that. But we have a VIP program led by Steve Titchener and his colleague Kayla Molnar. And the VIP team is responsible for recruiting these advisors to come to the event. And they have over the past few years been able to almost concierge the invite through LinkedIn and other methods to get folks to attend the event. And they've become sort of this trusted part of what we do and has really changed I think the face of how events are run now. I'm saying this because I know someone's going to take this idea from us and probably also try to replicate it, but it is not easy to do so we do welcome that challenge. But we. This is something that Informa does very, very good in that we're able to make the connection, earn the trust of say the advisor to come to the event. Once they are here, we are able to do fun things with them like VIP dinners for sponsors where a sponsor can host 10 of these VIPs and have time with them over a two hour meal at one of our beautiful restaurants on site at Boca or at the dep or wherever we had done the event. We are also you have the ability to engage through our app. It's a double opt in. So if I send a note to you Tina, would you like to meet me at. And you say yes I would. We're double opted in. We will be placed at a location at a time so we can have that interaction. The allocates are interesting because now we're going to bring an AI component in where you know the, the advisor can list some of the things that they're interested in along with say a sponsor what they're interested in and then through a matching system that can create a meeting as well. So we're really leaning in here through our VIP team, through our meetings programs to be sort of that difference maker where we're giving everyone sort of that full value because let's face it, they're here to meet. We. The reason we do the event is really to foster the engagement and you know with all those components we think we're. That formula will continue to bear fruit. For us and at that price you got advisors listening here, sponsors listening here to this broadcast. The rate for that advisor plus which gives you access to those meetings, you guys, it's, it's $399. That is an incredible, that is a credible value proposition right there. And then also too for anyone that's signing up for groups of four people. I know that Informa is offering a generous discount of 20% here. There's also to a startup rate, there's a product and service provider rate. You know sponsoring can be at all different levels and stuff. So really a wonderful opportunity here. If you're, if you're listening. Yeah, we try to give a little bit really it's all about granting the access. And we know advisors time is their money. They're away from the office which takes them maybe away from their business but they're willing to invest their time with us. You know we don't pay them to come in certain cases that can happen at certain events. They are coming on their own volition which really makes us feel pretty darn good because yes, they're trusting us. Right, Exactly. They're saying huge. I think, yeah we, we think so too. And you know that makes us feel really good about what we're doing because we think we're doing something right. And when you have those kinds of folks attending, people managing you know, billions of dollars and trillions of dollars and highest levels of advisors. You know, the sponsors love this and it's interesting because the sponsors who are coming to us this year, there are so many new sponsors. There are folks like the Goldmans of the world, right? And, and folks like Crane Shares and, and Northern Trust and SEI and Invent and we're grateful for all of them. But our three charter partners are all three brand new sponsors making a large investment to be there. You know T plus three Fund. The gentleman who created five Hour Energy drinks has a hedge fund. He's a, they're a charter partner. They'll be doing a keynote and they're bringing five Hour Energy which we're all going to need. But kind of interesting, right? Monroe Capital, an alternative investment company, Charter partner Dispatch. All three are new to our world. So think about their marketing team and the value they see in our event. To be the top sponsors that, that to us is, is sort of incredible. What we've built along with the all springs of the world. New Alpha Financial Markets Consulting. New our friends at RFG who we know well. SEI comes back. Orion is here, Blackstone Sanctuary and Wealth Spire. Cohen and Steers, FP Transitions, Mercer Marsh, Nuveen, Vaneck, Pack Life, they're coming from all walks. Annuity firms, Crypto grayscale will be there. Alternative investments are ETF issuers. It's like amazing. We're like thrilled. We're running out of room in the hall so we're very happy with this. Can we talk a little bit about the content strategy here for advisors? Because Shannon, and thanks for all that information. I think think one of the things we're grateful for our, our sponsors. I want to cover two more things in, in. In the time that we have left. I want to cover some content ideas for financial advisors. Because Shannon, when I see you at EDGE events and I see you at Informa events either and at events that are even non informal events, I. E. Other people's right future groups. T3 is like you're always like you're recording video and you're recording podcasts. So I wanted to talk a little bit for advisors who are going to Edge, maybe some ideas that they could leverage their presence at edge. And the last thing I want to talk about is the CMO roundtable which I know that you know a company is doing as well. So you know, content strategy is something that advisors really struggle with and I think it's one of the best things that your clients want to see that you're doing is Professional and continuing development. So, Shannon, what would be your advice to some of those advisors if they want to take advantage of content opportunities, whether or not through Informa at Edge or elsewhere? I know there's a lot of opportunities under your roof and that you're really skilled and really great at. Yeah, I appreciate that. And I will say the content is by far the most challenging part because you don't want to necessarily be everything to everyone. You want to focus a little bit. So like I said, my main area of focus is tech. But, you know, Michelle and I are always going back and forth for ideas on all of the tracks. But for advisors looking to kind of plan out how they want to go about their days, you know, attend those sessions that are helping you solve a business challenge. So if you have questions about AI, we have an entire AI assembly track that digs into everything from the back office to use cases that you, that your peers are using. Now we have Jason Pereira and Brian Portnoy doing a whole thing on augmented humanity and the role of AI there. So if you're looking to dip your toes with AI, you want to understand what your peers are doing. Tons of content around that. So we obviously try to be very timely in that sense. There will be content around the current market environment. So folks looking to understand how to have those conversations with clients, the implications, things like that, just practical takeaways. So I say start there. If you have a specific challenge that you're facing, even if it's M and A or secession planning, we have a lot of content around that as well. You know, growing your firm. The. The overarching theme this year is all about growth, particularly organic growth. We've seen the numbers, you know, hovering around 2, 3%. But a lot of the firms attending are doing way better than that and they are more than willing to kind of share what's working. And that's what we love too about this audience, is that everyone is approachable. Right. So if, if you want to go talk, you know, to the CEO of Sanctuary or, or Mercer, like Kaylin Mayhew, will be there from Merit. If you want to go up to them, all these folks are accessible. And that's what I love about this. Even though it's a large event, you know, closing in around 2,000 folks for this, it doesn't feel like this overwhelming, you know, monstrosity and that you can't get to everything you want to get to just be intentional, right? What are you trying to accomplish, you know, structured. If you want to have those meetings attend Those sessions that make most sense to help your business make the most of your time. You know, don't feel like you just have to kind of wander in and out, like be intentional about it and hence intentionally. But, you know, just be. There's. There's a rhyme and reason to. To that. It's, you know, I rarely do I ever get to go to events and just attend because like you said, I'm usually running around with a camera or microphone or doing. Speaking or doing something. So those moments that I actually do get to just sit in and listen, there's a reason why we have two ears and one mouth. Like, I appreciate those times and, and that's what folks are coming here to do as well. So, you know, make the most of it. Have a little fun. We have tons of opportunities for that. We have a golf tournament where we have. Tim Welsh is sponsoring kayaking with Davis Schinowski. So our so good, you guys. That is such FOMO right now. Work hard, play hard. That's so great. That is amazing. Kelly and Joe. So, so Kelly Wall, who obviously you guys know very well, the industry knows very well. Look, if you're listening and you're, you know, you haven't turned on a podcast in a couple years. Kelly Walter, our CEO and, and founder, and she'll be there with Joe Stoiter, who is our chief of communications. He's also to a partner here. So I'm really excited. Joe just did the CMO Collective. It's really like, Kelly has amazing ideas. It's wonderful to be in a learning opportunity like this. The CMO Collective is coming back. We've got a lot of questions. I'm here to say, yes, it will be in Boca. The other thing I will say is don't do what other people did at Future Proof and do not wait until the last minute to sign up for the CMO Collective because it gets booked and it gets full. There's a certain amount of. One of the things I think inform is really good at from an event coordination and organization perspective is making sure that, hey, you're in the right environment. It feels like the right group of people. It's not too much. It's not too little. It's like, so, right. What. What else would you guys say about it? Is the venue. Is the venue for that. Again, you can't go wrong anywhere in Boca here, right? No. And it is a primary part of what we're doing here. We're thrilled to be able to. To do this collective with you guys and we know it's going to be amazing content, you know, for, for those marketers in our, in our industry. A must attend. So yeah, don't hesitate, sign up. Let's get you there. I can promise you it'll be a, a fantastic session, you know, especially having Kelly and Joe involved and all you and you guys and with Shannon. So we know it works. It's just make sure you sign up and be a part of it. Yeah. And what you're part. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Shannon. Oh, sorry to be cut you. I was just laughing because Kelly came to me with this idea last year and we really piloted it at RA Ed LA and we had to blow the doors off the room because it was so packed. And you realize when you create initiatives like this that there is such a need for that dedicated time and space to have those like minded peers be able to sit together and discuss the challenges that they're facing. So we're like, you know, we'll get maybe 12 folks or so. I think we ended up with like 28 or something in the room in LA and so we looked at each other and said, oh boy, I think we have something here. So we are just thrilled to bring it back to Edge and make it even bigger and better. Just for some context, you know, we are bringing together CMOs from billion dollar plus RIAs to, to talk about really what's keeping them up at night, the challenges they're facing at market as marketers in today's environment. And Kelly and Joe do a phenomenal job of facilitating that conversation and encouraging everyone to kind of break it down and just have that peer to peer sharing and bounce ideas off of each other. So, so we'll be doing that again. Invites are going out now if you are interested, you are a CMO or a marketer at a firm like that. Let us know. We would love to have you because we will be dedicating that time and space, like I said again, at Edge to do this and it's fun. It's usually like a big U shape and everyone jumps in and just talks. I mean you don't have to worry about marketers and not talking. So I will say the one nice thing. There is no shortage of content or, or conversation flow. That's. That's absolutely correct. What's the best way? Because again, we got a lot of people listening right now that want to take action on that. So what, what, what, what's the best way to contact you guys? Yeah, absolutely. You're more than welcome to reach out to me to Shannon Rossic on LinkedIn. You can slide into the DMs there. You'll probably be hearing from Steve Titcher who we mentioned before, part of our VIP team. He's going out with invites. So if you want to hit myself up or Steve up, it's shannon.ross again, forma.com if you want to just reach me directly. So yeah, we would love to have you. Great. We're so excited. We feel very honored and privileged to be here. So thank you again for giving intentionally the opportunity. Yes. You know, part of marketing is very R and D and very experimental. We don't know if things are going to work. And so this was a good case of things working a little bit too well. But this year, you know, we're really, we're really prepared for it. And I would say, you know, you will walk out of that session with ideas and with new connections so that when problems come up and we see things all the time. Right now, I would say the big themes that are leading the, the conversation are this huge amounts of market volatility. Clients are very nervous how advisors go and communicate. I'm really glad that you had mentioned Brian Portnoy and Jason Pereira, who will have absolute strategies, ways to connect. They are two amazing human beings on the planet as well too. Again, from gathering from this conversation, you have assembled a group who's not only supreme in their deep domain experience and their intelligence, but people who really want to help others, you know, who aren't going to stockpile, who are going to be, you know, free flowing with all of their knowledge. So, so kudos to you. There's one other question that I forgot to mention you guys, because this is in the sweet pod. This is the third season and I know a little bit about both of you guys outside of work. But one of the things that we also love a great environment like Boca is what are some of the things that you're doing health wise that you know, if you could give us a health tip. Right. That was the, that's the question for Season T. Season 3 in the suite is give us a health tip, something that you do for. That's a ritual, some sort of practice at home or maybe at work to help benefit other people. We are all stressed out right now because of this market volatility and we'll talk about it at edge. There'll be some, some, some great office hours. But what, what are the last tips that you want to give us on the, on the side about managing our own, you know, our own health and mindset. Yeah, I'm happy to share. You know, I always talk about what are the things you can do to just, you know, we all work really, really hard in a condensed amount of time. And then you got to have that time away to de stress to do some of the things you like to do to keep your sanity. So I'm going to weave this one in because Shannon, I think, might know where we're going here, but. But there is an element of fun to. To our events as well. Right. And we want to provide the kaying, the yoga, you know, the. The things that we can. There's a golf outing that we're grateful Motley fool is sponsoring for advisors. One of the things I do to. To keep my stress levels low is, you know, play music. And we have. I've been part of a band for 15 years that the industry doesn't really know much about. I don't share it. Shannon is aware of it, but we are. If you stick around at the event to the closing night party. My band from New Jersey is flying in to play the closing night party. And I can promise you you'll have a good time with that. And it will be sponsored by Oleg at Invent. And he's thrilled and he loves a party. So we're going to deliver the goods on Thursday night, the closing night reception. Oh, my God. Coming full circle. I can't believe he dropped that. That is a knowledge. But wow. That's in the suite. That's for you. Oh, my God. Okay. Breaking news here in the suite of first. I don't know what about you? I know your horse is on stage. I'm like, I don't know how to top that. I thought about. I'm like, how do I ride in on one of them? We're gonna bring. Shannon will be a part of this performance. So there you go. Yes. Yeah. Warning. That needs like a warning label more than anything. But. No, I. I mean, I completely agree. It's. It's, you know, leaning in. You know, we all work hard, but it's lean in to the things that you also love outside of it. But even. Even beyond that, it's. I'm. I love Mel Robbins. I read all of her books. Books. Her podcast. If you haven't checked her out. I. I've gotten really into her stuff the last year, and I've gotten so much out of just the small things. Anyone that knows me knows I have a very hard time sitting still. So to me, relaxing is constantly doing something. It's. It's Never sitting still. But I've learned to appreciate in the morning just the small things. It's, you know, from the moment you pop out of bed. She. She recommends just to set the tone for your day outside of doing things like, like chugging a bunch of water to rehydrate. I know this sounds so silly, but it's. It's just helps me get in the right mindset every morning. It's while you're getting ready, high five yourself in the mirror. Like, heck, yeah, we're going to have a good day. And it really just sets the tone because, again, I'm someone who's not a morning person, so I'm usually not the nicest if it's before, I don't know, 10am so just having something small like that and just, just, you know, your reflection smiling back at you, saying, all right, today might be crazy, but we've got this, like, here we go. I think it's just appreciating small things. It. You don't have to have crazy hobbies like Dan and I where you're traveling or traveling van or riding horses and constantly putting yourself in danger, but just taking it back to the small things and just having those small moments of gratitude. Especially in an environment like this where everyone's heightened, everyone's stressed. There's a lot more questions than answers. Just be sure to give your show yourself grace. I think that's the biggest thing, too. There's a lot of things that we can't control. But you know what? You can control your attitude, which is why I just love that quick little high five in the morning just to kind of set the tone for the day. A lot of high fives over at Edge. You guys have been amazing guests. Thank you so much for helping to decipher what's new this year. And again, I think the big takeaway for advisors is like one of the two strategies that you just recommended, like, give yourself a trip here to edge. I think it'll do a lot for your mindset and business. You'll find a lot of people to high fives at those roundtables and meetings, and you'll really leave feeling empowered and inspired like we all do when we leave and inform an EDGE event. So thank you both so much. It's great. Thanks. Tim. Can I. Can I say one thing? Because I really, you know, I've known you for a number of years. I knew Kelly before she started intentionally. When she was in the industry, she was a client of mine, as was Joe in his former job. And you know, we talk about the friends in the industry and, and the relationships we make. I couldn't be more happy to see what Kelly has built and what you guys are doing in the industry. It. I don't know how fast that someone could do this, but I know it looks fast and it wasn't, but I'm blown away by the things you guys have done. Your 95th podcast, Kelly. Building a. A business with people who are like all stars from the industry, which is something, you know, Shannon and I talked about that when we bring. When we bring people to inform it into our group, we've sort of handpicked them too. We get that. And so I just personally wanted to say congratulations to what you guys have done and continue to do and to thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about what we do. And we really do appreciate that. Thank you. I'll extend that again. The biggest shout out to Kelly Waltrick, who started this company, who had exactly what you're describing right there, Dan, was. Is Kelly's vision. And I knew that she had a superpower for building large, high performance teams. I saw it over at Orion when I came to her conshohock in office when she was in Orion, when she was. That's when I met her. Exactly. I walk in and there's like 40, 50 people there. Like, there's this buffet line. And now, mind you, I had been to the Google Play years and years ago through one of my first jobs. I was like, they sent me to Search Engine Strategies in Mountain View, California, and I got to go to Google and it was like, whoa. So I am pretty jaded here. Right when I walked in. And what she was describing reminded me very much of that ethos and that culture that a lot of us want to belong to. And so I really give her the credit. Yeah, she is. She's fearless, but with a heart, the heart and a wanting to give back because, you know, she recognizes the opportunities that she's been given. And it's incredible to see the internal transformations, not just from brands and clients, like, that's all good. We love you, we love you, we love you. But to see more from the people perspective, when you create an amazing firm and culture the way that Kelly has done, and when you see different people and how they start the position and where they are, like six months from now, nine months, incredible. You really do a lot for humanity. Like, that part's a gift. So we so appreciated and, you know, we're surrounded by a lot, a lot of like, partners, like like informa over there. And I feel like we're all. And I think Kelly would say this too, like, we're on the same team, just really doing great work. And the other thing is she's been very, you know, intentional. It was a word that Shannon mentioned, you know, many times. Really, really giving intentional thought to what you're creating and why you're creating it. So. And I think Edge is a perfect example. You know, you've created. You've really sat there and done the work. Done the work. Yeah. Okay. Wow. If all things were possible and not. And you're not afraid to point your finger at yourselves and say, hey, well, you know, this thing work. But maybe, like next year we'll pass and we'll weave in some fresh and new ideas. I think, I don't mean to be so, so long winded here, but, you know, one of the other things I think the industry has got to. Your mindset has got to be in the right. On the right frequency to begin with. And Kelly came with that high five mindset that Shannon was talking about. Like, and we're team relentless. We, we, we. Yesterday we were trying to. The, the coffee machine, the grinder thing wasn't working at the top. We're like, we're going to get this thing to work. Just be relentless in throwing action at things, which we, we've all done. So you guys are a collection of great people and great human beings for all the people. Let us know that you're coming to, to Edge. Continue to make it a part of your conference circuit. Don't miss it. Don't miss it this year in Boca, guys. We'll have the links in the show notes. Thank you. Thank you all so much. Tina, see you soon. Thank you, guys. I will see you soon.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Tina Powell

Host