The Playbook
The InsurTech Conference Playbook: 7 Moves That Separate the Top 10% of Attendees
What one of InsurTech Spring 2026’s most-connected attendees did differently. And what you can copy before your next event.
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7Rules
3 wksPrep Window
72 hrsFollow-Up Window
The Playbook at a Glance
- 01 Pre-sort the attendee list three weeks out.
- 02 Book meetings before you arrive.
- 03 Set an ICP target, not a volume target.
- 04 Make 1:1s your primary format.
- 05 Lead with curiosity, not a pitch.
- 06 Say yes to the unplanned conversation.
- 07 Follow up like you actually listened.
Why This Matters
Most Insurtech Conference Attendees Leave With Almost Nothing Usable
A ticket, flights, hotels, and three days of your team’s time. By the end of most insurtech events, attendees can describe two or three sessions and a tote bag of brochures. Few can name a deal, partnership, or hire that started there.
A small minority leaves with a full pipeline of warm conversations, second meetings booked, and a clear read on where the market is heading. The difference is rarely charisma. It is preparation and a few specific habits.
At this year’s InsurTech Spring Conference, Marina Dolbik of software development company Akveo came out with one of the highest 1:1 meeting counts of any attendee in the room. None of what she did was complicated. All of it was deliberate. What follows is the insurtech conference networking playbook, with her notes from the field.
Pre-Sort the Attendee List Three Weeks Out
Conference prep starts with one hour: three weeks before the event, open the attendee list in Brella, or whichever networking platform the conference uses, and start sorting. Do not wait until the night before.
Three weeks out gives you time to review profiles, identify good fits, and actually get meetings on the calendar.
Cut two groups first:
- Direct competitors, unless there is a specific reason to meet.
- The largest enterprises in the room, who almost certainly have existing vendor relationships and will not move quickly on a new one.
What remains is your target list: companies that match your ideal customer profile in size, needs, and fit. That list is where your booked meetings should come from.
“A lot of meeting requests got declined. That’s just the reality. But enough people accepted that I had a full schedule of meaningful meetings.”
Rejections are useful too. They quickly tell you where fit is not there and help you focus on the conversations that matter.
Book Meetings Before You Arrive
Walking in cold and trying to set up meetings in the hallway is a losing strategy. By the time you have found someone, exchanged contact info, and coordinated calendars, the conference is over.
Send meeting requests two to three weeks before the event. Be specific about why you want to meet and what is in it for them. Generic “would love to connect” messages get ignored.
Example message:
Hi Sarah, I saw you’re leading partnerships at XYZ. We work with mid-sized carriers on claims workflow automation and thought there might be overlap with what you’re building. I’ll be at InsurTech Spring and would love to grab 15 to 20 minutes if it makes sense.
Plan for a 50% to 70% rejection rate. That is normal. The math still works because the meetings that land are meetings you actually wanted.
Set an ICP Target, Not a Volume Target
“Meet as many people as possible” is the goal most attendees set. It is the wrong one. Volume targets pull you toward shallow conversations and indiscriminate business-card collection.
Set an ICP target instead. Going in, know:
- The industry segment and company size you want to talk to.
- The role and seniority of the person you need.
- The specific outcome that would make the trip worthwhile.
Ten conversations with the right profile beat fifty with the wrong one. The follow-up workload is also lighter, which matters more than people admit on the flight home.
Make 1:1s Your Primary Format
Panels are useful for getting smarter on a topic. Happy hours are useful for ambient relationship-building. The most valuable conference days usually make room for both structured learning and direct conversations.
1:1 meetings are where the highest-signal exchanges often happen. The format is quieter, more direct, and more honest than anything else on the schedule. The information you can exchange in a thirty-minute coffee is hard to extract from anywhere else at the event.
“One-on-one meetings, without a doubt. They’re the highest-signal format at a conference like this.”
Build your day around 1:1s and use sessions as preparation. The best sessions give you context, ideas, and shared language that make your conversations afterward stronger.
Lead With Curiosity, Not a Pitch
Insurance is a slow industry to learn and a relationship-driven one to sell into. Attendees who arrive with a pitch deck in their pocket and a list of objections to handle are easy to spot, and easy to politely move past.
Attendees who get further are the ones asking better questions. What is broken in your workflow today? What did you try before that did not work? What would a partner have to prove to you in the first thirty days?
“Akveo is strong on the technology and development side, but we need to deepen our domain knowledge in insurance.”
The mindset of “I am here to learn how this industry actually works” tends to open more doors than “I am here to close.” Both can lead to deals. Only one earns trust along the way.
Say Yes to the Unplanned Conversation
A booked schedule is the floor of your conference value, not the ceiling. The ceiling lives in the unscheduled moments: the coffee line, the photo group, the cab share, the seat next to you at lunch.
Marina credits two of her warmest Spring 2026 conversations to a photographer organizing a group shot who asked attendees to introduce themselves to two people they had not spoken with yet. Those introductions turned into some of the best meetings of the event.
“You don’t always know where the good stuff is going to come from.”
Leave room in your day for it. Block ninety minutes that is not booked with anything. Walk the floor without an agenda. The serendipity does not happen if every minute is accounted for.
Follow Up Like You Actually Listened
The follow-up is where most conferences quietly die. Attendees mean to send the messages and then do not, or send templated notes that read like they were drafted on the flight home. Both outcomes are the same: nothing happens.
“If you actually listened during the meeting, the follow-up writes itself.”
A good follow-up references something specific the other person said and continues the conversation rather than restarting it. The work of writing it is already done if you were paying attention.
Send follow-ups within 72 hours, before the conference fades for them too. After that, you are competing with their inbox, their kids, and whatever fire is burning at work.
The Bottom Line
Preparation Is the Whole Game
Attendees who get the most from insurtech conferences are not the most charismatic or the most senior. The ones who win treat the event as the middle of a process that started three weeks earlier and continues for a month afterward.
Pre-sort the list. Book the meetings. Lead with questions. Follow up like a human. The rules are not complicated. The discipline is.
For upcoming events to apply this to, explore the InsurTech NY events calendar or browse our broader 2026 Insurance and InsurTech Conference Calendar.
