Moments of impact from Charlee Rae Bender's career
Exclaimer, a Series B B2B SaaS company, was focused on growing their channel ecosystem relationships and building their reputation in the same city as their US headquarters. I saw an opportunity to bring partners together during a16z Tech Week, a high-visibility moment when key prospects and partners would already be in town. The goal was not only to drive attendance but to strengthen regional relationships that had previously been managed through overseas coordinators. I reached out to Insight's partnership team in late April and we co-created the event concept over two weeks. I negotiated the F1 Arcade venue contract, managed a $6K budget, and built a targeted invite list of 100+ contacts pulled from our CRM. I drove RSVPs through personalized outreach and partner amplification, then coordinated all day-of logistics including check-in, racing heats, and networking flow to ensure a seamless experience. The event delivered strong results: 125 attendees showed up from 100+ RSVPs, including 25+ qualified prospects. Post-event, new partnership conversations opened up, and critically, the Insight team regionally engaged with our sales team for the first time—moving beyond the formal partner program structure. I was able to connect our Channel Account Managers on a 1:1 basis with their peers and provided value by allowing Insight to sponsor in name only, without soliciting sponsor dollars. The event moved the needle with regional points of contact and significantly advanced Exclaimer's reputation in the market.
