My first time in Boston: Inbound, lobster rolls, and the HubSpot community

Before last week, I had never been to Boston before. I hadn’t purposely avoided it, but as someone who grew up in the Midwest, I didn’t have much of a reason to get out to the East Coast. My perception of Boston was a city full of Patriots fans decrying Tom Brady’s retirement in between debating whether hot or cold lobster rolls are better (I tried both hot and cold, and I liked them equally. How’s that for settling the debate?).

I didn’t just come to Boston to find out that "market price" means "really expensive" when it comes to seafood; I had the pleasure of attending my very first INBOUND conference.

If you haven’t heard of it, INBOUND is HubSpot’s annual conference that gathers HubSpot customers, HubSpot Partner Agencies (like Pyxis), technology companies, and thought leaders from around the world to network and learn about HubSpot’s product updates.

My experience at this conference is hard to compare to anything I have attended in the past. The energy of the attendees, the speakers, and the vendors truly made this a unique experience. I ended up meeting so many incredible people and learning so much that I had to share it with you. 

Without further ado, here are three reasons to make INBOUND a part of your conference schedule:

Learning: Beyond just using HubSpot

It feels like consumer AI is everywhere right now. I can take a picture of the ingredients in my fridge and be given five mediocre recipe ideas, or ask ChatGPT to write a poem without using the letter ‘e.’ Personally, I am sick of overpromising when it comes to AI, and I am looking for practical ways it will help in my day-to-day life. From the opening session and throughout, artificial intelligence seemed to be the theme of INBOUND 2024. Instead of trying to blow us away with what AI can do, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan leaned into AI’s shortcomings to highlight the need for human ingenuity as we inevitably become more dependent on AI tools. 

I think Rangan’s presentation can be summarized with one line from her compelling talk: “AI creates, humans curate.” In a time when workers fear losing jobs, it was refreshing to hear the leader of a major technology company articulate a vision for AI that includes workers and aims to improve their lives. As a cautiously optimistic person, I want AI to work, but I also don’t want to live in a world inundated with poorly conceived AI-generated content that lacks creativity, nuance, and the human touch needed to make meaningful connections. 

Networking: I met dozens of like-minded professionals

I was blown away by the incredibly wide range of people at INBOUND 2024. If you are reading this, you may know that I work for a HubSpot Partner organization called Pyxis Growth Partners. My assumption going into INBOUND was that it would mostly be other partner organizations and potentially a few large HubSpot customers, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. INBOUND truly is a well-rounded marketing, sales, professional development, and technology conference. I was blown away by the number of industries represented. I met with HubSpot customers in construction, SaaS, finance, and everything in between. Dozens of HubSpot App Partners had booths on the exhibition floor, talking through what their company does and how they are able to leverage HubSpot to make their products work even better.

Technology: HubSpot draws out exceptional tech companies

One of my favorite parts of INBOUND was getting to walk the exhibition floor and talk to companies that have prioritized their integration with HubSpot. The HubSpot App Marketplace just surpassed 1,700 native integrations. Why does that matter? Instead of having to build a custom integration with HubSpot, there are now over 1,700 applications waiting to be connected to your HubSpot instance. 

One company I particularly enjoyed talking with was Zerobounce. Zerobounce is an email validation software that has a native integration with HubSpot, allowing them to quickly and easily determine email deliverability without the user having to leave HubSpot. As someone who has spent countless hours uploading, downloading, formatting, and cleaning up email lists, this is a solution I am definitely going to explore.

I couldn’t possibly write about every technology vendor I talked to at INBOUND, but seeing these companies in the context of HubSpot provided me with a wealth of knowledge that I am looking forward to sharing internally at my own company and externally with our clients.

Overall, INBOUND 2024 was a powerful reminder of how technology, particularly AI, is shaping the future of work, while also highlighting the ongoing need for human creativity and insight. From Yamini Rangan’s thoughtful perspective on AI to the wealth of innovative HubSpot integrations, the event showcased the balance between embracing cutting-edge tools and maintaining a human touch. The conversations with professionals across industries and the exploration of tools like Zerobounce left me with valuable insights to bring back to Pyxis Growth Partners and our clients.

If you’re interested in staying updated on the latest in HubSpot, AI, and technology trends, sign up for our newsletter to receive further insights and updates. And if you haven’t experienced INBOUND yet, I highly recommend attending next year—it’s a must for anyone looking to grow, connect, and stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

The Pyxis team at Inbound 2024