Ask a room full of past attendees what they remember most about Elevate, and the sessions are only part of the answer. The rest is the person they sat next to during a masterclass who was fighting the exact same fire back home. The five-minute conversation at Elevate that turned into an actual partnership. The stranger at a roundtable who showed them a completely new way to use a feature they’d relied on for years.

“If I had to describe Elevate in one word, I would have to say insight. You bump into someone at a networking session and hear about a use case you didn’t even know was possible, one that’s exactly what you were looking for and how they solved it.”

Jeremy Griggs, Director of Program Management at Five9

That’s not luck. It’s the whole design intent.

This year, we’re giving that part of Elevate more structure. Elevate Sparks brings you Spark Meetups and Roundtables, built around your role or industry. Braindate lets you build your own one-on-one or small-group conversations around whatever topic you want to dig into. However you like to meet people, one of them has you covered.

What is Elevate Sparks?

Every conference with a few thousand people in one building promises “networking.” Most of them just mean you’re standing in the same room as a lot of other name badges and hoping something happens. Elevate Sparks makes the good conversations less accidental, without losing the spontaneous ones that make a conference actually fun.

It comes together through a few pieces, and each one does a different job:

• Spark Meetups, in The Spark Lounge, put you in a room built around your actual job, not just a generic “networking hour,” with a facilitator guiding an open conversation across the group
• Roundtables also group you with people in your job or function, but a customer presents a real use case first and the room discusses it together
• Everything unscripted covers the hallway run-ins, the shared lunch table, and the person next to you in a masterclass who turns out to run the exact same system you do

Want to build your own conversation instead of joining a scheduled one? That’s Braindate, covered next.

How do Spark Meetups work?

These are sessions built around a shared industry or function, guided by a facilitator but driven by the room, not a single presenter. The conversation starts from real shared context instead of small talk about the weather. You’re with people who report to similar stakeholders, run similar systems, or are explaining AI to the same skeptical VP you are.

Randy Jett, PMO Director at Children’s National, keeps coming back for exactly this:

“We’re learning how that we can all leverage the same functionality the same way, realizing similar value. We see how other people are implementing the tool, other ways that they’re structuring the tool itself… We get a lot of ideas from that.”

We’re calling these sessions Spark Meetups, and we’re currently planning:

• Non-profits
• AI, Data & Security
• GTM & Sales
• PMO
• Finance
• IT & Technology
• Healthcare
• Customer Success & Service
• Higher Education
• Operations
• Solo Attendees, built specifically for anyone flying in without a team behind them

Every Spark Meetup is facilitated to keep the conversation moving, so you leave with names and next steps instead of a business card you’ll never look at again. Spark Meetups take place in The Spark Lounge. Capacity is limited, so don’t sit on this once sign-up opens through the Elevate app. We’ll share exact dates as we get closer to the event.

What happens at a Roundtable?

Roundtables also put you in a room with people in your job or function, but the format has more structure than a Spark Meetup. A customer presents first, walking through a real use case tied to the topic. Then the table opens up so everyone can talk it through, ask questions, and swap notes on how it maps to what they’re each working on.

Jeremy Griggs, Director of Program Management at Five9, sat in on one built for PMO leaders at Elevate ’25:

“I sat in a PMO roundtable earlier today, and that format was actually very nice, because you had a presenter basically prompting us, but then there was a table of like-minded folks that were able to exchange ideas based on those prompts. There was real learning happening there.”

Jeremy Griggs

Director of Program Management at Five9

Where else does Elevate Sparks actually happen on-site?

Elevate Sparks doesn’t live in a single room. Collaboration Labs and informal gatherings run throughout both days, and the breaks between main stage moments and masterclasses are built with enough room to actually talk to the person next to you.

“It’s nice to just get inspiration from how other people are using the platform. We tend to be siloed in our own world, and it’s really good to just get outside of that and hear from other industries, other people in this space that might have a different use case that we could draw inspiration from.”

Ellen Webb VP of Shopper Analytics & Insights at PepsiCo

And sometimes it’s just as straightforward as this, from Kim Moeller, Director of Contracts & Procurement Operations at the City of Baltimore:

“There’s nothing like networking. I love networking. You meet all kinds of people and then you hear the stories and how they’re using it.”

Braindate: topic-driven peer learning

Braindate is built around one idea: the best conversation at a conference is usually the one nobody put on your calendar for you. So Braindate lets you put it there yourself, through focused one-on-one and small-group conversations you post or book directly.

You don’t need a slide deck or a finished answer, just something worth discussing. That could be a question you’re stuck on: applying AI within your team, moving from experimentation to real adoption, managing change across an organization, or getting more out of the tools you already have. It could just as easily be something you already know how to do and want to pass on. Braindate works in both directions. Show up with a problem, or show up with the answer to somebody else’s.

Spaces in group Braindates are limited, so if something in the Topic Market catches your eye, book it before you arrive rather than hoping the spot is still open once you land. If you get to the Braindate Lounge and aren’t sure where to start, look for a Learning Concierge on-site. They can help you find a conversation, shape a topic, or just point you toward the right table. All confirmed Braindates happen in the Braindate Lounge.

You can start even earlier than that. When the Elevate app launches, the Braindate platform opens with it, so you can browse the Topic Market, post a topic of your own, and book conversations before you’ve packed a bag. That means walking into Elevate with a few real conversations already lined up instead of starting from a cold room.

FAQs about networking at Elevate

• What is Elevate Sparks?

  Elevate Sparks is the name for the full networking experience at Elevate ’26. It brings together Spark Meetups, Roundtables, Braindate conversations, and the organic moments that happen across the two days, so meeting the right people doesn’t come down to chance.

• What is Braindate?

  Braindate is a networking platform at Elevate ’26 that lets attendees post and book one-on-one or small-group conversations built around specific topics, instead of relying on chance encounters. Conversations take place in the Braindate Lounge on-site.

• Do I need to prepare anything for a Braindate?

  No. You don’t need a presentation or a finished answer, just a specific question, challenge, or experience worth sharing.

• Are Spark Meetups open to everyone?

  Yes, though capacity is limited and sign-up is required. Registration details will be shared closer to the event through the Elevate app.

• What happens at a Roundtable?

  Like a Spark Meetup, a Roundtable groups you with people in your job or function. The difference is structure: a customer presents a real use case first, then the room discusses it together.

• What if I’m attending Elevate on my own?

  There’s a Spark Meetup: Solo Attendees, built specifically for people showing up without a team. You’ll be in a room full of people who also came without one.

• When can I sign up for Spark Meetups?

  Sign-up opens through the Elevate app. We’ll share exact dates and registration steps as we get closer to the event.

Elevate Team

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