🏙️ Join us at WTSFest Philly in 51 days—standard tix close end of month
🏙️ Join us at WTSFest Philly in 51 days—standard tix close end of month
Author: WTS Team
1
Unforgettable networking dinner
11
Finance leaders from targeted outreach
100%
Rated the event valuable & relevant
Highest
Siteimprove dinner sign-up-to-attendance ratio
Image credit: Casey Paul
In May 2026, we co-hosted an intimate networking dinner with WTSPartner Siteimprove, where we welcomed attendees from American Express, John Lewis Money, Monzo, Revolut, Wise (and more!).
The purpose of the evening was to provide WTS marketing leaders with a safe, judgement-free space to make new connections, ask questions, and share the challenges they’re facing in their niche industries and roles.
The result was more than a full table.
In addition to the connection it provided WTSers, Siteimprove earned trust with enterprise organisation senior professionals, created space for honest conversations about their challenges with AI visibility, and built meaningful relationships with folks who can help them become a more trusted brand.
The event included: a welcome drink and informal networking; a talk by Siteimprove's Head of Strategy, Jeff Coyle followed by Q&A; then further networking over a three course dinner.
This week, I finally made it to a Women in Tech SEO event and what a room to walk back into.
After a few years on the sidelines; new role, mum life, the usual - I wasn’t sure what to expect. But within minutes I remembered exactly why this community is special.
The evening, hosted by Siteimprove, centred around a question: is our digital content actually ready to be understood by machines?
The conversation around AI-readiness really landed for me. It’s not about producing more content – it’s about whether what you already have is accessible, semantically structured, and differentiated enough for AI systems to trust and surface it.
But the people in that room were the real highlight. A genuinely warm community, and a reminder that showing up matters.
~Casey Paul, Marketing Manager, Cater Allen
Siteimprove wanted to build relationships with senior marketing and digital decision-makers from large enterprise organisations - hearing directly about their day-to-day pain points while creating space for peers to connect around shared challenges.
Their ideal customer profile (ICP) brief was specific.
They were looking for senior managers, directors, heads and VPs working across:
Priority industries included:
Ideally with a focus on organisations generating more than $250 million in annual revenue.
✔️ Filling the room with Siteimprove's ICP
WTS Founder, Areej AbuAli, loved this specific brief and went to work reaching out directly to WTS members that (1) fit Siteimprove's profile and (2) she knew would both bring an openness to connection and gain a lot of value from the experience.
✔️ Hosting & moderation
The event was hosted by WTSFest Emcee, Hannah Smith; who greeted attendees on arrival, gave a short welcome speech, introduced Siteimprove's speaker for the evening, and moderated the Q&A.
Our goal was to create an environment where people felt a sense of belonging to speak openly & honestly.
There’s something so energising about sitting around a table with a group of sharp, curious, experienced people who all care deeply about the same things you do.
Jeff Coyle from SiteImprove walked us through what it really takes to optimise for AI Overviews, and it reframed a lot of how I’ve been thinking about content strategy.
The TL;DR version: search isn’t returning lists of links anymore. It’s reading your content, extracting passages, and composing answers. The pages that win aren’t necessarily the ones that rank #1, but instead they’re the ones written with clarity, evidence, a genuine point of view, and something to say that nobody else is saying. For anyone working in SEO or content right now, that’s a shift worth paying attention to.
But the people in that room were the real highlight.
A reminder of why spaces like this matter, and how much you can learn when you’re surrounded by people who are brilliant at what they do.
Thank you to the organisers for including me. I'm already looking forward to the next one!
~Zoe Burke, Head of Brand, Bridebook
✔️ Dinner venue selection & booking
Siteimprove selected the Dining Room at Rosewood London—a venue they had used successfully before and knew could support the intimate mix of networking, discussion and dinner the evening required.
✔️ Speaker selection
Siteimprove selected Jeff Coyle, SVP Head of Strategy and co-founder of MarketMuse, whose expertise closely matched the evening’s focus on building strong digital foundations for AI visibility.
Last week, at the Siteimprove x Women in Tech SEO dinner, we discussed how accessibility and AI readiness aren't separate workstreams. It's the same problem.
Thanks to Jeff Coyle for giving a talk on this topic, to Hannah Smith from WTS, and Rini Chacko from Siteimprove for putting together such a great evening.
~Victoria Yap, Head of SEO & Content Production, Carmoola
(fun fact: Victoria Yap was connected to Carmoola through community-powered recruitment!)
Our WTS members loved the event; everyone rated the event as either "valuable" or "very valuable"; and "relevant" or "very relevant".
When asked what they liked best, attendees highlighted the:
✔️ Welcoming atmosphere
They appreciated the small, intimate nature of the event, which made it easier to converse and reduced the usual networking awkwardness.
The environment facilitated one-on-one conversations with other attendees and the Siteimprove team, making it less intimidating to ask questions and discuss current professional challenges.
✔️ High-quality experience
The event was described as “all-around brilliant”, with a great speaker, beautiful venue, and delicious food.
✔️ Opportunity to make valuable new connections
Our members enjoyed meeting and connecting with other folks in similar roles and industries who were experiencing the same types of challenges.
The event started with a brilliant presentation from Jeff Coyle on a topic that's keeping us all up at night: AI-driven visibility. He reminded us that if our digital foundations (structure, accessibility, data) are messy, no fancy AI tool is going to see us.
I left feeling energised, but also strangely relieved. It turns out we are all carrying the same "AI burden."
We’re all trying to figure out what’s happening in this space, we’re all guessing a little bit, and absolutely nobody has the "perfect" answer yet.
We are all just learning out loud together.
~Flo Guerrouani, Global Search Performance & AI Lead, Cushman & Wakefield
Siteimprove were thrilled with the event too.
✔️ Highly engaged attendees
They shared it was the highest sign-up to turn-up ratio they'd ever experienced for this event format and that the conversations flowed seamlessly.
✔️ Relationship building with the right people
They were hugely impressed by both the profile and engagement levels of the attendees. They said it was a great way to build relationships with their ICPs, and are keen to work with us again in the future.
✔️ Further proof that community-powered events are the way forward
Mentioning the trust that community members have to actually show up and be open to connection and growth.
Working with Women in Tech SEO on this dinner reminded me why marketing built around real community works.
It had the highest sign-up to turn-up ratio we've seen for an event like this, and that's not luck.
It's what happens when a community trusts the person filling the room enough to actually show up.
You can't fake the kind of conversation that happens once they're there, either, where people can just talk about what they're actually dealing with. That's the environment WTS created.
Jeff’s presentation resonated with the audience, a testament to the ICP in the room – accessibility isn't separate from AI visibility, it's the foundation of it.
Nights like this are why I keep saying our best growth channel isn't a channel at all. It's relationships.
Thank you to the team at WTS for helping us build real ones.
~Rini Chacko, Senior Director- Field Marketing, Siteimprove
This initiative succeeded because Siteimprove did not treat the WTS community as a mailing list or distribution channel.
They started with a focused challenge and worked with WTS to create something genuinely useful for the people they wanted to reach.
✔️ The attendee brief was clear and specific
✔️ Invitations came through trusted community relationships
✔️ The event offered real learning and peer connection
✔️ Siteimprove contributed expertise without dominating the conversation
✔️ The small format made honest discussion possible - something more & more folks are looking for
One of my personal goals this year is to do less massive conferences and way more of these roundtable setups.
Big events are great, but roundtables are where the real magic happens. It’s where everyone drops the corporate filter and you get to hear what people are actually dealing with behind the scenes.
~Flo Guerrouani, Global Search Performance & AI Lead, Cushman & Wakefield
When a business wants to reach a specific audience, a bigger promotional campaign is not always the answer.
Sometimes, the most valuable opportunity is a thoughtfully curated room filled with the right people.
Because community-powered marketing is not about accessing an audience.
It is about creating something worth showing up for.
Say hello to a partnership unlike any other.
WTS is a community of some of the most knowledgeable and passionate SEOs and marketers around the world.
As a WTSPartner, you get to stand with our community as you amplify your brand.
