Honeycomb — a platform that helps engineering teams debug, optimize, and understand their own production systems through observability — needed a better way to connect with their customers in a virtual setting. During in-person events, it was easy to bond over authentic experiences, like a shared meal. But when events went online, it became more challenging to create those networking opportunities and differentiate Honeycomb's programs from other webinars.

The goal of Honeycomb's online events was the same as it had always been: Give customers the opportunity to learn how Honeycomb observability helps software engineering teams resolve incidents, ship features faster, and deliver great customer experiences.

Honeycomb launched their Brunch & Learn program to create that learning opportunity in an intimate, small-group environment. And they used Hoppier to recreate the experience of sharing a meal. 

"Hoppier became the bridge we needed to enjoy that experience of eating, networking and collaborating over a meal." – Sheridan Gaenger, Head of Revenue Marketing at Honeycomb

Solving the Intimacy Gap

Once Honeycomb decided on a format for their virtual events, they needed to incentivize current and potential customers to join — food created that incentive and was an essential part of the Brunch & Learn format. 

To supply brunch for the events, Honeycomb considered sending physical gift cards or e-gift cards to each attendee, but these solutions required a lot of work to execute. 

"We preferred Hoppier because other methods were too cumbersome, expensive, or slow." –Bethanie Griffith, Marketing Generalist at Honeycomb

With Hoppier, Honeycomb can send out virtual credit cards. They're able to set up a program, add a budget, upload all their guests' email addresses, and send cards from one place. They can also brand their virtual credit cards with their company logo and colors. 

Hoppier allows Honeycomb's attendees to choose from a variety of local and national vendors. So, every guest is able to order a meal of their choice, and the variety of dining experience serves as a natural ice breaker for the events. The events open with casual conversation about what attendees ordered with their virtual credit card.

The Payoff

By switching to a small-group format and using Hoppier cards to incentivize participation, Honeycomb transformed their Brunch & Learn program into a coveted event invitation.

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"We are able to drive more open rates, click-through rates, registrations — again with a really targeted group because it's an experience that they're joining. It's not a webinar that they're joining." – Sheridan Gaenger, Head of Revenue Marketing at Honeycomb

Beyond event registration, Hoppier is also helping to encourage greater participation during the events. Food has served as a natural and authentic icebreaker that's inspired more people to speak up and have a voice at the virtual table. It's creating greater networking opportunities for Honeycomb's customers and leading to better ROI from each event.