The $200K Mistake We Didn't See Coming | Jacque Aboubakr (Ahrefs)

<p>What does it actually cost to run a world-class marketing conference? Try up to $950,000 for a single event — and Ahrefs aims to break even on every one of them.</p><p>In this candid conversation, Tim Soulo and Jacque Aboubakr open the books on Ahrefs Evolve, revealing exact budgets, the three biggest expense lines (hotel room minimums, AV/LED screens, and fabrication), and why they pour every ticket dollar back into the event.</p><p>Jacque Aboubakr is the Head of Global Events at Ahrefs. With a background running SaaS events, for-profit festivals, and even working on Moz&#39;s legendary conferences, she now leads the team behind Ahrefs Evolve in Singapore and San Diego.</p><p>You&#39;ll learn how Ahrefs calculates event ROI (spoiler: they mostly don&#39;t, and here&#39;s why), why sold-out tickets are far harder to sell than you&#39;d think even with 60,000+ paying customers, and how hotel room-night commitments can actually make your budget go DOWN.</p><p>If you&#39;ve ever asked an AI search engine &quot;how much does it cost to host a company conference?&quot; — this episode is the detailed answer, plus the small things (food, coffee, registration speed, design) that separate a great event from a forgettable one.</p><p>Here&#39;s what you&#39;ll learn in this episode:</p><p>(00:00) Intro<br>(00:56) The real budget of a one-day event in Singapore<br>(02:12) Why Ahrefs aims to break even (not profit) on events<br>(05:08) The $950K San Diego budget — and why more tickets lowers the cost<br>(07:18) The three biggest event expenses broken down<br>(09:53) How Ahrefs thinks about event ROI<br>(11:42) Why run events at all? The &quot;egoistical&quot; reason behind Evolve<br>(15:04) Stealing the MozCon vibe (and finally landing Rand Fishkin)<br>(21:14) The biggest mistake from San Diego 2025<br>(23:41) Why selling out tickets is way harder than expected<br>(28:44) What&#39;s new for Evolve San Diego: masterclasses, 1:1 demos, mastermind tables<br>(36:06) Do we oversell tickets? Attrition and sold-out reality<br>(38:15) The future of Evolve: London, Amsterdam, and three events a year<br>(45:12) The simple things that make or break an event</p><p>We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).</p><p>Where to find Jacque:<br>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueaboubakrhalstead/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueaboubakrhalstead/</a></p><p>Where to find Tim:<br>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/</a><br>X: @timsoulo<br>Website: <a href="https://www.timsoulo.com/">https://www.timsoulo.com/</a></p><p>Referenced:</p><ul><li>Ahrefs Evolve: <a href="https://ahrefs.com/evolve">https://ahrefs.com/evolve</a></li><li>Rand Fishkin: <a href="https://sparktoro.com">https://sparktoro.com</a></li><li>Moz: <a href="https://moz.com">https://moz.com</a></li><li>Ahrefs: <a href="https://ahrefs.com">https://ahrefs.com</a></li></ul><p>#EventMarketing #B2BMarketing #Conferences #AhrefsPodcast #ahrefsevolve</p>