You may have made the mistake before of treating workshops as "the proctor's event" — dropping in for the opening and leaving once the labs begin. This section reframes your role during the workshop as an active relationship-building and intelligence-gathering function that directly drives the quality of your post-event follow-up.

Key Content

Plan to be present for the entire workshop, not just the opening. Your presence signals investment in the customer relationship and gives you multiple natural touchpoints across breaks, lunch, and lab transitions. Customers notice — and remember — when their AE stays for the duration of an event. Conversely, they notice when you leave after the welcome, and the message it sends is rarely the one you intend.

Use breaks and lab time strategically. Have one-on-one conversations with the key attendees you specifically invited — particularly the decision-makers and influencers — but stay open to other attendees who may surface as champions during the day. Listen carefully for which products or solutions resonate most with each customer. Moments where a customer says "we could really use this" or "how would this work in our environment?" are gold for follow-up. Take notes on specific pain points, environment details, and buying signals as you go; these notes become the foundation of your follow-up emails and meeting requests in the days that follow.

Throughout the day, support your proctor by helping address any non-technical customer questions and managing the room dynamic. If a customer needs help with logistics, has a non-technical question, or seems disengaged, you can step in so the proctor can stay focused on the technical content.

Most importantly, when the proctor makes the survey ask near the end of the workshop, reinforce it. A unified message from both AE and proctor drives significantly higher survey completion rates. Workshops have seen survey completion rates as high as 90%+ when the request is sincere, direct, and reinforced by the full Cisco team in the room — versus the typical 5–30% when the ask is passive or absent.

Steps to Engage Effectively on the Day

1. Arrive early to greet attendees as they come in and run check-ins as they arrive.
2. Deliver your welcome at the start of the event and hand off cleanly to your proctor for the technical opening.
3. During each break, identify two or three priority attendees and have brief, focused conversations with each.
4. Take notes immediately after each conversation — pain points, environment details, buying signals, and any next steps mentioned.
5. During lab time, walk the room (or stay engaged in the chat for virtual events) and listen for spontaneous reactions to the product.
6. When your proctor makes the survey ask, reinforce it sincerely — thank attendees, explain why the survey matters, and ask them directly to fill it out before they leave.
7. Stay until the very end of the event, including any informal Q&A, and thank each attendee personally as they depart.