ShowSDRGuide
ShowSDR vs hiring an event SDR vs an appointment setting agency
The question is not who writes better messages. It is who can message every match in the attendee list weeks before the show, answer replies within hours in your voice, and keep going after everyone flies home. Booth staff cannot do that alongside their day jobs; an SDR or agency can, at a cost that usually exceeds the meetings; the app's own matchmaking waits for the other side to act. ShowSDR does the reach and the speed from your own account for $2,500 per event, and stays in review mode until you trust it.
| Booth staff by hand | Hired event SDR | Appointment setting agency | App matchmaking | ShowSDR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reach before the show | A few dozen messages | Hundreds, if started early | Hundreds, usually by email, not in the app | Only mutual matches | Every match in the directory, paced to the app |
| Reply speed | Hours to days (48 hour median in our data) | Business hours | Business hours | n/a | Minutes to hours, 24/7 during the campaign |
| Voice and facts | Yours | Theirs, learned over weeks | Theirs, templated | n/a | Yours, from a knowledge sheet; nothing invented, checked before every send |
| Whose account | Yours | Yours or theirs | Theirs (email domain) | Yours | Yours only; you can disconnect any time |
| After the show | Usually stops | Stops when the contract ends | Stops | Stops when the app closes | Two week online conversion window, then handoff to your CRM |
| Your time | Days | Hiring, briefing, managing | Briefing, list approvals | Minimal | About two minutes a day in the portal |
| Price | Salary time | Salary or contractor rate | Retainer plus per meeting fees | Included in the ticket | $2,500 per event |
When is each the right choice?
- Booth staff by hand when you have fewer than 30 people to reach and one rep with time in the weeks before the show.
- A hired SDR when conferences are one channel among many and you want a person who also works email and phone all year.
- An agency when the buyers are not in the event app at all and email is the channel.
- App matchmaking as a supplement; it books the meetings both sides already wanted.
- ShowSDR when the people you need are in the app, you want the outreach from your own account in your own voice, and you measure the show in meetings.
What ShowSDR does not do
It does not message people you excluded, invent a price or a claim, keep messaging after a decline, or share your data with any other client. It does not replace the human at the meeting. New accounts start in review mode, where you approve each draft; autonomy is earned campaign by campaign.
Questions
Is ShowSDR an agency?
No. ShowSDR is software that works inside your conference app account. There is no retainer and no list to approve by email; you review drafts in a portal for about two minutes a day.
Can I use ShowSDR alongside my own booth team?
Yes. ShowSDR fills the calendar before the show; your team takes the meetings and the floor. ShowSDR never sends into a thread your team has written in.
What does ShowSDR cost compared to an SDR?
$2,500 per event, all inclusive. A hired SDR is a salary or contractor rate for the weeks around each show plus management time.
Who owns the conversations?
You do. Everything happens in your own event app account, and you can disconnect ShowSDR at any time.
Source: ShowSDR campaign ledgers, Contact.io 2026 (Whova, Denver, August 23 to 25) and Affiliate World Americas 2026 (iStack, Cancún, September 7 to 8), reconciled against the apps' own thread history after each campaign. Full tables and method: Conference outreach benchmarks 2026. Last reviewed 20 September 2026.