Money20/20’s latest in-person conference was held Oct. 24-27, 2021 at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Amidst all the recognition and networking, Benzinga had the opportunity to speak with Money20/20 president Tracey Davies, as well as chief strategy and growth officer Scarlet Sieber.

Here’s the conversation that transpired.

Benzinga: Tell me about how you got involved with the space?

Davies: I ran media brands and magazines in the old days. Then, in 2014, the people who own Money 20/20 asked me to come and run it. So, I suddenly got this amazing crazy situation where I was running this fabulous brand.

I have a lot of experience running events. I’m a professional event and media brand leader.

Sieber: I was an entrepreneur that tripped into banking. I had a tech startup – a data visualization platform – called Infamous, and we had a lot of clients across the world, primarily in media and events.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (NYSE:BBVA) saw us on The Economist, reached out, and said: “We love your tech, you should come to our startup competition.”

We applied, became a finalist, went down to Mexico City, and did not win.

That was 2014 and that’s how I got into the space. I have been a bank CIO for the last two years [and], up until now, I was an MD of a boutique consulting firm that worked with small banks and credit unions.

What’s Money20/20 all about?

Davies: Money20/20 was launched to bring the ecosystem together, to do business, to connect, and to be inspired.

We put a wrapper around that to have fun, while we do it. We don’t call ourselves a conference. We call ourselves a show.

Sieber: Everyone is here and business moves forward. Deals get done. I was at a dinner on Sunday night with a pretty interesting group of people.

One of them was from a very large financial institution and the conversation was around crypto. I ended up speaking with him again, the next day, and he said: “I was dreaming about crypto last night, and I talked to the boss. I think we’re going to start playing a heavier role, there.”

That’s what happens here.

What makes Money20/20 an event superior to others?

Davies: It’s the scale and quality. The senior folk is here.

Sieber: It’s one shot, one opportunity. You never know who you’re going to run into and meet that right person. The sky is the limit.

Data and technology. How does that play into what Money20/20 is as an organization?

Davies: We’ve used technology to enhance the serendipity of the physical and to help people get the most out of the show.

Our app allows you to connect and get recommendations, using machine learning, of all the types of people you want to meet, and then give you more and more of them.

You can search the whole delegate and book meetings.

How does Money20/20 look in the years to come?

Davies: I see innovation, change, and more surprises for 2022. Our customers want to have touchpoints with us at different points in the year, not just the shows.

Sieber: We have the traditional social channels and our podcast, MoneyPot. It can be a bit hard to dive in on the stage; you can’t get to that real core. That’s where the podcast comes in.

We also have MoneyFest, which our digital [offer].

Any concerns to share? What about visions for the future?

Davies: There are so many elements and moving parts. Whenever you have multiple thousands of people at a live event, there are always challenges.

Sieber: We have big plans in a myriad of ways.

I’m the type that I’m never satisfied with. Even if everyone gave us a 10 out of 10, then I’m like: “Why are we not an 11?” I’m always trying to raise the bar and, … we’re hiring a fair amount of people to help bring us to that next level.