About the Event

Drive is the annual flagship in-person event produced by Exit Five, the B2B marketing community and media brand founded by Dave Gerhardt. The 2026 edition takes place September 8-10 at The Lodge at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont. Drive is a residential conference format - most attendees stay on-site or at nearby hotels connected by shuttle, and the event experience extends well beyond the programme schedule into meals, outdoor activities, and informal peer connection. The event runs from a Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening through to a closing after-party on Thursday, with attendees typically departing Friday morning. Around 400 people are expected at Drive 2026. Event sponsors include Vector, Customer.io, and Knak.

Audience & Attendees

Drive is designed primarily for in-house B2B marketers - practitioners and leaders who are full-time employed at B2B companies. Ticket purchases for the in-house marketer category are verified. A separate ticket class is available for agency practitioners, fractional marketers, freelancers, founders, and service providers. An Exit Five Inner Circle tier gives founders and executives access to private dinners with speakers, a closed-door marketing session with Dave Gerhardt, early access to on-site lodging, and reserved front-row seating. Exit Five community members receive a discounted rate on all tiers. Past attendees have included SVPs and senior marketing managers from a broad range of B2B technology companies. The community orientation means a significant portion of attendees return year-on-year, creating a peer cohort dynamic rather than a purely transactional conference experience.

Programme Structure

The three-day event begins Tuesday September 8 at 5 PM with the Welcome Reception. The main programme runs across Wednesday September 9 and Thursday September 10, covering two full days of speaker sessions and workshops, with breakfast, lunch, and Wednesday dinner included. Social programming is built into the schedule: a talent show runs on Day 1 and a morning hike on Day 2, reflecting Drive's positioning as an event where professional development and peer connection happen in an outdoor setting. Thursday programming wraps at 5 PM, followed by a closing after-party at 7 PM. The venue - a mountain resort in Vermont - provides informal meeting space throughout for attendees to take calls, run one-on-one conversations, or step away between sessions. A full agenda and speaker lineup had not been published at the time of entry creation.

Main Topics

Based on Exit Five's editorial focus and past Drive programming, the content is expected to centre on B2B marketing strategy and execution, demand generation, content marketing, brand building in B2B, marketing leadership and career development, pipeline and revenue attribution, and the practical application of AI in B2B marketing workflows. Drive's content philosophy is practitioner-first - speakers share direct operational experience, including failures, rather than aspirational positioning.

Closing Session

The main conference programme concludes on September 10 at 5 PM. An after-party follows at 7 PM the same evening.

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