Comma at Silicon Slopes Marketing Summit
On May 5, 2025, Utah Valley University’s picturesque campus welcomed more than just the hopeful signs of spring. Over 300 of Utah’s brightest marketing stars gathered for the second annual Silicon Slopes Marketing Summit, ready for a day of learning from and connecting with industry leaders and fellow marketing masters.
As a longtime Silicon Slopes community member and frequent participant in the organization’s events, Comma Copywriters proudly supported the Marketing Summit as a sponsor in the B2B track. Crystalee Beck, Comma Founder and CEO, had the opportunity to speak at the summit and connect with attendees at Comma’s event booth. Here’s a recap of the experience, including highlights from the keynote addresses and Crystalee’s takeaways.
Winning Together With Co-Marketing
B2B marketers are uniquely positioned to foster authentic and mutually beneficial client relationships. In her presentation “Winning Together: Insights for Co-Marketing With Your Best B2B Customers,” Crystalee highlighted creative ways that marketers are spotlighting customer success and forming genuine partnerships rooted in trust.
Building trust starts by supporting clients as they move through the fear of pursuing new goals and projects. Accepting the fear is necessary, Crystalee explained, because it’s often the catalyst for courage.
“The fear is an invitation to be courageous, if we accept it. In marketing, we can be that partner who witnesses our clients in their acts of courage; to highlight and honor the good they do, and win together.”
The presentation itself was a realization of one of Crystalee’s earliest professional goals when she started her business.
“Within the first few minutes of my presentation, I had a meta moment. I told the audience, ‘Being up here in front of you is a literal dream come true for me.’ Years ago, when I started Comma, I dreamed of being recognized as a leading content agency, representing as a sponsor brand at Silicon Slopes. On a personal and professional level, I felt so good being there.”
Keynote Speakers
In addition to Crystalee and other breakout session speakers, the summit featured three keynote speakers.
Jacco van der Kooij, “How AI-Native Companies Are Rewriting the Growth Playbook”:
The accelerated growth of today’s SaaS marketplace demands a new set of strategies that traditional playbooks can’t offer. “Winning By Design” founder Jacco van der Kooij explored how AI-native companies redefine go-to-market strategies and what other marketing professionals can learn from them to unlock their own sustainable AI-driven growth.
Gary Brown, “Preserving the Soul of Marketing: Can We Harmonize Technology and Creativity?”
Is it possible to balance human creativity and technological efficiency while keeping pace with modern marketing demands? UVU Professional-in-Residence Gary Brown discussed how we can preserve the soul of marketing while also adopting innovative technologies, ultimately creating opportunities for marketing to thrive.
RJ Schultz, “You Might Be Early; But You Can Be Inevitable”
Schultz, COO of presenting sponsor Blip Billboards, focused on unpacking those moments that make us pause and shift our perspective. Once we’re able to recognize those moments, we can take advantage of their inherent momentum.
Building Community, the Comma Way
The summit offered another professional first for the Comma team: hosting a booth at a marketing conference. Since this was Comma’s official introduction to the Marketing Summit community, our goal was to create a colorful, creative, welcoming space so we could meet and greet as many visitors as possible. Planning an interactive game made reaching that goal easier than expected.
“Since we work with words at Comma, we gave out shiny alphabet stickers to the nearly 200 attendees who visited our booth,” Crystalee said. After sticking their letter on their name badge, each person was tasked with finding their "marketing match" (someone with the same letter) and coming back with their new friend to the Comma booth. When they did, they got a gold star sticker and were entered into a drawing for a prize.
“This game was an experiment that ended up being such a blast. Several people even came back multiple times with new marketing friends!”
A World-Class Event in Utah
Events like the Silicon Slopes Marketing Summit don’t simply happen overnight. Professional events of this caliber require months of planning and tireless dedication to creating something that offers genuine value for its attendees.
The Silicon Slopes Marketing Chapter, Blip, and Utah Valley University gave Team Comma a great opportunity to connect with and contribute to the marketing community. In Crystalee’s words, “It was 100% worth our time, money, and energy for Comma Copywriters to be part of this event.”
We also extend a special thank you to Pete Larkin and Britney Larkin, the leaders who spearheaded much of the planning to ensure that the event exceeded expectations.
“Pete and Britney worked so hard to create this world-class event, and it all felt very wholesome, personable, and real. It was very sweet; so well done and with a lot of heart.”
Ultimately, the summit showcased that when organizations work together and actively support each other, the power of partnership generates success for everyone. At Comma, we embrace that same philosophy and strive to help our clients shine and achieve their loftiest goals.
If you need a partner to support your content marketing efforts in pursuit of success, we’re ready to chat. Schedule your free 20-minute consultation to learn more.
