Past eventHeld September 8–10, 2026
Drive 2026
Drive is Exit Five's annual conference for in-house B2B marketers and CMOs. The 2026 edition took place September 8–10, 2026 at The Lodge at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont.
The Lodge at Spruce Peak, Stowe, VT
- Held
- September 8–10, 2026
- Venue
- The Lodge at Spruce Peak, Stowe, VT
- Attendance
- ~400 attendees (capped under 500)
TL;DR
- Drive 2026 took place September 8–10, 2026 at The Lodge at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont.
- Exit Five capped Drive at under 500 attendees and expected around 400 people for the 2026 edition.
About
Exit Five keeps it small, with attendance under 500, and presents it as a community-driven, practitioner-led alternative to larger B2B marketing conferences. Keynotes were scheduled from Seth Godin, Ann Handley, Kara Hardin and Louis Grenier, and workshops were billed as covering topics such as early-stage brand building, LinkedIn ads and showing up in LLM answers.
Who was in the room
In-House B2B Marketer
Attendees in this group had to be full-time employed at a B2B company; all ticket purchases were verified.
Agency, Service Provider & Founders
The full conference experience, with the same access as in-house marketers, was opened to marketing agencies, fractional marketers, freelancers, founders, and CEOs.
CMO Inner Circle
Closed-door working sessions, peer-led discussions, and private events were reserved for CMOs and VPs of Marketing.
Featured speakers
27 listedSeth Godin
Author, Entrepreneur, & Teacher
Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer · MarketingProfs
Kara Hardin
Founder · The Practice Lab
Louis Grenier
Founder · Stand The F*ck Out
Jess Cook
VP of Marketing · Vector
Ross Simmonds
Founder & CEO · Foundation Marketing
Anthony Blatner
Managing Director, LinkedIn Ads Expert · Speedwork
Emily Giddings
Marketing Manager · Work & Co
Spud Rule
VP of Marketing · Lendio
Brianna Doe
Founder · Verbatim
Brendan Hufford
Head of Marketing · Growth Sprints
Diane Wiredu
Founder · Lion Words
Casey Patterson
Director of NoAm ABM · Snowflake
Preethi Sundaram
Director of International Marketing · Attentive
Alex Howe
SVP of Marketing & Growth · Funnel Leasing
Drew Giovannoli
Founder · BuriedWins
Hailey McDonald
VP of Revenue Marketing · Sprout Social
Tara Robertson
CMO · Bitly
Christina Le
Head of Marketing · Slate
Ido Mart
CMO · Manychat
Jonathan Rosenfeld
VP of Marketing · Hologram
Hunter Talpas
Director of Demand Gen · Tekmetric
Jenna Cason
Sr. Director, Brand and Community · Tekmetric
Molly Evola
Senior Content Marketing Manager · Customer.io
Gabby Kustner
Sr. Growth Marketing Manager · Customer.io
Holly Enneking
VP of Marketing · Markup AI
Julia Maguire
Integrated Marketing & AI Innovation Director · Optimizely
Partners on record
8 listedWhat attendees say
“It is an amazing feeling to attend a conference where you know you will meet like-minded people, but also incredibly supportive people. Drive creates the space for B2B marketers to reset, revive, and ultimately thrive. I came away with so many ideas of where to go from here.”
“This was my second year at Drive and I thought it was absolutely the right choice to come back. I loved having reunion moments with people I met last year and getting to meet a whole new cohort of people. The speakers offered a great mix of hands-on perspective plus introducing us to ideas or skills we might want to pursue outside of the requirements of our day jobs.”
Venue & travel
Venue
The Lodge at Spruce PeakGetting there
The Lodge at Spruce Peak was the official on-site venue in Stowe, VT, where all programming, meals, and activities took place.
Getting there
BlueBird Cady Hill Lodge is a boutique hotel 14 minutes from the venue on the edge of Stowe village, with daily shuttle service offered for the event.
Getting there
AWOL Stowe is a boutique hotel 15 minutes from the venue in Cady Hill Forest, with daily shuttle service offered for the event.
Questions people ask
4 answeredDrive 2027 has been announced, but dates are not published yet.
Drive 2026 took place September 8–10, 2026, with the Welcome Reception scheduled to start at 5 PM on Tuesday, September 8 and programming scheduled to wrap at 5 PM on Thursday, September 10, followed by an afterparty at 7 PM.
Exit Five expected around 400 people at Drive 2026, with total attendance intentionally capped under 500.
Stowe, Vermont is reachable by car from major Northeast cities including Boston and New York City. The organizer did not publish official drive-time estimates or a travel guide, so check a maps service for a current estimate before booking travel.
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