Ally Masi describes herself as creative, meticulous and passionate. Learn more about her.
What I do: I lead a team that facilitates forums for C-level executives from leading small and medium businesses to share in unique experiences and thought leadership that further business goals powered by our technology. Our intimate, high-touch events provide our sales leadership team opportunities to align with executives from top customer and prospect accounts to grow business and position Salesforce as a valued partner.
How I got here: My love for events started at a young age and was inspired by the imaginative and detailed birthday parties my mom planned for me during my childhood—before the days of Pinterest! I started my career in public relations at W2O, working primarily with recognizable healthcare companies, which involved a significant amount of client management, writing, integrated marketing, and sometimes —but not often enough—events. As I realized I wanted to focus more exclusively in events, I pivoted into a role at the PR agency specializing in media events/launches for clients and executive-level business development events for the agency itself. Relationships and experience I built during that time led me to my current role at Salesforce.
Greatest career accomplishment: In my last year at W2O, I was responsible for managing 16 official panels and more than 60 speakers at SXSW as part of our partner programming, as well as curating exclusive experiences for more than 300 of our clients and prospects, including receptions, VIP dinners and our annual Geekacue party with live music and Austin BBQ. Our SXSW partnership won the 2019, 2017 and 2016 In2 Sabre Award for Best Live Event in the PR industry.
Impressive stats: Since joining Salesforce, I have increased the opportunity value of events in the region I cover by 600%.
Specific improvement I’ve made: I’ve introduced several new types of events and experience beyond traditional executive dinners to our customers, including Porsche driving experiences in L.A. and Atlanta, a Progressive Dinner that allowed for maximum networking opportunities at the Encore Casino in Boston and an innovative dinner that incorporated Salesforce’s value of doing well by doing good by pairing college students from the Junior Achievement of NY program with local CFOs for financial literacy mentorship. Our sales leadership has noticed a marked difference in the level of executives we are able to attract with these unique events.
What I am working on now: I’m leading an initiative to tie all of our events across the country together through digital platforms that keep the conversations going post events, as well as a media/co-owned event partnership.
What I do outside of work: I serve as the VP of Communications for the International Live Events Association (ILEA) NYC Metro chapter, and have also volunteered as a speaker liaison for TEDxAsburyPark. Aside from events, I enjoy personal travel with my husband, Dan, cooking from my favorite cookbooks and blogs/trying new restaurants and relaxing with a beach read on the Jersey Shore.
