CRM integration & RevOps transformation for leading events organiser

The Challenge

CloserStill Media faced multiple challenges from managing event data across disconnected systems and integrating newly acquired CRM records, to navigating limited APIs, declining email engagement (down by 50%), and the complexity of rolling out numerous RevOps projects.

• Integrate critical event data systems (like Swapcard) into HubSpot to enable real-time lead capture, nurturing, and insight for the sales team. Direct integrations proved unreliable due to API limitations. Single-day Swapcard data pulls could be enormous (e.g. ~90k records or ~48MB for one event type) and hit HubSpot workflow limits.
  
  
• Rapidly onboard the acquired business unit (UKI Media & Events) into the central CRM, preserving historical data and ensuring a smooth transition with minimal downtime.
  
  
• Improve email deliverability and engagement through technical fixes and best practices, to recover the marketing performance metrics. This included migrating email campaigns for eight major shows from Dotdigital to HubSpot.
  
  
• Implement a range of RevOps enhancements (forms, integrations, analytics dashboards, GDPR compliance etc.) that would streamline operations and drive higher ROI from CloserStill’s marketing and sales efforts.

 

The Azure middleware (built by SpotDev) can handle large event loads (tens of thousands) of interactions seamlessly, so CloserStill Media can scale up its event without worrying about data overload.

SpotDev supported CloserStill across multiple integration and data challenges. In summary:

• Event & registration integrations: Connected US WordPress forms, Gleanin (referral tracking), and Swapcard (event app) with HubSpot to sync attendee and exhibitor data.
  
  
• Compliance & data management: Delivered solutions for email compliance, subscription preference improvements, opt-out handling, and automated VIP status validation.
  
  
• Systems & tooling integrations: Integrated ASP (exhibition management), Unit4 (payment gateway), and HiBob (HR software) with HubSpot.
  
  
• Custom solutions & enrichment: Built a HubSpot-based speaker/conference management module, scoped an AI chatbot and ticketing system, and automated lead enrichment with third-party data.
  
  
• Acquisition migration: Executed seamless migrations of acquired business units (e.g. UKI) into the central HubSpot portal.

SwapCard Integration

One of the most impactful elements of the solution was the custom Swapcard ↔ HubSpot integration.

CloserStill uses Swapcard to capture rich event data like badge scans, session attendance, booth interactions, but the GraphQL API returned datasets too large for HubSpot to process during live events.

To overcome this, SpotDev built a custom middleware integration on Microsoft Azure. The system stored and processed all Swapcard data in an Azure PostgreSQL database, with Azure Functions fetching and aggregating it every 5–10 minutes. HubSpot was then updated with key stats like “Total Scans per Attendee” via webhooks and custom code.

This architecture allowed CloserStill to track live engagement and follow up quickly, even at large-scale events, without exceeding HubSpot’s limits. It’s a strong example of SpotDev’s ability to extend HubSpot through scalable, cloud-based middleware.

Migrating UKI's legacy CRM into HubSpot

The goal of the project was to migrate UKI’s marketing and sales operations into CloserStill’s HubSpot Enterprise account, creating a unified system. This required transferring large datasets, aligning different processes, and training the UKI team on HubSpot.

The migration was complicated by slow, staged data exports from UKI’s old CRM system, which also needed cleaning before import. To ensure a smooth transition, SpotDev ran technical workshops to understand UKI’s existing workflows and documented requirements in Notion. They then mapped all data fields between systems, so that key data was not lost and clearly identifiable.

The data was imported in phases, starting with core contact and company records, followed by historical activity. SpotDev stayed closely aligned with UKI’s developers throughout the process.

SpotDev configured new segments (Business Units) within HubSpot to accommodate UKI if needed, or otherwise tagged UKI-specific records for tracking. This meant they created separate sections within the same HubSpot account to keep records organised by company or team. 

This helped different parts of a company (like UKI and CloserStill) share the same system, but keep their contacts, emails, branding, and reporting separate. This integration entailed adding a new branch to a shared workspace, everyone uses the same tools, but each branch has its own area and rules.

The Results

• Smarter event data & automation: The Swapcard integration (enabled by the Azure middleware) gave CloserStill real-time attendee insights in HubSpot and enabled seamless handling of large-scale event data, transforming a fragile process into a scalable advantage.

• Faster sales & greater efficiency: Sales and marketing teams now save significant time thanks to integrations that feed registration and lead data directly into HubSpot, allowing faster follow-up while leads are still warm.

• Better marketing results: After email deliverability issues surfaced post-migration, SpotDev ran an audit and helped improve performance. Deliverability steadily increased, and campaigns now run through a more reliable, best-practice setup.

• Stronger processes & lasting value: Beyond the immediate wins, SpotDev left CloserStill with clear documentation, reusable templates, and improved RevOps practices. Formal sign-offs, structured development workflows, and ClickUp task approvals are now standard, with the team better equipped for future technical projects and aquisitions.

Conclusion

CloserStill Media’s engagement with SpotDev showcases a comprehensive RevOps transformation in the events industry. They now have: a HubSpot CRM that centralises data from over 100 events, real-time integrations feeding that CRM with rich engagement data, and streamlined processes for bringing new acquisitions into the fold. The Swapcard integration project in particular stands out as a win-win: it solved a critical business need for CloserStill and became a flagship example of SpotDev’s capabilities in marrying cloud platforms with HubSpot.

Image attribution: Trade Fair Stock photos by Vecteezy