folk takes a relationship-first approach rather than a pipeline-first one. Contacts and groups are the primary objects; deals are secondary.
For trade shows — and particularly for networking-led events — that model often fits better than a traditional CRM, because a large share of valuable event contacts are not immediate opportunities.
Where folk fits, and where it does not
Good fit:
- Networking-heavy events like Web Summit or SaaStock
- Relationship-led sales with long horizons
- Partner and introducer relationships
- Small teams without CRM administration resource
Poor fit:
- High-volume badge scanning with hundreds of transactional leads
- Complex multi-stage pipelines with forecasting requirements
- Enterprise processes needing heavy governance
Choose deliberately. Using folk for a 500-scan industrial fair will frustrate everyone.
Groups are the organising principle
Create a group per event — "Web Summit 2026" — and add everyone met there.
The key advantage over rigid CRMs: a contact can belong to multiple groups. Someone met at two events appears in both, with no duplication and no merge problem. Over time that produces a genuinely useful picture of which relationships have been building across which events.
Also create standing groups that cut across events:
- Prospects
- Partners
- Introducers
- Investors
A person can be in "Web Summit 2026" and "Partners" simultaneously, which is exactly how relationships actually work.
Custom fields — keep them few
folk supports custom fields, and the temptation is to replicate a full CRM schema. Do not. folk's advantage is low friction, and a heavy field structure destroys it.
Six fields is plenty:
| Field | Type |
|---|---|
| Event name | Select |
| Conversation date | Date |
| Relationship type | Select — prospect / partner / introducer / peer |
| Qualification summary | Text |
| Next step | Text |
| Follow-up date | Date |
Relationship type is the most valuable of these at a networking event, where the direction of value is genuinely ambiguous — the problem described in our SaaStock guide.
Reminders are essential, because folk enforces nothing
This is the important operational point.
Pipeline CRMs create pressure structurally — a deal sitting in a stage looks wrong, forecasts expose neglect. folk does not do this. A contact can sit for a year with nothing prompting anyone.
That flexibility is the point, but it means the reminder is the process. Set one at the moment of capture, every time. Without it, a folk contact is a business card in a drawer.
Getting data in
folk's browser extension captures contacts from LinkedIn and web pages — useful for enriching event contacts afterwards, since most attendees have findable profiles.
API. folk's API creates and updates contacts and group memberships programmatically. The route for anything writing structured capture directly, as Confee does.
CSV import. Standard, with field mapping. Fine for badge scanner exports.
Zapier / Make. Both support folk for connecting capture tools.
Post-event workflow
- Add everyone to the event group within 24 hours
- Set relationship type on each — this is the field that makes the list usable
- Set a follow-up date on everyone you intend to contact
- Enrich via the browser extension where useful
- Add cross-cutting group memberships
- Work by follow-up date
Step 2 is what separates a usable folk group from a list of names.
Why folk suits networking events specifically
At events like Web Summit, a large proportion of valuable contacts are:
- Potential partners
- People who can make introductions
- Peers worth knowing over years
- Investors
None are pipeline opportunities, and a pipeline CRM handles them badly — they get forced into a stage that does not describe them, then quietly deleted in a cleanup.
folk models them naturally. Over several years that accumulated relationship graph becomes genuinely valuable in a way a deal-stage CRM never does.
The short version
folk fits relationship-led event capture well. Create a group per event, set relationship type on everyone, and always set a follow-up reminder — because folk will not chase you.
Use it for networking events. Use something pipeline-shaped for high-volume trade fairs.
Related reading:
- Web Summit Lead Capture — networking-led capture
- SaaStock Lead Capture — where relationship type matters most
- CRM Field Mapping for Event Leads — structuring the data
FAQ
Is folk CRM suitable for trade show lead capture?
Yes, particularly for relationship-led sales and networking-heavy events. It is organised around people and groups rather than rigid pipeline objects, but is less suited to high-volume transactional processing.
How should events be organised in folk?
As groups — one per event, with custom fields carrying event context. Because a contact can belong to multiple groups, someone met at two events appears in both without duplication.
What custom fields should folk have for event leads?
Event name, conversation date, relationship type, qualification summary, next step and follow-up date. Keep the set small; heavy structures undermine folk's low-friction advantage.
How does folk handle follow-up reminders after an event?
Through reminders on contacts and group-based views. Set the reminder at capture — folk does not enforce process, so without one a contact can sit indefinitely.