2 secrets:
Secret 1 - Marketo Programs... Leveraging the event program and making sure that statuses are up to date is an easy call and makes sure that you know where your Investment is going
Secret 2 - Contact Roles... I've never been able to emphasize just how contact roles are without screaming it... CONTACT ROLES!!! These are the glue that connects the R to the I and lets you see your results.
Where you have secondary activities that are associated with the event (cocktail parties etc) I prefer to track it as a separate program so that when I'm asked "should we do a cocktail party next year" I can easily distinguish the outcome of the party from the event itself.
It's actually not nearly as complicated as it seems - well.... apart from training sales 