Category: conferences

Conference envy

Later this month I’ll be heading to Chicago for Ragan Communications’ conference on Corporate Communications and the Social Media Revolution. (It’s billed as “the can’t-miss social media summit,” so how could I skip out?) I’ll also attend the free un-conference that’s happening the day before. So I shouldn’t be experiencing conference envy. But then I read about a couple of others that turn me green.

First, there’s TechCrunch40 and its powerhouse keynoters: Marc Andreessen, David Filo, Mark Zuckerberg — names synonymous with innovation. And it’s in San Francisco in a couple of weeks.

Then, also in San Francisco, starting today is the Office 2.0 Conference, which, according to the CNET preview, “will push the Web 2.0 concept for business as far as it can go.” I love to learn about the latest software to make managing products and processes easier. The problem is, I’ve yet to find one that has really made life any easier for me or my team. But, who knows? Maybe this is the year Office 2.0 offers up a gem, and I’d love to be in San Francisco to hear about it firsthand. Guess not.

Also this month is CASE’s Annual Conference for Senior Communications and Marketing Professionals. I co-chaired last year’s event in Philly. And where might this year’s conference be? San Fran, once again.

OK, maybe I don’t have conference envy so much as a desire to visit San Francisco. If any readers are going to any of these, send me a postcard. I’ll do the same from Chicago.

Friday Five: Global Marketing Summit wrap-up

It’s Friday — huzzah! — and as good a day as any to wrap up comments from the Global Marketing Summit. Here are five more takeaways from that event:

  1. I’m not as digitally savvy as I thought I was. At the opening of her talk, Google’s Maureen Schumacher gave us a 25-question quiz to gauge how “digitally connected” her audience was. I scored a lowly 13 out of 25, because I don’t have a Slingbox, a wireless network at home or a Second Life avatar; I’ve never bought or sold on eBay or watched a mobisode; and I don’t own an iPod (although I have two other mp3 players). On the plus side, I do text, blog, buy music online, use a VoIP phone and IM at least once during a typical day. Schumacher said 20 percent of the MBAs who apply for jobs at Google routinely get 20 or more points on this question.
  2. That eye-slitting scene from Luis Bunuel’s Un Chien Andalou (YouTube vid) is just as disturbing today as it was when i first saw it in a college film class. A couple of ad guys showed the eye-slit clip as part of a session on shock advertising.
  3. I can see the value of shock advertising for certain non-profits for raising awareness (.i.e., about AIDS or the dangers of smoking) but I’m having a hard time seeing how shock advertising might translate to the higher ed sector.
  4. The most fascinating session of the day was one on advances in neuroscience to predict how consumers might engage with a brand in a TV ad. This session was presented by representatives of two Boston-based companies: One to One Interactive and Innerscope, an MIT Media Lab spinoff. The presenters discussed their research on using a “smart vest” that measures a subject’s heart and breathing rates, skin conductance and motion, combining those readings with eye-tracking measurements to determine how a subject reacts to a test commercial. As an example, they showed us a test they did for Heineken and overlaid an “engagement map” to show when the audience was most engaged. This white paper offers more details on the technology behind the research. It’s fascinating work, even if it does sound a bit like something straight out of A Clockwork Orange.
  5. An executive from MTV — Todd Cunningham, the senior vice president of brand strategy and planning — talked about how that megacorp manages to think globally while marketing locally. He referenced MTV’s “Circuits of Cool” research into what role technology plays in “coolness” for young people. He ended with four suggestions for maximizing the role of technology in young people’s lives: 1.) associate with the things that matter (make sure the technology enables or supports those things); 2.) make it easy to make the right choice; 3.) help consumers manage their future occasions (a la Facebook); and 4.) make your brand experiences time well spent (people want simple experiences; avoid “feature creep”).

Let that be the end of the matter. The Global Marketing Summit is now officially a wrap.