I was really looking forward to the 2009 Digital Hub non-Conference, but honestly was a little worried that I set the expectations too high. One step into the ballroom yesterday morning and those worries were cast aside. There were quite a few enjoyable moments, one pleasant surprise and one not so much.
I'm not an event planner or interior designer and nor do I play them on TV. But the room layout was super cool, with black leather chairs and couches scattered about with some sort of funky discoesque theme in the room.
"If you're not part of the conversation, you're being defined by others." ~ John Battelle
Thanks to a contest held on Twitter, I won the opportunity to sit at the speaker's table with keynote speaker John Battelle. A lot of times keynote speakers are vague and miss the mark, but John was right on target with his thoughts and comments. I particularly enjoyed his point that conversation is now leveraged through technology. He also made a point that marketers love "packaged content" but that it doesn't work so well online. John was a great addition to the conference, but I was disappointed to hear he didn't stick around for day two (a pet peeve of mine).
Another unique feature of the conference is that breakout sessions took place outside of the hotel in other locations downtown. Brilliant idea. Get people out. See some sights along the way. Except that it rained. All. Day.
After the keynote, I made my to a breakout titled, "How to communicate changes along the customer buying cycle." But much to my pleasant surprise, the session was largely focused on digital signage and led by Eric Weissman, DSC Consulting. He showcased examples of how the wrong message was put in the wrong environments and showed off some of the content his company has created for digital signage networks. Solid session in my opinion, but I'm a bit biased.
The next two sessions I attended were "Branded Digital Experiences" and "Building Great Brands in the Digital Age." Both sessions provided excellent information, but it was a comment by one of the attendees that ruffled a few feathers. Paraphrasing, he said that he didn't think public relations and corporate communication professionals had the aptitude to manage the social media efforts and that marketing should own them. In a room that was about half PR people, that was a ballsy and pretty stupid thing to say. And, I completely disagree with him. PR pros are perfectly positioned to manage social media.
For others in attendance, which sessions did you go to and what did you like/dislike?
If you're not in Cincinnati for the non-conference, you can follow the Twitter stream to gain some insight.
Today looks to be another good one, personally highlighted by the digital signage discussion in the afternoon. Let's hope the rain lets up. Until then...
I'm not an event planner or interior designer and nor do I play them on TV. But the room layout was super cool, with black leather chairs and couches scattered about with some sort of funky discoesque theme in the room.
"If you're not part of the conversation, you're being defined by others." ~ John Battelle
Thanks to a contest held on Twitter, I won the opportunity to sit at the speaker's table with keynote speaker John Battelle. A lot of times keynote speakers are vague and miss the mark, but John was right on target with his thoughts and comments. I particularly enjoyed his point that conversation is now leveraged through technology. He also made a point that marketers love "packaged content" but that it doesn't work so well online. John was a great addition to the conference, but I was disappointed to hear he didn't stick around for day two (a pet peeve of mine). Another unique feature of the conference is that breakout sessions took place outside of the hotel in other locations downtown. Brilliant idea. Get people out. See some sights along the way. Except that it rained. All. Day.
After the keynote, I made my to a breakout titled, "How to communicate changes along the customer buying cycle." But much to my pleasant surprise, the session was largely focused on digital signage and led by Eric Weissman, DSC Consulting. He showcased examples of how the wrong message was put in the wrong environments and showed off some of the content his company has created for digital signage networks. Solid session in my opinion, but I'm a bit biased.
The next two sessions I attended were "Branded Digital Experiences" and "Building Great Brands in the Digital Age." Both sessions provided excellent information, but it was a comment by one of the attendees that ruffled a few feathers. Paraphrasing, he said that he didn't think public relations and corporate communication professionals had the aptitude to manage the social media efforts and that marketing should own them. In a room that was about half PR people, that was a ballsy and pretty stupid thing to say. And, I completely disagree with him. PR pros are perfectly positioned to manage social media.
For others in attendance, which sessions did you go to and what did you like/dislike?
If you're not in Cincinnati for the non-conference, you can follow the Twitter stream to gain some insight.
Today looks to be another good one, personally highlighted by the digital signage discussion in the afternoon. Let's hope the rain lets up. Until then...
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