I attended my first marketing conference and got way more than I bargained for!

‘Twas a crisp Wednesday morning as I wandered in to what would be not only my first time at the Interactive Minds Digital Summit but my first real professional marketing event. To give you a little background, I’m a man on a mission to change my career path and currently in the thick of studying a Masters in Business at QUT in Brisbane. Upon arrival, my heart skipped a beat as the crushing reality of being a complete stranger at professional event kicked in. But I walked into the auditorium foyer, gulped down some complimentary OJ and got to the task of meeting new people!

After scanning the foyer for some small and less intimidating groups, I stuck my hand out and said hello to a group of three people that turned out to be the digital team from Michael Hill. It was great hearing about what their small team is responsible for across Michael Hill globally. After briefly explaining what I do and where I’m headed it was time to keep moving. I found myself talking to Ben from Cricket Victoria and Luke from Sentis Australia. At this stage I was still feeling a tad nervous and awkward but was so glad I broke the ice and got myself out there early on.

A few minutes later, it was time to kick off the official proceedings. I hear you ask, “Wouldn’t it be great if there were a service where single women can hire good looking men to pose as their boyfriends for $200 an hour?” Yes, as insane as that sounds, this service exists (in the US…. for now) and it’s called Rent A Gent which is run by Sara Shikhman, the opening speaker for the day. Sara had some fascinating insights into incentivising regular customers for engagement and wasn’t afraid to share what she had learned from her mistakes over the years.

Morning break came around quickly and while I had sat with Ben and Luke during session one, I knew I needed to keep mixing it up. After grabbing a ham and cheese croissant, I approached a few more people and wound up having a great chat about online retailing with Justin from Aussie Health Products. By this time I felt like I was gaining confidence and despite my junior status in the marketing industry, was able to hold up in conversations about the topics of the day. To my surprise, I wasn’t dying of awkwardness or sitting by myself in a dark corner!

Session two kicked off with the team from Dominos Australia. I never thought we’d live in a world where customers could become collaborative partners earning real money designing takeaway pizza, but that’s what Dominos have done! All power to them! A few rapidfire sessions later, including a brief lesson on Growth Hacking from Pocketbook’s Bosco Tan, and it was time for lunch. I continued talking with Justin for a while over lunch as I was keen to discuss some more about online retail in relation to a new brand I’m currently working with. After eating lunch, I exchanged details with Justin and thanked him for talking with me. It was my first opportunity to hand over a business card, which was a strangely rewarding experience amongst so many other working professionals. At this point I realised that this group of people really were all very friendly. There was no need for me to be nervous or intimidated!

The afternoon sessions went along nicely with talks from the 12WBT team (Michelle Bridge’s 12 Week Body Transformation) and CPA. After a short break and a phone call home to my wife it was time for the main event! The Battle Royale, The Big Rumble in Little…. you get the point. It was time for the debate panel, featuring none other than Damon Klotz (my QUT career mentor) speaking for the affirmative on the topic of Personalisation vs. Privacy. Needless to say, Damon and his team mate Sophie Paulin were victorious arguing the case for personalisation. A very fitting debate topic it was too! As a new marketer and a fresh face in the digital space, the power of personalisation to enable real engagement was one of my key take aways from the day and seemed to be a common thread through many of the sessions.

After the final session wrapped up, I took to the foyer for one final crack at meeting new people. I had been furiously tweeting throughout the day and had gained some new followers that I was keen to meet in person before they went home. It was great chatting to James from SAE, Jason and Ciaran from Just Digital People and Sophie and Steph from Media Circus. After a brief discussion about LinkedIn and my career goals with James, he decided I should meet Sahlia from Reload Consulting to chat further about networking and job hunting. Sahlia had a lot of great advice and invited me along to an event she will be speaking at as part of the QUT careers fair. Needless to say, I’ll be there with bells on!

So, from starting the day out as a complete newbie I ended the day with a greater appreciation for the various aspects of the digital space and the fantastically innovative things that are going on. And most importantly, I tackled my first marketing conference and was able to meet a great bunch of people and form some important connections for the future. I’m feeling more confident than ever and can’t wait to see what lies ahead!

Thanks IMDS2014!