If you have been following us on social media or read our recent blog. You already know that we sent a team to the 2015 south by. Southwest (sxsw) conference in austin, tx this past month.
Yes, it is a significant financial investment for the company. Yes, it is quite a few days away from the office. And yes, it is worth it. Why, you may ask?
Networking. Where else will you get a Ten Reasons Why chance to talk with tens of thousands like-minded professionals about your passion? Last year, more than 32,700 people attended the interactive conference with another 28,000 music registrants and 72,000 film festival attendees. That is a lot of people passionate about the future of their industry. After the second day, it a running joke with my team about who I would. Meet next… before 1:00pm of one day I met a gentleman from dubai, woman from norway. A team from disney interactive, a student from orlando. An entrepreneur from san francisco, and a writer from new york.
There were more than 1 100 sessions for the interactive portion
The conference, within five days across multiple conference centers, hotels, theaters, businesses, and restaurants. Thankfully, most are available as podcasts following the event, so we can still listen to the sessions that we could not sit in on live. I have Ten Reasons Why hundreds of hours of podcasts to get through this year.
Brand engagement. This was a big one – most of the major brands had a presence at this event. 3m had a tent where they were showcasing how telephone list their innovations where making life easier. Samsung opened a blogger lounge in order to allow attendees a space to try out their new gadgets, grab refreshments, and connect to their hosted wi-fi after you registered, of course.
Paypal hosted a social media lounge in which
They served up fresh espresso and invited attendees to utilize the paypal app to pay for food and services via their mobile devices. Pbs had a steady stream of “personalities” (including cookie monster) come through for a meet-and-greet throughout JA Phone Number the conference. Forbes bought out a restaurant and hosted invitation-only events throughout the 10-day conference. Even jimmy kimmel moved his show to austin for the week. This (I assume) is great for the brand, but also provides attendees direct access in order to sample and build relationships.
Street team marketing. There were great examples Ten Reasons Why of gorilla marketing – in and around the scheduled events. From people on stilts to chipmunks handing out swag and “men in black” offering to buy your lunch just for asking a question. The team came back with some great ideas to share with our clients and implement at our next trade show.
