Like Minds 2010: A Conference Apart

I had a great opportunity to keynote at Drew and Scott's Like Minds Conference in Exeter UK last week. While I had made the decision to attend quite a while back, a certain part of me didn't know exactly what to expect.

Here are the 5 highlights of my experience (in no significant order):

1. Molly Flatt, 1000 Heads and President WOMUK: I knew Molly from WOMMA and it was great to see her. Her comments on the final panel of the day were one of the many bright spots. Talking about the #uksnow meme that sprang up around the unusual snowfall in London (should of been in DC 2 weeks ago!), she made a really pressing point about how brands could be more reactive and responsive to what was happening vs. trying to conjure up their own "brand experience." Her example - with people tweeting up a storm and even writing #uksnow in the actual snow, why didn't a brand like Gap make snowmen outside their stores, dress them up in Gap and post photos via Twitter/flickr? The insight for me is less about the tactical suggestion - a good one - but rather that brands could be ready and responsive to what is already going on. Remember that great (and ironic) video that EA created with Tiger Woods published on YouTube that showed him walking on water after a user found a bug in the Tiger Woods XBox game that did the same. EA jumped into an existing meme and in some way rewarded those who were sharing about the game glitch with an extraordinary video featuring the man, himself. 

2. @joannejacobs had a great style which the crowd responded well to. Her message was clear - there are good uses of new technology (like augmented reality) and there is gratuitous or bad implementations. She used an Ikea implementation as a good use - they allow you to overlay items in your space to test drive them, so-to-speak. She challenged the delightful (perhaps) but somewhat silly uses of augmented where you place a 'code" in front of a camera and you can watch an animation come to life (so long as you are in front of the camera etc...). At the heart of what she was saying - embrace a discipline of being useful and actually think through what problem you might solve with the innovation.

3. @jonakwue did a great bit equating social media with the life and death of hip hop. being a DJ, he found analogies in the remix culture of music with that of social media. he referenced and advocated for the book - The Pirate's Dilemma.  He had a process slide that I snapped.

4. Exeter UK is a hidden gem. Okay, hidden form me perhaps. Two and a half hours outside of London, who would have guessed that such a cool little town existed. It is a place that you could actually imagine living in (if you have kids) and you can actually buy stuff there as well. @scottgould and @drewellis did a great job of luring us all there and John Harvey aka @exeterccm  - the City Centre Manager was a terrific host.

5. The dueling views of media from the Guardian and the Telegraph. @kate_day from the Telegraph didn't exactly rave about that companies embrace of "digital" but I sensed that she felt encouraged about how they were making commitments. I mean she is the communities manager there - a job you wouldn't expect at a new company. 

There were a lot of other great moments. Chris Brogan was funny during his personal story/presentation. The crowd seemed to really appreciate that he was there. There was a great mix of public and private organizations, small and big businesses there (like Orange). Scott and Drew did a great job. 

Comments

[Sue Windley (aka DangerousMkting)]

Thank you too John for your great input into #Like Minds too - very thought-provoking presentation about social media strategy.

As a marketer who is a relative "newbie" to social media, I found this conference both inspirational and a revelation. I had concerns that social media users were too caught up in the excitement of what social media is, rather than what it does. So thank you - and all the other presenters too - for putting us old-school marketing strategists' minds at ease!

Social media is one channel of many - but Like Minds showed it to be the most exciting and challenging marketing channel to date. Its speed of enabling customer/consumer contact will be scary to many corporates but I believe the future of marketing is safe in social media's hand, especially with conferences of the standard of Like Minds.

[Olivia Hill]

Thanks for the great summary John. I agree that Likeminds is a truly inspirational conference and one that I will most definitely be attending again.

Two further quotes that stood out for me were:
1. From @kate_day: Really know your audience.
2. @chrisbrogan: People just want to feel special.

Simple, yet it's amazing how often these two points are overlooked or forgotten.

[Karimacatherine]

Hello John,

Nice little summary. I enjoyed most of the speaking, including yours, from afar.
(one thing social media cannot do yet, is abolishing real-time zones :)

Karima-catherine

[RobertPickstone]

Hi John,

Thanks for the great summary. Thanks for speaking at Likeminds too - I really enjoyed your presentation. The belt system which you use went down well with many.

I agree that @jonakwue did a great job of equating social media with hip hop. One of the things he said which really stuck with me is that users have THEIR space online. Brands would do well to remember this when trying to engage.

For me, the biggest success of the conference was that it delivered on it's aim - connecting people. It truly was people-to-people. If you want to hear me rambling on about this my blog post summary is here > http://www.robertpickstone.com/2010/02/27/why-i-think-likeminds-2010-truly-delivered/

Do come back to Exeter and Likeminds again. You helped to make it a great day.

Thanks

Rob

[Molly Flatt]

Thanks very much for the nod John, I do think real time and real world will be key for brands to bring relevant experiences to consumers as our off and online lives increasingly merge. A new nimbleness is coming...

You're right that Scott and Drew did a great job, Like Minds was truly special and a real forum for learning and making connections, not just back-patting or justification.

Your own presentation was as grounded and clear-sighted as ever. I for one look forward to continuing the Like Minds conversations over the weeks to come...

[Joannejacobs]

Hey John, great to meet you at Like Minds and thanks for your kind words. I, too, regard the event as a fabulous mix of ideas and generosity, and am glad the experience seems to have been universal. I think it's rare to be able to mix corporate stories with small biz stories and in these new media spaces we need more of that. There are different considerations for representatives from large and small businesses - and different responsibilities arising as a result.

In any case I look forward to seeing the results of the case study analysis over the weekend at Like Minds and hope to meet you again soon.