17th September. Morning… Feeling quite excited and expecting something interesting and unforgettable! So… That day I attended MIXX Conference, the major topic was digital marketing strategies. Lots of speakers shared their view regarding digital media. For me this conference was like a chance to establish networking with right people and, of course, to get some knowledge about digital marketing.
As I planned the route to “The Carlu” beforehand I found the venue of the conference easily. When I reached the 7th floor where the conference took place I saw most of my classmates had already got students’ badges and enjoyed free muffins with coffee.
So I also checked in as a Seneca student, took my badge and had coffee. I noticed lots of people; they were talking, smiling and interacting with each other.
The first impression was really good. It looked nice, just to be there and observe these business people and notice some details, like the interior, design and other things.
After discussing the expectations of this event with classmates we were going to take seats in the spacious hall, however the seats for Seneca students were situated on the gallery, so we had to go upstairs where the view to the stage was not so clear if we would sit at the tables in front of the stage.
The conference was opened with the speech of Chris Williams, the President of IAB Canada, he was talking about “Digiquantability”.
Then numerous speakers shared their knowledge of contemporary digital media trends. All of them were quite outstanding and looked like strategists, media leaders and creative people. I would like to highlight the most interesting topics for me.
The first speaker, the founder of Altimeter Group, Charnelle Li, had a great impact on me. I really liked her presentation “The Secret to Digital Strategy Success: Putting People First, Not Technology”. She emphasized that digital was about putting people first, she defined short-term (transactional, octagonal, impersonal) and long-term (two-way, constant, authentic) relationship. Then she stated four components of long-term relationship: 1. engagement with consumers, 2. analyzing data about the target market, 3. capabilities, 4. leadership. She mentioned three things to success in digital marketing strategy – to develop trust, to focus and to scale.
Annette Warring, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Canada, was also quite informative with her presentation “The End of Digital Media”. She said that digital media was dead and how it no longer challenged the market and became the market. It was quite contradictive to listen to her point of view concerning the death of media. But I liked the information she presented, it was one more thing for thought.
After the first part ended all people were invited to have lunch. The first unpleasant incident was the Seneca students were not allowed to eat food. However, at the beginning we were announced that the lunch would be free for us. So it was quite weird to stand aside of the hall where all people enjoyed the meal and the security stared at us and controlled the wrong movement. I was not so vulnerable to such things, but I also could not say that I was not concerned about it! The only thing that I took from the organizationt of the conference was the event planners should respect all guests equally and should not segregate them because of some reasons.
So as I have already mentioned the conference is a good chance to establish networking. Frankly speaking, I had never done it before, that is why to break the ice was not an easy thing! Different thoughts, ideas, impressions… but how to start the conversation with an important person of the event, what to ask first, how to help the conversation on? My thoughts were interrupted by some of my classmates who were talking about such things like the entrance to the hall was allowed to the washrooms ONLY, no food, no networking, nothing was allowed expect using washrooms. I really was surprised, because nobody asked me either I went to the washroom or to speak to some people or to eat lunch. But when I heard this I even did not have a desire to stay at this conference. However, I was doing a slow burn, but I did not let it show. I continued to keep my face smiling and stay professional.
I saw the second stage of the conference through a mist. Because the speakers shared their thoughts and ideas with their colleagues and people who was working in this industry. They had no any interest to the students, no interaction with us, the only thing they needed was to tweet some links to share POSITIVE impressions of Mixx conference! Sorry, I felt exhausted after this meeting.
But still, I understood some key points how not to organize the conference. And I also noticed that networking was unpleasant thing for most of these people. Fake communication, pretended smiles and useless conversations were made just to be polite and to take a tick in their list of MUST things to do.
My positive expectations faced a complete failure. This conference, like any other I guess, was intended for networking mostly. I missed that chance to meet and speak to people who represented some of Canada’s top marketing minds. However, attending Mixx Conference got me interactive learning experience. I listened to some speakers who talked about the latest solutions in digital marketing. I know for sure that most who attended this conference had much to think about, because it was really inspirational!
Overall, it was a great experience to visit this conference, to see how it worked and got a general concept. So it was my first conference and I will memorize it like something contradictory. Bad experience also teaches good lessons. So I hope my next conference will bring me more positive impressions!
Olga Shikolay 