I had mentioned attending Claudia Chan's S.H.E. Summit, NExT Festival as well as Blogging While Brown last month - all dynamic experiences - and I'm excited to
Here we go with the top 5 learnings from each of the conferences:
NExT Festival*
The Vibe: C-level execs who were super approachable (I loved how I could walk right up after a panel and engage in a conversation without their handlers whisking them away!), tech-entrepreneur focus set in Willamsburg, Brooklyn at the charming Wythe Hotel (definitely the hispter scene!)
The Knowledge:
- The importance of storytelling - Warby Parker's CEO David Gilboa shared how keeping a common theme throughout his company's partnerships with other brands and initiatives have been able to create better outcomes; rather it be for your own start-up or your own self as a brand always think of the story you want to tell
- Consider becoming a B-Corp - I had never heard of this until this conference, but if you want to start a socially conscious venture consider looking into this option to stay faithful to your mission; check out B-Labs
- Niche is great, but passion is better - In the constant conversations about to niche or not to niche, I really appreciated this timely nugget from Anthony Casalena of Squarespace. He stressed the importance of not chasing a niche to exploit it but instead to do what you're passionate about
- Data is king - from analytics, to having accurate books prior to acquisition, the more on top of your data you are, the better your business life will be; crunch those numbers folks, or hire someone to show you how!
- Forgo the advanced degree - when it comes to entrepreneurship the tide is shifting from getting an MBA to getting in niche training at a fraction of the cost; in this economy there is a definite disconnect between expectations and the reality of higher education
Claudia Chan's S.H.E. Summit*
The Vibe: 2 days of women's empowerment: Day 1 covered Career and Leadership, but I attended Day 2 covering Lifestyle; attended by mostly women in their 20s, some 30s who are looking to change the world, lifting each other up in the process; I felt a connection to founder Claudia, also a product of single-sex schooling high school through college
The Knowledge:
- Refuse to be part of the tear-down culture - a great reminder not to get caught up in the trap that causes strife between so many women; the positive environment at S.H.E. reinforced that
- +Social Good - an awesome new platform designed to link needs with interest in doing social good around the world; a Kickstarter of sorts for change!
- Amplify your ability to succeed via collaboration - this was the same theme echoed at NExT ("collaboration removes competition"); working together vs. against each other is the way to go when it comes to building your brand
- 10% Challenge - Elizabeth Gore challenged us to invest 10% of our time, $ and/or resources into women and girls; this is a new MUST for me as an entrepreneur and champion of women!
- Build STEM confidence early - my mother's in education and stresses this point to me and it was reiterated at the conference; especially those of us with daughters, it is SO important to get them on board with STEM early on; while my Lil Lovebird adores her princesses it makes my heart sing when I see her focused on building with her blocks and making structures - who knows? She could be be the first princess engineer!
Blogging While Brown
The Vibe: The go-to conference for bloggers of African descent - mostly women but some men present; a 2-day conference including a focus on the business of blogging
The Knowledge:
- If you're not winning in it, don't do it - Markus Robinson's opening keynote was chock full of immediately applicable information including this piece of advice; in the fast-paced world of social media it's best to cut your losses and quickly move on; similar to this point Tamara Jeffries quoted Isaac Mizrahi in her session (Ten Tips for Great Blog Writing), and I've been loving it: "Decide which world you're going to rock and then rock it."
- Be an early adopter - don't be afraid of the next thing coming out; I have to say I was slow to Twitter and since jumping in full force about 3 years ago it's had an amazing ROI for my brand, and I look forward to further harnessing the power of Pinterest (check out this tool) and Google+ as well
- Educate yourself on protecting your cyber real estate - there are laws in place to protect your content and identity (and scary stories to prove what can go wrong - just do an internet search); you MUST include a copyright notice on your blog (::runs to do this STAT::)
- Be careful of pattern matching - this point was brought up by Elisa Camahort from BlogHer; I hadn't heard of this term before, but it sounds like what it is: surrounding yourself with those like yourself; while like often attracts like it's best to keep it diverse in all areas!
- Don't discount the power of email marketing - Markus raised this point, and I have to admit it's an area I've neglected (maybe because I get too many emails myself!); he shared that people still pretty much open their emails especially when it's so easy to miss news feeds with the pace of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; being able to communicate to a captive audience via email is key to blogging success
Blogger or not, are you heading off to any conferences this season? Which are your favorites?
