For some reason, Bridget and I mainly take trips to the eastern part of the United States.
Part of that comes from being avid University of Nebraska at Omaha Hockey fans, since that sport is primarily oriented in the northeast portion of the country.
I’ve never been to California, but I’ve been to Massachusetts three times now. The 2019 trip to INBOUND has the distinction of being our first business-related trip to the state.
We set our alarm for 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4 so we’d have time to shower, dress, and grab a bite to eat at a Dunkin Donuts located a couple blocks from our hotel before heading to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC).
Each day at INBOUND featured a mix of “Spotlight” speakers (who provided motivational and inspirational talks to the mass attendees) and “Breakout” sessions (more directed and specific educational programming).
Jason, Bridget and I had “All-Access” passes that gave access to the “Spotlights,” “Breakouts,” and after hours events (the passes also included lunch each day).
Since Jolene doesn’t work in marketing communications, she opted for the “Community” pass, which allowed her to attend the “Spotlight” sessions and after hours events.
Bridget and I had a full agenda on Wednesday (so did Jason).
The first “Spotlight” speaker on Sept. 4 was Alexis Ohanian. He spoke on the topic “Building a Business That People Live.”
Ohanian co-founded Reddit and the venture capital firm Initialized Capital. He is also married to tennis star Serena Williams.
Ohanian’s talk focused on striking a better family/work balance in the business world.
For me, the highlight of the session was when “Shark Tank’s” Daymond John came out to interview Ohanian for a Q&A at the end. At times, it felt like Ohanian was interviewing John.
John had a terrific quote regarding race and gender issues impacting the business world — “Entrepreneurship is the ultimate freedom.”
Ohanian followed up by saying, “The free market does not care (about race or gender). There is something beautiful about that.”
Ohanian asked John about his entrepreneur-centered TV series “Shark Tank.” John told the audience that the shortest pitch was 14 minutes; the longest was 2-1/2 hours. He said most pitches average an hour (you only see 8 minutes on the show). It takes up to 9 months to close a deal (and they close about 80% of the deals). “We really invest in people,” says John.
As we were sitting in the session, I thought to myself how much I’d like to see Daymond John have his own session at a future INBOUND conference. Bridget and I love “Shark Tank” and he offered a lot of really good insights.
The talk ran from 9:20 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
From there, we were on to our first “Breakout” session of the conference. The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is a massive space. Sessions were held in rooms all over the complex’s three level as well as at adjacent hotels.
As a result, it was sometimes a long hike to sessions. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since my years tooling around the UNO Campus in the early 1990s.
David Meerman Scott was the first “Breakout” speaker Bridget and I chose. He talked on the topic “Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans.”
Scott is a marketing strategist for Freshspot Marketing and has spoken at every INBOUND. He talked about the power of fandom and how businesses needed to work to understand the intricacies of fans, and learn how to cultivate them.
He is publishing a new book in January (co-authored with his neuroscientist daughter Reiko) called “Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans.” (Watch for a review on this blog).
The concept of fanocracy focuses on something a person is incredibly passionate about.
“Fanocracy is not about products and services,” Scott says. “It comes from relationships with people.”
He suggests that the “pendulum has swung too far towards automation” in our social media-driven world, impeding the ability for businesses and organizations to make a true connection with fans.
Scott’s daughter was in attendance, and they took this selfie with the audience (only half of the room since some of the breakouts at an interesting “runway” setup for presenters):
Scott went out in the audience with a microphone to ask participants about their “Fanocracy.” Naturally, Bridget’s hand shot up and she got to talk about our obsession with UNO Hockey.
Our next session was titled “Magical Content: 7 Secrets to Content that Generates the Greatest Results, ROI, and Lasting Impact.”
Our next session was titled “Magical Content: 7 Secrets to Content that Generates the Greatest Results, ROI, and Lasting Impact.”
The presenter was Marcus Sheridan, owner/partner with IMPACT and a motivational speaker under the Marcus Sheridan International brand.
Sheridan was the most lively and energetic speaker we heard during INBOUND. His session also has the distinction of being the one that yielded my best speaker pictures at the conference, since we were sitting so close.
One of Sheridan’s best tips was for marketers who are trying to get a marketing strategy implemented by an employer or client. He suggests that if you want to get one of your programs approved, call it “a sales initiative” (he says, if you want it rejected, call it marketing). He goes on to say that marketers need to stop seeing content as a marketing tool — they need to see it as a sales tool.
Once Sheridan’s talk concluded, Bridget and I headed over to grab something to eat at the “Wicked Good Market.”
There were multiple dining options at INBOUND, including quick grab-and-go options, drink carts, and food trucks outside the venue.
The reasons we chose the “Wicked Good Market” is that it was 1.) handy, and 2.) quick.
Bridget and I both got a slice of the pepperoni pizza (it was delicious). We happened to hit the “Sauce [Pizza + Pasta]” stand when there was a small line and a fresh pizza was rolling out of the oven.
Remember those lovely paper straws I talked about during my “Disney Trip” blog series last April? Well, those things are all over Boston and were the straw of choice at INBOUND. (I might need to invest in a collapsible metal straw in the future.)
After our meal, we had a session titled “Become an Audio Influencer for Better Inbound Marketing” with Andy Wang, Managing Partner with Runnymede Capital Management.
He offered advice and tips on the world of podcasting, and gave insight into how he uses audio in his family’s financial services business.
Bridget stopped by to listen to the mini-presentation taking place at the “LinkedIn Lounge” after the session with Wang.
As I mentioned in the first part of this blog series, our business does work within the career services industry, and any changes to LinkedIn impact the B2B and B2C clientele we work with.
The 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. programming was a “Spotlight” session with HubSpot co-founders Brian Halligan (CEO) and Dharmesh Shah (CTO) talking about the company.
HubSpot, which provides content management and social media management tools, started INBOUND to provide cutting-edge content focused on inbound marketing and related concepts.
I’m not terribly familiar with HubSpot’s products, but both men seemed like sharp entrepreneurs.
I just liked the fact that Dharmesh talked about Steve Jobs in his presentation and included this graphic of the simple product lineup put in place when Jobs returned to Apple in the late 1990s:
At 4:30 p.m. we hoofed it over to the Westin Hotel to hear Margo Aaron (founder of That Seems Important) talk about “How to Write Newsletters People Actually Want to Read.”
By this point I had developed a massive headache. I hadn’t slept particularly well the night before, and was suffering from sensory overload. I took a couple of painkillers Bridget had on hand and tried to think soothing thoughts.
The session with Aaron concluded the day’s biz-ed programming. I was happy to head back to the hotel, change into a pair of shorts, down a handful of Mike & Ike’s, and get ready for the screening of “Crazy Rich Asians” later in the evening at Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion.
Our gang decided to head down and find a place to eat close to where the movie screening was taking place. The director of “Crazy Rich Asians” — Jon M. Chu — was going to participate in an in-person interview before the movie, so we didn’t want to be late.
The weather was looking stormy, but we were in good spirits.
We decided to eat at the Legal Test Kitchen Seaport. The restaurant is an offshoot of the popular Legal Sea Foods restaurant and features an eclectic lineup of dishes.
The greeter asked us if it’d be okay to eat outside. The seating was under a covered patio (with sides that could be rolled down and zipped close in case of rain), so we decided to risk it.
We started with a “small plate” of Buffalo Popcorn Shrimp (with blue cheese and celery).
For my entree, I had the Crispy Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich with fries.
I liked the sandwich overall. The chicken was sizable and the fries were hot and crispy. Pretty solid, but it could have been better.
Jason had the fish and chips and a bowl of clam chowder (that he shared with Jolene). Is it just me, or does the top piece of fish on his plate look like a fried hand?? ;-)
Jolene had the Creamy Crab Macaroni with snow crab, pepperoni, peppadew peppers, cavatappi, and mozzarella. (Since the noodles were listed as being cavatappi, I’m not sure why it’s called “macaroni,” but I digress...).
Bridget had the Lobster Roll (which reminded us of a funny story about items on the menu being listed as “market price” that Marcus Sheridan had told us earlier in the day). When I saw it, I thought the lobster rolls Jason and Jolene had had the day before at Yankee Lobster looked better. (Bridget agreed.)
It did end up raining during our meal. The staff (and Jason) secured the plastic curtains as the drops poured down.
Even though the amphitheater where the movie screening was being held was covered, organizers delayed the screening by 15 minutes. That gave us a little more time to eat and walk over to the venue. We arrived just a few minutes late.
Jon M. Chu discussed “Crazy Rich Asians” and told the audience he hid little moments of “joy” in the film (which you might be able to spot if you look carefully). He also mentioned that a sequel is in the works, but didn’t offer any details.
Bridget and I love “Crazy Rich Asians” and you can read my Aug. 2018 review of the movie on this blog. Jason and Jolene hadn’t seen the movie — they enjoyed the screening.
Event organizers provided attendees with free gift boxes filled with Hershey Kisses, tubs of popcorn, and soft drinks.
It was nice to get some fresh air and enjoy a movie with fellow INBOUND attendees.
When we got back to the hotel after the movie, we took time to play a little of the wall-based Scrabble game.
In this picture, Bridget and Jolene are seeing what they can spell with the letters available:
It was another fun and informative day at INBOUND. All four of us were still tired from the early flight out the day before and the hour difference between time zones.
Despite our fatigue were having a good time... with more fun to come!
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