The final day of conferences — in general — can be a mixed bag.
My experience with professional conferences (which attract attendees from across the globe) is that attendance generally wanes on the final day as people check out of hotels, hop in Ubers, and head to the airport.
That wasn’t an issue for our party, as we had decided earlier this year that we would travel back on Saturday.
We didn’t anticipate Hurricane Dorian heading to the north, clipping the Atlantic Ocean near Massachusetts. Thankfully, the storm’s effects didn’t impact Boston much (despite concerns by local forecasters that it might).
We started off our final day at INBOUND with cool temps.
I decided to ditch the slacks, dress shoes, and polos in favor of jeans, a t-shirt, and Nikes. I was way more comfortable and fit in better with most of the attendees.
The INBOUND Cafe had a merch shop. The items were on sale when the doors opened on Friday, and I decided to pick up this jacket from the booth.
I hadn’t packed a jacket, and thought it would come in handy with cooler temps on the way. (It also made me look more in tune with the style of my fellow attendees).
The opening “Spotlight” session of the day was with Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Stevenson — an attorney by trade — discussed various social issues in his presentation.
He talked about the value of living in proximity to those who are struggling in society. He used the metaphor of his grandmother constantly hugging him to illustrate the need for people to embrace those around them who need it — to treat those less fortunate with dignity.
Our first breakout session was titled “Do This, Not That: 20 Best Practices for Email Marketing Campaigns That Drive Customer Engagement.”
Jay Schwedelson (president and CEO of Worldata) had a presentation that was full of useful and actionable tips for email marketing. Bridget and I both thought it was the best email-centered program we heard during INBOUND.
Schwedelson talked about the long held myth that people “unsubscribe” from e-mail lists because they receive “too many” messages.
The average unsubscribe rate across all industries/verticals is 0.15%.
These days, marketers are sending more emails.
Email deliverability into the inbox is about ENGAGEMENT — it’s about how often they are opening and clicking the email. Schwedelson says the only way to increase engagement is to send more.
Schwedelson said B2C open rates increase 17% and B2B open rates increase 21% when marketers send five or more messages per month.
He had other useful tidbits on how to title messages, how to account for HTML image code impacting open rates on mobile, and common practices that thwart email campaigns.
After learning all the ins and outs of email marketing, we headed out to the Lawn on D Food Trucks and met up with Jason for lunch.
Bridget and I both opted for the fish and chips from the Shuck Yeah! food truck (the potato chips were amazing).
Jason opted for the falafel from The Chubby Chickpea truck. He let me try some of it — it was really good.
After lunch, Jason and I headed to see an encore of the “YouTube Video Marketing: Content Strategy for Discovery and Conversion” presentation Bridget had attended the day before.
YouTuber Roberto Blake had a terrific vibe and was a very thoughtful speaker. He shared his strategies for creating influential content on popular social platforms.
Blake talked about the fact that he never had a video “go viral.” He said his path to success comes from the fact that he “showed up” everyday.
I started following Blake on Twitter after the session. I’ve been enjoying the inspirational content he shares throughout the day.
One of the things I appreciated about the setup for INBOUND were all of the “workspaces” available for attendees throughout the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
There were spaces like this all over the venue:
We heard during one of the Main Stage “Spotlight” sessions that attendees used more wi-fi bandwidth on Wednesday than the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Next, I met up with Bridget for AJ Beltis’s presentation “How to Increase Blog Conversion Rates by 1,000%.”
Bridget and I both have blogs that we operate, and found the presentation offered Swiss Army Knife approaches for targeting and cross-pollinating content for maximum impact.
Beltis’s title is “Content Optimization Specialist” with HubSpot. His presentation focused on how HubSpot analyzed the company blog to make it more effective in generating leads. (We saw a lot of HubSpot-inspired “flywheels” during our INBOUND sessions).
While we were in Beltis’s session, Jolene was giving us updates on the number of people lining up to get into the final program of the conference — the Chip & Joanna Gaines Spotlight “Behind the Scenes of Building an Empire.”
We navigated through a throng of attendees and met up with Jolene near the Main Stage entrance. Jason had a longer hike from his session. It was a smart choice by conference organizers to keep a high-profile duo for the final session (it helps keep attendees around).
We arrived before the doors to the main stage opened. When they raise the curtains for some of these general sessions, there is a “mad dash” among attendees to get in (think Black Friday shopping). We witnessed attendees literally running to get seats close to the stage. Bridget’s tweet of the video of that was “liked” by Chip Gaines:
It looked a little like this... (you can see people running up front. I couldn’t run and film...) pic.twitter.com/p7uuvTytUX— Bridget Weide Brooks (@bridgetabrooks) September 7, 2019
Here is a pic I took of us scurrying in to get a seat:
Chip and Joanna Gaines created (and starred in) the popular HGTV series “Fixer Upper” (the final season of that show premiered in 2017). The pair co-owns Magnolia in Waco, TX.
The entrepreneurs have proven themselves to be versatile in their careers. They’ve operated a number of different businesses under the “Magnolia” banner — including home construction and home decorating ventures.
The popularity of “Fixer Upper” allowed the pair to grow their brand.
Bridget and I enjoyed “Fixer Upper’ when it aired on HGTV (back when we still had a traditional cable TV package).
They talked a bit about their magazine (“The Magnolia Journal”) and they also talked about their upcoming TV network.
According to “Ad Age,” Discovery is going to rebrand the DIY Network into the new Chip and Joanna Gaines channel (yet to be titled — set to debut Summer 2020). The network will also offer an app and be available as a subscription streaming service at a later date.
They talked about the difficulties working together as a married couple (something Bridget and I can relate to, having worked together for the past 23 years in our business). It’s not easy. They have a special bond that is a source of pride.
Both were asked what they’d tell their younger selves.
“I spent so many years insecure about my worth and value,” Joanna said. “You’re not only good enough — you’re extraordinary.”
Chip said he would focus on the “don’t ever quit” attitude that was ingrained in him from a young age — something that was difficult to believe in when he faced struggles.
“Your mind tells you things are impossible that really are possible,” he said.
Chip provided some comic relief during the presentation, offering humorous quips and anecdotes as he bantered with his wife (that chemistry was part of the appeal of “Fixer Upper”).
At the end of the talk, he took off his shirt and tossed it into the audience:
And that was it for the conference. We were shooed out of the Main Stage area in fairly short order (when this conference shuts down, it shuts down).
And remember that mural we showed you in the first part of the “INBOUND Trip” blog series? Well, it was finished when Jolene took this pano on the final day:
We were switching hotels. INBOUND had a special, discounted rate at the Aloft Hotel, but rates were headed back into the “normal” range for Friday night, so we had arranged for different lodging for our final night. We grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed to take the mass transit system (a combination of trolly buses and subway train) to our next hotel in Cambridge (ensconced by Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Jolene had mapped out our destination earlier in the day.
Bridget loves taking mass transit when we travel. I generally enjoy it (and think Omaha needs a light rail system). That said, taking the subway during “rush hour” on a Friday — carrying suitcases — was a tad stressful.
Here is a picture of the “chime” installed in the MIT station where our train stopped. There is a crank on the wall that would make the hammers play out a tune.
Okay... so there was a moment of awkwardness when we realized we didn’t reserve a room at the same Marriott property as Jason and Jolene.
We had talked about two hotels that sat a block from one another, but Jason and Jolene had reserved a room at the Marriott next to the subway station, and we had inadvertently booked at the Residence Inn up the street.
It was fine by me (I like the free breakfast that Residence Inns offer).
We were on the 15th floor, with a neat view of a rooftop lounge on the building across the street.
We took a brief respite to get settled into our rooms, and to charge our iOS devices before departing to find dinner.
We took a brief respite to get settled into our rooms, and to charge our iOS devices before departing to find dinner.
We opted to head across the Charles River for dinner. We walked through the MIT campus on the way. I took Bridget’s picture by entrance to the MIT Media Lab:
There was collegiate sailing taking place on the river. Could we have stumbled upon a more preppy sport? The whole vibe made me want to put on some deck shoes and go for a clambake on the Cape.
As we were walking, we decided to try a restaurant that my Facebook friend Brad Roth had recommended — Giacomo’s Ristorante. It was within walking distance (a bit of a trek, but we needed the exercise and fresh air).
The route to the restaurant proved to be a treasure trove of fun things.
Bridget spotted Newbury Comics and asked if I wanted to check it out. We detoured inside and I found these two “Star Wars” t-shirts:
I have a large “Star Wars” t-shirt collection, and was excited to be able to add more to the lineup. The first shirt I spotted featured the Millennium Falcon (I just discovered it is a glow in the dark shirt).
The second shirt features a screen printed book jacket of the original “Star Wars” novelization. A company called Out of Print manufactured the shirt. They sell t-shirts featuring various literary titles, and donate books and support literacy programs around the world with proceeds from each t-shirt purchase.
Bridget also spotted these “Ramen Notes” that reminded us of our nephew Blaise:
After the comic book store stop, we continued our hike towards the restaurant.
We ended up on Boylston Street and spotted a three-story Apple Store.
Bridget needed to get a “Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter” for her iPhone because she’d inadvertently left her Lightning headphones at home.
The rest of us looked around while Apple employee Blaise found the jack. We took this selfie on the third floor in front of the Apple logo:
After our Apple experience we walked across the street to the Tesla showroom. Since I had inadvertently left my Model X at home, we decided to pick one up... (kidding!)
I’ve never had the opportunity to sit in a Tesla, but I love Tesla’s offerings. I follow several YouTubers who have Tesla-centric channels, and enjoy learning about the vehicles. I sat in the red Model 3 they had on hand:
I also tried to play “Centipede” on the 3’s touch screen.
Jason and Jolene tried out the third row in the Model X. They also had a discussion about whether Jason’s hockey bag could fit in the “frunk” of the car.
Bridget took a turn in the cockpit of the Model X (a car that costs about as much as our house). I didn’t even ask her what she thought of the vehicle.
I’m a big fan of Elon Musk’s various business ventures, and am intrigued by his aspirational vision for the future.
We were really having a good time at this point, and nothing was gonna get us down — including a living street art exhibit trying to bring awareness to the issue of chicken cruelty.
We got our picture taken by the Boston Marathon marker:
We finally made it to Giacomo’s. They had told Jolene over the phone that they didn’t take reservations. Oddly enough, the doorman (who seemed like a character who had stepped out of a Martin Scorsese movie) asked if we had a reservation (we think he was teasing).
Giacomo’s Ristorante is a small Italian restaurant that sits in a neighborhood with row upon row of attractive brick walk-ups. Be prepared: They only take cash.
I had the Ziti with Chicken and Shrimp (in a pesto cream sauce):
Bridget had the Salmon Filet (with mixed vegetables) and a side of spaghetti:
Jolene had the daily special — Pappardella with lobster, spring, and scallops (in a garlic cream sauce with fresh mushrooms).
Jason had the Lobster Ravioli.
Overall, we enjoyed our dinner and the ambiance at Giacomo’s Ristorante. It is always nice to take in dining establishments with a local flavor. Bridget had Jolene pose for a picture with the doorman:
We hopped back on the subway for one final evening excursion. We wanted to hit Mike’s Pastry and get some dessert items to take back to the hotel.
That meant another ride on the subway. I was trying to have a “deranged” look in this picture, and I think I was pretty successful:
It was a pretty humid evening. When we arrived at Mike’s Pastry, it was packed and there was a line out the door. The mass of humanity and heavy temps left Bridget feeling nauseous.
We purchased two vanilla cupcakes (with sprinkles) and two cream puffs. Like Giacomo’s, Mike’s Pastry only takes cash.
Jolene had a lemon bar and Jason had a pistachio cannoli. We don’t have a picture of Jason’s dessert item, but Jolene did take a picture of her lemon treat:
Jason got us an Uber back to the hotel. Fun fact: This was the first trip Bridget and I had taken an Uber (we typically use mass transit or rent a vehicle when we travel), and we got to enjoy several of them as we made our way around Boston.
Since Bridget was feeling queasy, it was probably a good idea to avoid another subway adventure.
It was a busy day packed with fun activities — a wonderful way to cap the week.
But our journey didn’t end there.
>> Next post: “Where’s My Shoe? — INBOUND Trip: Part 5”
>> Next post: “Where’s My Shoe? — INBOUND Trip: Part 5”
Previous post: “Jennifer Garner Waved at Me! — INBOUND Trip: Part 3”
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