Event Marketing Summit 2011 Makes Hyper-local Connection

  

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As the owner of a small boutique agency, I was hesitant about making the investment both of the time and money required to whisk four team members to Chicago and attend the Event Marketing Summit 2011.  Was it worth it? Absolutely! The event exceeded all of our expectations. They were three content and action filled days. We all came back tired but exhilarated, motivated and ready to take it up another notch.

A lot of things happened from the moment our plane landed last Sunday (delayed because of weather) in Chicago and departed last Wednesday night (again, delayed because of weather). For example, my team experienced first hand why they call Chicago “the windy city” (I already knew why since I grew up in Chicago). We also made new friends, and future business collaborators some from Europe and as far as South Africa. Not to mention all the “WoW Me Factor” (WMF) and “Experiential Marketing IQ “ (EMIQ) moments that were abundantly captured throughout the summit (we shared some of them via tweets).

I had my share of WMF and EMIQ moments. However, I didn’t expect to encounter an experience that would have a very profound impact on me. Moments that would shake my emotions and I am certain, change my life. And to think I almost missed it! It was my very last session at the summit. I was debating whether or not to attend it. I was concerned about rush hour traffic, and that we might miss our flight. Not only that, but the intensity of the last four days was beginning to tug at our teams’ energy and focus reserves. We were all huddled in the hallway deliberating our next steps. Should we go or should we stay?  There were a few moments of silent resignation. The silence was interrupted by a loud, enthusiastic shout. “Let’s go for it!” We turned and stared at a very determined team member, Amanda, challenging us to finish the course. That broke the deadlock. We all nodded in agreement and rushed to our pre-appointed workshops. Little did I know what I was about to experience, and the “care bear” I was about to meet.

I scurried into to the room and sat down. I started to answer emails on my blackberry, as I waited for the presentation to begin. I was hyper-focused on a particularly urgent email and failed to realize the session had begun. My concentration was broken by the presence of someone talking near me. Startled, I looked up. Office Max’s, Bill Bonner was walking down the center aisle addressing the audience in my proximity. I thought it “different” that he had walked onto the floor. “He must think me rude,” I thought to myself and proceeded to put my blackberry down and focus on his presentation about “Hyper local” events.

He proceeded to explain to us how the average schoolteacher spends $1200.00 of her own money a year on school supplies. This is a great shame considering the average teacher’s starting salary is merely $30,000.00!

OfficeMax decided to do something about this five years ago by creating the “A Day Made Better” Program. This program Bill Bonner explained, singles out Section 1 schools in all of the OfficeMax Store neighborhoods every October and surprises a teacher with $1,000.00 worth of school supplies and a chair. (Section 1 schools have a significant number of the student body enrolled in the school lunch program.) The impact? He proceeded to let us experience reaction of one of the first teacher and classroom surprised via a video. That was the emotional part. The teacher was overwhelmed as were her young students. Excitedly they embraced her with hugs and kisses. They all were so overjoyed with gratitude, for the simple things most of us take for granted!

This presentation pulled at all kinds of emotions within me. I could not hold the tears back. I am not sure exactly why. Perhaps it was because years ago I was a young child with limited resources in an inner-city school. Perhaps it was the fact that the featured teacher and classroom were from Puerto Rico and that tugged at my ancestral roots. No matter how hard I tried, the tears just wouldn’t stay put. They just kept coming. Luckily, Univision Radio’s Luis Alberto Perez, sitting to my right, generously reached over to me and volunteered his cotton hankie. Thanks, Luis!

I was very touched by OfficeMax and Bill Bonner. I could feel the passion and commitment he has for this program. I just love it and am completely overwhelmed when I meet true Corporate “Care Bears,” and Bill is definitely that! I had to let him know how I felt, and the impact the presentation had on me. We really do have to reinforce these authentic and sincere humans beings that champion the silent heroes like the schoolteachers. I can only imagine they get beat up a lot, after all the ROI may not been that measureable though the love is.

Bill did more than give me insights into “Hyper Local Marketing.” He led me to a place that lay dormant within me. A place I had forgotten a long, long, time ago. A place that once ignited the passion that lead me to an urban store front to work as a youth counselor straight out of college. A place that was put on hold when running a fledging business. A place that was completely forgotten until Bill and Office Max shook it back to life.

I went to the Event Marketing Summit 2011 in Chicago to learn what was new and exciting in the of world experiential marketing, to make new contacts, motivate and develop my team. I returned however, like the Santiago in Pablo Coelho’s, The Alchemist, conscious of my personal legend.

How does this translate to Desai? We will “Adopt a Classroom” and use our creativity to make a difference like OfficeMax. We may not have the resources that OfficeMax has but we will challenge ourselves to step up through resourcefulness.

"A Day Made Better" pic. All rights reserved by momitforward