After attending Brand ManageCamp  last year, I suggested in my blog that companies should not only prepare employees to deliver great branded customer experiences, but also make it easy for customers to embrace experiences.  
 
This point has generated some interesting discussion, and so, as I’m preparing to attend Brand ManageCamp 2010 (Las Vegas, September 21-22), I decided to share here some perspectives on how you can get the most value and fun out of this -or any- conference visit, and even create great experiences for the other attendees.
 
Like being a great employee at work, the key is deciding to be intellectually and emotionally engaged in the experience.  This means committing yourself to actively (not passively) creating value for yourself and others, and then directly involving yourself in the experience.
 
Yes, it means some work, and maybe stepping outside your comfort zone, but you will get more out of the experience than you ever expected.  I promise, and here’s why:
 
In the past, I was the guy who used to listen passively for ideas and regularly run off to read and write emails or focus on other stuff back at the office.  Yes, I heard great ideas, but I was missing out on what was all around me.  I didn’t let it become the rich experience it was waiting to become.  I would leave conferences with some cushy ideas, with having barely spoken to anyone and not consciously planning to make changes back at the office.  My bad.
 
Today, I actively engage myself in the experiences.  In advance, I commit myself to preparing.  I think about what I’d say if I were on stage presenting that day, and I think about what I want to learn and apply back at the office.  Now I’m ready to speak easily about ideas I care about, and I have a context to apply the new things I learn back at work.  When you share your ideas with others, you now have a platform for fresh feedback that you didn’t have before.  When smart and varied people are all around you, don’t waste the opportunity to chat.
 
At the conference, I get involved in the presentations by asking questions during and after.  I introduce myself to others and share what I’ve learned.  I do my part to keep discussions moving.  After all, this is not a webinar.  In the age of virtual interaction, personal connections become all the more special.  
 
I learn something from every conversation, especially the folks who might look or talk a little crazy.  It’s the viewpoints that challenge our own that lead to new thinking.  And you know what?  It’s fun! Let down your guard and talk to others like they were your best friend from college; you may be surprised at how well it goes.  Sometimes, we just need a little nudge…
 
When I was a green 18, I had an eccentric American History professor that would stretch our brains with conspiracy theories and fling his head violently to the side as he would cough to punctuate his points.  Rather than passively listening, we were forced to speculate and draw new connections between events that may or may not have been real, and we’d leave his class too frustrated and exhausted to even kick around the hacky sack.  
 
One day, after sensing our frustration, that professor said something in a grave, yet kindly tone that made me take notice:  “True learning only occurs when you immerse yourself and swim so deeply in the content that you come up gasping for air.”  I didn’t quite get it then, but it stuck, and I learned with time that the more deeply you make yourself accountable for applying and sharing information, the more “a-ha!” moments you’ll have.  Nearly 20 years later, I remember parts of that class quite vividly.
 
Back in the present, Brand ManageCamp 2010 is only two weeks away, and you’ve got your own fresh thinking to share.  In addition to being a customer looking forward to be inspired, energized, and exposed to new ideas, you can also be the star of the show for everyone you meet.  Be prepared to interact and share, just like the professional luminaries you’ll see on stage.
 
Get the most value out your experience and take back real change to your role at work.  Expect to be tired, but a good tired. Don’t worry; the spark in the conversations will energize you and keep you going.  The happenings at the office can wait until you return. You’re set to do some work, have some memorable fun, and you’ll have some tangible results. 

PLAN AHEAD: A PRE-CONFERENCE CHECKLIST

 
·    First, make a real 6-page ppt presentation on your current big challenge at work, with one page for each item below.  On each page, include a symbolic image or story.  Make it pretty.  You should be able to cover each page in less than two minutes.  You are now ready to verbally share your ideas and collect the right insights you need to address your real-world challenge.

   o Presentation title and brief bio page
   o The nature of the challenge and the business need
   o Background facts and competitor actions
   o The desired end state
   o A timeline and action items to achieve the end state, noting dilemmas and lessons learned
   o A list of ideas or inspiration areas you need to address your dilemmas

·    Watch the videos and read the captions and bios for each speaker on the Brand ManageCamp website.  Pick three speakers you’d most like to get feedback from to help you address pages 5 and 6, and plan what you will ask them. Also plan to share some idea that you think might be useful to each of them.

·    Scan Las Vegas websites for restaurants and attractions that you think exemplify interesting branding practices and be ready to invite others to attend and discuss these locations.

·    Read “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter Thompson, not watch the movie.  Hunter is (was) the father of “gonzo journalism,” where the actual (often overlooked) point is to no longer passively observe and dispassionately report the story, but intentionally get actively and emotionally involved in the story and present a viewpoint you are passionate about.  I propose that this is the way we all should approach learning and applying it at work.

 
AT THE CONFERENCE
 
·    Get to the event early each day and introduce yourself to the other early birds, based on the most relevant parts of your bio (page 1).  Talk about your ideas and challenges from your presentation (pages 2-4). Talk to others like old friends.  Quote movies.  Tell jokes. Step outside your comfort zone.  It will be great.  Do the same at receptions.

·    Attend every presentation and ask at least one question each day.

·    For each presentation, find at least one idea that could be applied to the presentation you created.

·    Approach at least three speakers with ideas and questions you already created for them.

·    Attend every meal and sit with a different group each time.  Introduce yourself to everyone at the table and personally stir up conversation about the speakers and topics that most interest you.  Really listen to others and give them ideas.

·    Take advantage of dinner sign-ups or invite others to dinner and walkabouts. Talk about the examples of branding that surround you.

·    Don’t do anything alone except use the restroom, and turn off email, chat, and other distractions.  If someone calls you, say “Not now chief, I’m in the zone” and hang up.  It can wait.  You’re on a mission, and they will surely call you back and ask what you’ve been up to.

·    Sleep no more than 6 hours per night, and don’t waste a minute on something you can do back at the office.

 
AFTER THE CONFERENCE
 
·    Take all your best new ideas and try to find common threads or ways of combining multiple ideas into single actions.

·    Share your best ideas on your blog and send them to people you want to make connections with.

·    Incorporate your best ideas into your presentation, and present it internally. You’ve just demonstrated the ROI of attending a conference:  real insights relevant to your challenges, planning next steps, and taking action.  


Get your ideas together, listen and think carefully, and most of all, have fun talking with others.  I look forward to meeting you and energizing each other in Las Vegas!

-Ed Zuber

www.humanbrandsources.com

Inspiring Brand Advocates