I had the opportunity to attend the Vocus Demand Success 14 conference on June 5 and 6 in Washington, DC. My quick synopsis is not going to do the conference justice, but I wanted to share my thoughts as I process all the information shared. I’m still recovering from it all. (And that’s not a bad thing.)
First off, I want to say thank you to Vocus for having me come up and cover it as press. I appreciated the opportunity to attend. Some of the workshops in the conference will be newspaper column fodder, so stay tuned for that in coming months.
I have to say this was a well-done conference from start to finish. A class act all the way around. All the presenters were top notch talking about key topics in the public relations and marketing professions. It is always good when you can walk away from very presentation with at least one new piece of information or idea sparked from the content. It is hard for me to pick which presentations I saw that I liked the best. They are all good. I have to confess I had to take leave of the conference for time periods due to client commitments so I didn’t get to hear all of the ones I wanted.
I got to hear the following presentations:
Dot Complicated: Making Sense of Digital Life – Randi Zuckerberg shared her unique insights into what is next in our digital life. It was such an engaging talk.
The State of Marketing and PR Report – a super panel discussion on where our profession is moving and the issues the profession faces.
Paradigms of Fame and Success – Filmmaker and social entrepreneur Adrian Grenier talked about indie film making and his social endeavors.
Ignite Talk – That was a whole lot of smartness being shared.
What Social PR Really Mean: Dismantling the Digital Divide – Shonali Burke tackles the sensitive topic holding back many PR professionals and departments.
How to Prove PR Drive Business Success – Yolanda Cade, AAA, talked hustle sharing the strategy and tactics, which have made their campaigns successful.
And the presentation I was waiting for the whole conference: A Scandalous View of Crisis Communications – Judy Smith shared her grounded and no-nonsense philosophy on crisis communications. So refreshing.
In-between sessions and after-hours I was able to connect with folks I’ve known online for years, but never met in real life. That was wonderful.
Overall, it was a great conference and worth putting it on your radar as a must attend conference for next year.
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