Conference tips from the Social Boom 2015 conference contain many actionable ideas and advice. I design custom gifts and my goal in attending this conference was to learn how to use social selling for Classic Legacy. This conference is Kim Garst’s yearly event and her team assembled the world’s leading experts who have each mastered a different social media selling strategies. This photo gives a taste of not only the fun but the amazing connections that were formed.
Conference Tips That Are Actionable
My purpose in attending this event and really all conferences is to learn and to grow my business. I came away from Social Boom with five actionable takeaways that I think can be applied to all good conferences.
1. Conference Tips: Commit to One “Thing”
Kim Garst and Terry Williamson emphasized many times that we would be overwhelmed with new ideas and shiny bright objects. They were right! With presenters like Nathan Latka, Peg Fitzpatrick, Emeric Ernoult, Syed Balkhi, Sue B. Zimmerman, Joshua Parkinson, and Steve Dotto on the first day we learned the best practices to ramp up our websites. We learned tips to make our blogs to work with all our social media. The advice that I am taking to heart is committing to one thing! I am going to commit to writing one blog post a week. My goal is to answer questions that retailers, entrepreneurs, resort gift buyers, and museum marketers ask. From this I am also committing to use Infusionsoft in a better more complete way!
2. Conference Tips: Spend Time Networking
I am not inclined to get energy from a room full of people. It is hard for me to reach out and introduce myself …..but I know how important it is. I did try to move from group to group and learn about other businesses. It is fascinating to hear other life stories. It is from those connections that I can learn how to serve others. On Sunday evening when the conference was over I wanted to go out to dinner with someone. Many were leaving but I found someone that said “Karen is looking for someone to go to dinner with.” We had not met all weekend although we both had VIP tickets. As we talked I said where do you live?……it turns out we live in the same county!!!!……and know many of the same people! It is a small world. Here is a photo of the two of use visiting the Chicago Bean on Michigan Ave.
3. Conference Tips: Be Open to New Ideas
It is important to be open to new ideas and new tools. I will not use all the new ideas and tools I learned about immediately but I am open to learning about them. Ian Cleary especially had great tool suggestions. He began more real to me when I heard him speak and especially when he showed us his break dance moves! Nathan Latka moved through out the audience and then got other speakers together and got them all to jump! …and he stood on the table. These are just some of the speakers featured: Steve Dotto Viveka Von Rosen, Ian Cleary, Emeric Ernoult, Sue B. Zimmerman, Peg Fitzpartrick, and Nathan Latka. I am loving learning about all their ideas!
4. Conference Tips: Be Authentic and Accessible
Periscope and Blab are the newest social media live streaming channels. I follow both Steve Dotto and Viveka Von Rosen. They are examples of being authentic and accessible! It was fun to meet them and see them in person at Social Boom 2015.
5. Conference Tips: Be Interactive
At conferences it is important to be interactive. Kim Garst is the perfect example of being interactive. She was so gracious to take photos with followers. She made me feel like a friend! I want to model my actions at future conferences from her lead. Take time to visit with fellow attendees and speakers. BE INTERACTIVE.
I was inspired by Peg Fitzpatrick to try my hand at an info-graphic. I designed this using Canva. I made this graphic to summarize my 5 tips for a successful conference experience. The Social Boom 2015 Conference was definitely a successful experience for me!
I look forward to following through on these ideas! Hold me accountable 
I have a free eBook that I would like for you to have. I developed it especially for my Periscope followers. It does however have ideas every entrepreneur and business owner can use. The book features ideas and guidelines on developing custom gifts that enable your business to stand out! If you ever have any questions please do contact me! catherine@classiclegacy.com
