How was this edition different from the previous 9?
The I Love Marketing conference already has its own brand. It is considered by many to be an unofficial Polish champion in marketing. I have been the recurring event host since its inception in 2016. It’s also a place where I feel at home.
I consider gamification to be some of the strongest points of #ilovemkt (viewers vote for each of the presentations, and only speakers with the highest marks are invited to the next edition of the conference), as well as an attractive, brevity-focused format of 18-minute presentations.
It is one thing, however, to watch nearly 20 speeches a day in the hall for 4 days, when we are all in one place and feel the energy of the speakers, and another to participate from home, where we have a hundred other things demanding attention, children over our heads right alongside that online presentation we want to watch. Keeping that in mind, we completely changed the style and ambience of the speeches (more on that in a moment), and shortened the event – from 8-9 hours to 4-5 hours a day.
What to do to make our audience feel a sense of community?
Together with the organizers, we developed a formula that the participants of the conference on this side of the Vistula have not yet seen. First, the speakers recorded their presentations in the studio of the highest quality. It means that they had a few days to polish their speech in front of the camera to perfection. In the spirit of minimalism known to Apple fans, we recorded the presentations with a white background, but with 4 cameras and with excellent lighting. Later, the animators added additional elements to the presentations – almost every 10 seconds they changed the content of the graphic side of the speaker. They created multidimensional animations, accessible charts, and sometimes added short videos and memes.
If that wasn’t enough, these presentations were just the starting point of great discussions. In the studio we gathered all the speakers of the day, and my task was to bind the whole thing together, bringing more value to the audience. So I had hours of attractive conversations on par with the best TV talk show. The substantive value produced was light, witty and accessible.
I did not part with the tablet. From it, I read the comments of the audience and the questions they sent in the Q&A section. In addition, of course, I worked with a traditional in-ear piece, through which the organizers communicated their requests and tips.
Open antenna – or stay closed and afraid?
And here’s the biggest surprise! As you can see in the video above, I received dozens of phone calls on air for all 4 days. Conference participants could call and ask any question to the speaker, as well as share their thoughts. Thanks to this format, we had many inspiring discussions.
Magdalena Urbaniak, one of the speakers, even said that we do free creative work for callers. I felt incredibly happy to be part of such an extraordinary initiative. I believe that such courage of the organizer is a litmus test of trust that they bestowed on the participants.
Many marketers called the studio, some called from big cities, others from small centers. There were those who manage big budgets, but most of them were those who were taking their first steps in the world of marketing.
My goal was what I always do – to treat everyone equally, with the same attention – so that everyone could feel that we were there for a common vision. We maintained a great atmosphere all the days, despite the impressive number of nearly 1000 viewers.
You can read about how I co-created the previous hybrid edition here.