ad:tech Chicago...My first trade show experience.

Check out: AdLife...check out this great Ad Week article on it. Chicago Bears are back on tonight at 7!

Well I made it through my very first trade show,ad:tech Chicago, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a very busy and crazy couple of days but I learned a lot of great stuff! I attended 8 lectures, got to walk around the exhibit hall, and go behind the scenes in the press room and the speaker's lounge. I am going to be keeping an eye out for reactions from the show and will try to post different view points and ideas that I find. One thing that I really enjoyed was learning about the different ideas and opinions that all the different people have. There were lots of passionate people and panelist. It is nice to see people in the industry excited about their ideas and where digital is going. Here are some highlights!

Favorite Discussions at ad:tech:

-Keynote Presentation: The Big Idea Strikes Back. Brad Jakeman discussed the impact that a Big Brand Idea can have on shaping your brand's digital advertising. Jakeman said that the big brand ideas must: drive brands across all channels (TV. Interactive, Customer service, etc.), must be unique or proprietary, and it must be compelling- directly connected to the performance of your business.
-Blog Responses: DM News, Marketing Power

-Social Influence Marketing: A Transformative Opportunity. Shiv Singh of AARF offered insight into the importance of embracing the power that social influence has over people's daily decision making. He highlighted the fact that our peers are the people that we go to in order to make most of our choices including purchasing decisions.