Marketing Forum 2007

Last week, I joined several hundred executives for 3 days at Richmond Event’s The Marketing Forum, held aboard the Norwegian Dawn.  Now, before you begin with cries of junkets, boondoggles, or misuse of corporate funds, let me explain a bit more.

Richmond Events has come up with a unique way of solving many of the common problems that these types of events have.  First, the event is paid for by a hundred or so suppliers, including marketing consultants, advertising and PR firms, executive coaches, industry service providers, and other professionals.  In return for paying for the three-day conference, they have a 100% captive (even captured) audience.

The boat left the dock on Wednesday night, and set sail for international waters near the Hamptons on Long Island.  Once there, they dropped anchor.  You might be imagining lounging by the pool, hitting the buffets, going to shows or movies, gambling in the casino, or hitting the beach.  But that’s where the brilliance of Richmond’s approach kicks in. 

The entire ship is dedicated to this event.  And since the suppliers are paying for the clients to be there, the boat is at their disposal.  The pools (except for one in the spa) were closed.  The casino, the shops, and the bars were all closed during meeting times.  And because it’s late spring, even lounging on the main deck (by the drained pool) meant brisk winds, temperatures in the 50-60’s, and as far as the eye can see--fog.  All meals are served at an assigned table at an assigned time.  To top it off, there was limited access to internet and spotty cell-phone coverage.

The days were broken into 15-minute increments, and absolutely every hour was planned, from 7:30 am to after midnight.  Breakfast began at 7:30, the day progressed with 30-minute back-to-back meetings between suppliers and clients.  Throughout the day, there were workshop sessions about marketing topics (given by suppliers), and even the meals were sponsored by a supplier, so you had 60-90 minutes at a table with one or two other clients and the supplier.

There are several ways to sum up the experience: Grueling. Frenetic. Exhausting.  By now, you’re thinking it sounds like a marketer’s description of hell: being forced to listen to pitch after pitch, with no place to hide, no emergency to force a reschedule.  It was grueling.  But it was also invigorating.  Inspiring.  Personal.  Powerful.  And yes, worthwhile.

I am approached several times a week by suppliers who appreciate having access to me through my email address published on my personal or Xbox blog.  Usually, they’re unrelated to anything I oversee personally, and though I pass them along, I feel bad that I don’t have time to respond personally, make introductions, follow up, or evangelize their ideas.  With everything going on “in real life,” they often fall to the bottom of the email queue, or even get ignored for weeks. 

You can imagine how difficult it is to meet new suppliers, let alone get to know them personally, tap into their ideas, share my ideas, and go beyond what could be shared in a brochure.  Even when I do have meetings, I rarely get a chance to have conversations with suppliers without them being overly-formal.

Having assigned meetings with ample time to get past the “introduction” proved to be quite powerful.  I was able to present enough information about the projects I’m working on to allow both of us to have a meaningful conversation.  Even if the fit wasn’t perfect (you usually knew pretty quickly), we got the chance to talk as industry peers, and begin building a relationship.  We got to talk about our families, our jobs, our personal interests, and what we’re trying to achieve for our businesses.  From my perspective, I feel much better introducing someone I know at a more personal level.  And I think if I approached a co-worker, executive, or someone I know from another company (or industry), and started off by saying I had a meeting with this company, I was impressed with what I saw, and I can personally introduce someone from the supplier to them.  It makes a big difference.

On the first evening, there was a keynote speaker.  Chuck Martin, author of SMARTS: Are we Hardwired for Success?.  He presented some interesting comments about how to identify and leverage an individual’s inherent strengths/talents.  Great speech, totally in line with a lot of study I’ve done personally about brain research and executive function. 

After the keynote, we held a series of “speed meetings” that can only be described as “Speed Dating.”  In one hour, I met with 10 different suppliers that I wouldn’t have time to meet during the longer meetings the next two days.  Every five minutes, a bell would ring, and everyone would find their next “speed meeting.”  Not much more you can do in 4-5 minutes but do an introduction, but I did make some contact with a couple of suppliers I’ll definitely follow up with. 

On the last evening, there was another keynote by Chris Gardner, the man the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” is about.  He was quite engaging, a great storyteller, and very inspiring to me as a father.  The audience was spellbound for the entire speech, and everyone seemed to think about the opportunity they have as employers to make a difference in someone’s life. 

Near the end of the last night, I got 45 minutes of executive coaching from Jan Austin, a prominent executive coach.  I was able to articulate a few things I’d been working on, and together we came up with some solid steps I’ll be taking to keep up with the goals I’ve set.

On Saturday morning, we all had to disembark by 9:00 am. 

Would I recommend it?  Without hesitation.  In fact, I already signed up for next year.  I’ll sum it up by saying this is the first time I’ve ever left a multi-day conference where I felt this invigorated.