I traveled up to Gateshead/Newcastle yesterday for Thinking Digital – a conference focusing on “technology, ideas and our future.” It promises to be a fascinating few days – about which I’m childlishly excited..! The conference is in its second year and received rave reviews for its first, 12 months ago.
My conference started earlier than most people’s having traveled up by way of a Tech Bus Tours coach organised by Katie Lips (Kisky Media) and supported by ICDC and BBC Backstage. Tech Bus Tours is a new concept aimed at bringing together event-going members of the UK technology community by providing a luxurious and sustainable means of getting to and from events. Complete with Wifi, plug sockets for laptops/gadgetry and informal talks/presentations the journey flew by with more than enough to keep us entertained and is something I’d recommend to anyone. It’s also a great way to make the most of travel time.
The first session of the Thinking Digital programme I attended centred on practical wisdom for business. Although aimed primarily at technology/web start-ups and growing SMEs, it provided plenty of sound advice for businesses of any age or type. Hosted by the Financial Times columnist and entrepreneurial whizz Mike Southon, the session gave insights on digital business practices with speakers from Google, EthicalSuperstore.com and the former CEO of Red Bull UK.
Mike Southon’s introduction offered some key tips on setting up and running a business including how to identify and exploit the strengths of contributing partners (check out these wealth mechanics psychometric tests…) and a five point guide to good networking conversation:
- ask where the person is from
- ask what they and their organisation do
- ask how they go about getting their work done
- ask what the person is hoping to get out of the event
- offer to introduce the person to a relevant contact if possible (great for creating a value-loaded follow up)
Following Mike’s entertaining talk, we were treated to some pearls of wisdom from world-class marketeer Harry Drnec. Having launched Bud Light in the US, Budweiser and Michelob in Europe and reinvented Red Bull in the UK, Harry’s insight is well worth a listen! He made for a fascinating talk and boiled his marketing ethos down to four steps:-
- Identify who the product/service is for
- Find your target market through networks and locations
- Touch their minds, make contact with them and create awareness amongst them
- Thrill them! Ensure the product/service is loveable and the brand is memorable.
After Harry’s talk it was the turn of Bootlaw boys Barry Vitou and Danvers Bailieu. Their Bootlaw events are free and provide legal tips and advice for digital and tech start-ups.Barry and Danvers provided an brief overview of the top legal tips for tech start-ups and small firms, the main two of which were “if possible, do it yourself,” and, “keep it simple.”
Next up was Andy Barke, a speaker I was looking forward to hearing given his position managing the UK Direct Sales Team at Google. In particular Andy was keen to extol the virtues of Google Insights in business – picking out keyword trends obviously provides a great opportunity for product and service marketing.
Andy’s talk led seamlessly into the final presentation of the session led by Andy Redfern and Ben Mawhinney of EthicalSuperstore.com. Andy and Ben in particular provided a tangible insight into how Google has benefited Ethical Superstore. From tracking the ROI of paid Google ads to importance of search-engine optimisation and valuing the opinions of bloggers whether big or small, they provided a lively and engaging talk to end the day and demonstrated just how well digital tools can be employed.
Keep an eye on our Twitter feed @FACT_Liverpool were I’ll keep the tweets flowing – I’ll provide another blog post to summarize today and tomorrow. When I have chance… 
via Thinking Digital: Day 1 | the[FACT]blog.
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