Reflections on #NMS08

@CCSeed

I put these notes down half way home to our cottage in the mountains, knowing that its now or never.  

My highlights:

Vision: Don Peppers laying out that we are only on the front end of the data bloom.  

Innovation: David Meerman Scott showing that juicy content, creative force, and authenticity build influence. 

Practice: Chris Brogan taking us through his work flow.

Networking: Chris Brogan introducing me to Beth Kantor and our discussion on implementing these tools gradually in the non-profit setting.  

Nugget of caution: Paul Gilllin noting it could take a year to establish a vital small community.  

Dislike: each and every time the panels had product presenters and it started to tip toward self promotion.

One exception: HubSpot did a fantastic job threading this needle, the insights on search were just that good.

Some things to consider for future meet ups (besides coffee and wifi issues).  In my mind, two camps were present at this event: those that needed to be convinced and those that wanted to push the envelope.  These two camps created an energy that was at cross purposes. Q and A seemed stymied a bit because of this.  

What if New Marketing Summit were marketed either way: discourage those on the fence saying this will be about trail blazing, or make it clear that it will be an exercise in getting over the hurdles of early adoption. My sense of the word Summit is that it should push the envelope.  Boot Camp should beat the living denial out of the recruits.  Perhaps these events could be scaled toward the middle and meet the needs of both camps even better.  It probably would cut into the margins of the business model for Cross Tech Media, but I think it should be considered.    

All that said, my hats off to Cross Tech Media and Mr. Brogan for rearranging these here marbles in this here head.  I head back to the hills changed by the encounter.