Monday, March 28, 2011

GETTING SOME SCHMARTS

I like conferences.

They’re good for the brain.

But it's easy to become unstuck once the business of conferencing is done.

You know what I’m talking about. Networking session, semillon in one hand. Piping-hot samosa in the other. Then the surprise approach from a fellow delegate, hand out-stretched.

Your options here are few.

You can do the awkward I’ve got my hands full charade and maybe initiate a pinky shake. (Way to make a first impression, Mr. Professional). Or, you could pop the whole samosa in your mouth, and speak like Mr Bean.


In a classic necessity is the mother scenario, I’ve been tinkering with a simple, lanyard-mounted canapé holder. Just slip your samosa in the Canapé Caddy, shake hands and introduce yourself with confidence and charm.

Practical and a great promotional product. A nice little earner, I reckon.

So you can imagine my disappointment when, digging around online for some essentials for the upcoming Schmart Marketing Conference, I discovered THIS.

I should have known.

In fairness, I probably wasn’t too far off with the idea itself. Hey, this one made it to Skymall.

But the world’s full of ideas. Everybody’s got at least one pearler. But even a cracking idea will amount to nix without proper business and promotional strategies, or an understanding of traditional and social media, or how to go about building (and leveraging) customer trust and engagement.

Schmart promises to tie all of this together in an intense one day conference environment.

After my Canapé Caddy calamity, I’ll be listening intently.

So, keep an eye out for follow-up posts here (or here, Tweeps) on some key Schmart take outs. I'll be happy to share.

And if keynote speakers like Russel Howcroft (in Melbourne only), Todd Sampson or Jeffrey Hayzlett approach me at the post-conference networking session, I’ll be ready to impress with my Wine Glass Holder Necklace.

Because there’s no way I’m missing out on the samosas.

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