So it’s the Monday after the weekend next to the Thursday that was. You’ve slept on it, we’ve slept on it and we’ve also had a little brainstorm over the pluses and the minuses of the conference itself.
Conference Overall:
There weren’t any major disasters just the odd minor glitch, which would need ironing out if we were to hold another. We’re talking things like the color of the font in the binders being a touch light, speaker microphones not being used by everybody and times between speakers and for lunch being a bit on the long side. These weren’t complaints across the board, but that doesn’t mean everybody wouldn’t agree if they were brought up in conversation.
The Speakers:
Overall we felt the speakers were very good. Yes, there was a problem with a couple of them being a bit on the quiet side (could be rectified by ensuring everybody was wearing their mic), but that was as problematic for me as anybody else considering I was sat at the back and I’m a bit mutton Jeff (deaf in Cockney rhyming parlance). Most people thought there was a good balance between the mix of large, medium and local companies represented and that, on the whole, they referenced and complimented each other well. Some thought there were one or two moments when things became too much of a sales pitch for their liking.
The Topics:
Too broad and too vague, or a good mix with enough meat on the bones of each presentation? That is the question. Whether t’is nobler in the mind to suffer……whoops. Obviously, those who turned up thought the topics interesting enough in the first place, but did that pad out in practice? Well, nobody really smashed the topics in any of the feedback sheets, so we’re presuming everybody thought they had inherent value. Obviously, any one of the topics could’ve lasted the whole day and in the case of several other conferences around the country, a good few days. But, this was more of a sampler plate as opposed to a full three-course feast.
So, a few questions we’d maybe like to ask to get more detailed feedback:
What did you think of the conference overall? You know, organization, binders, room, lunch, set-up, stuff like that.
What did you think of the speakers? Let’s have a straw poll…..
Did the topics match up with your expectations?
And finally, would you come to something like this again, or would it need to be shorter for you, or more concentrated, or at a different time of the year?
Also, if you have any other thoughts, please, please feel free to share them in the comments below.
Thanks for having me at the conference. While speaking publicly about PR of all things is something I’ve always found a bit of a conundrum, I very much enjoyed being there and participating. It was amazing how much I actually learned about what it is I am supposed to be doing by preparing for this conference and in listening to the attendees and their challenges. Whether you’re large or small as a company the fundamental business problems remain fairly universal and the PR challenges similar. I hope I was able to shed some light on the approaches I’ve taken in the past with my clients and current company and that they were of some value to the attendees.
My only suggestion for next year would be to talk to the San Francisco and Pittsburgh airports about getting direct flights between the two cities.
Well meeting you was an absolute pleasure if I’m being honest. Almost a personal highlight.
Apologies for welching on the drink afterwards, but Steph informed me that we had to find a Sprint place over Pittsburgh way so we could pay our cell phone bill. Wheeling and its immediate parish doesn’t have one.
I do remember waking up and listening to the bit about blogging and online PR – spot on if I remember rightly.
The day after the conference I got together with an old friend of mine to start a blog and I used just about ever morsel of information that was presented at the conference. Until then we were wavering back and forth and on the subject, focus and tone to the tune of analysis paralysis. Within 2 hours of talking about it we were up and running and have since then created some content (though not enough as we both have day jobs) and more than anything it’s been a fun place to raise questions about the world around us.
So as a participant thanks to all the others for pushing us beyond our procrastination tipping point. And good luck with DOM.
At least blogs are something you can throw up in the midst of the enthusiasm for a particular project. It’s not as if you have the germ of an idea then have to wait for a suitable tool to be rustled up by a designer or developer so you can publish whatever you want publishing.
You can capture the mood of your imagination immediately.
You also get the option of taking as much time as you feel necessary to put content up and await a time of your choosing until you let it loose into the wild.
Nothing is rocket science, but you do need to grow into every blog. And that doesn’t matter whether it’s your first or 51st.
Please provide us with a link in the comments once you take off its leash and we’ll add it to the blogroll.
Aren’t we lovely.