Somewhere between the espresso bar and the last coat check ticket, there were 48 hours of mind-blowing sessions, space shuttle schmoozing, strategic networking, and delicious tacos.
At C3, our annual digital marketing conference held October 28-29 of this year, attendees not only heard fresh, authentic stories about content and search, but also got to experience all the extras that came with it. Of course, it was difficult to pick just 10 moments — the conference was abuzz with nonstop tweets, grams, and conversations about everything — and we’re bound to leave out something amazing. No worries, you can catch up with the slides and videos here.
Check out the ten most tweeted and talked-about moments of C3:
1. Be a Fearless Marketer
What better way to kick off a keynote than to cartwheel on stage?
The @Conductor CEO literally just cartwheeled on stage and called me a coward. Game on, Seth. #C3NY pic.twitter.com/kwPFYo8GKf
— Jonathan Brinksman (@JRBrinksmanship) October 28, 2015
In the first keynote of C3, Seth Besmertnik encourages marketers to face their fears head-on with belief, knowledge, and courage. He talks about the future of customer-focused marketing and how we, as marketers, need to get rid of the funnel and get into the (buyer’s) journey.
Full house for @Besmertnik‘s keynote #C3NY #BeFearless pic.twitter.com/NjSllTk79o — Conductor (@Conductor) October 28, 2015
Or how Seth calls it, lose the “George Constanza way of marketing.” Want to know what he means? Check out the keynote here:
2. Tell Us a Story, Marketers
James Lecesne (writer of Academy Award winning short film, The Trevor Project) inspired us in his keynote with the craft of storytelling. What does storytelling have to do with marketing?
Continuing C3’s theme of being a fearless marketer, James poses the idea of fearlessness in storytelling – which means, really looking into your own life and being invested in the conflict you’re proposing.
Create a story with conflict people can relate with. Amazing storytelling talk by @JLecesne#C3NYpic.twitter.com/nsS3QeGTxE
— Stephen Settanni (@StefSettanni) October 28, 2015
3. And the Searchie Goes to…
Sprinkled throughout the conference, we continued our third year tradition of awarding Searchies to our customers who proved to be the most impressive in marketing in the last year.
This year’s winners included:
Best in Class: Direct – Dell Software
Best in Class: Agency – Seer Interactive
WPM Evangelist Award – Frank Pipolo, Bisk Education
Most Innovative – EducationDynamics
Excellence in WPM Award – Dominion Enterprises
Global SEO Award – Danaher
Excellence in Team Enablement – Canon
Searchlight Power User – Ren Lacerda, Wakefly
Searchlight Agency Partner Excellence Award – MoreVisibility
Rookie of the Year – Stage Stores
We have been named ‘Best in Class’ 2015 Searchie Award Winner by @Conductor! https://t.co/QhCUFplUgJ #C3NY pic.twitter.com/eKY4a57DbF
— Dell Software (@DellSoftware) November 2, 2015
#AndTheSearchieGoesTo Wakefly’s @Ren_MBA! Congrats to our very own @Conductor Power User! #winwithwakefly#c3nypic.twitter.com/hYavM4mfbE
— Wakefly (@wakefly) October 28, 2015
4. Taco Bar
Need we say more?
Taco bar?! This keeps getting better #C3NY pic.twitter.com/DaBPbnat5w
— Courtney Railing (@courtrails) October 29, 2015
.@Conductor you stepped your food game up 100x this year for #C3NY🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🌯 pic.twitter.com/wohC35fniZ
— Chloe Yeung (@seo_chlo) October 29, 2015
5. Storytelling and Puppies
Any marketing comparison to Harry Potter is guaranteed to be a hit.
Memorable session: #contentmarketing with #HarryPotter. Thanks @david_marine! #C3NYpic.twitter.com/YMc6d4zF8R
— Pauline Hsia (@PaulineHsia) October 29, 2015
We heard rave reviews of Coldwell Banker/Skyword’s breakout session on storytelling (can you guess C3’s underlying theme?) and how great campaigns evoke feelings. Like, for example, how Coldwell Banker® Homes for Dogs Project got a whopping 20,000 dogs adopted.
6. See Think Do
It was standing room only for this presentation on “micro-moments” and how to map intent to content. Mike Grehan (CMO of Acroynm) and Larissa Livingston (Scotts Miracle-Gro) discuss the See, Think, Do version of the buyer’s journey.
Standing room only for this breakout session on mapping intent. #C3NY pic.twitter.com/Nnh10iOqq3
— Jonathan Azares (@JonAzares) October 29, 2015
7. Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber, former NFL running back for the New York Giants and chairman for startup Thuzio, closes out the first day of C3 with a fireside chat with Tina Wung from Anheuser-Busch.
This incredibly charismatic football star surprised us with knowledge of the evolution of influencer marketing, offering us insight into what it means to be a celebrity selling a product. Watch the keynote here.
8. We’re on a Boat
So, this happened.
We made C3 history with out out-of-this-world bash at The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. We got to party on a flight deck, drink in an interactive museum while schmoozing near the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Party with a space shuttle at #C3NY because WHY NOT? A photo posted by Bethy Hardeman (@bhardeman) on
9. 3 New Searchlight Features
No C3 would be complete without a product feature reveal! We released three new features of Searchlight that will be rolling out within the next two weeks:
- Audience Intent Explorer
- Competitive IntelliScope
- CMS Suite for Adobe Experience Manager
Get more info here.
An Audience Intent Explorer that works in multiple languages. Who wouldn’t want that?! @Conductor#C3NYpic.twitter.com/jFCwqMyBo9
— Amy Clerget (@amesmichelle) October 28, 2015
10. I’m Kind of a Big Deal
A big first for us: there were just shy of 40 customers who completed the Legend Certification of Searchlight. And let us just say: that test is hard.
I’m Sarah but you can call me Legendary #C3NY #certifiedlegend #imkindofabigdeal #imhugeinjapan pic.twitter.com/1Haf1s2Nfv
— Sarah Little (@LittleBitSarah) October 28, 2015
⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Woman. The Myth. The #Legend. Level 3 Conductor Certified! #C3NY pic.twitter.com/5b48OgUP0B — Mel Sciorra (@mel_arroics) October 29, 2015
Congrats to PV’s Steve Macchia who is now Conductor Legend Certified! #C3NY pic.twitter.com/I5S0b6xiyp
— Prime Visibility (@PrimeVisibility) October 28, 2015