7 Things I Loved About Inbound 2015

I go to a lot of conferences, and I often have to really psych myself up to slap a smile on my face and talk to thousands of strangers. As I was packing my bags for Inbound, I noticed a different kind of feeling – it could only be identified as… excitement!

I landed in Boston and stepped into the main entrance where I was handed a shiny new nametag, a protein shake and a glass of wine. That’s when I new this would be my favorite conference of the year.

The Inbound conference app showed me hundreds of options for classes and keynotes. I spent the entire flight there creating my schedule. Although there was no possible way to see and do everything I wanted, I still managed to have an amazing time.

These are the top 10 things I loved about Inbound 2015:

1. Protein Shakes and Expensive Juice

Who doesn’t love protein shakes and expensive juices? HubSpot went above and beyond this year. When you walked into a keynote speaker session, you were handed a juice or protein shake. They were the good ones, too. Last I checked they cost about $6 at Whole Foods. And night at the happy hour, they had foods that people actually liked. It’s the little things like this that make attendees feel appreciated.

2. Authenticity

A lot of the Keynotes and classes I went to had an underlying tone of “be authentic.” Seems like there are not many marketing secrets left in this world. Most everyone knows about the importance of inbound marketing and the pay for play in the digital world. The only way we can separate ourselves from the next is by being authentic by adding our personality to the work we do.

3. Aziz Ansari

I told my Husband and a few other people that Aziz Ansari would be at Inbound this year. Everyone was asking me what a comedian was doing at a marketing conference and at first I wasn’t really sure. Aziz turned out to be a very interesting keynote speaker. While he was funny, he wasn’t there as a comedian, he was there as a researcher and author of his latest book, Modern Romance.

The book is all about how technology has changed the way we meet and fall in love. It’s also changed the way we act towards one another. He talked about how dating apps are giving people too many choices and, in turn, are causing them to be unsatisfied in every dating situation. Nowadays, when people are on a great date, they can run to the restroom and check their Tinder account and see that maybe an even better date is waiting for them around the corner. He also talks about how our profile pictures give us excuses to act like jerks and speak to each other in a way we never would in person. For those who are using technology as a channel for finding dates, this book is a must read.

4. Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson studies social shame and has created a psychopath test. He had so many interesting things to share with us. The one story that stuck out was the story of Justine Sacco, a PR girl with only 175 twitter followers that changed her entire life with one regretful tweet.

On December 20th 2013, Justine posted a comment on her twitter account that said, “I’m going to Africa, I hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding, I’m white.”

By the time she landed in Africa, Justine was the number one trending topic on Twitter. She not only lost her job, but also hit the ground with an email inbox full of hate mail. Jon studies the trends within social media and how one topic can be picked to be the one everyone shames while something just as terrible goes unnoticed.

Really interesting insight and information during this keynote – for more information on Jon check out his twitter account.

5. Brene Brown

I was really excited to see Brene Brown speak. She studies vulnerability and how we are emotional beings with physiological symptoms and not the other way around. Her stories were about how being vulnerable and communicating our needs is really the only way we can grow in our careers, in personal relationships and within everything we care about.

See the Ted Talk that made Brene famous here.

6. Food Trucks

There is no better way to feed thirteen thousand people than by bringing in every food truck in Boston. Inbound provided a variety of foods, from the bacon mobile to the pizza truck. The lines were kind of long, but proved to be a great opportunity to meet and talk to people you might not get the chance to meet otherwise.

7. Seaport Parties

What is a conference without a party? Nothing I want to be a part of, that’s for sure. Inbound does an awesome job at arranging parties all along the Seaport area. The Converge team was first in line for the party at the Whiskey Priest. We were surprised at the amount of food and open bar. This was a great opportunity to meet other #Inbound15 attendees and compare notes on our days.

All in all, it was a great conference. I’d even go as far as to call it a success. I left Inbound with more knowledge on inbound marketing techniques, a goal to be more authentic in my work, and with a few new friends and contacts.

See you next year!