Virtually Live, The Podcast

S2E18 - The future’s made of multichannel reality

For too long, or at least for two years, we’ve been debating between virtual and in-person, synchronous and asynchronous, live and on-demand, trying to nominate which one or ones are clearly superior to the others. But there is no all-encompassing best. It all depends on the exact circumstances, the timing, and the persons involved. To offer the best experience, we have to create a mix of options available and leave it to people to choose the one that fits them best at any given time and place. Sitting at the intersection of marketing and education, Associate Dean for Digital Innovation, Kellogg School of Management, Mohanbir Sawhney, has seen it work time and time again. Join this session to hear more about why the future is in multichannel, converging experiences. 

S2E17 - What’s coming down the pipeline

In-person? Virtual? Hybrid? All of the above? Companies have had to pivot a lot over the last few years to find the right balance to achieve their goals and engage their target audiences. Marketers at large, and event professionals specifically, still struggle with the challenge of attribution and showing clear ROI from events, and across the marketing funnel. In this session, Qualified’s VP Demand Generation, Sarah McConnell, will share how she and her team have found the right mix of events, as well as an attribution model that works - helping them measure what brings them better ROI. 

S2E16 - TakeAways from IBM’s coffee corner

When is an event really hybrid, and when it is just an in-person occasion that is being streamed? And what are we supposed to do with the content flood that we see as a result? Join us for 10 minutes of sips & tips with Stacy Nawrocki, Head of Product Management and Division Leader at IBM Watson Media.

S2E15 - Spotlight: Marketing near and far

The world has never been smaller. Audiences, never bigger. And delivering meaningful content to people worldwide while still reflecting local values and interests, has never been trickier. Luckily in this session, Rachel Lockwood, EMEA Marketing Director at Amazon Web Services, shares her insights on engagement in regional and field marketing, and doing more with less, all the while keeping an eye on sustainability and “customer obsession.” 

S2E14 - Give it up for the event pros

Everyone’s talking about events, but not enough talk about the people making them. Rakuten’s VP Events, Sara Gorlick, is here to remind us that behind every event we see and attend, even the virtual ones, there’s a team of real people. Not only that, but the skillset that’s needed of them in the post-covid state-of-things is unreal. On the one hand, they must understand trends and decipher the data coming in, somehow juggle different venues, platforms, and technology and on the other hand, they need to kick up a worthy experience for whatever type of attendee and keep their eyes open and heads on a swivel for any change in plans. It’s a full body effort. Join this session to hear how they do it and if you are one of those remarkable beings – get some tips and tricks that might help. 

S2E13 - TakeAways from Google’s coffee corner with Roman Faminou

How does education function as a key pillar in a huge partner marketing program? And what are the benefits of a cohesive event experience over a fragmented one? Join us for 10 minutes of tips & tricks with Roman Faminou, product marketing manager at Google.

S2E12 - Beyond the digital core

While a global pandemic was the main drive for the digitization of events, what keeps it around are all the fresh options to engage attendees remotely and the ability to measure every action and interaction. Not many people can say that they didn’t just witness it unfold but also played an active part in it. Bob Bejan, the man behind and at the forefront of Microsoft’s events and global marketing community, can. He recognized early on that virtual events are here to stay and, just as quickly, realized that all events from now on – yes, yours too – will center around a digital core.  
Join us to hear more from him about the state of events today and where the industry is going.   

S2E11 - Connecting the dots - Taking an audience-first approach in higher-ed marketing

Knowing your audience is central to any marketing strategy. Of course, knowing your audience is a constant practice of learning and adapting to how your audience evolves. Higher education institutions have unique challenges in that their audiences are multigenerational, ranging from prospective students to senior decision makers in business and government. In this session, Amy Jaick, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Columbia Business School provides insights on how to identify your audience and engage with them where they are, evolve alongside them, reach and track your engagements with them throughout their journeys, and how virtual and hybrid events provide exciting opportunities to build everlasting relationships with your brand.

S2E10 - TakeAways from Airbnb’s coffee corner with Steven McNellie

What sentiments have to do with engagement - and what do we gain when we start looking at disengagement? What can we find in the spectrum between informational and inspirational messaging? Join us for 10 minutes of sips & tips with Steven McNellie, Senior Platform Manager at Airbnb.

S2E9 - A community-first product methodology for a new brand

Implementing a minimal viable brand requires an analytical and iterative approach. That’s exactly what Nadia Hitman, Simply’s (formerly JoyTunes) VP Brand Marketing, did. She’ll talk us through how she led Simply to a successful new brand using a product development methodology coupled with an audience- and community-focused mindset.