by Amanda Daniels-Allen | May 20, 2013 | Events & Conferences |
Last week I attended for the 3rd time a Global Digital Conference called iStratgey where lots of Marketing Managers, CEO, MD’s and the like spend 2 days listening to thought leaders within the digital marketing field to find out what is new, what is the future for digital and debate whether the methods we are currently using are right or wrong.
Opening Keynote Speaker; Rory Sutherland (VC of Ogilvy) said “Understanding that psychology and technology works together and equals success”
These two days for me is PD (Personal Development) time where I can find out if what I’m doing for my clients can be enhanced by listening to the large and dominant brands of the world today.
Unilever said “It’s in our DNA” and talked all about the brand and that if you don’t have a purpose what is the point?
The theme of this year’s iStrategy for me was about getting personal, understanding your audience to a completely new level and personalising “their” user experience for them, not to you and your company.
It was also about your brand and how you can make it stand out above everyone else by being authentic, knowing how your brand behaves in the world today and how you want your brand to be perceived.
During day one we talked about the psychology of people and how to make their buying experience better.
86% of people would pay more for a better experience!
Final Keynote Speaker; Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) CEO of If we ran the world said “Out of discomfort comes greatness”
Attending these conferences is what makes Koogar standout from an ever growing digital world. I personally love learning new ways and elements to marketing which ensures I am up to date as well as being able to pass on my learning to our clients. This is very important to me and my brand, Koogar.
Keep an eye out, in the next few weeks I will be sharing blogs, social updates and tweaking our website to be in line with some of the things we have learnt this year at iStrategy.
If you would like to book a Free 1 hour consultation with me to either find out more about iStrategy or would like to talk about your own marketing, please do so. I’m very passionate about my industry and subject and I’m sure we can give you at least 1 new idea that will help you stand out and be different!
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Mar 17, 2012 | Events & Conferences, Mindset & Inspiration |
GEC2012 Liverpool
I got the opportunity and received a ticket the day before from a person who couldn’t make it. I sent him the monies for the ticket and printed it off in excitement. I attended my weekly BNI meeting the same morning and proceeded to tell everyone where I was going the rest of the day.
The GEC is something I have wanted to go to since I saw the hype about it; “Sir Richard Branson is coming to town…“. Now for me that’s not something I could not miss.
Born on the same day as Richard (18th July) I would like to think that Koogar is the next Virgin….. Well, I can always dream and you never know do you.
I left the Hard Days Night Hotel just after 8:30am and parked in the closest car park to the Echo Area and excitedly walked towards the doors and then into queue to tell them I have arrived so I could collect the bites and pieces they give out. I quickly realised I left my ticket on the table at B.N.I. with a few of my other things but I was able to show the Steward my ticket via my Blackberry, which helped me secure my seat and lanyard moments after.
Once sorted, I gathered my bearings I called a B.N.I. colleague to see if he could see my file, which he did and will be passing it to me next week. (Saved my day; Mr.Mark Wilson)
I saw a few faces I knew said Hi and waited patiently until we could be seated for the forthcoming events of the day and this is what I thought of #GEC2012:
Sir Richard Branson – If I’m honest I was a little disappointed that the #GEC decided to interview him and not give him the opportunity to speak to the 3,000 strong crowd by giving us tips and inspiration to keep us going to do what we do. Instead he was interviewed by a person who said “If I get him, I’m interviewing him” which I thought to be quite selfish… (All about the me not the we!) But hey, I just expected it to be more than what it was and I think others around me did too. I did make plenty of notes and the biggest thing I took away from Richards slot was to:
“Get the right people in place, delegation is important and will help your grow as well as passion!”
Since the event I have come away and looked into The Elders to find out more about them and what they have been doing as I hadn’t heard of them before.
Sir Terry Leahy delivered an excellent talk about “The Winner Within” –
“Show courage and take the risk”
The day carried on and the next highlight for me was The Black Farmer; I think I now love Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones.
His island twang coming out ever so slightly during his interjections on the panel. He is a straight talking, no bull-s**t kind of guy who just wants to get the job done and doesn’t wait around. He mentioned that he couldn’t get his sausages into the large supermarkets so proceeded to ask his audience “If you like my sausages, please email the nearest person to you and tell them”.
Now that’s a great way to market yourself and product as well as to use your network!
Lord Heseltine was awesome! What a man… I thought he might be a little humdrum but no! He was the complete opposite. A very interesting man who has achieved a lot. One thing he said was “We are all unique, so why should I give you any advice?”, which made me laugh. The point was that we all think and do things differently. His biggest message during the day was;
Passion; make sure you enjoy getting up on a Monday morning. If you don’t change your job!
The next few people who finished off the day for me was Martha Lane Fox – who I have heard is a great speaker but not seen her before the day. And I agree! Very passionate, knowledgeable and a down to earth kind of lady.
Lara Morgan – What a cool woman! Quietly reserved but leading lady. One of her tips during “The Power of We” session.
“Delegate, be fair, grow people and give them a voice. The power of many! Things will go wrong but the more you trust them the more they trust you”
Michael Hayman by far was the best panel facilitator. He was fast paced, interesting and kept the momentum of the session along with Doug Richard who moderated a different session in which he was cheeky and controversial.
All in all the day was good! 6 pages of notes written and now I need to do something about them!
It would have been really good if the GEC could have give us workshops or handouts of exercises to do during the day which gets more engagement/participation from the audience.
I’m glad I went as it gave me the KUTA (Kick up the arse) I needed. How about you, what did you think?
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Oct 23, 2011 | Events & Conferences |
What do we currently know?
We know that we are in a recession and businesses start to tighten up on a few things. Marketing and Training are the first things to go out of the window, would you agree?
These are two things we don’t think we need to keep on top of while money is tight and other things rise on our “To Do Lists”, like the work!
Recently attended a seminar and the Council spokes person mentioned that companies who do not Market their companies or Train their staff when in a recession can potentially go under.
At Koogar, I’m keeping up to date with training on Digital Marketing as I will be flying to Amsterdam tomorrow night. I’m attending the iStrategy Conference which is about Global Digital Marketing and how to monetize it.
iStrategy is an inspirational, two-day, digital media conference for senior executives who believe that the success of their business requires a sound digital strategy. More about the event
Knowledge isnt power, its what you do with the knowledge!
I have wanted to attend this for a while and I believe I’ll come back with lots of new knowledge and ideas that I will share with you once I’m back and have digested it all.
So, one thing to help keep your company going through these tough times is to train yourself as well as staff members so you and they can handle enquires, customers, and products in the right way showing your company in the right light!
What could you learn today?
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Jun 12, 2011 | Events & Conferences, Mindset & Inspiration |
Last Friday was spent in the company of Liverpool based Artists.
From Photographers, to Jewellery Makers and Painters. Even Digital Visual Artists attended the workshop. The reason why they attended was because they wanted to learn more about selling their work, bring more awareness to what they do and understand which platform they should be on.
It was a pleasure to train these Artists for Dot Art. It took me back to when I was in College; life drawing, learning about photography, etching, soldering in metal workshop and Art History.
Love it and every now and again during the workshop I wished I was back in college; getting my hands covered in paint, or glue from making something for a week long brief from our tutors…
Being creative in business is for everyone, not just for artists or designers. As creatives and business owners we need to work out how to do things differently compared to other companies and competitors within our industries.
At Koogar HQ we are creating all the time; for ourselves and our clients, which is actually one of Koogars mission statements.
Koogar will be creatively producing:
- Products
- For our clients
- People
Delivering this workshop ticked this box. We have 4 mission statements and whatever we do we make sure 3 out of 4 are ticked! By having these statements helps us be the best we can be for ourselves and the people we work with.
I have a personal project which I am one step closer to with the help from Lucy (owner of Dot Art). When the project starts it will be photographed and filmed along the way.
I would like to thank Dot Art for giving us the opportunity to work with their Artists and help them sell their Art in the latest way using technology and Social Media. It has inspired me to be even more creative, take more time over work and think about what we are putting out there for our clients.
When was the last time you were creative in business?
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Feb 25, 2011 | Events & Conferences |
We held a Social Media Workshop in Manchester City Centre yesterday with the help of YSes. They found us the right building and venue for the job and also recommended a great catering company last minute to supply the lunch for my delegates and myself. So I must say a BIG thank you to Ruth and Natalie. If your looking for locations to run workshops, then you must speak to these girls!
The workshop its self went really well. There were only a few delegates so we got the take our time a little more and concentrate on their businesses more which in turn helped them work out that they can actually help each other with their own Social Media strategies.
What one of the delegates said about the day;
I have three things I’m going to take away from today’s workshop:
- How to have a coordinated Social Media strategy
- How to use Twitter
- How to use of Tweetdeck and Hootsuite
I came away feeling excited and inspired! I have enjoyed it all, especially the interaction!
So, if you want to walk away with the same knowledge we have more workshops happening throughout the year. Feel free to contact us and let us know what your struggling with, so we can help you have a working digital marketing strategy.
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Jan 12, 2011 | Events & Conferences |
Koogar are pleased to announce that in 2011 we are now working with NetworkShe. NetworkShe is a women’s only networking organisation based in North Wales. They hold events on a regular basis and also have their own magazine which is free; you can advertise in it and or have an editorial!
NetworkShe and Koogar got together and realised that there are still people out there that are unsure of Social Media. There are people who need a little help to get their profile up-to-date, need help to understand what the jargon means and which platform is suitable for them.
Please see our new training page for these hands-on Social Media Workshops.
We are very excited about working with NetworkShe. If you haven’t been to their events then your missing out! Check out their website www.networkshe.co.uk
