The Fetch Blog

Curated reads and events for professionals

Tag: Amilia Cunningham

Event Review: Networx Marketers Meetings — October 1, 2012

Event Review: Networx Marketers Meetings

/Beck Waite

What: Networx Marketers Meeting
Topic: Content Strategy – create and develop engaging online content
Where: Hotel Urban, Brisbane
When: 26 September 2012
Event review by: Nicole Jensen and Amilia Cunningham, Brisbane Ambassadors

Content strategy – the newest marketing buzzwords…  What does it really mean? And once we get our heads around it, will there be new terms to replace it?  We went along to find out!

The Networx team put a lot of effort into making their events as engaging as possible, even before the audience has met the panellists. Networking time is used well to promote new connections, and there are always plenty of prizes up for grabs. Networx events are also those kind of events where you definitely need to know, for absolute certain, which pockets you’re using for incoming versus outgoing business cards – there’s a lot of exchanges!

Facilitating the panel discussion was marketing strategist Cat Matson, drawing insights from the panel of three, comprised of Scott Esdaile from Publicis Mojo, Emma Croston from News Queensland, and Iain Calvert from Reload Media.The panel brought together a broad range of perspectives and experiences with the topic, relating to analytics, the business of content, and creativity overall. Each question received a great balance of information from these areas.

Top tips from the panel:

  • Work out who your audience is – where and how are they engaging with content online.
  • Ask yourself why – In relation to the types of platforms you use to engage with your audience and share your content, ask yourself what you want to achieve and why is that platform right for you?
  • You don’t have to be everywhere – There’s no point being across all social media if your audience isn’t there.  Tailor your strategy to engage your audience directly.
  • Be strategic – Consider your objectives an tailor your content strategy, leading to content that is more tailored and less ad-hoc and haphazard.
  • Check share-ability – ask yourself would someone link or share this content? If so, then it’s worthwhile putting online.
  • How will you ‘mousetrap’ your audience? – Emma explained this as tailoring your content and your site to enhance the user experience and keep them on your site longer.

The audience dynamics during the panel were that of your standard Brisbane marketing event – professional but with a hint of cheek when the odd joke arose in discussion… or the tweet stream!

Overall the event was informative, engaging and entertaining. It’s great to see the formula has been working for Iceberg Events all these years, and we look forward to seeing many more in the future.

As for the venue, Hotel Urban was a pleasant networking and seminar spot, joining the two spaces with a vibrant stairwell of street art.

What did you miss? An intelligent panel, bright social media buffs, cool interactive media and a shiny rooftop view.

Nicole and Amilia attended the September Networx Marketers Meeting courtesy of Iceberg Events.  To see Nicole’s tweets from the event, visit @thefetchbris. The upcoming Networx Marketers Meetings event is on 24 October, and covers visual social media content.

Event Review: Social Media Changing Lives — September 16, 2012

Event Review: Social Media Changing Lives

/Beck Waite

What: Social Media: Changing Lives, at Brisbane Writers Festival
Organised by: TAFE Qld English Language and Literacy Services (TELLS
Where: State Library of Queensland
When: 8 September 2012
Review by: Amilia Cunningham, Brisbane Ambassador

There’s been a lot of negative press recently about social media. So, when I read the description for the event ‘Social Media: Changing Lives’ at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival, I was expecting nice stories.  What I didn’t expect was the laughs, or the tears, the highs and lows, that the audience experienced in one simple hour. These stories of connecting with family overseas, conversing with husbands an ocean away, supporting each other in crisis and connecting a culture of people around the world were told by four young women, recent immigrants to Brisbane.  Two of their stories are below.

How does one sustain a relationship and marriage when you live in a different country to your husband?  Skype was a lifeline for Mukarrama from Bangladesh, who met her husband through a client, and after getting married, he moved to Australia for work, but she wasn’t able to follow him for almost 12 months. ‘We shared our stories, emotions, joys and sorrows.  It allowed me to have the emotional touch I needed’, she told the audience.

Another speaker, Margaretha, worked in mining in Indonesia.  Her story was raw, deeply sad and it was difficult for her to contain her grief.  There was only one helicopter that the mining company owned. In August 2011, it went missing and it became apparent in the days after, that it had crashed.  All 10 on board had died.  Through social media, their community was able to pull together and support each other and the families of the men who died.  She still keeps in touch with some of the wives now that she is in Australia.

As I consider moving overseas to work sometime in the near future, something that Mukarrama said touched me personally.  Now that she’s moved to Australia, she uses Skype to talk with her mother in Bangladesh.  She said ‘I never felt, before I moved to Australia, that I bore such a love in my heart for my mother’. And I know this will be me, in months or years to come, relying on social media to stay connected to those closest to me. And how thankful I am, that Skype and Facebook will enable that connection.

What did you miss? Heartfelt stories of connection, love, and supporting others through grief, and the positive power of social media.

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