Stranger in a Strange Land

I’m at the AMA’s M-planet Conference in Orlando, FL, sitting of to the side of the show room floor (see picture). As I sit here recording this uttercast, I’m amazed by what a stranger I’ve become in this world of marketing. And that’s not necessarily a good thing, especially when I am a marketer myself and I’m supposed to understand the mindset of other marketers better than anyone else at my company.

The three points I made in today’s recording are:

1. I shouldn’t be surprised that this is somewhat of a traditional conference because that’s what most of my marketing brethren/sistren are expecting (and that’s not a dig on anyone).
2. This is a good reminder as to why I need to get outside the fishbowl. It’s fun to talk to my social friends and it’s why I chose to have dinner with Greg Verdino of Crayon last night but at the end of the day, it’s the marketers here I need to connect with.
3. My job is to help the folks here understand how social media/marketing and online communities can be a game changer. That’s not to diminish other marketing channels like e-mail, SEO/SEM, online advertising, etc. but to let folks know that there is a game changer out there that will give them more than a .05% incremental return on their investment.

On that note, I’m off to network, watch some panels (with a little live blogging/tweeting where appropriate) and then some evangelizing during my speaking slot at 2:00 PM.