Seth Godin Lecture at Tufts University

I was a nerdy little Marketing fangirl when I heard that Seth Godin was delivering a lecture - free to Tufts students and alumni - this month. I registered immediately. He's authored some of my favorite marketing books, like The Purple Cow and All Marketers are Liars. I also subscribe to his blog, and read it every day when it lands in my inbox. Naturally, I wasn't disappointed when he delivered his talk yesterday evening on campus.

What I love about Seth is that all of what he says makes perfect sense to me - I've had more than one "duh" moment when reading his stuff - and especially when I heard him talk. The problem is getting it into motion, into practice. Maybe my lower-level-not-quite-Tuftsy-brain just boils all of his content down to - "just be awesome, and everything will be good."

So when this bald little guy with great bold glasses came up to the podium (he referred to himself later as a tortoise, and I was like - why, yes. Yes you are.) I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up taking notes during his lecture - mostly one-liners about points he made with stories he told. I liked hearing about when he was at Tufts and started a million businesses, and most of them failed. (Though my bitter student-loan brain got irritated when he said how fortunate he was that his dad paid for his rent and tuition costs...that he "just" had to pay for food. As dampering it is to think about money, I'm sure being in debt or worrying about more bills makes it a lot more difficult to put it all out there and fail) From his failed businesses, he learned to say "This might not work." He got lots of practice in building things that were greater than himself, businesses that have stood the test of time. He also took as many classes as he could to learn a little about a lot, and was awarded his degree based on the classes he passed.

Another thing I found really interesting - and that embarassingly, rang true to me - was that what got us into Tufts will not get us out. You can get perfect grades, get into a perfect school, do everything you are supposed to do, but being perfect will get you no where in life. Instead, you'll be looking for perfect in your job, looking to see how you can be perfect - when it's just mediocrity. I was so sure that if I did everything right, got good grades, went to the school I was supposed to go to - that everything would work out for me. And it hasn't. The reason being is that we are in the middle of a revolution right now - the Connection Revolution - and revolutions destroy the perfect. Seth used the example of the record industry - which was perfect, until it wasn't. Now there is a very limited amount of record labels, yet more people are recording music and more people are listening to music than ever before - because they are more connected.

There are no college exams on trust, on making rules, or on solving problems. Maybe we can address all these problems in creative ways - and maybe they won't work. I definitely think the institution of college education is heading towards a revolution - especially when students graduate and don't have that job they felt was promised to them because of their degree. I liked his story about Icarus, which we all know as "don't fly too close to the sun, or the wax on your wings will melt and you will perish". What's interesting about that is there is more to that story that no one ever tells - after the sun, Icarus is told "do not fly too low, or your wings will be caught in the mist, you will lose your lift and surely perish." So - don't fly too high, but also, don't fly too low. Don't be lazy and compliant.

Another fact he brought up was that the "disease" of writer's block started in 1942. Before that, anyone who wanted to write a book, did. Now, there's this overwhelming awareness of resistance, of our internal editors, afraid of approaching other people and saying "I made this". It's funny - I worked all day yesterday - that same day I saw Seth - on a new website design for my company, and I delayed sending it for hours. When I finally did, I prefaced it with "this can be changed"! and "this is just a first pass!". What kind of BS is that? I made something I was proud of - why couldn't I just send it to my boss? It's the fear of not being good enough, of a past rejection of my work at the forefront of my mind. But I've also gotten past praise - so why isn't that something that I'm thinking about?

The last point he made which also applies to me was the difference between a professional and an amateur. An amateur sees resistance to himself or an idea, and is paralyzed by it. A professional is aware of resistance , and overcomes it. Building your personal brand is all about building your reputation and confidence in what you have to say, as it's valuable. And definitely shouldn't be thrown away. So, just be awesome.

HUGS 2011: Hubspot User Conference

Before this becomes obsolete, I wanted to write a quick post on my attendance to the Hubspot 2011 Conference this past Friday. The company I am currently employed utilizes Hubspot software for its online marketing initiatives, and I have since become an obsessed user since being introduced to the system about 6 months ago. Hubspot hosted a conference at the Boston Sheraton this past Friday, called HUGS 2011, and it was, for the most part, good.

{Powerful Closing Here} Such delicious Geekiness...

The day had a full agenda of seminars that were broken up into three tracks based on experience of Hubspot users. I felt torn between the Intermediate and Advanced sessions, so I attended a few of both. Some of the presentations were a bit better then others, but for the most part I felt as though I knew most of the material already, or was in a real-life Hubspot webinar. Which has its great moments, but wasn't what I'd expected.

The event itself was okay, you could tell that they still need to tweak things a bit to make flawless. For example, there was a  Q&A lunch session with the CEO and Founder that I really wanted to catch, but I had gotten a late seat at a table waaay in the back with lots of chattering marketers, so I had no prayer of hearing what was going on. One of their big speakers also didn't show up due to illness, which was disappointing

However, I do not regret attending. I got a great spreadsheet that I'm still wrapping my mind around to measure ROI of online marketing efforts. I got further inspired and was yelling "YES! YES!" in my head during a content seminar about blogging and have a slew of new ideas to get my company involved with our blog. Lastly, my favorite presentation was by Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Marketing at Hubspot. The seminar not only gave me great pointers on marketing collaborations, but I was able to snag her for a quick conversation on how to be a strong female leader in the male workplace.

You're on your way, Hubspot, and I like what you're doing. I believe next year will be even better!

If you went to the conference, let me know what you think ;)

Yoga On Top of Boston!

Last Tuesday, my coworkers and I participated in a free offer with FP3, in collaboration with South Boston Yoga Studio and Plank at an FP3 penthouse! (I'm in the above picture on the bottom left, in the black tank top!) First was a fast-paced *warm* session of yoga, taught by very bendable and funny David Vendetti of South Boston Yoga. On the way out, there were some spa goody bags provided by Bliss: which had tote bags, facial samples, a book and a ton of other stuff. There was also amazing fresh-fruit-infused cocktails provided by Cold River Vodka. And yeah, after an intense session of yoga, a cocktail or two is required. I also got a FREE artistic and eco-friendly Plank yoga mat that was designed by a very talented yoga guru, Doreen Hing. And it was all free. Yeah.



Soooo you should check out FP3's blog for future events. Because, in case you don't remember, here's what I got:

• Free booze - fruity mango and strawberry drink with Cold River Vodka
• Free yoga lesson, in a PENTHOUSE overlooking BOSTON (see above photoness)
• Free yoga mat to do said-yoga on - mine was the plank design, and apparently these are $95 ea.!
• Free booze again
• Free hor d'oerves in the form of fruit, sushi, and chicken on a stick (not all on the same stick)
• Free gift bag with a book, facial samples, book, 2 tote bags, etc..
• One more free booze

:)

The Commonwealth Institute "Breakfast of Champions"

I just returned this morning from a The Breakfast of Champions hosted by The Commonwealth Institute at the Back Bay events center (gorgeous venue, check it out!) in Boston. The keynote speaker was Ellen Alemany, who is a Chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and RBS Americas. She was recently ranked by U.S. Banker and Forbes as one of the most powerful women in banking.

After receiving an invitation from a Tufts Professor to attend, I jumped at the chance to come to this event. Not only was this a fantastic networking opportunity, but I really believe in promoting and learning more about supporting women positions in business and senior management.


I felt as though Ellen was an accessible speaker, talking about her family and her roots working for her father in a Brooklyn liquor store. It was refreshing to see someone who had worked their way up (albeit via the corporate ladder rather than entrepreneurship) and not born into wealth and success that I sense to sometimes be surrounded by at events like these. And yes, I become frustrated when people do not know my parents or recognize and inquire about my last name, but I'm confident I will get there some day.


After recently being hired full time to work at Boston Logic, I am assessing my role there and what I am bringing to the company. The advice that Ellen gave was very helpful and applicable to my situation. Several points she made were:

• Don't think about your sex. Focus on the work and how to achieve what you want to achieve.
• Do not try and be something your not. Look at your strengths, and think of how you can apply them to your company to result in success for your personally and your company.
  
• If you are bored, ask for more responsibility! Your managers have no way of knowing that you are bored, and taking the initiative to ask for more work will not only give you greater job satisfaction, but also have you noticed by the right people.
  

Overall, I am glad that I attended, particularly to gain the points above. Though there was the typical master of the universe talk and suspended eye-rolling on my part to these elite people in all they know and have accomplished, I am nothing but privileged to be able to attend :)