Something I really love about life is the uncertainty of not knowing what the day will bring you. Opportunity, challenges, happiness, stress, whatever it is, I accept. Woke up today feeling kinda meh. Waited ages for a driver from CO-OP, they should be called slow-op. Was angry for a few minutes seconds but had a lovely chat with concierge while waiting.
Arrived at 1 King West during morning session break at Dell CAP. I didn’t realize how big the thing was before I went. I was taken to my seat (which I then realized) was two seats down from the moderator (Mark Evans), beside a Dell exec. and in clear view of the livestream. I don’t know WHAT I was expecting but it wasn’t this. I was pleasantly surprised.
I’m not a Dell user, nor do I have any Dell products and before today I knew very little about the brand or company. I was impressed by the attention to detail, organization, and care the people at Dell have to their business. There were not more than 30 people, some local, others flown in from across Canada & the US. We shared ideas about brands we thought were doing things well in customer service, purchasing, sustainability and social media. My favourite part was the Social Media Discussion which included all Dell Panelists. The livestream is available to watch in sections here. This is the segment lead by Mark Graham (Rightsleeve) & myself on SM:
Everyone met in the Vault for cocktail hour and I walked to Ryerson University were I was speaking to the Image Arts Union & other students about personal branding & social media. We had a good discussion going for a while and in the middle of my talk the lights went out. Like, OUT OUT BLACKOUT. I made Halloween jokes and said ‘Happy Halloweeeeen” in a creepy voice and continued to talk with a little bit of light from the hallway. It was kinda nice.
I met lots of really great people today and spent and full day talking about brands & social media. It’s inspiring to see people from corporate executives who don’t get it and students who’ve grown up with The Internet showing interest in this stuff. Social media, internet & mobile allow us to build & cultivate our brands (business/personal) faster and to a wider audience than ever before.