I just got back to DC from Cape Town after attending the Alt Conference held this past weekend.
After all the build up, I was in two minds whether it was going to be worth anything. Short answer
- Flights to CPT= R2k
- Accom R1.5K
- Wine R4K
-
Alt Conf : Priceless
The conferance was like a Vulcan Mind Meld of some seriously smart people. The speakers were great and really had an energy about them, ( I personally believe this was because they did not have to explain to the audience ” No, Twitter is not Facebook Status updates”)
Tim Shier, of Quirk E-Marketing, was first up. I hijacked him in the parking lot, he was a bit perturbed, the last thing he needed was a client there, I personally was terrififed I would see The Unlimited World as a case study!
Shawn Jooste , told us we were all rockstars. I want to be from the the 80’s if I have a chance please Shawn. The key point to Shawns great presentation was that there are no rules to social media. He summed it up like so
“Captain Barbossa of the Black Pearl: First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate’s code to apply and you’re not. And thirdly, the code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. “This provoked a debate that lead to some great points, authenticity and integrity, and one thing I love about SMM, there is no Rinse and Repeat solution.
Shaun also amazed us by “live tweeting” his presentation, must find out how to do that..
Henk Kleynhans of Skyrove was up next ,frightening the bejesus out of us with RICA. I still say we should just switch off JZ’s email and internet. Its amazing what can happen when government truly gets the wrong end of the stick.
The Perel Brothers of the great vlog, From the Couch gave us some insights on the possibility of using video to get messages across to our audiences, and gave me a great idea to implement in the business.
The last presentation which really blew me away was by Allan Kent, and Gaby Rosario. Transmedia, wow, social, the mind boggles. The debate that came out of it was amazing, and so so valuable.
I need to graze now, but i still truly gobsmacked about the talent this country has.
Paul Jacobson, good work for getting it all together. Amazing stuff
** the only small thing is …why do all these great people live in Cape Town? Look how cool our stadium is!!
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Was good to see you again Smith – good memories of our durbs lunch mission last time I was up there.
Haha – a client in the audience… if only I had known you were coming down – could have had a little fun in the presentation itself.
Anyway, let me know when you next in CPT,
Cheers,
Tim