Social Media Week 2013 NYC

My internship is for Sukkatash, who is the creative director of HyLo Boutiques, a permanent pop up shop focused on branding and promoting local small companies. Last Friday they had me join them in New York City for what would turn out to be one of the best days of my life.

I had previously been informed by my boss, Lendl, that he was friends with a dude named Taj Reid who is creative director of We Jet Set and also works with MKG (they work on marketing for Madonna). Taj is also one of the people running Social Media Week. I love social media, it’s just my thing. The idea of being able to attend such an event seemed like a dream come true. A few days later Lendl sent me an email containing my bus tickets and the info on what event we would be attending.

When I got off the bus and into the overwhelming world of New York, I still had no idea what to expect. Lendl and I grabbed a quick lunch, then headed to the Ace Hotel where the HyLo crew were staying. After a quick subway ride we entered a really big building located a few blocks from Grand Central Station. In the lobby a group of people sat with iPads confirming our registration. Then we hopped in an elevator that smoothly took us to the second floor. The open space of the office area was colorful and modern. As we headed further back there was what seemed to be a coffee shop area which led to an even more open room with tons of chairs and a little stage. “Isn’t it cool?” Lendl asked me, “They even have a bar here. I guess that’s what happens when you’re one of the biggest agencies in the world.” I swear I almost shit myself. (Pardon my French.) I mean I knew I was in an agency, but I didn’t realize how big it was.

I tried to hold back tears of happiness as Lendl told me the agency we were sitting in that was hosting social media week was called JWT. Then I was introduced to Taj who followed me on Twitter. Finally I was introduced to this really cool guy who did account planning for agencies like JWT and even helped with the branding of the  iPad. It was an ad major’s dream.<–JWT

The event that we attended was called “The Future of Branded Experience”

Presenting along with Taj were two other guys who were social media experts. The whole thing was set up like Jeapordy. When we had registered for the event we had to give our Twitter handle, and they chose one randomly every time to pick a category. The topics discussed were really interesting. Most of it was focused on Twitter.

They went over topics about how companies can better use Social Media for advertising. They went over sending “Love Bombs” which were giveaways to followers, the importance of a hashtag, and the power of data.

They finished their presentation with the quote, “brands could never move too fast, they are always too slow.”

It was literally the best day of my life.