As the team’s newest employee, Inbound 14 probably had an entirely different effect on me than on my colleagues here at Hughes & Co. I found myself in a similar position our owner, Allie, found herself in last year. Much like her, I had only had a very, very, brief exposure to HubSpot prior to arriving in Boston and I was hoping to get some fundamentals, a little more comprehensive knowledge of what I was dealing with, but I may have got more than I bargained for.
As the only HubSpot agency in the Niagara region, it was hard for me to see how anyone could be as enthusiastic about inbound marketing as much as Allie. She eats, breathes, and sleeps inbound marketing. Surely, I thought, no one else is this consumed by it. When we finally arrived, I saw just how wrong I really was.
Almost 10,000 people arrived on Monday September 15 to see Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist at Canva, speak in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was the first time I had ever experienced anything like it. The entire room was captivated by the man, who stood before them spinning stories of Steve Jobs and his previous role at Apple, while at the same time validating why everyone in the audience was at this venue, and that yes, what we were doing, inbound marketing, matters. The whole crowd was pumped up: “Yes! I am an inbound marketer! This is going to be an amazing week”.
I think it was only in that moment that I finally realized that inbound marketing wasn’t an idea that had attracted a small group of people. This was a philosophy, a way of life, which has begun to completely change the tide of marketing.
The first night there was a chance to speak to the HubSpot team, to connect with our fellow attendees and to really get a great sense of what HubSpot and inbound marketing are doing for the world. Every person was as enthusiastic as the next and it was enthralling listening how many people had found success with the method.
Each day had multiple keynote speakers. They each brought something new to the table and each speaker resonated something different to each attendee. If you asked each member of the team at Hughes & Co., they would probably tell you who their favourite speaker was and why, ready to debate you on why their choice was undoubtedly the best. I think I’d be alone in saying that Martha Stewart was my favourite.
For me, she will always be my key highlight from Inbound 14. Her brand pre-dates today’s technological world. All the speakers were passionate and engaging the audience, eliciting responses from the crowd for days, whereas Martha was Martha is an entirely new way. She stood before the crowd (the room had never been as full as it was that day) and was unapologetic as she gave the story of her life, the story of her success…. the story of her as a brand. The other speakers imparted wisdom, helping to mold my view as a marketer but Martha imparted an attitude of a successful woman in business, showing that despite how much adversity you weather, you can always come back and succeed and adapt to a world that is constantly changing how things are successful.
The elements of what I learned at Inbound 14 will prove to be indispensable to our clients. I am not only HubSpot certified now, I have experienced what it is to be surrounded by people who understand that their success is tied to our success. HubSpot is not trying to propel itself above the crowd, it wanted to create a viable marketing system and now wants everyone using the philosophy to succeed.
As the week went on, I found that a lot of the information I was receiving in the lectures was already being implemented at Hughes & Co. I feel a large sense of pride in our agency. We’ve been able to take what HubSpot and Inbound has prepared for us and make it our own, to grow with it, and help our clients grow as well.