For the past two days I have been listening in (watching sometimes) on a conference. And the really nice thing is that I could do it from my desk while multi-tasking on simple minded things that would usually annoy the crap out of me. Ah, technology.
The conference was in Vegas and put on by SAS, called “Innovate. Optimize. Transform.” I stumbled upon the conference through Tweets from Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) and Charlene Li (@charleneli) – two people I highly recommend following if you are not already. They spoke on a panel with David Meerman Scott about the business value of social media. More on this later.
The first day on this conference was chocked full of food for the brain. Economists Linda Yueh and Dr. Sung Won Sohn spoke on the economy and globalization and put it into terms and scenarios even a knob like me could grasp. The transcript of the conversation can be found here http://blogs.sas.com/sascom/index.php?/archives/824-Moving-the-global-economy-out-of-neutral.html. In fact, I will now be watching/listening very closely to the Fed announcements next week and with luck, have a better understanding of what may happen next.
Then the keynote, Vijay Govindarajan, spoke on turning strategy into innovation. Interlaced with humor, his differentiation of strategy and tactics resonated with me. I believe I can adapt his differentiation methodology/theory to help our engineering firm gain new perspectives. Much can be gleaned from his blog as well (www.vijaygovindarajan.com).
Finally on day one, the executive viewpoint was brought forward through a panel from the host group SAS and its affiliate Accenture. Our engineering firm is not what I would call an analytic organization, but these three leaders were remarkably enlightening in their simplistic, humble views on engaging their customers and staff. There were numerous pearls to be gathered.
Day two was just a intellectually stimulating as day one and just as applicable to my job of marketing professional services and how marketing can play a role in solidifying the business for the future. Stay tuned for Finally Some Brain Food – Part 2.
(tags: #AEC, #SMPS, Innovate, Optimize, Transform, SAS, differentiation)
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