Remember the competition we won last semester? Well, we also gained an opportunity to talk at a conference hosted by one of the sponsors. Of course, we said yes! And that, my dears, resulted in our first ever conference presentation. Wonder what we learned from it? Keep on reading!
I’ve been to conferences numerous times before, most of them being something to do with the oil industry – thanks, Daddy, I know a lot about fracing by now, – but some were closer to my interests, like the odd TEDx Danubia, or random events about marketing, communications or the media. However, until now, I was always on the other end of the microphone – listening.
This time, I was the one talking. What a milestone! I thought I’d be nervous, but I wasn’t. I thought I’d be disrespected (due to my young age) – but I wasn’t. People listened and reacted. Smiled, laughed, nodded, and thought…
About the conference
Médiapiac conference is an annual two-day conference in Budapest, organised by mediapiac.com online and print magazine. This year, the main topic was generations and their (media) behaviour.
Our team talked about Black Friday in the e-commerce sector. We focused on insight we gained from our previous research: parents and relatives love asking their children to shop online for them. The reason: they don’t know (or don’t want to know) how e-commerce works, and they definitely don’t trust e-commerce sites regarding their personal data and credit card details, nor the product and service itself.
We discussed two important questions: How to grab GenZ’s attention in such a massive promotional clutter? and What can we do with the older generations to win their trust? Our tips relied on a new approach to Black Friday strategies, as well as integrated marketing communications.
So what have I learned from this experience?
- Yupp, “older” generations are still confused and have a lot of misconceptions about our GenZ – however, most of these come from ugly stereotypes and urban legends
- We had many nodding moments when research stated something about GenZ – meaning there exists an answer to our generation
- Microphones sound much better from the outsidethan the inside
- Age does not matter if you’re confidentenough
- Conference talks don’t differ from other presentations if you have enough stage experience (and you know what you’re talking about)
- It’s true! Storytelling works…
- You’ll end up with a lot of funny pictures if you like articulating as much as I do
- Networking is easy-peasyif you open your mouth, eyes, and ears (pay attention and don’t be afraid to start a conversation)