Perth People I Met In Bali
I wanted to wrap up my writing about #EngageBali 2016 by telling you about some cool Perth ladies I met in Bali, and what their thoughts on the conference were. So I interviewed them, and here’s how it went!
Sasha Ioppolo is the director of her own Marketing Agency, Fanfare Media based in North Beach. Helen Cripps is the Digital Marketing Strategist & Advisor; Research Expert and Data Analyst for Edith Cowan University.
What was the one thing that made you decide to attend Engage Bali?
Helen:
I was interested in finding out more about the Socialbakers software. I was also keen to hear the lineup of speakers as I teach social media marketing.
Sasha:
For some time I have wanted to attend an international social media summit, and on reading about what Engage Bali had to offer in terms of speakers, I thought it was a great opportunity to attend in a location close to home. Plus it was a great opportunity for myself and Jae (our content marketing assistant) to mix it with the best in the biz!
My 2 Cents:
Like Sasha I had been longing to attend an International Social Media conference for some time, but could not justify the expense and the time it would take to travel to the US or Europe. Since Socialbakers decided to put on a Bali event I thought – why not! Plus I wanted to hear from LEGO, Twitter and NASA speakers
Was this reason delivered upon?
Helen:
The speakers – yes they were fantastic, and you got to mix with them. The speakers were very friendly and happy to chat with conference attendees. The software has been an ongoing project due to my lack of experience with such software and my not knowing what I want. It is a problem as there are very few software firms with an office in Perth.
Sasha:
Absolutely. The line-up of international speakers lived up to my hopes as did the organisation of the event. And the venue at the Grand Hyatt was spectacular too!
My 2 Cents:
YES! I had a fantastic time, not only with the conference content, but the people that attended, and the Socialbakers team really looked after me!
What was your favourite part of Engage Bali (and why)?
Helen:
The workshops as I got to work with people from around Asia and see things from other cultural perspectives.
Sasha:
The second day of the event was definitely the highlight. Hearing about best practice from the likes of Lego, NASA and MGM Hotel Group, ( just to name the big ones), was invaluable. I couldn’t stop scribbling notes and tweeting the key points. I also really valued the opportunities for networking, both with other attendees and the speakers from around the world. Having the opportunity to talk with other people in the industry in a one on one setting was a highlight and I hope to to keep in contact with many on a professional level.
My 2 Cents:
I loved the main conference event, but if I’m honest it was getting to meet and chat to the attendees, speakers, and the Socialbakers team at the function afterwards that I really enjoyed the most. Also I was so impressed with the amount of fantastic women speakers and attendees!
What was your least favourite part of Engage Bali (and why)?
Helen:
I think that is was so short. Would have liked it over 2.5 days so more time to get know the other attendees.
Sasha:
If I had to pick a least favourite part, it would be that the workshops on the first day were focussed on activities that were not particularly relevant to the clients that I work with, being small to medium business.
My 2 Cents:
Probably that I didn’t spend enough time in Bali. It was all very rushed.
What were your major takeaways?
Helen:
How social media can be used for customer service.
Insights into how social media marketing is different across Asia.
How to build community and engagement with social media.
Sasha:
Engagement and the power of user generated content. Many speakers told us about how they use stories and user generated content to engage social media audiences. In a work where we are fighting to gain the attention of our viewers online, we need to be increasingly relevant and engaging to our audiences. Hearing how the big players are doing that was very motivating and thought provoking. Another key takeout was how as social media professionals; we need to be all over the latest in the available technologies and techniques so that we can to measure and improve campaigns in terms of engagement and revenue benchmarks.
My 2 Cents:
That everyone faces the same challenges, and there’s a few key answers: know your audience as intimately as possible, and create content for them they’ll love. And track your data, test and repeat. There’s no tricks! If you nail these 2 things you’ll be able to win at Social.
How will you be applying these takeaways to your business/clients/students?
Helen:
I am currently working on service recovery using social media as a result of the Cathay Pacific presentation. The presentations provided me with great insights and examples that I can now use with my students.
Sasha:
As an outcome of Engage Bali, at Fanfare we are now even more actively looking for new and exciting ways to deliver exceptional content to our client’s audiences. We are working on a new concept that will enable small business clients have easier access to video to create more engaging and therefore more profitable campaigns. We are also looking deeper into the Socialbakers platform to ensure that we are providing a unique and premium service to our Perth clients, in terms of reporting on return on investment and benchmarking engagement.
My 2 Cents:
The outcomes I discussed won’t really change how approach my client work as such, but more strengthen my resolve to stay true to these 2 key elements of Social Media Marketing.
Who was your favourite speaker and why?
Helen:
Nina from Canon as I think she did a fabulous job of should how to build community and customer loyalty through storytelling.
Sasha:
We loved Nina Spannari from Canon Australia. Hearing how Canon have utilised user generated content and brand ambassadors for their campaigns, and the success that they have had, was thought provoking. We have already told some of her stories to our clients to inspire them to work with us to create more interesting content.
My 2 Cents:
Tough question! I actually loved Pitor Jakubowski from GO JEK. I knew nothing of his brand, and not much about Indonesia in general and his ad creative evoked a very emotional response I wouldn’t have expected. Plus he really appealed to the local crowd, which was nice. I mean, I actually enjoyed most of them but he was a stand out.
What was your favourite workshop and why?
Helen:
Customer Journey, it required use to create a marketing plan for a challenger brand to a market incumbent. I really enjoyed working with the group as they were all really interesting people. Great to exchange ideas with people from very different backgrounds.
Sasha:
I really enjoyed hearing from Alex from Medibank Private on how they deal with the trolls and other customer complaints.
My 2 Cents:
I enjoyed the Dual Brand Strategy with Holly from Seek. It was good to see how a large brand approaches their Social strategy, and Holly was very good.
If Socialbakers have another Engage Bali event would you return?
Helen:
Most definitely I would return as I think it was better than most academic conferences. Both the speakers and the attendees were very interesting and very engaged. I have even thought that I would see if my students would be willing to come to the conference as part of their studies as I think exposure to the Asian region is really important for their global outlook. It was great to meet some really cool women, as often I find in tech I meet only men. I enjoyed hear their career paths, though different to my path I always gain from hearing from others.
Sasha:
I would certainly consider returning but that would depend on the line-up of speakers and the content of the workshops. If they had more content suited to small to medium business, I would be there with bells on.
My 2 Cents:
ABSOLUTELY! I had a great time, even outside the event schedule, which means the Socialbakers team know how to run an event, so I would definitely be back. I think it’s awesome to get an APAC perspective, and Bali is very convenient to Perth! Maybe some of the speakers would even fly that little bit further and do some events in Perth too!