Brands

The 5 People You’ll Meet at a Content Marketing Conference

By Joe Lazer

Content marketing conference season is approaching. If you are attending one, these are the people you will meet. It will be amazing.

1. The one-person agency

The proliferation of content marketing, combined with the democratization of content creation tools, has given birth to some down-and-dirty hustlers who serve as the CEO, creative director, head of BD, and janitor of their “innovative, millennial-focused content creation studio.” While the team (read: the cat) holds down the fort back home, this electric entrepreneur is live-blogging every session, hashtagging like a maniac, and getting your card because you two are going to discuss future opportunities to work together whether you like it or not.

2. The flirty sales bro

It’s like you’re a bridesmaid at your cousin’s wedding and he’s playing 21 Questions to figure out if you’re available or not. Where are you from? Do you work at a big company? What’s your marketing budget like? Do you want to check out a demo video of this sweet content marketing software on my phone? WE COULD HAVE BREAKFAST TOGETHER.

3. The way-too-happy-to-be-here PR newbie

No one has ever been so happy to get a free trip to Cleveland. This might not be the glamorous business trip to Paris she envisioned in college, but it’s a start, and if you squint hard enough, that sales bro totally looks like Gilles Marini. She’s just learning so much in the social media sessions, and she’s determined to take an amazing selfie, no matter how terrible the fluorescent lighting.

4. The thought leader who believes his own BS

Run away. Or prepare to withstand a hailstorm of buzzwords. Did you know you can make your content strategy actionable by leveraging just a few synergistic innovations and opportunities? Well, you can, as long as you’re willing to pay for a $500/hour intensive audit, plus travel expenses.