SAScon 2016: That's a Wrap!

After months of anticipation, planning and organising, SAScon 2016 is over and what an event it was! As sponsors and hosts of The Social, we were the all-seeing eyes of what was new and exciting at this year's must attend event.

When we arrived in the MMU buildings on Thursday 16th June 2016 there was already a buzz, as people started to sense the anticipation of what was to come and what we were all going to learn over the two days. We were all quiet as Richard Gregory opened SAScon 2016 with a bang promising it was to be the biggest and best yet and that it was!

Introductions

Lawrence Jones from the main sponsors, UK Fast, talked us through how UK Fast has become the best hosting company in the UK and inspired us to 'Go out there and have fun with digital, share everything you have learned! ' 

Keynote speeches

Jim Banks, Director of Paid Media, Groove

Jim lead us through the history of PPC and made us all envious of his ability to turn a 10p keyword into a summer house in Cyprus!

He urged us to 'Think about how you can be better than everyone else!'

Robert Scoble, Futurist, Rackspace

Robert talked us through the wonderful world he immerses himself in where the technology we can only imagine and dream of is being created here and now and is going to become a part of reality.

'They are gonna put high-speed wireless around us, so we actually don't need mobiles anymore!'

This was one of his big predictions as well as designer digital clothing for when we all exist in a virtual reality world!

Marty Weintraub founder and evangelist of AIMClear

He talked us through purchase behaviours and influencer marketing and said,' Why suffer at SEO? Why worry about it when you can just buy it?'

Lisa Myers CEO & Founder, Verve Search

She told us her inspirational story and talked us through the Golden circle, which is her key framework for creative campaigns saying 'People don't buy what you do, but WHY you do it. What you do is the proof'

Other great sessions we were able to catch…

Steve Bartlett- CEO Social Chain - Talked us through Social Chain's success and the key importance of influencing.'Each platform speaks a different language.'  We discovered the average age of a social chain employee is 22, younger than most business average ages!

James Hart, founder of Head & Hart

James talked about 'branding the digital age' and warned us that ….'When brands stop listening, people stop trusting what they say'

Francis Turner CRO at AdYouLike.

Francis talked about the history of native advertising and told us that…'6 out of 10 people don't read beyond the headlines'

Laura Thomas Head of Online Display, MediaCom

Talked to us about her expertise in Paid Social! 'Technology is empowering creative. It's enabling heart and thumb-stopping work'

Kristal Ireland from Twenty-Six, Gen Z, Millennials, and Media!

Identified the five tribes of millennials, influencers, adopter, apprentices, entertainers, contented 'Stop viewing Millennials as 'The Other' They are the here and now'

Jo Parnell Managing Partner, MEC

Talked us through channels and content. Using the MEC Momentum model passive stage - Trigger - Active Stage - Purchase 'Don't follow the herd, it's already too crowded out there'

Rick Gutteridge, Managing Director, Smoking Gun PR 

Talked us through the challenges PR faces, such as complexity, noise and clutter.'We need to evolve our brand archetypes - be less of a magician!' 

Then there was The Candidate Social!

The perfect opportunity for people to relax and let their hair down, talking some business and sometimes not. Then, of course, there was the fierce Bowling Competition, where the girls from PR Agency One really strutted their stuff, but unfortunately didn't win. Then Sarah Penny from MMU unleashed her inner Kingpin much to the surprise and joy of the rest of their team. But the trophy went to Mediacom and their honorary guest, Gareth Hoyle from Marketing Signals, although they just scrapped it they were crowned champions and happy they were!

MediaCom Bowling Champs

So we don't know about you, but we are very excited about all these great predictions and theory being put into practice this year and to learn, where we will all be when it comes to next year's SAScon! See you there!