On day two, we think we finally adjusted to Pacific Coast Time!

 

SPONSOR SHOWCASE

 

The day started with another EAMC yearly activity - the sponsor showcase. Being a longtime sponsor has its perks – we always have lots of clients stop by the carbonhouse table to say hello, learn about new Showtime and site features, and check out demos of some of our most recently launched client sites. We had a great time chatting with you all and hearing how much you’re enjoying your venues’ carbonhouse websites!

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: “FROM INTENTION TO ACTION: LESSONS FROM MAIN STREET”

 

Next up was EAMC’s annual Keynote session featuring speaker Laura Clise. Based in Seattle, Clise is the founder and CEO of Intentionalist. Its mission is to urge consumers to “spend like it matters,” by tuning into and supporting small and local businesses. The company does this by creating online guides that highlight small businesses in cities across the country, and by partnering with major organizations who can help uplift and showcase these types of businesses. Clise’s keynote this morning focused on highlighting these small businesses and the premise of acting with intention.

 

Between sharing stories of local Seattle businesses that Intentionalist has helped overcome challenges, Clise also asked if anyone in the audience had made a conscious effort to support small businesses in the wake of COVID-19. It was inspiring to see an overwhelming majority of hands raised in the room, and truly showed the common spirit of so many of this year’s attendees. She urged those in the room to consider ways in which small businesses can be incorporated into or featured in venues as well, to continue the spirit of acting and spending with intention from our personal into our professional lives.

 

7^th ANNUAL EAMC AWARDS LUNCHEON

 

Prior to EAMC, venue marketers, promoters, and publicists from the U.S. and Canada submitted entries within several categories. Experts judged their campaigns, and the top entries per category were selected by EAMC attendees. The 2023 winners are:

• Marketing & Publicity Campaign (budget under $10,000) – Overland Park Convention Center, KS – “Events for All - Sensory Room”
• Marketing & Publicity Campaign (budget over $10,000) – Moody Center, Austin, TX – “Grand Opening Campaign”
• Most Creative Artist Welcome – Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK – “Luke Combs Welcome Campaign”
• Most Creative Artist Gift (budget under $1,000) – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA - "Karol G, Terrarium Heels”
• Most Creative Artist Gift (budget over $1,000) – United Center, Chicago, IL – “Nile Rodgers Skates”

Additionally, EAMC honored entertainment luminaries for their significant contributions to the live entertainment industry at the luncheon. The top honor is the Gigi Award of Excellence, named after the late Gigi Pilhofer, one of the founders of EAMC. Tami Allen, Senior Director, Winter Sports Events for IMG, received that honor this year for her longstanding dedication to the conference and influence on marketing trends.

 

Also recognized this year were the following industry professionals:

• Nina Jackson, Regional Director of Marketing and Public Relations, NRG Park – inducted into the EAMC Hall of Fame
• Chanell Thomas, Director of Marketing and Sales, Colonial Life Arena – Impact Award recipient
• Samuel Guerrero, Social Media and Digital Marketing Manager, Bryce Jordan Center –EAMC Breakthrough Professional of the Year

Following a quick coffee break, the first of the afternoon’s three Roundtable Discussions got underway.

 

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, attendees could choose to attend up to three discussions focusing on topics ranging from getting creative with DIY show announcements; marketing job openings at your venue; creating one-of-a-kind PR moments; starting Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s); navigating media contracts; maximizing sales and revenue using social selling platforms; and more.

 

For us at carbonhouse, the highlight of these attendee-led talks was by far the one that focused on AI technology. New York City-based Will Thomas, co-founder of ActionCut.ai/Gesundheit Media, hosted the discussion titled “Navigating AI: Best Practices on Getting Started Using AI Platforms. Is It Right For Your Venue & Your Marketing Campaigns?”

 

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHT: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND USING IT TO MAXIMIZE YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS

 

Thomas (thankfully) translated common AI terms and “buzz words” into layman’s terms for his audience, defining AI at the beginning of the talk as “anything machines can do that mimics or enhances what humans can do.” We talked all things ML (machine learning), LLM’s (large language models, such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard), DLM’s (deep learning models), and more.

 

The biggest takeaways from the session were:

• AI is designed to help you not hurt you, to be a “working assistant” of sorts, so don’t be afraid of it!
• One thing AI is not good at is emotion and coming up with specifically creative solutions to problems. It is still up to you as the human to bring creativity and thoughtfulness into the mix!
• Most, if not all, popular software is going to be supercharged with AI soon. Adobe, for example, is already starting to roll products out.
• Before using AI like ChatGPT, for example, the most important thing it to learn how to engineer a good prompt. Let’s say you’re a venue marketer: tell AI to “act like you’re marketing an upcoming concert in [insert city here] and you want to target [insert specific audience].” And don’t forget to tell it something like, “don’t give me any extraneous information I don’t need,” Thomas said.
• Be sure to stay up-to-date on news focusing on AI and copyright issues, especially when it comes to use of images.
• More and more interesting AI-powered tools continue to debut every day, and will continue to do so in coming months; for example, Spotify is developing technology that will allow famous podcast hosts to read your localized ads in their voice, but it is all done by AI. Mindblowing!

EVENING ACTIVITY: BOWLING, KARAOKE & GAMES AT GARAGE BILLIARDS & BOWL

 

We wrapped up the day with some snacks, singing and skeeball at local Seattle hotspot, Garage. It was great to blow off some steam with colleagues after a long day of learning – and we even found out our very own Taylor P. is a secret skeeball assassin!

 

Tomorrow, we spend our last day in the Emerald City and find out which city will host EAMC 2024 – can’t wait!