Just so I didn’t overwhelm anyone with all that content in my last blog post, I broke it up into two bits.

Later on Thursday morning, a dapper young fellow came onto the stage and dazzled us with his wit, charm, and lots of stories. Spike Jones (@SpikeJones), no not that Spike Jonze, reminded us that the power of word of mouth is still just as powerful today as it was before social media came along. The reasons are the same, but kind of different. We share things online, in order of importance, because it feeds our ego, to share information, and to evoke emotion. This is a pretty useful piece of information for those of us that share things online. Such as… videos!

Videos like the Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 combine the three elements – it was packed with lots of information which pulled at our heartstrings and after sharing you felt pretty good about yourself. Like you’ve done your part to help the world today. Maybe that’s why it has almost 100 million views!

Swap the order (emotion, information, ego) and these are the reasons we share things offline – ya know, face to face. Even though it is the old fashion way, conversation is still where 90% of brand talk is happening. Never forget that the two affect each other and each can lead to good and bad movements within your brand’s community. When the bad talk happens, remember customer service rules. When the good talk is happening, don’t just leave it alone. Spread the news! If you have consumers that are passionate about your organization, you have a lifetime member of your brand community.

Thanks again for a great conference Triangle AMA!

As a sponsor for the local Triangle American Marketing Association chapter, Burning Oak Studios was on top of the High 5 event – not only filming the two-day conference, but also attending workshops, collaborating with other creative minds, and enjoying the delicious sustenance that re-fueled us for more knowledge.

While there was much to take away from each of the speakers, I’ve been reflecting over a few major tidbits since last week. I wouldn’t want to give away all of these presenters secrets, so I’ll share what stuck out most.

I was only able to attend Thursday’s session, so my High 5 started with Rohit Bhargavaexpressing, “Great trends are curated, not spotted.” The audience laughed along and agreed with most of his Top 15 Non-Obvious Trends of 2014. My favorites:

1. Media binging. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, I’m sure you can name a dozen more – all online streaming providers allow us to watch show after show after show. Studies reported that users watch an average of 2-3 shows per day. I know in my house, that’s usually all in one sitting. Until you just have to tear yourself away so you can remember to be productive again. This kind of activity allows providers to track how much we watch, what we watch, and then take that data to create shows like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, combining all of the elements we love into shows we can’t help but “binge” watch.

2. Anti- Stereotyping. Times they are changin’. Gender roles are being reversed and alternative lifestyles are becoming mainstream. More brands are seeing this and reach out to these families with commercials that show dad doing some of what we usually see as mom’s job around the house. Books encouraging a world without gender bias are flying off the shelves. Toys are gender neutral. Boys have pink painted toenails. It’s happening, so just deal with it.

Thanks to the AMA for hosting and keeping us informed!