Lucky 7’s: Why you should go to Modern Marketing Experience 2015

“Vegas Baby! Vegas!” That’s the classic line from the cult hit Swingers, the movie that introduced the world to Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau.

In the movie, Vaughn and Favreau’s characters take a road trip to Las Vegas to hit up some casinos, win some money, and generally have a good time. It was nearly 20 years ago that Swingers came out, but the thrill of Vegas is alive and well in 2015.

I will be heading to Vegas at the end of March for the Modern Marketing Experience and will be joined by thousands of the best marketers in the world for an event that surpasses Vaughn and Favreau’s experience.  If you’ve never heard of the Modern Marketing Experience before, it’s the annual conference put on by the Oracle Marketing Cloud. It features outstanding training opportunities, lots of networking, and inspiration that will carry you through the year.

If you’re thinking of attending, but are still on the fence, let me give you my top 7 reasons why you should go…aka The Lucky 7’s.

1. A full day of in-depth training and nearly 100 sessions

Let’s be honest. At most conferences, there’s a handful of super high-level sessions that are mildly helpful, but the majority are average at best. Not the case at MME ’15. The first day of the conference offers actual hands-on seminars where you walk away with actual new skills you can apply right away. Then, you spend the rest of the time learning from the best-of-the-best about how they’ve figured out how to solve real-life problems. 

I probably don’t need my other six reasons because this one should be enough to justify attending. You’re actually going to learn new things! Nothing more is needed to say, but I will.

2. Stay on top of the latest digital marketing trends

With topics like creating a Demand Center of Excellence, social selling, predictive marketing, Customer Lifecycle Management, account-based marketing, growth hacking, and customer experience management, there’s certainly a topic that will challenge and inspire you to try something new when you get home.

3. Hear about the latest and greatest OMC product enhancements
Each year at MME, there are announcements about where the product is going. New features are discussed. A vision for the future is cast. New things that I can’t wait to get my hands on are revealed. For this marketing geek, that’s my definition of a good time.

4. Check out all the cool ways to extend the functionality of OMC
The vendor area will be filled with vendors who provide services and products that will help make your marketing efforts soar. These are people who deeply understand the changing world of digital marketing and are passionate about helping your business reach all your 2015 goals. Make sure you stop by to check out what our friends at LookBook, DemandBase, Vidyard, Certain, GetSmartContent, Zift, ReadyTalk, Cloudwords and Lattice Engines are doing. They are up to cool stuff. And speaking of cool stuff, you won’t want to miss what we’re doing with reporting and the AppCloud. We’re very excited to show you what we’ve come up with.

5. Take home the trophy
Every year, MME hosts an award ceremony called The Markie’s. This is the opportunity for the best-of-the-best in modern marketing to be recognized for the cutting edge work they’re doing. If you’re nominated, then you simply have to be there. If you aren’t, it’s still a great chance to get inspired for new things you and your team could try out. Maybe next year you will be the one taking home the trophy.

6. Meet some new friends
With thousands of marketers in attendance and ample opportunity to socialize, you’re bound to meet some new people that you immediately connect with. Maybe they help you solve a problem you can’t figure out. Maybe they live in your area and you meet up at a local user group. Perhaps they have a sweet position open at their company you would be interested in exploring. Who knows? But, in the connected world we live in, taking some time to network with others in your industry is vital.

7. Party it up Vegas style
There’s lots of fun to be had at MME. Great dinners. Awesome parties. Awesomer after-parties. A rockin’ concert by OneRepublic! There will be plenty of opportunities to let your hair down. And if parties are not your thing, The Venetian is an outstanding hotel if you want to take some down time and just relax. Either way, you’re guaranteed to have fun at MME15.

There you have it. My Lucky 7 reasons that you should attend the Modern Marketing Experience. It’s the premier marketing event of the year. You won’t want to miss it! And, if you’re going, make sure you stop by the Relationship One booth. I would love to meet you.