A Great Time Had by All
Excellent programming and networking activities at Build Business
For those who attended Build Business in early July, I hope you took in the excellent programming, interactive digital learning labs, and the myriad receptions and social/networking activities. I’ve attended Build Business since 1999 and I can truly say—never before has there been so much great content packed into three days.
Thank you to Conference Chair Stacy Stout and her team of Julie Huval, Melissa Rysak, Gavin Parr, and Josh Miles.
If you missed Build Business, you missed a lot. We had additional Mind Exchange roundtables where participants joined in group dialogues around specific topics to learn from each other. We also had the Evening of Excellence, which is our reimagined awards program, and a stellar keynote.
However, for me, the highlight of the conference was MAX on the main stage. Special thanks to Josh Miles who was our 2017 MAX Chair and worked diligently to develop a cohesive program.
MAX: Market.Act.eXchange™ started on Wednesday evening with Carla Johnson. Carla showed us how the world’s most innovative teams develop great ideas to deliver exponential outcomes. She also introduced us to a new term, Brand Detachment Disorder (BDD), and challenged us to stay focused on our creativity as a way to cure BDD.
Our next MAX speaker was Kyle Lacy. Kyle taught us about the disruption created by consumer technology and how it applies to our businesses. The way he put it, consumer technology has set expectations that all of us need to remember and embrace. He shared some advancements being led by consumer tech giants and explained what we can learn from their innovation and investments to stay ahead.
The final Wednesday MAX speaker was Andrew Davis, who cautioned us to not to just tell our clients we are different, but show them through creating experiences. We need to build anticipation that demonstrates our expertise and blows away potential clients—and the ones we already serve.The second MAX session, held on Friday, started out with a presentation by Sunny Lenarduzzi. This practical session showed us how to create video content that turns viewers into clients. Through a lively and humorous talk, Sunny walked through the steps to develop these visual touchpoints that will drive business to your firm.Friday’s next MAX speaker was Andrew Crestodina. Andrew demonstrated the power of content marketing and why it is often done poorly and gains no traction. Through his impactful presentation, he showed us the process of making your next post connect with your target audience and how to drive your content strategy to develop and grow the leads you desire.
MAX ended with the powerful talk of hope delivered by Josh Bleill. His moving presentation taught us about dealing with significant setbacks and how to harness your inner energy to thrive once again. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Josh told us his story about how he rebuilt his life after suffering an unimaginable tragedy.
Within the coming weeks, the MAX sessions will be released and available on the SMPS Build Business website. So if you missed them, you still have a chance to learn from these remarkable speakers and leaders.
And, we hope you’ll be able to join us next year for Build Business, when California dreaming becomes a reality as we touch down on beautiful San Diego from August 15–17, 2018.
SMPS President Craig Galati, AIA, FSMPS, CPSM, is principal of LGA in Las Vegas, NV. He can be reached at 702.263.7111 or cgalati@lgainc.com.
