This listener of Seeking Wisdom was going to miss HYPERGROWTH in Boston, and DC couldn’t take it.
Kathryn Ducey is an entrepreneur and an avid listener to our Seeking Wisdom podcast. She casually mentioned on social media she couldn’t make it to HYPERGROWTH.
So DC flew her out to Boston.
She ran into flight issues, and missed the conference. She texted DC, who messaged back, “We’ll hold the boat for you,” encouraging her to at least come to the after party.
So, Kathryn hopped on the next flight to Boston and starting looking for the afterparty. When someone pointed to the ocean she realized: “Oh. DC meant ‘hold the boat’ quite literally.” The after party was on the water.
She went through a lot of trouble, missed the conference, and never even made the boat. So DC invited her as a guest on our last episode of Seeking Wisdom to catch her up on what went down in Boston.
Here are my top takeaways:
1) Surround yourself with people you can learn from.
You can’t learn what you already know. Instead of inviting speakers who think, say and produce the same content as ourselves, we invited speakers who had a different spin on marketing and sales.
We ingrain this concept in our staff at Drift – our team constantly surrounds themselves with people outside of sales and marketing – even outside of tech and business. The results have been constant growth, no stagnation, and a humble culture.
So whether that’s a former military leader, hip hop producer or even a psychologist: getting another perspective will help you learn and grow.
2) Keep it real.
“Just be real. Everyone trusts a real person.” – Jocko Willink
We had a lineup of amazing speakers: Casey Neistat, Molly Graham, Chaka Pilgrim, Ryan Deiss, and more. From musicians to Apple lawyers, people from every industry shared their expertise on sales and marketing. There was diversity, but the one commonality within all the best talks was this: Be real.
Jocko was the best example. The ex-Navy Seal came with no entourage, no demands, and no ego. He hung out backstage with the rest of us, and gave genuine advice to me and DC as if we were friends. When he spoke, it was genuine.
Jocko drove home a point that goes to anyone in the B2B space: Just be real. Everyone trusts a real person.
3) Get your fans ‘all-in.’
No one wants half-hearted fans. At this event, we didn’t want people to show up for one session and then leave after their favorite speaker. We wanted people to unplug, forget the agenda, and just be present. We wanted them to be all-in.
We wanted to get you ‘stuck’ in a good way—like when you read a good book and you need to keep going.
So we didn’t have a schedule. We didn’t tell people who was speaking. We kept them guessing up until we introduced the keynote speakers to the stage. As DC and I would announce the next guest, there were literally gasps around the room when we’d say their names. It was electric.
4) People remember few words, but all the feels.
People don’t remember everything they read, everything they hear, or everything they see. Translate that to a conference—people won’t remember every speaker or every keynote.
Most people walk away with one or two key takeaways, but remember their positive (or negative) associations with the experience.
Kathryn put it really well: “It’s the old adage ‘people forget what you say, but remember how you made them feel.’”
“Whether it’s 200 people or thousands, getting real facetime with the community you are building is priceless.” – Dave Gerhardt
Last thought: keep it live.
I’ve said it before: There’s nothing like a live event. The energy is incredible. Whether it’s 200 people or thousands, getting real facetime with the community you are building is priceless. Take every chance you can.
If you’re feeling like you missed out – don’t worry. You don’t have to wait until next year to experience HYPERGROWTH because we’re hosting HYPERGROWTH West Coast in San Francisco on September 24th. Email me for a free ticket: gerhardt@drift.com