5 Reasons Why Roam Is The Best Social Media Conference

 

 

I recently attended the first ever ROAM conference (@ROAMevent) in Kelowna, BC. It’s taken me a week just to digest all the information and strategies I got from the 2 day event and wow, I’m still working on implementing all the great stuff I took away. First off, lets not call Roam a conference at all. It was totally a non-conference, in fact it was the opposite of a conference, it was an interactive learning experience. I know there were a lot of people who were curious about what Roam was and weren’t quite sure if they should take the leap and buy a ticket, all I can say to those folks is, if Roam 2016 is going to be a thing, you better be there!

Why?

Well, here are 5 reasons why Roam is THE best social media conference (non-conference) I’ve ever been to.

1) Location, Location, Location – FINALLY someone listened and put on a high value event for those of us who live in the western part of Canada and they really couldn’t have picked a more beautiful local. Kelowna BC is in the heart of wine country, lake country and usually has the best weather anywhere (aside from the rain we had one day, pfft, mother nature didn’t get the memo). I was lucky enough to drive a brand new 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe over the mountains from Calgary, ALONE. Just me, my road snacks, my audio books and the open road for 6 hours! It was spectacular!

 

 

2) Bigger isn’t always better – I’ve been to a few conferences over the years and while there are definitely great things about going to huge conferences like networking, parties, bags of swag you can’t fit in your luggage to bring home and celebrity keynotes, it’s a non stop whirl wind. Roam is more my speed (especially with my anxiety) as a small event put together with the intention of creating an intimate and accessibly hands on feeling. The expert speakers were nothing short of master class worthy and made themselves totally accessible throughout the event. Having 2 days together to really get to know pretty much everyone in attendance and a chance to talk one on one with the experts in residence over lunch after hearing them speak, or in the hot tub in the rain,  now that’s value!

 

 

3)  On the move – The worst part of any conference is sitting in an uncomfortable seat, at round tables, in an overly air conditioned room listening to a wonderfully talented speaker go thru a dull power point. AmIright? At Roam, we were up more than we were seated. Musical chairs between experts meant that you couldn’t dominate the comfy club chairs or couches in the room. Session changes didn’t mean going to another conference room but rather hitting the road to a local restaurant like RauDZ Regional Table (@RauDZ) to hear Paula Coop McRory (@paula_coop) talk about Pinterest, Pin worthy images and how to create an emotional experience for your brand. Hit the road again and walk to Bliss Bakery and Bistro (@DeliciousBliss) to listen to Sherri-Lee Woycik (@socialmediamndr) blow our minds on how to turn your Facebook page into your major marketing and networking tool, yeah, lots of ah-ha moments and mic drops there! In total we experienced 5 local businesses, all within walking distance to the hotel which is good because with the amount of amazing food and drink we were offered, we needed to walk some of it off.

 

 

4) Learn and launch – This may have been the most fun part of Roam for me. Every single thing I learned was immediately impactful and I was able to launch it into action, sometimes while the session was still going on. Several people brought along their lap tops to SandHill Wines (@sandhillwines) to listen to YouTube expert, Laura Berg (@LauraBergInc) and were able to apply her tips in real time. After listening to fashion Instagrammer, Alexandra Grant (@tovogueorbust) give us the best practices of my favourite platform, we went on an inspiration walk to photograph and Instagram with Alex in tow. I have been vibrating with inspiration just itching to get my hands on Canva thanks to Michelle Davies (@MichDavies) and wow, I feel like my visuals are growing up.

 

 

5) Change is good – Living and working in the digital is not only a new industry but it’s also one that changes faster than people can adapt to it. This is both a blessing and a curse. This became painfully real to me when I saw first hand (and more importantly understood) why being familiar with new social platforms is crucial. Nobody is saying that you have to adapt every single Vine or Whisper app that comes along but you should be familiar with what they do and who it would work for. Having a conversation at the closing party was an informative as a session when a bunch of us gathered around and explored the benefits of using Snapchat. It’s more than just suggestive pictures to your husband, who knew? Be open to the ever changing and go with the flow. End of story.

It takes a leap of faith to pack up and go to a conference (non-conference) without fully grasping what the concept will look like and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to jump in with both feet. Congrats to Jennifer Powell and her Roam team on an inaugural event success. Looking forward to 2016!

Hope to see you all there!

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