ARF – Young Pros Bootcamp 2019
January 30, 2019 – Who is a young professional?
How do we perceive a young professional or simply how to become a professional?
Lastly, how do we stay on top of the ever changing marketing industry? These
are questions I had proposed to myself as I sat in a lecture hall of Fordham
University at Lincoln Center Campus.
My mind begins to quiet down when I see ahead on
the agenda of sessions and I read the words influencer marketing, connecting
the dots, and established pro. In that moment, I realize the theme of this
conference is not solely about becoming a young professional; it is about having
an advantage and tackling the changes of the industry.
We live in a world where we are not just following
trends, but people who are ahead of the trends and making a name for themselves.
We are all brands of our own and we lead in pursuit of finding a purpose for
our lives. To assist in finding that purpose, we turn to people we can connect
with to guide that path, which goes into what or who motivates us to do more. Scott
Moscatelli, Senior Director of Account Management at Univision asks in the mist
of his presentation on influencer marketing, “Not sure how I am a young pro? But I’ll let you be the judge of that.” I
think to myself that he definitely is along with the other speakers of the
evening, I mean every individual sitting around me is one and we are here so
that we may become official in our profession. Moscatelli may have been
demonstrating ways to understand influencer marketing and how to utilize influencers
for a campaign, but you will begin to see each practice can be applied to life
endeavors. So, keep in mind that this is a trial and error experience and it is
not meant to be perfect first or second time around. You can surely get the
hang of the practices as you build upon a plan for the content you are
creating. Here are the five things you should know about influencer marketing
from influencer marketers:- Find the Right Influencer
- Spend Time
- Listen
- Maximize content creation
- Continuity
As you develop a campaign, you want to find the
right people to fit the content you are bringing attention to and see that the
person fits a criterion. Once you have established who the face or voice of a
campaign will be, spend time with the influencer and share moments together because they are people too. As a storyteller you are sitting down with another storyteller and sharing strategies. Speaking of strategy, this brings up Laura Chiavone, Chief Strategy Officer at Tribal Worldwide New York who states that strategy is part of every process in creating a campaign. Nowadays, it is flexible, as she calls it a "hippy strategy" and this amazes me in a way that there are no bounds to when strategy starts and ends. 
We are all working together to completing the goal of reaching people and learning from the audience while adapting to the changes of the landscape. As we build on ourselves, we are adapting as individuals and the third takeaway is the challenge of saying "Yes." Donna Special, President at Turner Ad Sales shares how she has established her ways through the industry and never stopping improving on her skills nor did she say "no" to opportunities that will give her advancement in her career. The tie between these three speakers is that being a professional and working in any industry involves a thinking that we can help one another succeed. In time of faults, the question that comes to mind is how can we do better, what are ways we can keep going. Each of these speakers said it best in their own ways, which is to never stop pursing, learning, and building connections.
