INNOVATION SUMMIT

Final ProjectGina FinchFMRK 4900 SPRING 2012

Final Project FMRK 4900 SPRING 2012By Gina Finch

About IS

From fashion to lifestyle

technology plays a key role

in executing the proper

content to deliver to your

market. By interning with

Wendy Bendoni of Style

Lens I was able to help in

organizing a conference by

the name of Innovation

Summit. The one event was

founded by Macala Wright

who previously put together

Retail Camp along with

Jennifer Margolin, editor of

her retail luxury blog Red Sole

Diary.

The focus of this event

was to address the latest

digital trends by bringing in

some of the top industry

professionals. Topics such as

“Digital Innovation, Lifestyle

and Culture: How to Build A

Lifestyle Brand That

Consumers Connect With”

presented by Raman Kia.

With Raman’s experience of

being executive director of

digital strategy at Conde

Nast, Raman provides the

audience with information of

executing online advertising

by seeing social media for

more than what it is.

Innovation Summit also

brought out Peter Kim,

owner of Hudson Jeans who

openly shared his journey in

becoming one of the most

successful designer brand

jeans in the U.S. Many

attendees appreciated the

honesty Peter Kim humbly

shared. One of the main

things he emphasized was his

company’s motto of “you

have to make mistakes

sometimes, if you’re not

making mistakes you’re not

doing the right thing”.

Aside from just listening

in on speakers, there was a

lunch break and a network

hour were guest had the

chance to chat with speakers

while eating and enjoying a

glass of wine. By having all

these elements present many of those

who attended left the event with their ipads

filled with notes and content that will

motivate them to translate it on themselves.

Analyzing IS

I was assigned to this project late

February by Wendy who was responsible of

hosting the event at our Woodbury

University Campus, specifically the Fashion

Marketing department. Last year around

the same time Wendy allowed our Fashion

Promotion class to do most of the

organizing for Retail Camp. This conference

was a two day fiasco that brought most of

the top fashion professionals out to

Burbank. After having experience in

managing the technology duties, I was

allowed to help Innovation Summit with

food, technology (microphones, projectors,

speakers, and etc.) and the volunteers. The

first thing I took care of was acquiring a lab

tech to re-train me on how to operate the

equipment in the Fletcher Jones

auditorium . Getting trained by James Lee

was very useful because I learned how to

manipulate the light and also how to project

the presentation out to the television in the

atrium.

After getting tech savvy my next move

was to take charge of the food with Bon

Appetite. I was to order food for a simple

breakfast pastries along with coffee and tea

and for lunch we got three different type of

sandwiches with pasta salad. Since we were

able to have a wine sponsor, a bartender

was needed to service

“This conference was a two day

fiasco that brought most of the top

fashion professionals out to

Burbank.”

Left.Innovation Summit Checkin at Woodbury University . Right, Student Jenifer Quang setting up the step and repeat.

our guests thus, it was my

duty to request through the

catering service. Keeping up with

Erin Malleus who is the manager

of Bon Appetite was a constant

task we had to follow through

because we made changes to the

menu, requested for more table

linens and asked to chill our wine.

Also logistics for time were

important because we wanted to

represent the Woodbury

community as best as we could.

Two days before the event

Burbank experienced a horrible

rain storm and we also found out

that there was a leak in the audio.

Sadly the audio system was

inoperable so we had to act

quickly and have the guys in the

technology department bring in

portable speakers and

microphones. Luckily the new

system worked out really well and

sounded better than we

anticipated.

The final job I had to do was

to manage all the helpful

volunteers. From 8am till the end,

the lovely fashion marketing girls

performed all the duties I asked

them to. Since things seemed to be

in order for the most part of the

day, all of us got the chance to sit

in some of the presentations

given. Though we were

challenged with natures showers

by ruining the audio system our

team prevailed and put together a

very smooth event. During lunch

we had a one hour break and I got

to have a chance to meet with a

few folks. One fascinating person I

got to networked with is Enrico

Moses who is founder of FIDOO,

an online fashion search engine

“ Though we were challenged with natures showers by ruining the audio system our team prevailed and put together a very smooth event.

Left. Enrico from Fidoo and Sarah from Simply Stylist. Right. Fashion Marketing students. Right. Peter Kim and Jennifer Margolin

that searches all social media platforms along with

fashion editorials and blogger posts. By talking to

him I got great insight on how much fashion lovers

strive to search for a unique purse or a specific pair

of jeans. Fidoo provides that online service, I see it as

a yelp but for fashion.

At the end of the conference, I felt that I took

away a lot of constructive and applicable advice.

Out of the many speakers Andre Warren who is a

creative brand strategist at Warren Creative stated

“ It’s not always about production quality, it’s about

quality content. Don’t over edit. It comes across as

contrived ”. With this bit of information it says a

great deal of how now days we need to consider how

we compose our content even before we begin

thinking of a way to distribute it.

Aside from being schooled on the new trends of

social media, I also had the opportunity to learn how

manage tasks. By working with Woodbury’s staff

such as Erin Malleus from Bon Appetite I realized

that it is important to have a good relationship

because you never know when you require a last

minute pot of coffee. Wendy Bendoni has always

been a faculty member that I have admired.

Through her I learned that it is always nice to be

supportive in all situations because there will be

some challenges and people to deal with.

“Itʼs not always about production quality, itʼs about quality content.  Donʼt over edit.  It comes across as contrived” -Andre Warren

Social Media has evolved as the main

engine for marketing vehicles all across the

world. Macala Wright and Jennifer

Margolin are not only internet famous for

their creative ways to approach the digital

world but they are also now seen as the

powerhouse pair that has brought insight in

connecting with followers and fans. Last

year’s Retail Camp had a massive campaign

in promoting the two day conference

through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and

personal blogs, however this years digital

promotion came more natural. Awareness

of Innovation Summit first began early

January when Macala and Jennifer

announced the event through their blogs,

Fashionably Marketing and Red Sole Dairy.

In later days the duo advertise on twitter

reaching about 50,500 within the 3 month

promotion.

Instagram has over 800 million

members and is one of the latest

applications used worldwide to share photos

on other social media outlets such as

Facebook, twitter, and tumblr.This mobile

app allows any person with a smart phone

to become a photographer by taking a

picture, choosing a filter to give it a certain

look followed by sharing. By having an

obsession of sharing images, Instagram was

one of the most active platforms aside from

Twitter. Over 50 of the attended guest used

Instagram to broadcast the guest speakers,

fashion finds and photo-ops in front of the

step and repeat.

Social MediaInnovation Summit

Post-IS

Bloggers and marketing executives love content and the best thing they do is blog posts. With so much educational information provided by the note-able speakers, each attendee posted their own personal experience. No blog post is ever the exactly the same and that is one of the best things.

Major Dilemma is a fashion and life style blog written by Ashleigh McGrew. Ashleigh was one of the few selected bloggers to attend Innovation Summit and on her post she covered content she believed her readers would find valuable. It is easy to regurgitate information but it takes talent to put information into perspective for readers. Along with event pictures and a story, Ashleigh posted several YouTube videos that made a reader feel as if they attended. Another prominent feature for Major Dilemma is taking action to follow up with a blog post within the a few days after attendance. This is key because usually the first

person who posts receives the most views and comments.

For those who did not attend the conference and wanted to know all the key points you could visit the one and only Fashionably Marketing. Me blog by Macala Wright. Her post of the event is indeed the most detailed with an immaculate amount of information. A favorite and popular story is the 10 Digital Marketing Trends for Fashion, Luxury,

and Retail submitted by Marguerite Darlington . FMM readers are professionals who work in the marketing or fashion industry and aspire to seek new and creative ways to develop a strategy. Some of the tips given were:

1. Every brand needs a story2. Consumers buy brands because of labels, not products 3. Retention is the key, not acquisition.

There aren’t too many Universities that provides

the opportunity to participate in organizing

professional fashion events. I knew coming into

Woodbury that I would be presented with such

privileges if I worked hard enough. With this

internship experience learning how to take ideas and

translate them into trends is much harder than one

thinks. My job was to take pictures of psychical items

of inspiration that carried a color, shape or aura of

the concepts. There were difficult moments when

there was a time crunch and I didn’t take enough

photos, I still found a way to make my situation

work. By having Wendy take the time to school me

the basics of trend forecasting, I benefitted fun

fashion events such as the Es Nail salon opening and

attending Los Angeles Fashion Week. These events

allowed me to experience the Los Angeles scene and

most importantly network with them. Overall the

internship was a critical part of my college years

because I was able to feel like a professional applying

the tools I learned in class to a real job.

CONCLUSION