INNOVATION SUMMIT Final Project Gina Finch FMRK 4900 SPRING 2012
Final Project FMRK 4900 SPRING 2012 By Gina Finch
About IS From fashion to lifestyle technology plays a key role
some of the top industry successful designer brand professionals. Topics such as jeans in the U.S. Many “Digital Innovation, Lifestyle attendees appreciated the
in executing the proper content to deliver to your market. By interning with Wendy Bendoni of Style Lens I was able to help in
and Culture: How to Build A Lifestyle Brand That Consumers Connect With” presented by Raman Kia. With Raman’s experience of
honesty Peter Kim humbly shared. One of the main things he emphasized was his company’s motto of “you have to make mistakes
organizing a conference by the name of Innovation Summit. The one event was founded by Macala Wright who previously put together
being executive director of digital strategy at Conde Nast, Raman provides the audience with information of executing online advertising
sometimes, if you’re not making mistakes you’re not doing the right thing”. Aside from just listening in on speakers, there was a
Retail Camp along with Jennifer Margolin, editor of her retail luxury blog Red Sole Diary. The focus of this event
by seeing social media for more than what it is. Innovation Summit also brought out Peter Kim, owner of Hudson Jeans who
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
was to address the latest digital trends by bringing in
openly shared his journey in becoming one of the most
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
“This conference was a two day fiasco that brought most of the top fashion professionals out to Burbank.� 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
food, technology (microphones, projectors, able to have a wine sponsor, a bartender speakers, and etc.) and the volunteers. The was needed to service first thing I took care of was acquiring a lab 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
“ Though we were challenged with natures showers by ruining the audio system our team prevailed and put together a very smooth event.
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.
Left. Enrico from Fidoo and Sarah from Simply Stylist. Right. Fashion Marketing students. Right. Peter Kim and Jennifer Margolin
The final job I had to do was to manage all the helpful volunteers. From 8am till the end,
challenged with natures showers by ruining the audio system our team prevailed and put together a
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
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
in some of the presentations given. Though we were
Moses who is founder of FIDOO, an online fashion search engine
“Itʼs not always about production quality, itʼs about quality content. Donʼt over edit. It comes across as contrived” -Andre Warren
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
we compose our content even before we begin thinking of a way to distribute it. Aside from being schooled on the new trends of
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.
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
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
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.
great deal of how now days we need to consider how
Social Media Innovation Summit Social Media has evolved as the main engine for marketing vehicles all across the world. Macala Wright and Jennifer
reaching about 50,500 within the 3 month promotion. Instagram has over 800 million
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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 noteable 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 story 2. Consumers buy brands because of labels, not products 3. Retention is the key, not acquisition.
CONCLUSION There aren’t too many Universities that provides the opportunity to participate in organizing professional fashion events. I knew coming into
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
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
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.
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