Journey to the Inbound Marketing Summit and HubSpot User Group
I've completed my 5K mile journey to Boston from my home in Maui, Hawaii. You're probably thinking, 'most travel from the mainland to Maui, NOT the direction he traveled!' What could have been compelling enough to make anyone embark on this sojourn? I'm in Boston to attend the HubSpot User Group, the Inbound Marketing Summit and Future M (What's Next in Marketing) events this week. What a week to be an Inbound Marketer and in Boston!!
I arrived in the Boston area late yesterday afternoon, claimed my bags and caught a shuttle to the Cambridge Marriott hotel. Though sunny and clear, the air already felt 'crisp'. Remembering I had spent a few hours at the beach in the afternoon before departing for my trip aboard the red eye flight, I realized I had fully acclimated to the tropical envirornment I'm fortunate enough to enjoy when at home in the Hawaiian islands. Since the coolest temps I typically experience are low 60's, I already felt the 'fall' chill in the air. On the short ride to the hotel, I observed a few people rowing, sailing and otherwise enjoying a seemingly beautiful fall late afternoon along the Charles River. Last evening and tonight I'm booked in Cambridge to attend the HubSpot User Group. Since I haven't traveled much lately, I arrived a day early intending to utilizes the day 
getting adjusted to the time difference and catching up on a bit of the work piled up while ill last week. Because I'm now 6 hours ahead of my clients and associates in HI, I started this morning realizing I'm unable to perform my typical weekly startup routine. I'm slowly adapting to the time difference and recovering from a mild case of what I suppose must be 'jet lag'.
The organized portion of my week gets underway this evening beginning with the HubSpot User Group reception at the HubSpot offices here in Cambridge. Though we interact frequently, this will be my first opportunity to meet (in person) the people I work with daily via phone, email, on-line meetings and webinars as part of my day to day business interactions as a Certified HubSpot Partner VAR and Inbound Marketer. I'm looking forward to meeting Heidi Furst, my HubSpot Partner Consultant and Peter Caputa, HubSpot VAR Channel Manager, who have been very instrumental in the success II've experienced with my HubSpot clients and transforming my business from an SEO consultancy into Maui's first Inbound Marketing Agency. I'm also looking forward to meeting my 'Coaches', Rick Roberge and Frank Belzar, of Kurlan Associates. Though we interact frequently via phone, 1:1 coaching sessions and live group webinars, I have not had the pleasure of personally meeting these two individuals who in a very short amount of time quickly became my most valuable business asset directly responsible for my business' recent growth and more importantly what will be growth in the next year and beyond. I’m part of the inaugural group of HubSpot partners enrolled in 'HubSpot Agency Training for Partners', a sales training program intended to double my sales within 90 days. You can read more details about these developments in Rick's recent article 'Are You Too Old to Sell'! Rick and Frank have also invited me to participate in next week's live radio show, Sales Talk LiveRick will be hosting Carole Mahoney of Mahoney Internet Marketing, Dale Berkebile of Brandwise, and I to discuss our experiences being a HubSpot Partner (Value Added Reseller), the HubSpot User Group, the Inbound Marketing Summit, and the Kurlan/Hubspot Sales Development Program. Please join us, live at Noon EDT on October 13th, 2010 at Sales Talk Live.
After the opening HubSpot User Group reception this evening at the HubSpot offices in Cambridge, tomorrow morning I migrate over to Foxborough, Mass. After checking out of Cambridge, I'm shuttling over to UMass campus for the HubSpot User Group sessions. 
The HUG is anticipated to be the largest gathering of practicing Inbound marketers, uniting HubSpot users, partners and experts for a day of sharing inbound marketing best practices, HubSpot how-to sessions, and to learn more about the future plans for HubSpot's Advanced Marketing software. The morning sessions open with HubSpot's CEO, Brian Halligan, presenting the 'Inbound Marketing & HubSpot State of the Union', followed by Mike Volpe, HubSpot VP of Inbound Marketing, moderating a 'Where is Inbound Marketing Headed' panel discussion. Panelists include Chris Broganof New Marketing Labs; HubSpot Chief Technical Officer Dharmesh Shaw; Ann Handley of Marketing Profs; and David Meerman Scott of Freshspot Marketing and author of several books. For the afternoon, I’ve enrolled in the Small Business tract, where I'll be participating in 'Give Your Audience the Content they Crave, Persona Based Marketing' presented by Paul Roetzer, HubSpot Partner, PR 20/20. I’m following that up with a class titled 'Using Sources and Keyword Grader to Drive the Right Long Tail Keyword Strategy'. After lunching with other HubSpot users, I'm attending the 'Small Business Customer Panel' moderated by HubSpot. I'll be spending the rest of the afternoon in HubSpot Partner sessions.
Tomorrow evening, after the HubSpot User Group, I'm attending a Future M opening night
event where noted author Chris Brogan, of New Marketing Labs, will be presenting one of the keynote presentations along with David Kenney, President Akamai Technologies; Brett Keller, CMO, Priceline; and Josh Bernoff, Author and Senior VP, Idea Development at Forrester. The panel, hosted by Brian Bergstein, Deputy Editor of Technology Review, will be presenting 'A Glimpse into the Future of Marketing'.
On Weds and Thursday, I'll be at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro (yes, where the NFL's Patriots play!), attending the nation's only two-day, hands-on and expert driven New Marketing conference, the Inbound Marketing Summit. The Inbound Marketing Summit is touted as one of the premier marketing events anywhere! Featured 
speakers and presenters include some of the brightest minds in the business, including world-renowned authors, David Meerman Scott, Justin Levy, Chris Brogan, CC Chapman, and others who will be presenting and providing a 'check-up' on existing business communication strategies and 'prescriptions' for the coming months. One of the sessions, titled 'Real-Time Marketing & PR', presented by David Meerman Scott of Freshspot Marketing, presents groundbreaking ideas and opportunities (and threats) in today's always on, instant business environment. Real-time marketing and PR is when organization respond to events as they occur, when services and products are refined instantly based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace because they are first to see the opportunity or 'first to act on it'. There is also a session titled 'Experiential Marketing: From Live to the Web and Back Again' discussing the mobile lifestyle making what happens off-line even more influential for brands and consumers. If schedules permit, I'll add more details in another blog article later this week. I'll also be participating in additional Future M (What's Next in Marketing) events occurring at various venues around Boston this week.
Do you have a question or need help with a particular marketing strategy for your business? Send an email to phil@fatiguana.com, leave a comment below, or call me at 808.357.2206 to arrange a 1 to 1 appointment with me to get your question answered by the experts.