Why on earth is there a statue of the Predator in the middle of this fancy Italian restaurant? This was to be the first of the many instances of culture shock I experienced at this year’s Adobe Summit. Although I have worked in Digital Marketing for over a decade; firstly as a creative director for an online magazine, then as a social media coordinator for General Electric Capital Financial and as the head of Search Engine Optimization for General Motor’s Cadillac brand, Perficient was the first employer to give me the opportunity to attend.
In my current position as the Lead Business Consultant for Perficient on the FordDirect account I have had the privilege of working closely with the many talented folks at Ford Motor Company, FordDirect and Global Team Blue (the agency of record) on the implementation of Adobe Analytics via Dynamic Tag Management across the entire North American Ford and Lincoln online experience. These days I’m assisting in pushing forward new, cutting edge personalization & digital optimization as the Digital Strategy Implementation Lead on the account.
“It was amazing to be a part of what I can only describe as an army of innovators, ground breakers and risk takers. Essentially, my kind of people.”
It was in this capacity and that I was given the chance to fly out to Las Vegas, a town I had never visited, to attend the 2018 Adobe Summit. Getting off the plane and driving into Vegas was an experience I will never forget. Although I have traveled extensively, there truly is nothing like Vegas. The grandeur and sheer enormity of the place is really something to behold. I was equally impressed with the scale and splendor of the conference itself. With somewhere around 12,000 attendees it was amazing to be a part of what I can only describe as an army of innovators, ground breakers and risk takers. Essentially, my kind of people.
I attended breakout sessions on cutting edge optimization efforts and learned about all of the incredible things that are just around the corner for the Adobe Marketing Cloud. I listened in awe to the keynote speakers who taught me that areas like social media, community building and machine learning will soon reach heights of which we had never before dreamed. I walked the floor of the community pavilion and spoke earnestly with my peers in the digital marketing global marketplace about the exciting efforts they are making in pushing the boundaries of innovation while finding new ways to thrill their customers.
Most importantly I was able to connect with my clients & colleagues. We ate together at the Perficient Women in Digital breakfast while brainstorming ways in which to support and foster each other’s careers. We caught each other after breakout sessions to eagerly exchange ideas on how we could implement what we had just learned, taking us that much closer to realizing the optimal customer journey experience. We danced at the Summit Bash, shared a laugh at the Sneaks presentation while finding kinship and community in the moments in between.
Needless to say, I am truly grateful for this experience. As I flew home with my mind buzzing with ideas, I quickly realized how the few days I spent in Vegas had fueled me with not only the innovative concepts I needed to successfully aide my clients in creating a truly forward-thinking digital experience, but the inspiration to keep pushing boundaries while finding new heights to which I could aspire to within myself.
