Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

BIG News: BADASS Conference coming soon to Kickstarter

badass conference

Imagine a new and different kind of professional gathering focused on bringing together GOOD people doing GREAT work... to collaborate, cross-pollinate, get connected and get inspired with each other.

The BADASS Conference:

BAD: For Top Dogs in Business | Arts | Digital

ASS: Audience = Speakers = Sponsors

That's the BADASS Conference. And YOU are warmly invited... soon. The Kickstarter campaign is just now getting its finishing touches and we should be ready to launch by Nov. 1... the event itself will be right here in Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty. It's a 2.5-day collection of AWESOMENESS happening in March 2013.

Meanwhile, you should know where this is all coming from.

Our foundational curiosity is...

What if we re-invented the conference format using the notion of "theater for business"?

More excitement, more energy, and one hell of an ensemble (starring YOU) giving it their all.

Or what would Comic-Con for business look like?

More possibilities... but the risk is that you won't "get it" or that you'd feel safer with a pre-set agenda filled with talking head keynote speakers and random breakout sessions that 99% of other conferences have. We don't do that. So you might not come.

Our core complaint is...

Most conferences and professional meetings fail to deliver lasting value. Still worse, they leave meaningful connections completely to chance. And they have no significant impact on the lives of attendees... and the role of those attendees is far too passive, too marginalized, and too much like watching bad TV without even the privilege of changing channels.

Perhaps you like watching late night reruns of COPS with the remote buried under those containers of old Chinese food on your sofa. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this.

It's time to shake things up...

Our vision is a new kind of professional gathering: one that is for, by and about YOU, the participant.

Our risks are small, the challenges somewhat greater but certainly manageable.

The BADASS Conference is truly an UN-conference. Take your normal expectations and flip them upside down -- for example:

Most conferences have...

★ Glitzy website: We have www.Unconference.com
★ Overblown session promos: We don't know what'll happen til we get together for the Roundtable and Peer Session Signup.
★ Big name speakers: At our events, every participant is eligible to speak. The group decides. That's why it's called a PEER conference.
★ Ultra-expensive fees ($2,500-$7,500): We like deals so we're between 86%-95% off. Eat that, TED!
★ Elitist feel: Our audience (aka YOU) is always front and center. 'Nuff said.
★ Benefit the lucky: We benefit the Badass (aka YOU!)
★ All talk, no action: We build individual and group reflection and action steps directly into the event.
★ One-off vs. community: The relationships, connections and collaborations you start here will last long after you get home and will become a permanent professional asset.

You want in? If you're up for it, we'd love to have you join us.

Leave a comment in the COMMENTS section below and I'll let you know as soon as the Kickstarter campaign goes live...

And thank you in advance for spreading the word.  

Tags: video, small business, conference, apps, non-profit, mobile, web, entrepreneurship, big business, marketing, business, unconference, arts, digital, games, social