‘Australians don’t get new things unless they succeed overseas first’
A conference taking place in Sydney tomorrow has failed to attract big numbers because Australians do not get new things until they are successful overseas, its organiser claims.
Ross Dawson, who is running tomorrow’s Future of Influence Summit, said only 70 people have booked for the event in Sydney. The conference is also being run simultaneously in San Francisco, where 80 people are attending.
The event previously ran as the Future of Media Summit, where it attracted around 140 delegates in Sydney and 50 in San Francisco.
Dawson – who is at the US end of the event – said: “This is a massive success in San Francisco – we are almost sold out and may well be by the time of the event, and there is a massive buzz in Silicon Valley . The quality of the paying attendees is exceptional, including the CEOs of some of the most prominent startups in the Valley.That’s very good for what is probably the part of the world with the greatest over-supply of events.”
He added: “On the other hand the Sydney attendance is disappointing. In conversations, most people do not seem to recognize how important influence is in shaping both the marketing and content worlds today and in coming years.
“I think this is yet another story of things needing to be successful overseas before they are accepted in Australia. Next year people will get it and come along in Australia, but only because they will have seen that this is seen to be critically important in the US and beyond. Australians have the opportunity to engage with the world’s leading thinking on what is emerging as a key topic, but because it is new to them they don’t see it as important. That is not how to keep competitive.
“This is yet another story of things needing to be successful overseas before they are accepted in Australia.”
Another factor may be that the event is occuring at the same time as a three day media and broadcasting congress organised by Terrapin events.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:06 pm
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Comments
31 Aug 09
12:27 pm
it’s a bit of a cop out to blame others for your own events failure. maybe they misread the market here.
31 Aug 09
12:32 pm
I don’t think Ross is blaming anyone – it’s just obvious that the AU market needs the education around the topic…
31 Aug 09
12:37 pm
Hang on, 70 people in Australia is us not getting it, but 80 people in the states, where they have what, 10 times our population, is “a massive success”? What drugs is this guy on?
31 Aug 09
12:40 pm
“only 70 people have booked for the event in Sydney. The conference is also being run simultaneously in San Francisco, where 80 people are attending.”
How is a difference of 10 people a disappointment? Surely I would have thought with a national population greater than 10x our own you could get more than 80 people from Silicon Valley to turn up to a conference on influence?
31 Aug 09
1:13 pm
Think that’s a massive and inaccurate generalisation, and perhaps a cop out as Ben stated. There are so many more factors at play, none more prevelant than the current economic environment. The fact the there is such strong interest in Social Media Club Sydney shows that people are in fact interested in such events if the price is right (free).
I would have agreed if the statement was Aussie’s are too conservative to implement something until they see it work overseas. But to say we don’t get it is plain wrong.
31 Aug 09
1:54 pm
well i haven’t seen much marketing of this event, so that could be one of the issues.
has anyone seen advertising of it much?
Also $600 AUD for the sydney summit seems steep compared to $199 USD for the SF summit. See prices here:
http://www.futureofinfluencesu.....istration/
31 Aug 09
1:55 pm
This is the first Ive heard of it, maybe they didnt market it right. Need someone to handle their press releases appropriatley so get get the info sent out to email inboxes. A lack of pre-event marketing and awareness is often the case in these circumstances, and the organisers, being mostly Australian I guess, didnt ‘get it’, about shouting from the roof tops.
31 Aug 09
1:59 pm
TIM!
Dont you think you should declare your interest in this blatent spruik?
31 Aug 09
2:24 pm
first i’ve heard of it. & agree with the others, tones a bit patronising, or should i say patronizing
31 Aug 09
2:47 pm
I’ve very glad I didn’t wait for Vegemite to become a success overseas.
More likely the pricing of the event here plus the difference in pricing between the US and us that is keeping numbers down. Either way, there is only a difference of 10 delegates between Syd. and San Fran.
31 Aug 09
2:48 pm
In case you missed it:
11.30 am Panel: Tapping the Power of Influence in Real Life
Leading corporate marketers and agencies discuss influence case studies and key issues in tapping the power of influence.
Chair: Tim Burrowes, Founder and Editor, Mumbrella
Larry Hedges, Co-Founder, Brewtopia
Mike Hill, Director, Holler Sydney
Richard Bell, Marketing Director, ThreeByOne
Sharyn Smith, CEO, Soup
31 Aug 09
3:00 pm
‘Australians don’t get new things unless they succeed overseas first’
Surely the answer is obvious? Instead of holding the Sydney and San Fran events simultaneously, put the Sydney one off by a day. The successful US event will then happen first, thus guaranteeing brighter prospects for the conference here. Nothing to it..
31 Aug 09
3:13 pm
Ross I like your work and I’d love to see Tim chair another panel. But, I think people maybe heading to the Australasian Media and Broadcasting Congress 2009. It starts tomorrow.
With speakers like:
Joe Pollard, CEO NineMSN
Andrew Maiden, Director for Media Communications, Telstra
Bryan Neider, Snr VP & COO of Electronic Arts Inc.
Michael Anderson, CEO of Austereo
Richard Herring, CEO of APN Outdoor
Matthew Whittingham , Head of Portal and Advertising, Optus
Angus Beattie, Mobile Advertising Product Manager, 3 Mobile
Matt Campbell, Director of TV and On-Line Content, SBS Television
Mark Coad, CEO Australia , OMD
Francisco Cordero, Vice President Strategy and Operations, Bebo
Paul Fisher, Chief Executive, Interactive Advertising Bureau
Ben Liebmann, Vice President, Fremantle Media
Jack Matthews, CEO, Fairfax Digital
Mr Harold Mitchell, Executive Chairman, Mitchell Communication Group
Kate Vale, Head Australia & New Zealand, YouTube
John Williams, Regional Director, bbc.com
And even my chubby friend Craig Wilson, Managing Director of Sticky Advertising.
Unfortunately, It’s not us, its your scheduling:)
31 Aug 09
6:15 pm
Well, if people are mentioning their events, I’ll add mine
(only because it’s relevant to the discussion on influence)
Check out three great speakers on social media for $220
Speakers:
Australian perspective: Senator Kate Lundy
USA perspective: Brian Giesen, Director Social Media, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
Trends in social media: Rohit Bhargava, VP, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, USA
http://thepublicinterest.ning.com
31 Aug 09
6:31 pm
Social Media event; 3 great speakers: new trends in social media
Australian perspective: Senator Kate Lundy
USA: Brian Giesen and Rohit Bhargava, Ogilvy USA
Canberra, $220
1 Sep 09
12:20 pm
So Australian delegates have halved since “previously”. Why?
1 Sep 09
1:23 pm
Hi Gezza,
Thanks for your comment.
Not much of an interest to declare. I moderated a session because they were kind enough to ask me, but I’ve no direct or indirect financial interest in the event. They’re not an advertiser (which may help explain the poor turnout….)
And I’m not sure what you saw as the blatant spruik. As the event was today, the story was at far too short notice to put bums on seats for the organisers as a result.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
1 Sep 09
3:02 pm
The problem was that the event was too expensive. I am a prime target audience and was interested (despite being a behind-the-times Australian, apparently) and had heard of it (so marketing wasn’t the issue). The problem was cost. Make it affordable and the people will come.
1 Sep 09
4:04 pm
Yes, it’s definitely the fault of we backward Australian hicks who don’t “get” things until they’ve become a smash hit overseas.
Or maybe it’s the fault of the weather – too nice a day to be indoors at a conference. This is winder, it’s supposed to be crappy weather, so let’s blame Climate Change.
But no, hang on, can we pin any of the rap on NSW Premier Rees, he’s the latest whipping boy after all.
Hell, let’s blame anything and everything barring that which is within our own control – cost, marketing, content… stuff like that.
1 Sep 09
4:27 pm
Tim.
That’s fair enough. Sorry for bustin’ you b%#lls.
2 Sep 09
6:13 pm
Tim,
I was at the Australasian Media & Broadcasting Congress over the last two days. The numbers were very low there too. I’m sure Terrapin would have been disappointed.
I do tend to agree that Future of Influence didn’t get onto my radar very successfully. I went last year and enjoyed the event. This year I wasn’t very aware of it.
3 Sep 09
9:45 am
i had no idea it was even on.
maybe they needed to use more influence.
or they were already under the influence?
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