• Innovation requires a balance between confidence in an idea and great project management skills, and this enthusiasm and discipline has to live within individuals, project teams and the organization's leadership team.
• The most effective teams, once an idea is decided upon, focus on a series of action items that make it possible to move forward and hold everyone accountable.
• "Incentivize innovation by tolerating failure."- Belsky  

During "The Passion Point Matrix: Engage, Involve, Experience" session by Delta, they shared with the audience how, upon emerging from bankruptcy, they decided to market the airline company to the New York market and within it, high-end consumers.  Through a combination of key partnerships and sponsorships (a "shopping spree" according to presenters), Delta decided to make their brand all about giving customers a better brand experience (read: Make every Delta-sponsored event that much better), starting in NYC.  Delta said these key partnerships set the stage for turning intangible sponsor benefits into tangible customer results.

I thought this was a great example of how one company has targeted a very specific local market (New York) in which it could accomplish key sales (a 1 percent gain in this market equals millions) within a very specific market segment (first class fliers).  Through a combination of high-end brand experiences through food and wine festivals, engaging customers and prospects during celebrity sports events and spreading this technique regionally, Delta has been working to build a high-touch, high end customer experience- on and off the ground.

While I wish I could float in and out of sessions all day at the Event Marketing Summit, on Day 1 I decided to focus on two sessions that piqued my personal interest: “Full-time Digital + Live,” presented by Ford, and “Creating Flash Mobs,” presented by the Independent Film Channel and The Michael Alan Group.

While one would think that these were two different topics, they had one common denomination: The grassroots experience they provided to customers.

Starting with Full-time Digital + Live, Ford’s Jeff Eggen presented their campaign, The Fiesta Movement, where they engaged 100 social media influencers (called “agents”) to help build buzz before the Fiesta would hit American soil, a full seven months before the campaign.

A few things that I liked about The Fiesta Movement:

• Ford thought local in a big way: When you think about building nationwide buzz, 100 on-the-ground “agents” doesn’t seem like a lot. But, by bringing them together before the launch and choosing a group that had a large social media following, Ford was able to create a unique social community and extended their brand organically from 100 points of interest.
• The Fiesta Movement was multi-channel from the start. Yes, it had social media “stars” but it combined their star power with well-known brands in a big way. By bringing together artists, experiences and publications—such as Lonely Planet—they set the platform for the brand to live on beyond the shelf life social media can sometimes have.
• Social media didn’t replace the traditional product launch, and it didn’t eat up the budget. However, it showed great impact: According to Ford, the Fiesta had 59% brand awareness after building buzz for seven months.

Next session: Flash mobs and Bollywood (here is the flash mob the presenters organized). The speakers at this session took a straw poll, and it turned out that only one person in the room had ever participated in a flash mob (of 50 or so attendees).  These odds are staggering.  However, despite the fact that the tactic feels pretty fresh to the event marketing world, based on what the room had to say, it does have its possibilities. A few tidbits from that session:

• Flash mobs are a good way to “surprise and delight” consumers, and it’s a good way to play with prospects in their own playground... But tread carefully. The flash mobs that don’t succeed are those that try to over-brand the event or don’t tie it in organically with the brand.  Simple example: A coordinated pillow fight is not for everyone.
• Flash mobs last minutes, but their reach can spread far beyond that venue and who was there.  Utilize video, social media and press to spread the message and in some cases, you can more than triple impressions.
• Don’t leave it to the amateurs.  Flash mobs can run away from an organizer- and quickly- if information is not controlled and sent out to the right audience.

While these grassroots campaigns had big results, it seems to be most successful in the consumer space—for now.  Since flash mobs are typically geographically limited, it can only impact so many at a time, but that doesn’t mean that other industries can’t get in on the fun. Final say: Flash mobs have a lot of possibilities for brave marketers with substantial budgets and I’m excited to see where other industries—automotive, b2b, healthcare, etc.—take it.

1 p.m. ET, Friday, May 13