So – after our endless banging on, the Wildfire Conference finally took place this week in the heart of London’s trendily scuzzy East End. And do you know what? It rocked. It actually did. So please forgive us this little summary of what was said, what was done, and how nice it is to feel like you’re in the middle of something useful, inspiring and entertaining in equal measure.
We were overawed by extreme sports filmmaker Matt Dickinson drawing parallels between facing the future and scaling Mount Everest! Rishad Tobaccowala taught us how to apply the sexy improvisation of the Jazz movement to our always-on world! Miguel from Camper took us through his family photo album to prove that the best brands are always the ones with the best stories! The one-man saviour of the planning blog, Russell Davies, gave a masterclass in how to be interesting and useful and compelling, and Johnny Vulcan, the man who coined the phrase ‘Branded Utility’ taught us how to be good people! Gaming genius Jordan Weisman threw open the kind of thinking that can keep 3m people engaged, involved and entertained! Reuben Steiger of Millions of Us and an ex-Linden blew our minds completely by explaining the role of virtual worlds in connecting an increasingly atomised society! Trend guru extraordinaire Tom Savigar explained the changing nature of identity in the digital age, how teenagers morph like chameleons into a thousand different people! And most importantly, we laughed our asses off at Ze Frank’s twenty minute stand-up routine about airline safety. What more could you want?
Without blowing our own trumpet (well, maybe just a bit), we’re completely staggered by the quality of speakers we managed to get together. If you were there, we’d love to hear your feedback. Who floated your boat? Were you crazy for Ze or overjoyed for Ajaz? Raving about Reuben or ranting for Russell? Drop us a line to let us know at hello@contagiousmagazine.com.
The other thing we realised was this – if there is any word that’s overused in this world of endless get-togethers, of thousands of words, of a million press releases, it’s the word ‘inspiring’. When was the last time you were genuinely, honestly and truthfully inspired by an industry event? Well, we were this week. And we kind of liked it.
Huge thanks to Wildfire’s awesome hosts Leo Burnett, the troupers at Gyro and of course, our legendary speakers for making it an event to remember.
