The newly renovated Wayfinder Hotel in Newport, a charming boutique hotel brought to life by a group of local chefs, bartenders, and innovative entrepreneurs, recently joined forces with ‘The Marketing Camp,” as the official host of the largest two-day marketing conference for small business owners in Rhode Island.
The Marketing Camp is an in-person marketing conference with a fun camping twist. The idea to layer a camping theme over a marketing conference came about by founders Sal Sauco, Dave Englund, both of Englund Studio in North Kingstown, and Bob Salvas, who works for the Rhode Island Builders Association (RIBA)in East Providence.
Englund said it best, as he shared, “Fun learning works better than dull learning. Ultimately, the techniques, tools, and tactics learned at The Marketing Camp tend to get remembered and applied to the businesses.”
Past attendees have been owners of new and existing businesses, as well as solo entrepreneurs, and have represented many different industries throughout New England.
The presentations run all day on Friday, May 31st, which includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and dinner, followed by a favorite Marketing Camp tradition; the Friday Night Firepit Party, which is open to both attendees and non-attendees.
Salvas said that it’s a fun tradition that enables attendees to meet and join in some activities.
“You’ll be networking with fun people, enjoying a whisky, smoking cigars by a fire pit, and watching a LIVE bluegrass band, as an added treat,” said Salvas. “This year, we have the amazingly talented ‘Four Bridges.’ They specialize in traditional and contemporary Bluegrass music.”
The Camp features presenters, who will each tackle different aspects of marketing. The purpose is to educate attendees about various marketing principles.
“Each presentation lasts 45 minutes long,” Sauco said. “This year, we have six presentations: Relationship Marketing, Communications Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing, Content Strategy, and Sales Strategy. There are no boring powerpoint presentations at The Marketing Camp. In addition, we ask all presenters to give away their best secrets, tips, tricks, and techniques.”
Some people will get to experience The Marketing Camp for the first time at its new Newport locale. Others have turned this event into an annual tradition. The Camp has succeeded in providing new ideas for business owners to put into practice right away.
“In the past 10 years, I’ve attended many marketing conferences—and without a doubt—The Marketing Camp was by far the BEST one I attended,” says attorney, Tim Sweet, a past attendee.
In holding to the camping theme, camp counselors keep the program moving and on-time, with 15-minute breaks in between the presentations (a perfect duration for Q&A with the presenter or just to stretch and review notes).
Salvas added, “The camp counselors lead you through strategic networking with all the other attendees. We have surprise giveaways spread throughout the day, team building exercises, and so much more.”
Activities Director Michelle Girasole, owner of Fresh Maps in North Kingstown, said, “In every sense of the word, it is truly a retreat for business owners to meet other business owners and recharge their marketing batteries.”
She noted that by the time the first presentation is over, everyone in the room is comfortable and are asking questions, taking notes, sharing feedback, and even encouraging the other attendees with their businesses. It’s a truly bonding time for all,” Girasole said.
“Every year after the last presentation and just before dinner, an award is given out to the best small business, with exceptional marketing in the areas of creativity, customer-centric engagement, smart use of social media, and brand awareness, as seen around the state,” Sauco added. “We feel it’s important to highlight businesses that are taking marketing seriously. In fact, we call the award the WGM Award, which stands for We Get Marketing.”
Attendees are encouraged to book a room at The Wayfinder, so they can wake up ready to go for Part 2 of the conference on Saturday morning.
The conference ends with a question-and-answer panel, offering attendees a chance to get specific marketing advice. Many business cards have been passed and strong alliances have been made at past Marketing Camps.
A ratings survey is given out at the close of the conference to improve on presentations, location, education, networking, and accommodations.
Sauco said, “We’ve begged people for negative feedback. We feel feedback is a gift; the only negativity we’ve gotten is they wish it lasted longer!”
Interested in having a sponsor table? If you sell to other businesses, it would be a great opportunity for your business to get in front of other growing business owners.
Sponsorships are limited, so contact The Marketing Camp by email at: sal@englundstudio.com.
If you sponsor, then you still get to attend and learn all the great content at The Marketing Camp.
Sign up before March 31st to take advantage of their early-bird pricing. To register for this year’s Marketing Camp on May 31st-June 1st, go to www.themarketingcamp.com.
The first 50 people who register will receive a Marketing Camp t-shirt!
