I’m headed off to Nashville to the amazing Blissdom conference tomorrow and am already impressed by the smarts exhibited by ConAgra, one of the conference sponsors. The folks at ConAgra were savvy enough to give a group of techie, blogging, busy as all get out women some swag that we can really use. I mean, swag is, in general, nice. And it’s swag, so it’s free – and I’m not going to complain. But there’s a gigantic difference between nice free stuff and really rocking, amazing, stuff that I will use a LOT free stuff.
Please meet my new BFF, the Poken – an ultra cool gadget that is essentially your social business card. Poken is inexpensive, easy to use and a terrific way for a group of people to get and stay connected.
In a nutshell, you buy your Poken, plug it into your computer, enter all the information that you’d like people to have about you, and stash it in your handbag, put it on your keychain, or slip it into your jeans pocket. It’s small and easy to carry around and instead of fumbling around for business cards and collecting them from people you meet and want to stay in touch with, you can simply touch Pokens and, voila, your information is exchanged.
There are so many cool features about Poken – truly, the more I learn the more I love it. What a brilliant idea!! Why don’t I think of these things, darnit??
Since receiving my Poken (I’m a conference speaker, so I got my goodies in advance of the event, while the other attendees will get theirs upon arrival) I’ve told every friend I know – at least twice – how stinking cool this thing is. In fact, I’ve sent at least a handful of them directly to my friend, Coree Silvera’s site, to buy them. Coree is a Poken affiliate and an amazing woman, and when I buy things, I like to buy from friends. Check it out, find the Poken that’s right for you and you’ll be on your way to loving it as much as I do.
Even more brilliant is the move by ConAgra, purchasing such a clever gadget, branding it with their logo, and distributing it as part of the swag at the Blissdom event. Love my gadget, love the peeps who gave it to me. That’s how it works, you know. And for a pretty minimal investment, ConAgra has already endeared me to their brand – they gave me something super cool, that I love, that I will routinely use, which will make my life easier. Oh, and their brand is right there, front and center, for all to see.
Smart, smart, smart. In fact, I’m such an evangelist now – for both ConAgra and for Poken, they should both sponsor my upcoming trip to SXSW and let me recruit some new customers for them. And give me some really cool tee shirts to wear while I’m doing it (hehe).
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”