Getting your mind blown and making friends – recap of the Uprising (Fall 2024 edition)

Yes, the title isn’t a lie. You go to a retreat limited to only 30 marketers and you leave not only with your mind pushed to new concepts but you bond with your new friends (made there). I would wake up and be at breakfast at 7:40am after calling my kids at the bus stop at 7:30am and wrap up hanging out with everyone around 9:30pm daily.

This retreat is called the Uprising and this is my third time attending (twice this year). If you missed my first time I attending, that one event led me to be a co-author of The Most Amazing Marketing Book.

There’s so much to recap but I’m specifically sharing takeaways relevant to moms who are business owners (one of my biggest audiences, so why not dedicate this whole blog post to YOU).

Photo Credit: Marion Abrams. Post lunch chat with Sarah Neely and Lauren Colbert.

Each headline is the topic discussed and below it is the one big takeaway:

The AI-Relevant Marketer

Mark Schaefer: There is an opportunity in the world with the algorithm creating our content experience, we can offer an opportunity to add surprise and delight into our lives.

Dr Lisa Palmer: Can the future be where people automatically can file a lawsuit against you?

Robbie Fitzwater:  His AI prompts (uploading a proposal) and asking, “what is it missing and am I charging enough?”

Personal Brand workshop:

with Lauren Colbert:

Enjoyed her branding worksheets, especially the “Haiku-ish” activity where we can use for our LinkedIn Headline. I thought her question on doing a “pre-mortem” and imagining what can go wrong.

Future of Brand Strategy

with Claudia Sciaretta (PepsiCo): 

Small cultural moments where you can build iconic brands that build culture. I learned a lot about values, new generation no longer thinking “no pain no gain’. You can see my video with her in a separate LinkedIn post.

Mega Trends Discussion

with Jola Burnette

Insightful stats on the media, creativity and AI (jobs), but parenting info stood out. Parenting: lack of it or delay being a parent, raising children different than their own upbringing. 

What worries parents the most as they raise their kids: 37% mental health, 35% bullying. 10% of children ages 3-17 had current, diagnosed anxiety, 7% had diagnosed behavior disorders, and 4% with diagnosed depression. Food for thought: Future Jobs to be done for helping current parents stay present for children while caretaking their own parents.

Word of Mouth Marketing Strategy (WOMM) in a Digital World

with Sarah Neely

She provided more worksheets where we dug deeper how our brands grow with WOMM. She added a framework called ARRGH which one of the R’s is Remarkable. Meaning, what do your customers care about? Why do they choose your business instead of your business? Is there something special or noteworthy of your product or service? (maybe write what the first thing that comes to mind right now in a comment below)

Scaling your Personal brand

with Amanda Russell: 

Everyone doesn’t love an underdog story? Despite difficult circumstances she reached success by being scrappy. She got job by sending in her old running shoes to an agency to highlight the fact she is an athlete and a handworker when she didn’t have working experience at the time. In this fireside chat style discussion, she shares another story where she grew her 80K subscription model of her workout videos from starting at Central Park teaching her workout routines to random people from the homeless to ad execs. My favorite quote was “it is a luxury to get to choose” and “how do I make people feel.”

The Big Reveal

Mark revealing his latest book presentation (Feb 2025 release date):  I really can’t translate the awe I felt throughout this presentation. He led the discussion providing case stories and examples of companies and individuals doing extraordinary things to stand out. One of my favorite slides to marinate on is saying: audacious isn’t loud, … it has to make a difference.

Community-Powered Brands by

Sara Wilson (expert on Gen Z): 

Again another presentation led by case studies by companies investing in their communities. You see how brands do it and cultivate relationships with deep social listening through these communities and the emphasis on IRL experiences.

What stood out to you? I’d love to discuss more with you over coffee or tea virtually! My contact info is below!

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