Reflecting on the most rewarding marketing experience of my life

8 min readMay 1

Each year, a small group of marketing leaders gather at a beautiful lodge in the woods to think big thoughts about the future of marketing. Our aim is to help each other remain relevant in a fast-changing world. The event is called The Uprising (every marketing rebellion needs one, right?).

Although the experience was merely two and a half days, this was an intense immersion in new marketing ideas, natural beauty, and meaningful new relationships.

Honestly, we covered so much ground that it is intimidating trying to capture what happened there. I was literally on the edge of my seat, listening to experts projecting how new customer connections, communications, storytelling, and technologies would revolutionize marketing.

Here are a few highlights. I asked some of the participants to add their own ideas of what they loved.

Relentlessly relevant

The purpose of this event is to support marketers with their personal relevance in a fast-changing world. I set the stage with ideas about strategies about how we need to combine core competencies with “waves” of change coming at us in the world. I encouraged the participants to view the following sessions as possible seams of relevance.

Mathew Sweezey provided insights on his networking strategy that has connected him to some of the top marketing minds in the world.

Reaction: “The most profound takeaway was around trust in the age of AI and this idea of Kinship economy and community as a media. Community will discern the truth and it is becoming an arbiter of media.” — Jola Burnett

“Day one, hour one, Mark mentioned the idea of wearing the crown only you can wear. This struck me in a new way, and allowed me to think about the skills and experiences I can contribute to an organization in a new way.” — Sarah Neely