It has been a long time since I’ve done a big conference recap – and having attended The Digital Picnic’s The Comeback Conference last weekend in Melbourne it is high time my recap posts make a comeback too (see what I did there, ha!).
This one may be a little not my usual style because this conference was so incredibly different to ones I’ve attended in the past – and I feel like how I’m processing the presentations and how it was for me over the weekend is different too. And I don’t mean that in a bad way – it’s actually a good thing.
Firstly, The Speakers…
- MC – Azure Antionette
- Cherie Clonan [The Digital Picnic] – TDP’s Comeback Story / Advanced Content Marketing Strategy Development, and the systems required to support that / TDP’s Rebuild Story
- Emerald Cowell [For Good Digital] – A Sit Down With Squarespace
- Ellen Powell [The Somewhere Co] and Faye Tan [Mama Movement] – Panelist Discussion
- Savannah Young [The Digital Picnic] – Our Paid Advertising Strategy for Your Associated 2025 Scale
- Tara Ladd [Your One & Only] – Beyond the Brand: Identity, Culture and The New Consumer
- Elisabeth Jackson [The Afro Coach] – Building an Ops Engine: Increasing Client Retention and Satisfaction to Boos Profits (Without Overworking)
- Jessie Zevaka [The Digital Picnic] – Your Marketing Automation Opportunities for 2025 (with Cherie)
- Anaita Sarkar [Sell Anything Online] – Social SEO: Your 2025 ‘Social Everything Optimisation’ Strategy
- Kim James [Tangerine Tango] – Lost in the Feed to Living in Memory: Building Connection Through Authentic Storytelling
- Deanna Notice Smith [Notice & Co] – From Inbox to Income: Using Marketing Automation to Send Emails That Sell
- Victoria Obieglo [The Digital Picnic] – Your Revenue Growth Formula for 2025
- Anucia de Boer [The Digital Picnic] – TDP’s Rebuild Story (with Cherie)
- Odette Barry [Odette & Co] – Hacking Your Own PR, and What It Looks Like in 2025
- Barb De Corti [ENJO Australia Founder CEO], Zara Jarvis [The Digital Picnic] – ENJO Case Study
- Michael Saliba, Zara Jarvis, Brooke Ayano [The Digital Picnic] – Insights from Top Marketing Professionals
Highlights
I’m a long time fan of Cherie and The Digital Picnic (while at the conference I jogged my memory by searching my inbox and found that I attended my very first TDP Workshop in November 2016) so I knew that the weekend would be jam packed with value every step of the way.
What first hit me square between the eyes (and in my funny bone) – MC Azure Antionette. Seriously, I’m calling it, my fave MC of all time – big call, yes, but totally true. As a past Business Chicks member I have heard about Azure, but to see her in action was pure joy, authenticity, hilarity and guidance and she lifted the energy of the two days in all the right places.
I’m a huge admin and processes nerd so of course the tech tinged presentations were my wheelhouse and I’m first to admit that may be my happy place but I love nothing more than filling my knowledge gaps of what I don’t know that I don’t know from others. Specifically the presentations by Jessie Zevaka [The Digital Picnic], Elisabeth Jackson [The Afro Coach] and Deanna Notice Smith [Notice & Co] had me both commiserating in the pain points and in awe of their knowledge and sharing of their knowledge with the room.
As a solo business owner I did sit in that room feeling like a very small fry in a pond full of big hitters. However, even the big topics that seemed too big for where I am with my business ignited sparks in my brain over the weekend. Cherie Clonan [The Digital Picnic] kicked off the conference with such honesty and vulnerability and connected the dots that reaffirmed my awe of her (which I always have had since day one). Cherie showed me a version of leadership that I haven’t consciously considered before. I recognise I have absolutely zero desire to have a team in my business, but what I gained from her keynote is there is a different kind of leadership that is still required to be able to lead yourself through life and your relationships outside of business.
My second spark was courtesy of Tara Ladd [Your One & Only] with her presentation (I have followed Tara on Instagram for a long while now, and she honestly is my kinda people to learn from). As someone who did a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) you would think I’d be pretty up to speed on strategy and brand and positioning, but I’m first to put my hand up and say most definitely not – in all honesty, given how much the world has changed since I completed my uni degree in 2007 that piece of paper feels more redundant than a floppy disk. And that’s where Tara’s magic was in full flight in her presentation – I learned more in her 30 minutes about consumer behaviour and brand strategy than my semesters of university study. And the spark for me was seeing how Tara takes her zone of genius and translates what she sees and knows and delivers for her clients and explains it to an audience in a way that lands and gives them a way forward to use the same knowledge for themselves.
Finally I have to make a notable mention about Barb De Corti – I mean, I remember my Mum having an ENJO glove way back in my teens and aside from that not knowing a great deal about the company other than cleaning products. But sitting and listening to Barb’s story and experiencing her passion for her company not only reminded me how much founders are the soul of their companies but also how despite its longevity there’s always something new to learn – and being humble and brave enough to admit that and take action on it. And on top of that – she is completely and utterly hilarious.
The Key Learnings (for me)
Kind Geniuses are the TDP bare minimum
Businesses really are only as good as the people within them and I really loved Cherie’s definition of the culture that she is building and attracting in The Digital Picnic – being Kind Geniuses. And this was even more apparent to me watching how TDP team members are empowered to share their genius with the team members delivering a number of the sessions over the weekend.
Finding your way back… in your own way
The through theme of the weekend was most definitely tales of Comeback. But the additional layer around that – doing it your way rather than forcing it in a way that isn’t aligned with your own values. Business is making the hard decisions, showing up when things are tough, deciding on boundaries you never considered before, and there will be points where you question whether your heart is in the right place.
(Reaffirmation of) Transformation over Transaction
Every single speaker within each of their presentations in some way, shape or form touched on the importance of transformation over transactions. And this flows through not only your delivery, it is how you market, it is within your relationships, your team culture, your goal setting. Transacting – pumping through an arbitrary number just for the sake of hitting some static target that you’ve set leaves so much on the table and will very quickly turn your business into a soulless machine. Whereas if you approach things from a lens of transformation there breathes more life into the how you do business, why you make the decisions you make and how things can grow through delivering wider value in all facets of your business.
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