Recap of Confab 2020
Kristina Halvorson welcomes attendees to Confab 2019. Photo by Confab on Flickr.
For the past ten years, Confab has set the standard for content strategy conferences. Organized by Brain Traffic (Kristina Halvorson’s consultancy), the conference is known for being the world’s best.
Best, you might ask? In what way?
Most entertaining? Yes. The conference has featured superstar keynote speakers like Levar Burton and (less well known globally but still a star in content circles) Ann Handley.
Most thoughtful? Do frequent snack breaks with cake, tables stocked with power strips, and an introverts’ lounge sound like thoughtful touches to you? Absolutely.
Most useful? In 2019, Holly Munson gave a talk that has changed how I approach content audits. So, definitely.
But that was all pre-Covid-19. This year, the Confab staff had 5 weeks to take the live conference virtual. Could they possibly keep all the thoughtful, entertaining, and useful touches that characterized the first 9 years of Confabs?
Spoiler alert: they did
The Daily Keynotes: Insights over Coffee
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I had a client project competing for my attention, so I wasn’t able to attend all the keynotes in real-time. But, even though no big-name celebrity attended this year, the talks I did attend were stellar. A couple highlights:
On day 1, David Dylan Thomas talked about Content Design to Save Civil Discourse. The takeaway: if we view digital experiences as conversations with users, we can create the conversations we want to have. We do this by thoughtfully using language to frame our questions and answers.
On day 3, Katherine Becker from Capital One gave an amazing talk about how to think like a songwriter to tell better stories. The takeaway: we can use tropes from songwriting (such as the “I am/I want” song) to structure narratives that engage and inform users.
Zoom Breakouts: Fascinating Chats with Folks from All Over
One of the most important activities you do at a conference is meeting people. Learning about the problems other practitioners have can be liberating (“hey, I’m not the only one!”), and hearing solutions can be instructive.
Some of the Zoom breakout groups were topic-based, while some grouped people together randomly. I joined both types, and the folks were friendly, welcoming, interesting, and inspiring. In fact, many of my Zoom contacts ended up joining the Virtual Karaoke on Wednesday (see below).
The Events, or ‘I’ve never done THAT over Zoom!’
Of course, Confab just wouldn’t be Confab without cake. And karaoke. But how to do that virtually? The intrepid Brain Traffic staffers found a way.
A Nailed It!-style Cake Decorating Contest amazed us: just how many shades of blue can adorn one cake? We found out.
The Confab pet show blew our minds. Rebecca the bulldog was my favorite (special talent: lying on the couch).
Virtual karaoke was a blast. (Yes, I participated. I couldn’t resist.) Selections ranged from Weird Al’s “Word Crimes” to Drake to Night Ranger.
The Year of Confab
I haven’t even mentioned the on-demand talks. Talks are typically the main draw on Confab. But with so many “main stage” keynotes and events, most of us attendees didn’t get a chance to watch many of them.
I did catch Rachel McConnell’s instructive talk “Getting buy-in: A new way to talk about content strategy.” In it, she provides a helpful framework for conducting content strategy in a digital project, beginning with defining business objectives.
Rachel McConnell’s content strategy framework includes 6 steps: Focus, Lay Foundations, Define Who Does the Work, Define process, Measure, and Maintain.
Fortunately, we have a year to watch the rest of the talks. Hilary Marsh of Content Company, Inc. has graciously begun to schedule “watch parties,” during which we can watch the talks together and the speaker will answer questions from the audience. I have 2 talks on my calendar for next week—and I can’t wait.
Was Virtual Confab Worth it?
Considering that I learned a ton, made connections, and can continue to learn for a year, my answer is a resounding yes.
And now we’ve learned that Brain Traffic is planning another conference—Button, which is specific to content strategy for products.
Knowing the team behind Button, I feel confident recommending it to anyone who wants to learn more about content strategy.
See you in October!