But after 2 days and 12 talks from the likes of Ted Royer, Taras Wayner, Malcolm Poynton, and advertising legend Bob Isherwood, I've been reminded of the power of the unexpected.  

I didn't expect Bob Isherwood to play a didgeridoo on stage to make the point that you can put an idea into anything, even a dried out stick lying in the Australian outback.

 

I didn't expect Chris Smith (a Creative Director and Improv Comedian) to connect improv comedy to the creative process with a simple philosophy of saying, "Yes and..." instead of "No but..." (which resulted in three creatives from around the world who've never met, singing a song on stage one word at a time).

I didn't expect Ted Royer to be so honest, telling us "It's not advertising unless you get kicked in the balls 7 times a day", that "It's ok to lose your passion and take 6 months off", and that he doesn't have any gold bullet for coming up with ideas, except to "Make sure your truths are actually true".

And I didn't expect Malcolm Poynton to take us back 225 years to Iron Bridge and the first piece of primitive advertising, challenging the notion that our industry is in crisis right now, instead telling us that the responsibility to shape the future of our industry is up to us. 

Besides being fascinating, entertaining, and mind-expanding, what all of these talks reminded me, is that when you're expecting one thing and you get another, that's what connects with people. It makes our systems spasm. It's in all great jokes. And it can be applied to any medium you're working on. It doesn't matter if it's VR or a flyer - it just has to connect with people in an unexpected way.

Oh yeah, there was a big party last night where people from all around got drunk, traded life stories, and woke up with terrible hangovers. I guess that was kinda expected...