The TrendWatch

Warning – this article contains mostly links to pages in portuguese.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the current state of the Web is the proficiency of the marketing professionals you come across in the market. You might be reading all sorts of interesting articles from renowned writers from across the Globe that are definitely relevant in a globalized social world – but most of the times you needn’t go further. That was my outcome when I attended the Upload 2010 Conference in Portugal.

The Upload Conference began in 2009, courtesy of the conjoint efforts of active Portuguese professionals – Virginia Coutinho, Vanessa Quitério, Bruno Ribeiro and Bruno Amaral. They envisioned a space where social and web aficionados could argue and discuss the current state of the web. They never had the pretension of teaching in an absolute fashion about the web – they know that we are all still learning. The conference included speakers such as Armando Alves, who showed the audience that “shiny things” like Augmented Reality are not considered strategy, and Paulo Querido, who described his vision on a future “liquid” web. Being exclusively composed by Portuguese speakers, the audience had a clear vision on the state of the current know-how amongst the web marketing professionals in Portugal, leading to the conclusion that, while the global marketing strategies for the digital world might apply on a worldwide scale, there are local nuances that should be discussed in each country. Throw in a Twitter Wall during the conferences at the event and you had a very social approach and a fabulous conference that was important in the Portuguese web marketing landscape.

The 2010 conference had a different vibe to it. Not only did it have a different audience from the first – more mature – but it also had two versions. One was more generic and included Portuguese speakers like Rodrigo Saraiva and Sara Batalha, who covered matters such as Social Media ROI and the under explored motherload that are consumer generated videos. The second one, a pro version, had speakers such as Brian Solis and Carlos Merigo. Listening to a Brian Solis lecture is a very insightful experience – more than depositing knowledge, his lecture clearly had intent on shifting the audience’s mindset. With a sociological approach to Social Media and the Web, Brian demonstrated and explained how there is a change of communication priorities; instead of a focus on the relationships of the consumer, we should actually focus on the interest graph that he shares with his peers.

There is another aspect on the conference that is as interesting as the lectures themselves – the aura of the 2010 Upload conference. 2010 was the year of the Social screw-up’s for the Portuguese market – almost every brand did the common mistake on Facebook, such as disregarding the Social Network’s rules or not worrying about an effective community management strategy. As more and more brands join Social Networks and shift investment to the online world, the lack of know-how or experience in dealing in such an environment led to a silent crash – not a noticeable one for most people, but one that those who work in the area inevitably felt. From lack of crisis management to pure negligence, Facebook pages and profiles were created for brands without a strategy, taking a more “see as it goes” approach. This was clearly felt at the Upload 2010, where the audience anticipated more knowledge on effective social media management and the speakers themselves had a more toned down speech on web strategy – it’s less about the wonderlands of the social media landscape and more on how to manage the resources found in the motherland.

Definitely an inspiring event – all I can say is a big kudos to the organization and i promise that, in 2011, I’m so there!