Wildfire

I attended the Wildfire Conference in London's happening Shoreditch last week. I'll post on the best speakers later, but I'd rather capture a few observations about the conference first. (1) Location says a lot about a conference. Shoreditch might be a cliche but it felt right for the subject. Think of it as tone of voice for an event. You're never going to be a credible new-gen advertising event if you serve curly sandwiches in the QE2 conference centre. (2) I was impressed by the events that sprung up around the conference. Just as Glastonbury and Notting Hill Carnival spawn warm-up gigs and after parties, it would be great if advertising junkets did the same. (3) Finally, a plea for a bit of honesty about the hosts of the event. Wildfire is a thinly-disguised Leo Burnett pep rally, organised by Contagious Magazine. The speakers were first-rate, there was no propaganda in the agenda, but the huge number of Burnetts people on the delegate list was an unsubtle reminder that this was a company do, rather than an impartial get-together. I would be miffed if I had paid the full eleven hundred quid delegate fee and found that I was funding another agency's marketing push.

Comments

[Trudi Harris]

Hi Tom,

I'd like to politely disagree with your assertion that the Wildfire Conference was a "thinly-disguised Leo Burnett pep rally." We have no reason to disguise our role as co-host of the event, nor did we attempt to. All the promotional material for the conference and the website clearly stated that Leo Burnett was hosting the conference in partnership with Contagious magazine. There was a large number of Burnett staff members in attendence because there was a high level of interest in the speakers on the conference panel (only one of which was a Leo Burnett employee, I might add). You said yourself that the speakers were first-rate and there was no propaganda on the agenda, so I don't see why you would then describe it as a pep rally based solely on the high level of participation of our staff. They were there to learn, just as you were.

Finally, I regret that you felt like you were "funding another agency's marketing push." The truth is that Burnett delegates paid to be there too (albeit at a discount) and the conference overall was run as a loss leader. We feel that delegate fees were in-line with other conferences with the same caliber of speakers, and that the conference was worth the fee. If you disagree or have suggestions for how we could improve the event for next year, please direct them to me.

Best wishes,

Trudi Harris
Director of Corporate Communications
Leo Burnett Worldwide

[Trudi Harris]

Sorry, my email address didn't display: trudi.harris@leoburnettemea.com.