As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Chicago Ideas Week is October 14 – 20 in Chicago – that’s now! Chicago Ideas Week is “a premier annual gathering of global thought leaders created to provoke new ideas and inspire actionable results. [Their] goal is to stimulate new initiatives and ventures, create new connections and collaborations, and establish a community of people who have the desire to achieve great things.” CIW events are only $15 per event and well worth it!
I volunteered to support “The Consumer: You May Also Like…“ This session looks at “how technology, data and social awareness and shifting expectations are drastically altering the way we consume.” Fitting for this blog, I thought. And I was right!
Mark Ellwood, a journalist and retail expert, was the moderator and also gave a quick session on finding the best deals. A man after my own heart, his new book, “Bargain Fever: How to Shop in a Discounted World”, examines “our culture’s obsession with deals, discounts and never paying full price.” He told us about the “Three As” to never paying full price:
- Ask – Prices are negotiable – ask for a discount – even in department stores or chains. They may have a coupon available or tell you when a sale is coming. Worst thing that happens? They say no.
- Automate – Set up notifications for sales on things you want in email with tools like Track<If> or Shop it To Me, look for coupons online (try Poach It – I am going to and will write it up!) and set up a Twitter feed just for shopping coupons.
- Avoid the Middle Man – Buy direct from the manufacturer whenever possible with sites like Everlane and Project Gravitas.
He reminded us that we as consumers are in the pole position. He implored us to try googling for a coupon (check), ask “is that the best you can do?” and to never pay full price!
The next speaker was Jonathan Perelman BuzzFeed’s Vice President of Agency Strategy and Industry Development. He talked about what makes content engaging and sharable. He reminded us to ask ourselves a simple question about our content, “would you share this if someone sent it to you?” He offered six attributes of truly sharable content.
In his opinion, content must have one or more of these attributes to “go viral”/be worth sharing:
- Have a heart
- Be something readers identify with
- Contain humor
- Be nostalgic
- Show cute animals
- Be mobile accessible
He reminded us that “Content is King, but distribution is Queen and she wears the pants!”
The other speakers were compelling as well.
- Linda Bartman, CMO of Cars.com talked about how easily brands can lose control of their messaging in the new social media/viral environment. She was a Marketing Exec at BP during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She reminded us that “Information is great, but it can be overwhelming and not all information is created equally.”
- Deana McDonagh who chairs the Industrial Design program at SAIC spoke about empathic design. She explained that possessions need to go beyond function. Our things have to resonate, empower and enrich us or else they will be abandoned, under/misused.
- Bridget Brennan CEO of Female Factor and author of Why She Buys discussed the importance of focusing on women as women make 70 – 80% of all consumer buying decisions in families. They have buying power AND influence and buy on behalf of everyone – kids, spouses, parents, gifts, etc.
- Rachel Shechtman is the founder of Story, an innovative store in NYC that reinvents itself monthly. They “take the perspective of a magazine, reinvent like a live gallery and sell like a store.” They change their logo to indicate what the theme is each time. She believes that selling is about content, commerce and community. She mentioned the site Quirky that enables individuals to submit ideas/inventions and then capitalize on them if there is enough popularity. Story and Quirky deserve full posts – so be on the look out!
Awesome stuff! I am glad that I spent a few hours volunteering and checking this out!
I found a lot of great deals (and sweepstakes/giveaways) this week:
- Be in it to win it (sweepstakes)
- Enter to win a “Rocky Mountain Escape” from Bootprints (and PureWow, Zozi, The Daily Sip & Rocky Mountain Chalet!)
- Newton is having a daily shoe giveaway through 11/8!! (instant win and daily entry – today the winner is not me!)
- Marcia has two great giveaways: Enter to win a $100 SpaFinder gift card or one week of meals delivered from Diet to Go.
- Caitlin has a Spartan Race Entry good for any Spartan Race – ends 10/18.
- Enter to win a Kindle Fire from Virtually Yours and Gator Mommy Giveaways – through 10/24
- Get 30% off of all cases of awesome raw food snacks at Brad’s Raw Foods with code NONGMO through 10/20.
- Get $20 off purchase of $100 (+free shipping) at Boden with code PLM1.
- Get 20% off of one item from Moosejaw with code MEOW plus 9% cash back from Active Junky (must launch from Active Junky to get cash back.)
- Get great deals on ROAD IDs and other sporting goods at The Clymb this week!
- Check out the 12 Weeks of Christmas sales at Raw Threads. This week 10% off $50 with code Christmas10, 20% off $100 with code Christmas20 and 30% off $150 with code Christmas30.
- Gilt City has 44% off of the “UN-wined” spa treatment at the Valeo Spa in Chicago (which I heard is fab) or 56% off of the “Couples Connection”. They also have a national deal for 50% off of food delivery from Beetnik Foods – a paleo company. (The food is very basic but not good!) What do they have in your city? Go check!
- Get 20% off of Lifebooker Loot deals purchased with their app for beauty, spa and fitness deals in your city with the code APPDEALS.
Still Available:
- Get 20% off on your first purchase from Fabletics – the new athletic clothing site from Kate Hudson and the folks at JustFab (Get BOGO on 1st shoe purchase and all shoes $39.95!)/FabKids.
- Get 30% off at Piperlime with code FALL (ends 10/18).
- New customers to Modcloth get $20 off of $50 purchase (and $20 shopping credit for each friend they refer, too!).
- Promote intelligent consumption with Lole Women’s Yellow Label Program, give a coat & get 50$ OFF a new one!
- Check out great gear deals and local/travel deals at Zozi.
- Need a vacation? Get 15% off on your Luxury Link trip purchase with code FALL15 (plus 3% cash back with ebates) through October 21.
- Save 20% on purchases from Costume Supercenter ! Find your most amazing Halloween costume yet with more than 20,000 costumes and accessories to choose from and free shipping/free returns! Use promo code HUGE20.
- SpaWeek is coming 10/14 – 10/20 get $50 spa treatments at lots of spas across the country! Click here for locations. Plus, get $10 off on a $50 gift card in honor of spa week – go to the Spa Week home page and click the banner. They also have a bunch of giveaways now, too!
Chicago ladies (and gents), don’t forget you get $10 off your first service at Pretty Quick with code ericafinds through 11/1.
That’s all for now! Busy week! I am still recovering from all of the excitement from the Chicago Marathon and I did not even run!
PS. Don’t forget my Lush Nuts giveaway! Last day!!
