Good Night IFA Convention 2016: What I Learned

As my 11-person team from No Limit Agency* and 1851 walked toward the convention center for the 2016 IFA Annual Convention, Lauren Moorman, our VP of Client Services, asked me how many IFAs I had been to. “11,” I said. Her response, “That’s long enough for you to have had a child and for that child to be in the sixth grade."

Wow.

For many of you, 11 may not be a lot, but for a 35-year-old, that is quite the accomplishment as I would imagine there are very few of us in our mid-30s who have attended that many. Right?

As 3,000 of us travel back to our respective homes (me, currently on an airplane), I decided to share some reflections of No. 11:

1851 is alive and well. The buzz surrounding our publication is loud. I am proud of what our team has done in the last year to gain us this momentum.
Clients are all seemingly happy. As you have read in previous columns, relationship, strategy, service and results are key pillars to our business and we will maintain a commitment to excellence in an attempt to continue our path as the strongest agency in franchising.
For those of you in the session I moderated, we had an unnecessary and unprofessional interaction with an audience member. To my fellow panelists, I apologize. To the unprofessional audience member, grow up.
I shook the hands of the leadership at each of our competitors. This is the way we should get along. Life is too short to hold grudges.
I wish one of you would have won the $10,000 in our golf stimulator. Perhaps you are spending too much time working on your franchise development. More sales > golf skills.
The Franchise Bash was awesome. Great networking, happiness and nice people. Nice job IFA in putting together a great jam.
IFA’s staff is awesome. We enjoyed working with you on video production in an effort to help change the story. Have a good story? Share it at [email protected] (simply email them, they will help you tell your story).
Content marketing is the buzz. But, content marketing is already dead.
Think about the future of your brand; good topic to close the session.
Aziz Hashim is still my unicorn. I was given a voice by him and his friendship. Thank you for believing in the NextGen.
NextGen is awesome. Loved hearing the next wave tell their dreams in front of thousands. That was great content.
Many breakouts are still the same content. I figured it out. If you use safe concepts – no one bashes you. If you try to give thoughtful data and opinion, you get bashed. Do we want great content – or safe content? Let’s challenge the norm and change the game.
My team did a great job. The proudest I have been of my teammates.
Sean Fitzgerald deserves a birthday everyday. I even heard someone call him one of the top 5 smartest people in franchise development – and it wasn’t me (because I would have put him higher).
Social Media is no longer the buzz. Why? Facebook decided to make it paid. But, there are people doing creative things. Stay creative.
Suppliers – you deserve to tell your story, too, and many of you have great solutions to offer to other suppliers. It will be nice to continue to network with all the new friends.
Our karaoke party was awesome. I still can’t sing, but Adam Siegelheim does a mean Vanilla Ice. I am still left speechless.
I am proud to call many of you friends. Thank you for constantly sharing great stories about our agency. I appreciate it greatly.
There are still a ton of politics in the franchise association’s leadership. Aziz is breaking some of that. But, after watching House of Cards, I now understand it more.
Las Vegas is so much easier to get to – but can get people in so much more trouble.
I miss my family when I travel. IFA kids club?
Drunks are still annoying.
I really like Robert Cresanti. Authentic comes to mind. What a great, honest, personal introduction to this crazy small world.
Aziz’s off-the-cuff speech about Melanie Bergeron was awesome.
Regrettably, I still have not met Jerry Darnell (WTF). But, I am now friends with his wife on Facebook and I appreciate her likes just as much as Jerry’s.

Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.

Good Night IFA Convention 2016: What I Learned

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