We always like the Digital Summit LA conference because it goes beyond “101” into more detailed areas of social and digital. It’s also one of those conferences that almost everyone goes to, so not only is it educational, but it’s a lot of fun. We were proud to be a partner for the third year in a row, and to make Jeff (the short non-human in the middle, above) a new member of Social Media Club.There were a lot of interesting speakers, and we share some of our favorites below:I really enjoyed the email marketing class on Tuesday morning with Michael Barber [45 Tactics to Take Your Email from Zero to Hero]. Excellent reminders on the relevance of email marketing and some great tips on how to make emails stand out.

The keynote on day 1 was fantastic too [with Andrew Malcolm, CMO, Evernote]. Great reminders that as marketers it’s our job to work the problem systematically, test out hypotheses, and then define the solution. We always say we do these things, but sometimes we’re guilty of thinking we already know, or testing will take too much time, or maybe we think we can spend our way out of a problem. In our hearts, we know the right way and it’s exciting to see a case study of  successfully “working the problem.”– Tara Coomans, Programs Director

This was my third time attending Digital Summit LA, and I continue to be impressed with the speakers and topics covered. One of my favorite sessions was on Content Marketing from Lorraine Goldberg from AllRecipes.com. She said when it comes to creating content, aim to be the thumb stopper. You want to be creating content that stops people in their endless scrolls and really captures their attention. She also said to avoid stock photography or photos that look like stock photography and I couldn't agree more with this statement!– Lindsay Tredent Mauch, President

Easily the best one for me was Making Lemonade: Traits Beyoncé Can Teach the Modern Marketer to Run the World, withMichael Barber from Godfrey. This was the first session I went to, arriving just in time after being stuck in traffic to have Michael wake me up (OK, there was some coffee…..) with his engaging and entertaining stories about digital marketing nightmares and success stories.– Adam Bell, Sponsorship Director

Lorraine Goldberg from AllRecipes.com was definitely my favorite. [Content Marketing Boom or Bust?] She spoke about the things we hear in marketing and if it was truth or a myth.  Not only did she have a lot of great info, but she was just a great speaker. One thing she said I loved and is so true: Social media is like a first date. Always be dating your fans and followers. Surprise them. Make them fall and stay in love with you. She also made another point that I loved: Accept everything you do won’t be a win. It’s ok to fail sometimes.– Kayla Perlstein, Membership Associate Director

I loved Storybuilding: Crafting Brand Stories Worth Sharing, with Stefan Mumaw. The idea is that a well-crafted story is Emotion + Structure, and needs 5 elements: Exposition, Inciting Incident, Rising Action, Climax, and Resolution. It seems like it should be easy, but as we all know, it can be really hard.– Karen Woodward, Communications Associate Director

Plus a shout out to our own Jon Burk at Roker Media!

If you missed it this year, we highly recommend that you check out next year. See you there!