AUSTIN, TEXAS—Marketingland describes itself as a festival “designed for marketers, by marketers.” The inaugural event was the brainchild of Daniel Murray, creator of the wildly popular podcast, newsletter, and social media account The Marketing Millennials.
“The Marketing Millennials’ online success and appeal to hundreds of thousands of marketers comes from creating relatable content that marketers want to share with their industry colleagues,” explained Erin Hamad, director of live events for Workweek, the media collective behind the Marketing Millennials brand. “Marketingland took this concept and brought it to life. Our goal was simple: Bring our online audience together to learn from leading industry experts—and have a lot of fun doing it.” 
"The ACL Live at the Moody Theater was the perfect black box that allowed our colors to pop," said Hamad. "Our production team, Independent Event Creatives, were geniuses with incorporating the vibrant brand colors, textures, and impactful set design throughout the entire event."Photo: Brittany NO FOMO
To create what Hamad called a “fresh, bold take on conferencing events," the team merged the energy and vibrancy of a music festival with the educational and networking aspects of a conference. To really drive the point home, the event was held at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, a 2,750-seat music venue in Austin. 
The main stage featured a live five-piece band. "Our hosts had a wonderful ‘anything goes’ attitude to out-of-the-box ideas, which led to some really fun moments," said Hamad.Photo: Jacob Weber
“We think work should be fun, energizing, immersive, and inclusive—just like our audience,” said Hamad, noting that the experience had four concurrent “lands” (or stages) designed to appeal to every style of marketer: Brandland, Creatorland, Revenueland, and Ecomland. “With this choose-your-own-adventure approach, we put the keys in the attendees' hands and encouraged them to explore all that Marketingland had to offer.”
The stages’ different themes were chosen by polling Murray’s existing audience to learn what trends, topics, and formats they’d want from a conference. “Interestingly enough, there was a huge demand for moderated sessions versus presentation-led sessions, shifting content into deep conversations instead of a traditional, educational presentation format,” pointed out Hamad. 
The idea of various lands was inspired by Disney theme parks; each had its own visual identity and speakers.Photo: Brittany NO FOMO
“Each stage, or ‘land,’ had its own visual identity—and because we were split between three different floors, it was important to create an environment through the use of color, light, and iconography to help navigate guests to the right place," she added, noting that ACL Live at the Moody Theater venue was a “perfect black box that allowed our colors to pop.” Production team Independent Event Creatives incorporated the brand's vibrant colors to create impactful set designs throughout the entire event.
During the one-day gathering, conversations were led by more than 20 expert speakers—including Lance Armstrong and Rare Beauty CMO Katie Welch. Ultimately, the event drew 250 attendees; 40% were founders or members of the C-suite, while 47% were rising executives and 13% were just starting their marketing careers. Guests hailed from Rare Beauty, Amazon, HubSpot, Shopify, Google, VistaPrint, and other big brands. “Everyone brought a unique lens and perspective to the conversation, making it a truly dynamic environment," said Hamad. 
"Daniel [Murray] has such a great relationship with his community, which made it easy for us to see what trends, topics, and formats the audience wanted at the conference," said Hamad.Photo: Jacob Weber
"Relationships were key in cultivating a relevant and impactful speaker lineup," said Hamad. "We leaned on Daniel’s relationships with leading industry experts and those pioneering in their respective fields."Photo: Jacob Weber
So, what did the team learn from the success of its first outing? “Inaugural events are hard!” said Hamad. “Creating a vision while building trust and excitement for your audience who doesn’t know what to expect is a challenge. Understanding the audience and sponsor needs, wants, and what creates buy-in continues to shift with an ever-changing market.”
Hamad added that the team took the approach of overcommunicating to tell the event’s story, build up its identity, and show prospective guests why they should attend. “We changed our marketing and sales approach many times to be adaptable, started months earlier, and were open to any ideas and suggestions that came our way!" she said. "We learned a ton along the way—and found that listening versus telling our attendees and sponsors was a huge win for us.”
VENDORS:
Production: Independent Event Creatives (IEC)
Audiovisual: ATX Event Systems
Venue: ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Photography: Brittany NO FOMO, Jacob Weber 
The colorful visuals continued to the opening party.Photo: Brittany NO FOMO
Hamad described the opening party's "disco cowboy hats" as one of her favorite event moments.Photo: Brittany NO FOMO
