You guys, ICON is nearly here, and this year’s event promises to be better than ever.
In case you’ve never been to ICON, picture this: You show up, and you’re greeted by thousands of small business owners just like you. You’re surrounded by the spirit of entrepreneurship, and the hunger for information. Every single one of the four-thousand attendees is looking for new ways that they can grow their business. And each person is happily sharing the milestones they’ve already hit, and the obstacles they’ve traversed in the process.
I love ICON, not just because of the valuable content delivered by the 80+ speakers, but also because I love the Infusionsoft community – and seeing a large part of this community in the same place at the same time can really be inspiring.
With that being said, here are the 6 things I’m most excited about for ICON 2016:
Partners. Infusionsoft has a partner ecosystem unlike any that I’ve ever seen before. And that ecosystem is on display at ICON like nowhere else. I love browsing the vendor area and meeting the different partners, and seeing demonstrations of what they have to offer. I’m also particularly excited about a handful of partners speaking at breakout sessions this year. If you can, carve out time to see Greg Hickman, Tyler Garns and Brad Martineau.
Networking. I love the content at ICON, don’t get me wrong, but I really love the networking aspect as well. I believe that anytime you get that many entrepreneurs together in the same space you can’t help but have something great happen. I’ve watched some really powerful connections be made over the past few years, and I love seeing the conversations that take place in between sessions, at lunch, or over a pint after-hours. Every single attendee at this conference has at least one-thing in common with you.
Infusionites. Infusionsoft really does have a unique culture, and this culture attracts a specific type of employee. As such, they’ve got some really intelligent and capable people employed inside the Infusionsoft headquarters. I’m really pumped that this year they’ve giving many of those rockstars a platform to share their brilliance. In no particular order, I definitely recommend making time to see Paul Sokol, Justin MacDonald, Brina Kaiser, Jordan Hatch, and Scott Richins.
Me. I know this one is kinda cheap – listing myself on my own list, but get over it. It’s my list, and I’m pumped. I’m excited about my first opportunity to speak as an Infusionsoft partner. I was fortunate enough to speak at ICON in 2014 and again in 2015, and as I’ve been working on my presentation for the past few weeks, my excitement for this year has been rapidly building. This year I’m presenting 5 productivity tricks that you can use to get more out of your Infusionsoft application. This will be one of the more technical presentations of the week – and I would venture to say that every single person who attends my session will leave having learned at least one new thing (even you Paul Sokol).
Product. It’s the 10th anniversary of ICON. you’ve gotta believe that Infusionsoft has something big up their sleeves for this event. I love hearing Clate Mask speak each year – but this year I’m particularly excited about hearing the new Chief Product Officer, Terry Hicks take the stage. In addition to Terry, Justin Topliff and Tyler Zeman have a session called Product Showcase. ICON is usually where Infusionsoft rolls out their product roadmap, and tells us all the cool stuff they have in store, and personally, I can’t wait.
Gary Freaking Vaynerchuck – are you kidding me? This man is the unofficial small-business spokesperson. He lives and breathes entrepreneurship and delivers his insightful perspectives with a refreshing authenticity that is hard to find. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at ICON in 2012 – and just as my story has continued to evolve since then, I feel confident that his has too.
So that’s my list, and I’m 100% confident that there will be some awesome sessions delivered by people I didn’t mention, or people I hadn’t heard of. For that reason, I’d spend some time pouring over the agenda and highlighting the sessions that you plan to prioritize.
Everyone approaches this conference differently, and that’s perfectly fine. There is tons of value for business owners, employees, partners, or aspiring entrepreneurs. If you’re interested in some technical tricks to get more out of the software, save space for my session on Wednesday at 11 am!
I am so freaking excited I can barely sleep! And now, thanks to your list, I’m even more excited. After the incredible networking and connections I made at T&C, I can only imagine how awesome ICON will be with a bunch of Infusionsoft lovers everywhere! I just want to know one thing…how can I attend three sessions at once?
Haha, you’ll probably want to plan on buying the video library. I was thinking the same thing, there are so many concurrent sessions, it’ll be tough.
Awesome stuff. I’m even more pumped now
Thanks for reading Chett! See ya there!
Even me huh?
Looking forward to it!
Bold claim, right? Bring it.
Hi Greg, up until about 10 days ago we were booked to travel from Australia (via Hawaii for a couple of days) attending the pre Icon workshop and then Icon 16. But in the world of small business when things go ‘off the rails’ you’ve got to prioritize! We had 2 key employees resign in the one week so heading away was not an option until we got things sorted here. The guys at I.S have been very understanding and I hope I can take a credit on what we’ve paid to put toward ICON 17. Hawaiian Airlines certainly didn’t do us any favors!! Your session sounds like it will be ‘right on the money’ and the list of speakers is amazing. I’ll be looking forward to your post Icon blogs to find out what I have missed. All the best.
Hey Stew, thanks for reading my blog, and taking the time to comment. I’m sorry you won’t be able to make the trip up this year! What a bummer. The good news is, Infusionsoft has made a commitment to step up their presence down in Australia, so maybe there’ll be an event in the not-to-distant future that suits nicely.
I’m sure there will be plenty of buzz for you to live vicariously through, and a handful of post ICON breakdown blog posts too (I know I’ll write one).
Also, I’d bet you can purchase the video library (when it’s available) and relive all the content from the comfort of your own couch.
I can’t wait for ICON either…. see you there!
Sounds good! And maybe this year will be a little less hectic for you guys! See you soon Lisa.