4 Reasons to Attend 4th Annual Dig South

…and we’re back! This week, Dig South returns for its fourth annual installment in Charleston and we couldn’t be more excited!

I’ve had the great opportunity to attend all, or at least some, of each of the previous Dig South conferences. In a lot of ways, I’ve felt compelled to go back each year just to avoid taking for granted that this incredible event is right in our backyard. Lowcountry residents are fortunate in that regard. But beyond that, this event has managed to step it up every year, which keeps people coming back and draws bigger crowds of newcomers. I, for one, am particularly looking forward to this year’s gathering.

There are a slew of reasons to be at Dig South and a slew of places to find those reasons (starting at digsouth.com and Silicon Harbor Magazine). From the perspective of both a local attendee and a digital marketer that is always looking to get an edge for clients, I’m sharing a few of my favorite reasons for attending.

The Sessions
This is the real attraction and there is really something for everyone in the full slate of impressive session content lined up for this year. I’ve got my eyes on a few can’t miss sessions that match my interests, including:
• “Small Budget, Big Results” for driving business through creativity and a willingness to experiment with different approaches
• “The Next Phase of Digital Advertising” featuring a panel of experts from all around the southeast
• And “Powered by Content & Design” to get a glimpse at the latest social media strategies

The Venue
Last year would have seemingly been the first – or one of the first – big events hosted at the newly remodeled Gaillard Center, which was something to look forward to. But alas, the construction delays pushed that back and Dig South moved across the Cooper River for the year. This year, it is back at Gaillard and it will be nice for locals to get a good look at all this venue has to offer after its refresh. I got to check out the main hall at David Cross’ Making America Great Again! tour and it was stunning. I’m thinking Dig South could probably borrow that slogan and adapt it as Making the Southeast Great!

The Swag
Those inclined can walk away with a haul of things with varying degrees of usefulness from sponsors and beyond to add to their complementary Dig South totes. Is it bad to wish that the totes have not been eliminated? That being said, previous totes have been useful beach bags and give you major tech cred around these parts.

The Pitches
Entrepreneurs have big ideas and those ideas can often be transferable or inspirational to almost anyone. These are people that will be putting their best foot forward in a public forum. At TRIO, we work with a lot of clients who are looking to grow their new or small business so there are bound to be some useful takeaways. I have to take this opportunity to plug a former colleague, Baird Hall, who has been chasin’ the dream with his freshly rebranded app – Wavve – for driving online and audible conversations. Wavve is currently working its way through The Harbor Entrepreneur Center Cohort 5.

All that and I haven’t even mentioned the keynotes. Last year, I caught the Vaynerchuk keynote on a live stream, which gave me even more motivation to make sure and be there in person this time around. Much like the sessions, there’s a diverse group of keynote presenters that should keep things interesting.

Hope to see you this week!