Marketing lessons from Elvis, a flashy T-shirt and TalentNet Live

 ELVIS and Katrina (with her LED T-shirt)
View more photos of the party here

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I attended the first TalentNet Live Interactive Conference last week with HRmarketer CEO Mark Willaman. We helped sponsor the event, and came away very impressed. The conference took place in downtown Austin, Texas, at a bar/restaurant during SXSW, which added energy, creativity and fun to the experience.

What do an Elvis impersonator and wearing a daring T-shirt have in common?

So here I am at TalentNet Live in Austin — at Dice’s Wanna be a Rockstar conference after-party. I’m sporting my LED T-shirt. Picture this if you can, the shirt is all black except for a green Statue of Liberty. There are bright bars of light that pulse to the beat of the music. Sometimes the bars are at the base of the Statue of Liberty, and sometimes they shine through to her torch.

“Elvis” is also at the party. A polyester-clad guy who sings a song or two, but mostly is going around and posing with the likes of me. 

I don’t know about Elvis — but my pulsating Statue of Liberty is a hit — I’m getting “great shirt” and thumbs up from across the room.

So what do Elvis and I have in common with the rest of the attendees at TalentNet Live?. 

We are both about getting noticed. And it turns out, to attract the talent you want, you need to put yourself (or your company) out there and you need to have people remember you.

That’s what the daylong conference was all about — using creative, social-savvy strategies to spark interest in an employer brand, get noticed and attract talent. The attendees were a lively bunch: a nice mix of outside recruiters and recruiters within companies, solution providers and media/analysts/influencers. Everyone came looking for new strategies to source, attract and engage talent, and the presenters brought the goods.

Speakers we listened to included:

I venture no one left disappointed. I know I didn’t, but here’s what I took away.

You have a choice as marketers. Play it safe — or go a little farther. Put yourself out there. Put your company out there. Show the personality of your brand. Get noticed.

It works. 


Post written by Fisher Vista / HRmarketer team member Katrina Busselle.


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