Event Type: Marketing Community

Synopsis:

What is "Flawsome"? "Flawsome" is a catchy buzz word that's been circling the Marketing industry for the past year. But what does it really mean and how does it relate to Marketing and Project Management? "Flawsome" is a creative mashup between "flawed" and "awesome". As Marketers, how do we learn from our failures and turn them into celebrated successes? How do we acknowledge a flaw or mistake on a project and turn it into actionable learnings and an awesome experience? Today, Marketing isn't about being flawless - it's about being awesome at acknowledging our flaws! We need to hold Project Managers and Marketers in a higher regard - those who are honest about their flaws, show empathy, maturity, character and humanity will be the most successful in today's industry. 

Presentation #1 - Kim Gibson
A look at famous brand and product mishaps and how they became great successes by embracing their failures. Studies find that customers tend to trust companies that appear to be flawed instead of the “perfect” choice more than 60% of the time. This shows us that the old schoolyard chant of “first is the worst, second is the best” is becoming more relevant than ever before. In this talk, you will learn about being first by being second, that there’s no such thing as perfection and that’s a good thing, and what it means to be “flawsome”.

Presentation #2: Danielle Graham
By definition, web accessibility is about removing barriers that prevent people with disabilities from accessing websites. In practice, that tends to get misunderstood. In this talk, we’ll go over common misconceptions about web accessibility, what the guidelines and legal requirements have to say, and how we can start creating websites today that don’t have any barriers to begin with. Together, we’ll venture past web accessibility’s perceived (and unfounded!) flaws, and see accessibility for what it truly accomplishes: greater impact and better experiences for everyone. 

Presentation #3: Bram Warshafsky
Start-ups are known for their scrappy value creation, risk taking, and fast paced nature. But what’s it really like to go from just an idea to a real business? Bram will share some insight through 10 short anecdotes from his start-up journey beginning with closing the company’s first sale to bootstrapping the growth that led to the company’s recent acquisition. Along the way, he will focus on the value of executing in the face of uncertainty and how learning to embrace the flaws made all the difference.

Bios:

Speaker #1: Kim Gibson
Kimberly describes herself as a disrupter of conventional thinking through the means of digital advancement. “It’s boring being or doing what everyone expects.” For over 15 years, Kimberly has worked with various startups in Atlanta and other cities in the US to help them build their brand and product lines in the marketplace. With her share of successes and failures, she’s brought that knowledge with her to Toronto in hopes of helping to bring forth the next wave of digital transformation. She believes that the first step is building strong leadership that encourages innovative thinking where risks are willing to be taken. The only way to succeed is through failing and failing again because through failure will you truly learn. 

Speaker #2: Danielle Graham

Danielle has been working in web development since 2012 after studying interactive media design and development. Her passion for coding and interest in web accessibility has made her one of ecentricarts’ leading accessibility advocates.  When she isn’t coding, Danielle can be found playing League of Legends or cuddling with her cats.

Speaker #3: Bram Warshafsky

Named as one of the 2014 “Top 30 under 30” by Marketing magazine, Bram Warshafsky is the co-founder of 5Crowd, a Canadian startup that connects marketing departments with top freelance professionals in over 150 cities. 5Crowd is a trusted partner to clients like Labatt, Microsoft, Telus, and McDonald's and the company was recently acquired by sgsco, a global leader in marketing production owned by ONEX. Bram is also a software developer and is currently leading a team at sgsco that is tackling intrapreneurial technology-based projects. Before taking the entrepreneurial leap, he held various roles within brand management and digital marketing at Johnson & Johnson. 

Agenda:
6:00 PM - Doors Open / Registration / Networking 
6:00 PM - 6:50 PM - Warm Dinner / Open Bar 
6:50 PM - 6:55 PM - Opening Remarks and Welcome 
7:00 - 7:25 PM - Presentation - Kim Gibson 
7:30 - 7:55 PM - Presentation - Danielle Graham 
8:00 - 8:25 PM - Presentation - Bram Warshafsky 
8:25 PM - 8:30 PM - Closing Remarks and Thank You 
8:35 PM - 9:00 PM - Networking / Dessert / Open Bar

PMI Toronto Members (login prior to registering) - $30.97
Non-Members and Guests - $39.82 

PDUs: 2 (1.00 Strategic/ 0.5 Leadership/ 0.5 Technical)

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Cancellations must be received by 5:00 pm, 5 business days before the event and must be sent in writing by email to events@pmitoronto.ca. There will be a 20% administration fee charged for cancellations, subtracted from the refund. Cancellation/refund requests will not be accepted less than 5 business days before the event. However, substitutions are welcome. Please let us know by 12:00 noon the day before the event of the person you wish to substitute by emailing events@pmitoronto.ca

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