This is an adapted presentation from one I created for work following the Northside Innovation Conference in 2015. The conference, created by Northside Media Group, covers topics ranging from tech, design, and entrepreneurship. I've been attending the annual conference for four years and always gained takeaways that apply to any entrepreneur, or anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.

1. Northside Innovation
2015
Takeaways & Learnings
Created by Reb Carlson
@MyNameIsReb

2. Innovation In Branded Content
Presented by Medium, Mic, and Gawker
• Brands seek out collaborative partnerships with
these publications in order to engage with their
audience.
• It’s less about driving click-throughs and
impressions but more so about engagement.
• Time spent and shares are more accurate
metrics of whether this content is engaging.
• Examples:
• Mic and General Electric
• Medium and Marriott
Takeaway: While regularly adding content to the
any company blog aids SEO efforts, a company’s
blog is also a platform to engage with the creative
community. Another way to engage with the larger
creative community is to invite influential guest
writers to contribute to the blog.

3. Democratizing Access and Discovery:
Creating Physical Experiences That
Matter
Presented by Rachel Shechtman, founder of Story
• Story is a retail store located in Chelsea that
has the point of view of a magazine, changes
like a gallery, and sells things like a store.
• The store uses retail and merchandising to
create a story. All the merchandise is refreshed
every 3 - 8 weeks and is curated under a
theme.
• Partnerships allow brands to develop an
engaging experience for customers that would
not be possible in a regular retail location.
• Example:
• P&G’s Gillette partnered with Story for
their “How Does He Shave?” Campaign
• Partnership included a shave station,
Perch-integrated* sample table and
collaboration with Details Magazine and
Birchbox Man.
Takeaway: A consumer’s physical experience with
a brand can make or break their final purchasing
decision.
*Perch offers analytics and tracking of in-store activity. Story
also leverages Prism, which is also an in-store technology
that leverages heat maps to track shopper activity

4. Democratizing Access and Discovery:
Creating Physical Experiences That
Matter
@MyNameIsReb

5. Serial Entrepreneur: At It Again
Presented by Bradford Shellhammer of Bezar,
formerly of Fab
• Bezar is the Etsy for design, thought there is a
big difference between handicraft and design.
• Brand identity deliberately does not have a
palette. The colors change every day with the
merchandise that is being showcased – this
allows the brand to be a chameleon that can
support any designer.
• Shellhammer imagines that Bezar curates
people, not objects, and focuses on creating
relationships with the designers.
• “To be successful in retail, pull on the emotional
strings of human beings.”
Takeaway: Could online (and offline) marketplaces
that curate design-focused objects be an
opportunity for design-focused products?
@MyNameIsReb

6. Selling Influence
Presented by Casey Neistat, Yuli Ziv of Style
Coalition, Natalie Zfat of The Social Co., and
Rachel Martino of Origins and RachelMartino.com
• There are influencers you pay to get the media
impressions (it’s a straight up media buy), and
some you collaborate with and pay for their
time to dedicate to the project. That is a true
partnership and is looked at in order to
generate engagement with the influencer’s
community.
• Even Casey Neistat says that advertising and
numbers are important. His infamous Nike
video (where instead of making a video took
the money to travel the world) ended up driving
sales and generated a ton of reach. Everything
needs to be mapped back to whether it helped
generate more sales.
Takeaway: Leverage influencers as part of creative
collaborations to engage with their communities,
not with the objective to gain followers or generate
impressions.
@MyNameIsReb

7. Create The Company Of The Future –
Forget Storytelling And Start Storydoing
Presented by co:collective founder Ty Montague
• Brands need to be storydoers, not storytellers
• An energy drink is one small part of Red Bull’s
entire narrative
• For Warby Parker, their business is their story.
• How to discover your business’ story:
1. Do you have a story?
2. Does the story define an ambition
beyond commercial aspiration?
3. Does your story define a clear enemy?
4. Is the story being use to drive innovation
throughout the company?
5. Have you defined a few iconic,
transformative innovations to focus on?
6. Are people outside the company
engaging and participating in the story?
M&D Takeaway: Ask yourself about the brand:
“What is our main story? Are we making effort to
communicate this story through our actions?” @MyNameIsReb

8. Anticipatory Design: The Shift Towards
Invisible Technology
Presented by Sophie Kleber of Huge
• Process of how to decide if a new offering is right for your consumer.
• “In the future, everyone has to be data literate.”
@MyNameIsReb

9. Anticipatory Design: The Shift Towards
Invisible Technology
Presented by Sophie Kleber of Huge
• Process of how to decide if a new offering is right for your consumer.
• “In the future, everyone has to be data literate.”
@MyNameIsReb

10. Anticipatory Design: The Shift Towards
Invisible Technology
Presented by Sophie Kleber of Huge
• Process of how to decide if a new offering is right for your consumer.
• “In the future, everyone has to be data literate.”
@MyNameIsReb

11. Anticipatory Design: The Shift Towards
Invisible Technology
Presented by Sophie Kleber of Huge
• Process of how to decide if a new offering is right for your consumer.
• “In the future, everyone has to be data literate.”
Takeaway: What is the problem that your brand is solving for? As we are marketing our products, are
we allowing the consumer the ability to discover us on their own? How will technology shape the
future of the brand, in both product, commerce, and marketing?
@MyNameIsReb

12. @MyNameIsReb
MyNameIsReb.com