This past Wednesday, Open Influence held its first-ever industry event, the Open Influence Summit. This all-day conference assembled 200 of the industries brightest stars together for a premier networking and educational experience, filling the entirety of Culver City’s beautiful SmogShoppe with thought leaders across the influencer space.
Thanks to the Italian Chamber of Commerce, #OISummit kicked off with continental breakfast and a welcome keynote from CEO Eric Dahan. Dahan provided a framework around the concept of Relevance, the theme of the day, and was later joined by best-selling author Brian Solis to discuss Influence 2.0. Solis is a prolific speaker and longtime scholar of digital culture, and his riveting exchange with Dahan set the stage for a day full of thoughtful discussion.
Attendees learned and networked over award-winning gelato courtesy of Gelato Festival, eco-friendly refreshments courtesy of Boxed Water, and a buffet from the soon-to-open restaurant, Pamila. Of course, plenty of selfies were snapped next to our custom-designed astronaut sculpture, crafted just for OIS by the wizards over at SculpTech.
Attendees with our custom sculpture, courtesy of Sculp Tech!
Speakers touched on a range of relevant issues including influencer marketing in the cannabis space, the intersection of marketing and public relations, and the importance of multicultural influencers.
Forbes Power Influencer Neal Schaffer with Open Influence Chief Product Officer, Ryan Alley.
Presentations featured industry heavyweights such as Forbes power influencer and Open Influence partner Neal Schaffer (check out our collaborative eBook here!), and Forbes CGO Tom Davis, who gave an exclusive preview at the upcoming business platform, Forbes 8. OIS concluded with a mixer courtesy of Tablas Creek, and live music by Emma Taylor (give her a listen here).
Forbes CGO Tom Davis.
Open Summit was produced in proud partnership with Bank of America and Facebook. Facebook’s Ramiro Sarabia also gave a presentation, ‘Ignite your Influencer Marketing” – which discussed how Facebook and Instagram are still finding ways to innovate in the space, including cutting back on inauthentic activity.
Facebook’s Ramiro Sarabia, Jr.
“Open Influence Summit couldn’t have been a bigger success,” said CEO Eric Dahan. “I’m extremely proud of the caliber of talent we brought here today. My hope is that each and every person is able to walk away with actionable advice that grows their business.”
If you are interested in receiving exclusive content from #OISummit, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on the bottom of our homepage here. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing digestible bits of information and advice from all of our amazing panels.
Finally, you can catch all the content you missed from this year’s OIS by registering for our virtual summit (launch date coming soon!). All our panes will be available to watch for free – all you need to do is sign up!
Last but certainly not least, we look forward to seeing you at next year’s Summit.
