We Were the Creepy People at the Conference

How a viral marketing idea made a third of attendees uncomfortable

Image by beauty_of_nature from Pixabay

Ignoring the fact that I had no experience in marketing, had never attended a professional conference, and lacked the wisdom to know when ideas were terrible, my boss gave me a new assignment:

Create a fun and unique way to boost foot traffic to our vendor booth at the regional business-something conference.

It was the mid-2000s, and my team of non-profit educators was preparing to make a memorable impression in the exhibit hall. We turned on the What If? Machine and generated a list of ludicrous ideas. After an hour and a half of sugar-hyped brainstorming, we selected an odd experiential learning exercise guaranteed to cement our brand identity into attendees' minds…