Saturday, June 22
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Scenes from San Diego
TODAY’S SCHEDULE 8:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Registration Open NAA Lobby Open Lobby D
Sponsored by:
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Exhibitor Move-out
Halls D–H 8:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
NAA Awards Celebration Breakfast with special guest Bert Jacobs
Hall C Bert Jacobs Sponsored by:
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NAA Today Sponsored by Criterion Brock
AptLy Spoken
SATURDAY GENERAL SESSION SPEAKER
Life is Good : Find Out Why ®
Bert Jacobs, co-founder with brother John of Life is good®, got his start in Boston in 1989 selling t-shirts out of the back of a van at fairs and colleges along the Eastern seaboard. They admittedly knew little about the t-shirt business. Five years later, they nearly folded the company following a less-thansuccessful sales tour. Searching for answers to keep their dream alive and, whether by a twist of fate, luck or coincidence, the solution turned out to be hanging on the living room wall of their apartment. It was a drawing of a smiling, beret-sporting stick figure — “Jake” — accompanied by an optimistic tagline. They made 48 shirts and sold out on the streets of Cambridge, Mass., within an hour. That was 1994—sales of Life is good® now annually eclipse $100 million, with products sold in 4,500 retailers nationwide and in 30 countries. Life is good® has grown from t-shirts to 900 different products in 14 categories. Jacobs defines branding as “knowing
who you are and acting like it,” and ensuring that each business decision reflects an acute understanding of the organization’s brand and its values. Innovation informs these decisions and keeps brands fresh, enabling Life is good® to fulfill its mission of spreading the power of optimism. Jacobs gave an impassioned speech as a thought leader at the 2012 NAA Education Conference & Exposition, which was met by rave reviews from attendees who walked away with ideas for improving the strength and meaning of their organizations’ brands. He’s returning this year in a special Saturday NAA Awards Breakfast Celebration session at 9:15 a.m., where this successful businessman with an innovative outlook on life will once again entertain and inspire.
Bert Jacobs
Saturday, June 22, 9:15 a.m.
NAA TODAY
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SATURDAY
Scenes from San Diego The week in San Diego was full of nonstop excitement for conference attendees with entrepreneurial advice from Sir Richard Branson and guidance on how to UNthink from Erik Wahl. Record-breaking registration numbers led to a lively Exhibit Hall, spirited Maintenance Mania competition and festive social gatherings.
Billy Pettit @bpettit3 @richardbranson is one of the most powerful & inspirational speakers I've ever heard. That was Quietly Awesome!
Mika Lofton @MarComm3 #21 Alternative income sources are critical to your profits. Storage units rentals, garage rentals. (40 tips) #naaeduconf
Jason Campbell @fatherofgenius #NAAEduConf is an absolute blast!! So inspired by #erikwahl !!!!
Chip Tatum @ChipTatum78 Ask them to commit to telling the truth at the top of the application! Increases honest responses by over 50% @janinedriver #NAAEduConf
Alan Adams (CIC)@AlanCIC @ErikWahl inspired us to #unthink & now I must go learn.... or possibly unlearn?.... Hmmmm... #NAAEduConf
RealPage
@RealPage
The smell of Crayola Crayons has been proven 2 reduce blood pressure by 10 points @erikwahl #NAAEduConf #unthink pic.twitter.com/QXBNN3z1zI
JUNE 22
NAA TODAY
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Elizabeth Giles
@Yardi_Liz 18h
"I think, by the way, that parties are great." @richardbranson discussing caring for his employees. #NAAEduConf
Aaron Stright @HNNAaron A good reminder about your team. 88% of employee's leave for things not related to money. @NAAEduConf #NAAEduConf
Tamela Coval
@TamelaCoval
@BillRancic, Great Socks. I like the relaxed, comfortable manner you and @RichardBranson are engaging your #NAAEduConf audience.
Maria Bailey @MBaileyBPADV Enjoying the opening celebration!!! Thanks to all the great sponsors for a great event!!! #NAAEduConf with the Berkshire gang!!
Jodi Sheahan @JodiMEB "Our greatest growth is between 'order' and chaos" Erik Wahl #NAAEduConf
Kristen L Johnston
@Krisrose04
23% of our veterans are homeless. It's time to #unthink & find more ways we can provide affordable housing to our veterans. #NAAEduConf
NAA TODAY
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I
began my day by crying. Thanks a lot, Erik Wahl. As part of his presentation, the graffiti artist, author, entrepreneur and yesterday’s General Session Speaker showed a video of military veterans returning home to surprise family members. Two seconds into the clip, I had two choices: I could begin sobbing uncontrollably, or I could shut off all human emotions. I chose the latter, and as Erik Wahl encouraged attendees
to UNthink, I began to UNfeel. Everyone else was sniffling. After attending a few education sessions and reconnecting with my soul, I made my way to the trade show for the first of three Grand Prize drawings. $5,000 is a lot of money, and I briefly considered quitting my job at NAA so that I would be eligible to win. But then I thought back to my winter breaks during college when I wore sweatpants for 30 days and used a brush half as frequently, and decided that being idle and unemployed was not in my best interest. Life, despite all the t-shirts, mugs and Frisbees to the contrary, would not be good. Next, I checked out Janine Driver’s Thought Leader presentation on reading body language to detect when someone is lying. I left the session very upset, with the realization that my grandmother was less than truthful when she told me I was the
The NAA Education Institute Presents
REWIND
SATURDAY next Barbara Walters. You’re a liar, Nana—you and your shifty eyes. Familial tension aside, yesterday was another great day at the conference. The speakers were inspiring and the weather was beautiful—or so people said, as I was cooped up in the office writing this blog. Next year we’ll be in the Mile Lauren Boston High City of Denver. I’m unsure APTly Spoken Blog how my body will respond to the altitude, so this may be the last intelligible conference blog of mine until 2015. In other words, this column is as valuable as one of Erik Wahl's paintings. It's all about supply and demand, folks.
Just when you're missing the San Diego sunshine and the connections you made, check out NAA-TV on our YouTube channel. You can watch video highlights of all of the action-packed conference and show your colleagues what they missed at http://www.youtube.com/naahqvideos.
THE 2013 NAA Education Conference & EXPOSITION
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