Amy Carstairs, a final-year marketing student at the University of Auckland, attended Digital Day Out 2024 as a student ambassador for the Marketing Association. The event, featuring international speakers and local marketing legends, provided her with inspiring and educational experiences. Read this article penned by her, sharing her experience from the event.

Digital Day Out is THE marketing event you don't want to miss.” This is what I kept hearing from the marketing community in the weeks leading up to July 2nd. As a final-year marketing student, I would have done anything to attend a conference like this. A panel of international speakers and local marketing legends—what more could one ask for?

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Digital Day Out 2024 as a student ambassador for the Marketing Association, the powerhouse behind events such as DDO and Brand Summit.

From the moment I walked in, the atmosphere was electric. The excitement among the marketers was palpable as they eagerly anticipated hearing from the outstanding lineup of speakers. Armed with a NO UGLY drink in hand, I spent the day absorbing insights from remarkable founders like Stanley Henry from The Attention Seeker, brand strategists like Jenny Haggard from Spotify, and Chief Creative Officers from major advertising agencies.

I particularly enjoyed hearing different marketers’ perspectives on the growing use of AI for marketing automation, design, and SEO, especially their views on what AI means for personalization and privacy. Vasilios Kostidis’ talk on Gen AI for SEO stood out to me, eliciting loud audience laughs with his examples of AI search fails.

My favourite speakers were Zaria Parvez, Social Media Manager at Duolingo, who captivated the audience with her talk on unhinged social marketing, despite not being able to attend in person and pre-recording her video, and Mike Feliz, CCO of Dentsu Aotearoa, who spoke on the backlash brands face in the current advertising era. Both provided extremely relevant and insightful keynotes.

By the end of the day, my stomach was full of delicious food, and my brain (and notepad) was filled with learnings, important insights, key takeaways, and ideas on how to enhance my own marketing skills and knowledge.

So, if you're debating whether to attend Digital Day Out, debate no longer. I am confident you will gain as much from it as I did, a university student fortunate enough to be given this opportunity!

For now, thank you, MA, and I hope to be back next year!

Source: Amy Carstairs, 9 July 2024