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Christine Gritmon Inc. Christine Gritmon Inc.

#INBOUND17: Michelle Obama keynote

Former first lady Michelle Obama gave a candid talk on self-identity in a much-anticipated keynote address at #INBOUND17.

I almost felt bad for all the other speakers at #INBOUND17; everyone was so psyched for Wednesday morning's Michelle Obama keynote!

As we've already established, I'm a pretty prolific tweeter at these events. But two of my tweets in particular were going crazy viral (and not even two of my best):

It took me a while to figure out that it was because they'd been included in the official Twitter Moment of the talk!

The reach and engagement were totally worth the abuse of the trolls who hopped on to state how sexist they felt the quote was (and they've all gone away now anyway). ;)

So. What does Michelle Obama have to do with inbound marketing? Her talk actually did speak to a major theme of this year's conference: identity. Knowing yourself, being strong in your self, and letting that guide everything you do. I also really liked that, after 8 years of having to respond to all sorts of ridiculousness in a subdued manner, she was finally free to comment with - not pettiness - candor. She maintained her grace while also sneaking some serious side-eye towards the abuse her husband suffered and the current political situation (some of which got her into hot water in the media). I loved every moment and am grateful to have smart, strong voices like hers in our current discourse.

Oh, and Roxane Gay did ask the Beyonce question. Scroll down for Michelle's response...

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Christine Gritmon Inc. Christine Gritmon Inc.

#INBOUND17: Brene Brown

Author Brene Brown talks about belonging & connection at #INBOUND17.

I live-tweet things at conferences; it's what I do. It's how I take notes. It's how I share the experience with those unable to attend. It's how I get noticed by fellow conference-goers (and, ideally, the organizers; bring me in as a speaker for #INBOUND18, HubSpot!). And it's how I'm able to digest the experience after the fact, when I'm able to focus again on the words and main points.

Everyone I know has been reading Brene Brown's latest book, Braving the Wilderness (as my cover image shows, I will soon be joining them, with my very own signed copy!). I had seen them posting quotes and snapshots of pages that held special resonance from them. And, early on in Brene's presentation, some of her words sounded awfully familiar. Were we just hearing a re-hash of her book? And what does any of this have to do with marketing? The answers became clear: no, she wasn't just re-hashing her book, or if she was, she was doing it in a sufficiently engaging manner to make me feel like she was truly WITH us (and made me want to read the book, of course). As for what it has to do with marketing: the theme that seemed to emerge throughout EVERY talk at this year's conference was that of connection. And Brene's book is about belonging. Makes perfect sense. And yes, her words will be affecting the way I approach my work, as well as the way I move through the world.

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