Content Is Boring, So FunnyBizz Was Born Learn to create better content for your business with a conference designed to promote humor.
By Jason Saltzman Edited by Dan Bova
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"READ THIS SH*T." That was the subject line of the first email blast I sent to the AlleyNYC email list more than two years ago. I got some people pissed off, some emails that said I was being unprofessional, etc. More importantly, though, what I really got was a 85 percent open rate. There's NOTHING unprofessional about that.
People thought it was raw, engaging and funny so they opened it. Good content marketing is essential for anyone trying to deliver a message. Whether they are your prospects, clients or friends, nobody wants boring crap in their lives. This idea seems simple, yet we are filled with useless and boring content. Think of the last email you got. It probably sucked.
It is with this in mind that AlleyNYC has partnered with an amazing company that is having a conference later this week in New York to teach anyone who is interested how to make your content better. It's mostly for businesses and it's funny -- hence the name, The FunnyBizz Conference.
Related: Using Entrepreneurship to Save the World. Really.
I met up with the founders, Rachman Blake and David Nihill, to learn a bit more about the conference so I can bring it to you.
What is The FunnyBizz Conference?
FunnyBizz is a one-day conference with a mission of helping rid the world of boring content. It's the the only event of its kind, where leading thinkers from the seemingly disparate worlds of comedy and business converge to help you pull your stick out of the mud using comedy, humor and creative storytelling, and harness one of the most powerful tools available to mankind- laughter.
"People love a good story. We are wired to appreciate it. We also are wired to love laughter. Our brains by releasing dopamine make it so. Combining humor and story give content a natural endorphin-fuelled evolutionary advantage" (David Nihill)
Who are some of the speakers that are coming?
Best selling author AJ Jacobs, The New Yorker's Bob Mankoff, Optimizely's head of experiential marketing Jodie Ellis, author of the Humor Code Pete McGraw, Golden Globe winner Bill Grundfest, Webby-nominated video producer and corporate humorist, Tim Washer, Betabrand CEO and founder Chris Lindland & Upworthy's Eddie Geller
Related: Why the Hell Would Anyone Want to Be an Entrepreneur?
You did this event before, can you share any stories of successes?
We had a lot of creative collaborations, many still in progress. One tech CEO completely revamped her hiring policy to bring in people who could better leverage humor in her companys content creation and messaging,
Why did you start the conference?
Companies we spoke to were really struggling to consistently create effective content. Our belief, that underlies the structure of the conference, is that the best way for companies to grab attention and create compelling, shareable content is to start with a good story, use creative techniques to add humor and deliver it in its most effective copy written form. We wanted bring a group of experts together who could provide the tools, techniques and tales of how they used humor in business to be more successful and stand out from all the noise.
When is the conference and how do people sign up?
The conference is Thursday, October 30th, from 9am-5pm at the Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main St, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
More info and tickets here: http://funnybizz.co/
What's the future for the FunnyBizz Conference?
There is a lot of boring content out there we would like to help rid the world of. Our next event will be in San Francisco again early next year with a host of new cities coming soon.
