Google Partners All Stars Event

As a Google shareholder and a huge fan of the technologies they have developed and of technologies they acquire for future development, I recently had a dream come true by having the opportunity to spend a day at the GooglePlex in Mountain View. Sounds great, right?  But I was worried about the Cinnabon phenomenon.

What's the Cinnabon phenomenon? It's a term that I created to help myself avoid eating Cinnabons. Do you know the smell of a Cinnabon as you walk through an airport -- that enticing blend of faux butter, sugar and cinnamon? As a frequent traveler I decided years ago that I could never actually eat a Cinnabon because it would not/could not taste as good as it smelled. If I were to eat one, I would ruin forever the smell of Cinnabon and that is how the Cinnabon phenomenon was born. It is my phrase for things that seem better from a distance than they really are.  Would Google fail the "taste" test? The Google Experience We arrived for an all day session focused on helping us learn more about the Google tools we already use. Class schedule was packed and I quickly became a fan of the kitchen rule . What I learned:

• Great speaker on Location based marketing reminded me that all Earned Media is local and not to overlook my local media and bloggers.
• Multi-channel attribution refresher was a good reminder how to track all of the things that you are doing and how they contribute to the final purchase/action.
• AdWords - Adapt a growth mindset. Don't set a budget annually. If revenue is growing as a result of the marketing, let your budget grow with the revenue growth.
• YouTube targeting reminders also good -- looking forward to great things with Susan Wojcicki taking the helm.

To be completely honest the classes themselves were a bit too introductory to make it a true learning experience. I felt like the Google team forgot that the people attending were already users of their platforms and dumbed it down too far. The fun part was being told things "not to share" -- the marketer in me heard that as a marketing ploy to make us feel like the "cool kids" -- and I can respect that. Not much here but ultimately I tasted Google and I would go back. They passed the Cinnabon test.

Forget what this was but it was cool at the time.

Google Earth Display

Android building -- a highlight for the Android user in me!

Then there was this thing, anyone buying?

Android statuary

Big fan of Android statuary!

] You'll have to guess on who this is ... hanging out in the bar.