Tag Archives: HubSpot

I’m Still Here!

Time flies when you are having fun! 

It may seem like everything has slowed down since I haven’t written a post in so long, but that is far from the truth. 

Last month, I published my first ebook for HubSpot called “Reinvent Your Event Marketing for Higher ROI.” It takes you through the planning process of setting goals for your trade show and creating a detailed strategy to make sure you achieve those goals and ultimately get higher ROI for being at the trade show. Sometimes it may be difficult to measure your trade show results, but it gives you details on how to do that!

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Cover for Reinvent Your Event Marketing for Higher ROI

I have also written a ton of content for the HubSpot Marketing Blog. One of the awesome things about this blog is that as soon as there are new marketing developments (Google+, Pinterest, etc.), we have an article posted about it. Though it may be hard at times to keep up with all these advancements, this blog is definitely an awesome start!

My last 5 blog posts include:

But probably the most exciting news is the conference I’m planning at HubSpot, Inbound 2012. This conference is from August 27-30, 2012 at the Hynes Convention Center for 2,000 marketers. You may have read about HUGS 2011 last year that was for 1,000 HubSpot customers. Inbound 2012 expands that conference to twice the size, three times as long and for any marketer, not just HubSpot customers. There will be keynote speakers including Gary Vaynerchuk and Rand Fishkin, certification and training, more than 50 sessions, a live band karaoke party and a sponsor pavilion different than anything you may have seen before. Stay tuned for some exciting updates on that!

What have you been doing lately?

A Look Back on 2011

As the end of the year approaches, it seems that most of the articles are reflecting on the last year. Journalists write about the best campaigns of the year, and the worst campaigns of the year.  They write about the most memorable parts of the year, and the most painful moments of the year.  Last year I wrote a post called the Final Post of the Year that went month by month through the best parts of 2010.  I really enjoyed writing that post and looking back on my past year so I figured I would do the same thing for 2011.

January

In January, I went to the Dolphins/Patriots game in Foxboro which is something I have wanted to do since I moved to Boston.  The Dolphins obviously got killed, but it was still a great time.

I also started my last semester of college at Boston University.  They had a few celebrations for seniors.

With Dean Elmore and John Battaglino

February

I had some exciting trips in February.  First, I went to Chicago for the first time.  I went to DePaul University’s PRSSA conference.  I wrote about it on an older blog post.  Then I spent the rest of the weekend exploring the city with my awesome tour guide, Nick Lucido!

Sky Deck!

The Bean

Deep dish pizza!

A week later I went skiing for the first time at Mont Tremblant.  It was definitely scary learning how to ski at first, but by the end of the weekend I was getting the hang of it.  But I have heard that your first time skiing should not be on this mountain.

March

In March I did something I had been looking forward to since I heard it opened.  HARRY POTTER WORLD!

April

This month started off bittersweet.  I went to Seattle for the PRSSA National Assembly.  I always looked forward to my PRSSA trips, and this one was my last.  The next committee was elected, and I was so excited and proud of them.  But it was also (potentially) the last time I was with everyone in my committee at the same time.  PRSSA continues to mean the world to me and truly made a huge difference in my life and my career.  I was also awarded with the Elaine Averick Outstanding National Committee Member Award.  Oh, and I caught a fish in the Seattle fish market!

The 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 PRSSA National Committees

The 2010-2011 PRSSA National Committee Saying Goodbye

Elaine Averick Outstanding National Committee Member Award

May

In May, I graduated from Boston University with a degree in Public Relations from the College of Communication and a degree in Business Administration from the School of Management.  I also received the Gerald Powers PR Scholarship, Blue Chip Award and Scarlet Key.

Scarlet Key

Blue Chip Ceremony

June

Even though I officially starting working on May 31, my new hire training at HubSpot started on June 6.  After six months of working, I can still say I love my job!

July

In July I spent a lot of time working and a lot of time enjoying Boston and getting together with friends.

BSMA Brunch

August

In mid-August, I co-founded a Young Professionals Network for the Public Relations Society of America in Boston.  Then at the end of August, Dreamforce, Salesforce.com’s annual conference that included 45,000 people this year, began.  My responsibilities at HubSpot all summer consisted of working on our presence at Dreamforce and planning for our HubSpot User Group Summit.  David Kirkpatrick of MarketingSherpa wrote a case study about our presence there.  It was memorable, exciting and turned out very well despite Hurricane Irene’s attempt to keep the HubSpot team in Massachusetts.

September

September was the HubSpot User Group Summit (HUGS) in Boston with 1,000 customers.  It was inspiring hearing many of the HubSpot customer stories and seeing how excited the customers and HubSpotters were to meet each other and learn from one another.  And I cannot leave out the balloon sprocket at the opening reception.  I had honestly wanted to do this since my first day at HubSpot!

October

October started off by going to Maine for the first time!  I have wanted to see more of New England since I decided to stay in Boston after graduation, and this was the first step.  I also had lobster for the first time.

Then all my dreams came true, and I FINALLY got the Verizon iPhone!

And I, of course, had to highlight it on my Facebook Timeline:

November

This month was busy, but at the end of the month, I went with HubSpot to Cloudforce.  It was great to see everyone who I had worked closely with all summer for Dreamforce.  And it is always fun to meet HubSpot customers and talk to other people about the company!


December

At HubSpot, not only are we around some of the greatest marketing professionals in the industry, but they constantly take the opportunity to teach us as well.  HubSpot, therefore, set up a program called HubSpot Fellows.  The CEO and co-founder of HubSpot, Brian Halligan, teaches a bunch of classes on leadership and helps us become better leaders at HubSpot.  It is an awesome chance to learn from Brian but also interact with other HubSpotters who are part of the program.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Life as a Full Time Employee

When I first started at HubSpot, I had no idea what I was getting into.  I knew my summer was going to consist of working on 2 events: Dreamforce and the HubSpot User Group Summit (HUGS).  But I never imagined that every day I would be blown away by the intelligence, motivation and positive attitudes that emanate from the walls of HubSpot.  The people who work at HubSpot are truly changing the world of marketing It has been confirmed in the last few months that my decision to work at HubSpot was the greatest decision I could have made.

So let’s go back a bit.  I had experience planning events in college with PRSSA, but I never worked on events that were larger than 200 people.  At Dreamforce, 42,000 people attend.  At HUGS, 1,000 people attend.  It was definitely going to be a different experience.  But instead of focusing on how scary that was, I decided to focus on how much responsibility I was given.  At HubSpot, your superiors empower you by giving you confidence.  They show that they trust you and know you will be able to accomplish your tasks.  And they guide you when you have questions and help you achieve your goals.  So I took the challenge of working on these events as exciting.

For those who don’t know, Dreamforce is the largest cloud computing conference in the world put on by Salesforce.com.  They have speaking sessions, a trade show and parties at night.  HubSpot had 11 speaking sessions and four booths in the trade show area. We created an iPad app for Website Grader and gave consultations to anyone who visited our booth areas.  We were very visible since we all wore orange track suits (see the pictures below or on HubSpot’s Flickr).  We also gave away free unicorns to anyone who stopped by our booth. Many people came up to the booth asking, “Why unicorns?” (which I am sure you are asking right now too).  At HubSpot, we are fact based.  You can see that through the webinars, blog posts, videos and other content we produce.  The unicorns were a reminder that you should not listen to marketing fantasies but listen to the facts.  Marketing has changed a lot in the last decade, and it is important to change your strategies as the world changes.  The messaging, iPad app and speaking sessions were very successful, and HubSpot had a great time there!  HubSpot also sponsored the RVIP Lounge, a karaoke lounge on wheels, to take people around the city at night.  It was branded with everything HubSpot (and also included a few unicorns!)

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Two weeks later, we had the HubSpot User Group Summit (HUGS) as part of FutureM right after the Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS).  During IMS, we had an Inbound Lounge where our consultants gave Website Grader assessments.  Attendees also had the chance to play ping pong or just sit and relax at our tables.  After IMS, we had our opening ceremony which included a 15-foot sprocket structure made out of balloons (see picture below) and a video thanking our customers.  HUGS was all day on Friday and involved different tracks to learn about different parts of the software.  But the most rewarding part was listening to the customers talk about the way HubSpot has changed their business.  They were so excited to go to the different sessions and hear more about what was to come in the future months.  It really shows you how much your job means to other people.  Pictures from HUGS show some of that enthusiasm.

So now that these events are behind me, I’m only looking forward to more events and PR at HubSpot.  It is so rewarding doing something you love with people who are as passionate and driven as the people at HubSpot.

What were your experiences with your first job?

From College Years to the Real World

The last 12 days have been a whirlwind.  I graduated and a little over a week later started my first full-time job.  So before my posts change from being “Rachel Sprung on PR: The College Years” to “Rachel Sprung on PR: The Real World,” I wanted to write a post about my time at Boston University.  My last two posts highlighted my love for Boston and my love for PRSSA.  But without understanding my background story, these posts may not make any sense at all.  Because my love for the two really came from my incredible experience as a Boston University student.

I decided to come to Boston University for it’s public relations program.  Unlike most high school students, I knew I wanted to be in communications, and I knew I wanted to be in public relations.  The program at Boston University is known around the country for producing some of the finest public relations professionals, and I wanted to have a similar opportunity.  I also wanted to be in the city, and BU really fit all of my criteria.

But when I got my acceptance letter (early decision, of course), I had no idea what was in store for the next four years.  I did not know that I would be traveling around the country meeting other incredible public relations students.  I did not know that I would become an active part of a public relations circle in Boston.  I did not know that I would not only plan various events on campus but around the city of Boston.  I did not know that I would be so immersed and excited over technology.  I did not know that I would love Boston as much as I did and ultimately make it my home.  And I truly owe that to Boston University.

The thing about Boston University that makes it unique from other schools is not only its location and curriculum but the way faculty and administration put themselves out for their students.  What other Dean of Students do you know would come to an off-campus event you put on to support you?  Dean Elmore does.  How many faculty would answer your frantic emails about life’s problems at odd hours of the night?  Professor Quigley does.  I cannot even name the number of times I have asked for help from various professors, and they have dropped everything to give me advice or given me a contact in the area who could help me out.  Boston University faculty try to get to know their students at a personal level in order to help them make the best decisions during and after college.  And they truly succeed and graduate some of the best students in the country.

Graduation weekend was full of exciting events to celebrate the last four years.  So I obviously have to share some pictures!

Scarlet Key Ceremony

First, you sign the book.

Then you get knighted!

Then you get a pin!

Blue Chip Award

Blue Chip Recipients

School of Management Commencement

My Cap!

Getting My Diploma!

Commencement

Katie Couric!

With the Family!

College of Communication Commencement

Getting My Diploma!

Tyler Hicks, NYT Journalist

So to everyone who has touched my life at Boston University, thank you for an incredible four years.  I really believe this is the best institution, and I could not have gotten a better education anywhere else.  So thank you, Boston University!  I plan to be a very active alum ;)