The Summit Begins! TIS Marrakech [Day 7]
Last night was amazing. The whole opening night has been a very unique experience and I'm so grateful that I was able to be part of it. If you haven't read my previous post, here's the link. TL;DR off last night. We all got invited into a riad restaurant, which was set up just for everyone who's attending the summit. It was a private party. These moroccan people do know how to throw a party! I really suggest reading that post and looking at the pictures because it has been a hell of a night.
Summit day 1
Now it's day 1 of the summit. The conference is today. I have to wake up really early as the check in starts at 8.15 in the morning. I'm still tired from last night. Everyone is. But then I am super excited for the summit. Meeting everyone last night was a blast and now I know that there's nothing to be nervous about. I already know most of the influencers who are attending the summit.
At the check in we get greeted by the organisers. We have all became really good friends by now. The summit is taking place at the mövenpick hotel in Marrakech. This hotel is so fancy. It's day and night difference from where I'm staying at. This is one of the fanciest places I have ever been. The income and hallways are huge and the floors are like mirrors. It's all super nicely decorated. See some pics below.
The conference room is stunning. It's filled with sofas. This is the most comfortable conference ever! We get to sit down and the summit begins.
The first speaker is Taylor, from Taylor Cut Films. What an amazing guy and a super awesome talk! First thing he mentioned is that this has to be the most comfortable conference he has ever seen. It's almost like we're going to watch a movie in a private cinema. I really love the philosophy from Taylor and his viewpoints in life. He tells his story about how he got into video, how he ended up touring with world's most famous artists like Usher and Justin Bieber. One thing that truly sticks with me is that. Even tho he has been touring with these famous artists. And a lot of people are jealous about the artist's lives. In the end they are all just as lost as we are. We're all the same! It's okay to take peace with who you are in the now. When you compare yourself to the life's we see from others, it's easy to think that you're missing out or that your life is boring compared to theirs. But in the end, they do the same. They are lost, they also compare themself to others, they have to deal with the same struggles, they crack the same jokes as us. We all want to belong.
There are more speakers this day. They all share their story. I'm not going to write about every single one of them. There's just too much information. The talks that stick with me is the one from Manal Benchlikha, famous moroccan artist and Mom I'm Fine. The first talk because she has opened up about how she feels and about sexual harassment here in Morocco. It's very difficult to open up about this. Also because this time she made a rap song as she felt this was the right way to express her feelings. She got a lot of critique for this. But she will not shut up. She's going to speak up and I truly admire her.
The second talk that's going to stay with me is the Mom I'm Fine talk. He shared his story on why he did this and how it all got started. But in this talk he gave a lot of valuable information about the influencer market. About how it's growing and why it's hard at the moment to get the right brand deals that respect the brand you're building and give you the freedom to create in your own way. The influencer market is going to take over. TV ads are dying, adsense is dying and facebook ads are dying while influencer marketing is booming. And now at the moment it's still possible. But in the future, when the milennials are at the age of leading companies, it's all going to change. So now is the time to step in before the big brands adapt to this new market and the competition increases even more.
In between the talks are a coffee break and lunch. The coffee break is amazing. Like seriously, who even calls this a coffee break? There are tables filled with fruits and deserts. They have 3 types of coffee, there's tea and 3 types of frech juice. Everything gets served. This is such an amazing experience. Even tho I'm broke, I'm living like a millionaire!
We end the conference with the opportunity to talk with brands. The sponsors of the riads, hotel and pre tours. It's an amazing time to network. The weirdest part is. All these people are already my friends! I didn't know they were brands. We were just cracking jokes at each other during coffee break and now they turn out to be brands! I guess the ice is already broken. Here's a pic of me with the owner of 5 riads and a hammam. He hosted the opening night yesterday.
At the end of the day, the hosts rented out a nice rooftop bar in Marrakech. We all meet there at 7 pm for mint tea and pizza. It's a nice atmosphere. It's calm and relaxing. It's not the big party atmosphere of the opening night. We have the time to chat and I took this opportunity to talk with the guy behind "Mom I'm Fine". He's an amazing guy and he's also from Belgium. It's really nice to meet all these instagram famous people.
Big thanks to Trablin for creating this event and Mövenpick Marrakech for this awesome venue!
Thank you for reading! Feel free to follow me and stay up to date with my journey :)
Continue reading
Travel
Opening Night Gala - TIS Marrakech [Day 6]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/opening-night-gala-tis-marrakech-day-6
Ouzoud Falls - TIS Marrakech [Day 5]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/ouzoud-falls-tis-marrakech-day-5
The secret gardens and street food tour - TIS Marrakech [Day 4]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/the-secret-gardens-and-street-food-tour-tis-marrakech-day-4
The house of photography - TIS summit Marrakech [Day 3]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/the-house-of-photography-tis-summit-marrakech-day-3
Welcome to Marrakech - TIS Summit Marrakech [Day 2]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/welcome-to-marrakech-tis-summit-marrakech-day-2
I'm officially a travel content creator - TIS summit Marrakech [Day 1]
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/i-m-officially-a-travel-content-creator-tis-summit-marrakech-day-1
5 things you should do while traveling in Bavaria, Germany
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/before-you-pack-bavaria-germany-5-things-you-should-do-while-traveling-in-bavaria
Life
How I quit my job to travel
https://steemit.com/travel/@beforeyoupack/how-i-quit-my-job-to-travel
Moving to New Zealand ?!
https://steemit.com/life/@beforeyoupack/moving-to-new-zealand
Really enjoyed reading this informative post. Ever since reading Michener's "The Drifters" in '73 or '74, I think it was, I have held a deep interest in visiting these cool places like Marrakesh, Morocco and such like. Looks like you truly were spoiled and I wish you all the success from your experience beforeyoupack.
Thank you!! I haven't read that book yet, sadly. But dang I got so spoiled on this trip! Wait for the next post [Day 8]. It got even better :) I'm finalizing that post and then it will get scheduled in for posting.
2do! Was somewhat of a cult classic in it's day. Michener is, however, a master of the genre' and all of his works are impressive. The Drifters was an enjoyable little trip.