LA TECHCONNECT 2023
In-person AI Conference that focuses on practical applications of AI in a work setting for members of the tech community, hosted by the Product Managers Association of Los Angeles (PMA.LA)
My role: Lead Website and Marketing Designer
If you would like to view the final design please click here:
The Client:
The Product Managers Association of Los Angeles ( PMA.LA) is a non-profit organization home to the largest community of Product people in the Los Angeles area. With over 3,000 members, the organization provides mentorship opportunities for new product-oriented members, facilitates peer-to-peer coaching, and hosts large social events and conferences that would best serve its community members.
The Problem:
Product management, design, engineering, and product researchers often engage in a combination of collaborative efforts and individual work. The prevalence of AI, accompanied by a surge in products claiming to incorporate it across various domains, has sparked widespread discussions on social media about this enigmatic term. Businesses have felt compelled to integrate AI into their products, prompting designers to hastily incorporate it as a novel feature to stay current. Simultaneously, others have approached it cautiously, reflecting on the implications of AI for their personal and professional futures.
In response to this discourse, PMA.LA decided to address the escalating AI conversation by providing its first in-person large-scaled conference since COVID. The conference aimed to provide valuable insights for executives, product designers and managers, engineers, and marketers, fostering a better understanding and utilization of AI.
My Role:
My primary role for this conference centered on leading the marketing and design division as their lead designer, with the following key responsibilities:
1.) Building and maintaining the conference website
2.) Conducting comprehensive digital marketing activities
The Goal:
As the lead marketing and web designer, my role involved shaping innovative marketing strategies and defining key design elements that effectively conveyed the brand and message of the event. Our primary objectives included the creation of a website designed to attract attention and generate traffic to our ticket platform. Ensuring the website's capability to generate clicks and direct traffic was crucial, emphasizing the provision of information essential to engage our target audience.
Furthermore, the core focus of our conference revolves around exploring how users can leverage AI to enhance their careers across various facets, emphasizing collaboration rather than replacement. Our conference talks and speakers aim to encompass the positive aspects of AI, showcasing its potential to build systems that automate processes and distribute pressure horizontally, creating a balanced impact. We aim to demonstrate how AI can maintain a constant and manageable level of pressure, avoiding overwhelming effects.
The website ideally presents practical insights from tech leaders, offering valuable knowledge on AI for horizontal pressure management and practical implementation guidance.
We want to show this:
Not this:
The development of these systems will consider factors such as investigative processes, social interaction, and artistic creativity.
The Process: Why I did what I did
My Product Manager and I identified key "themes" to align with our conference's overarching message: "Practically learning AI and integrating it into businesses and daily life." This theme aimed to directly counter prevailing fears about AI, shifting away from abstract discussions and focusing on practical, ground-level work. Our approach centered on maintaining a "clean," "easy-to-access," and "conversational" website and UI design, with a touch of playfulness. The goal was to create an environment where conference attendees could approach learning with enthusiasm, free from any sense of restriction or formality. To achieve this, I actively studied successful large-scale AI-focused in-person conference websites, identifying commonalities in interfaces to best align with our objectives.
After evaluating multiple large-scale AI conferences, I selected elements suitable for our website's theme. Simultaneously, I sought to enhance our language for ticket sales using quantitative data. Through content analysis, I tracked user-engaging words and summarized the findings in an infographic, highlighting UI components and relevant data. Here are the key findings:
Design Process:
After extensive collaboration with my product managers and team members, we decided that our website theme needs to revolve around the concepts of a "clean" and "easy-to-navigate UI." Deliberately selecting a soothing blue color palette reflects our commitment to fostering a calm environment while introducing AI to the workforce positively. We've strategically utilized contrasting colors for CTA buttons to ensure they command attention.
The development process for the conference website involved a meticulous approach to meet the client's vision and requirements. While respecting the confidentiality of the client's platform preference. My methodology focused on enhancing the existing structure and incorporating feedback for an optimal user experience.
The target audience comprises mid to senior-level professionals within the tech community, encompassing entrepreneurs, marketers, designers, engineers, and product managers. These individuals express a keen interest in integrating AI into their workspace. The primary objectives of our website are to deliver comprehensive AI information tailored to their needs and to incentivize ticket purchases.
Home page Design Element Breakdown:
First CTA button and stacked relevant information
Featured Speakers line-up begins
After the list of speakers are presented on the homepage, the second CTA with a banner is available
After the banner and second CTA button, there is an info card summarizing the events of the day
Sneak peak overview of some events and workshops
Final CTA button and a link to the client’s Social handles
Client partner affiliations with their respective logos and links, mentioned within the homepage
Roadblocks and Hurdles:
Recognizing the pivotal role the website played in driving ticket sales and acknowledging time constraints, my client requested an immediate launch upon its completion. The client and their team expressed satisfaction with the initial version, anticipating further iterations to accommodate additional speakers and workshops as the event progressed. However, a substantial roadblock emerged in the realm of marketing. Despite listing the AI Tech event on relevant tech organization platforms, we faced initial challenges with ticket traffic and traction.
To address this, my team and I shifted our focus to LinkedIn ads, a strategic decision that resulted in a significant boost in ticket sales. Overcoming the initial hurdle, the implemented LinkedIn ads led to a noteworthy surge in both foot traffic and total revenue, especially in the lead-up to the event. To enhance engagement further, we crafted and distributed LinkedIn posters featuring each speaker. These posters succinctly highlighted their expertise and aligned topics with high-demand AI terms, leveraging their networks to amplify visibility and impact.
Here is one of the posters I created for our LinkedIn ads:
End Results:
Through targeted LinkedIn ads and effective marketing strategies, we successfully generated substantial interest and attendance for our tech event. The overwhelming response led us to expand our seating and table options to accommodate the high turnout of guests. As the event date approached, we exceeded our initial revenue goal by doubling ticket sales. The conference was a resounding success, and the feedback we received included:
“I genuinely found all the information here relevant and helpful. I think I’d also really like to see how we can bridge more tenured professionals into using AI and how they can integrate it to their teams”- Attendee, Software Engineer
“It was a great event, i think it helped a lot to hear from professionals understand how they use AI and how we can maximize it for our benefit.”- Attendee, Product Manager
“I enjoyed the focus on practicality. I find that it’ll be helpful moving forward in my field.” - Attendee, Senior Developer
Next Steps:
Moving forward, my emphasis will be on leveraging SQL to conduct in-depth analyses of our recently completed project. Specifically, I aim to scrutinize the effectiveness of various marketing strategies, delve into the click-through rates of Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons, and pinpoint their locations for strategic optimization. Additionally, incorporating valuable feedback from our attendees will be a pivotal aspect of our next steps. This data-driven approach will not only enhance our marketing strategies but also contribute to refining the overall user experience, aligning our efforts with the preferences and expectations of our audience.
Credits:
I am deeply honored and thrilled to have played a significant role in the success of PMA.LA's premier AI conference of the year. The experience has been truly invaluable, and I express sincere gratitude to the organization and its leaders for entrusting me with the responsibility of delivering UX-focused services. Engaging in this conference has been a rewarding journey, and collaborating with an exceptional team of individuals has been a true pleasure.
Lead Project Manager
Vanessa Ganaden
Head of Operations
Freddy Jones
Lead Sponsorship Coordinator
Aanjanaye Kajaria
Lead Speakers Coordinator
AJ Weaver
President of PMA.LA
Ethan Cole
