Three Strange Customs.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about three strange customs found only at the Leadership Summit.

Today is the first day of the Leadership Summit for the American Marketing Association (AMA)! This is when presidents, vice presidents, and other chapter leaders, representing more than seventy chapters across North America, all come together to share best practices, and "get their marketing on." It is a wicked fun weekend, jam-packed with learning, making new contacts, and reconnecting with old friends. It's like a giant party for marketers!

This will be my eighth trip to the AMA Leadership Summit, and I can't wait to go! Usually, I go out there on Thursday night so I can attend the Friday morning sessions and help greet people as they arrive. This year, however, I won't arrive until dinner time on Friday evening. Now, if I were going to be at the Leadership Summit on time, I would give you a "heads up" on a few things you should know about Summit. Since I will be delayed, I've written them for you here...

First, you should realize that you will be drinking from a fire hose this weekend. You will probably try to write down every good idea you hear, but what you might not be expecting is the sheer volume of good ideas that come from the Leadership Summit. Be warned: good ideas will flow around that place like beer at an Irish pub. Lots of good ideas, and it's what you should expect. It is a building filled with marketers, after all. By Saturday night, your hand will be cramped, your notebook full, and your thinker will be jammed.

Second, someone should warn you about all the smiling you will encounter. You may not realize it, but there is a quota for how many smiles are allowed to be displayed in a single place. Somehow, through shrewd negotiation and savvy smooth talking, the organizers of the Leadership Summit have found a loophole in the rules and managed to lift all restrictions on group smiling. As a result, there will be so many smiles in the place, including on your face, that crowds of onlookers will gather to see the world's most smiley marketers. By Sunday morning, your cheeks will be stiff, your laughter will be hoarse, and your lips will be chapped from so much smiling.

Third, you should know that you'll be inspired. When you arrive in Chicago, I encourage you to look around the room and consider that everyone you see at the Leadership Summit, are volunteers—just like you. They have jobs, families, and responsibilities, yet they, like you, give their time and energy to the AMA. Just like you, they lead their chapters forward, and work tirelessly to create relevance for the AMA in their local community. When you consider that you and everyone else at the Leadership Summit represent an army of volunteers who are each there to contribute what they have, to give what they can, and to offer what they will, how can you help but be inspired?

It truly inspires me.

Even though they say, "there's no crying at Summit," I became so inspired one year, that I cried on stage in front of everyone. Yep, and that's okay. You see, no one warned me about how full my brain would get, how much smiling I would do, and how inspired I would be. Such is the custom at the Leadership Summit. I wanted to let you know all about these things because if you're not careful, you may strain your brain, overextend your smile, and be inspired too. As today's fortune says, when going to the Leadership Summit, "You may attend a party where strange customs prevail."