[THE LATEST] 13 Professional Networking Event Tips, Facebook Fined $5 Billion by FTC, & Artificial Intelligence Trends You Need to Know

Here's THE LATEST from the marketing, business, and tech world...

13 Professional Networking Event Tips, Facebook Fined $5B by FTC, & Artificial Intelligence Trends You Need to Know ...This Is THE LATEST!  💯 Jump Right into the Good Stuff! 13 Brutally Honest Tips for Surviving Professional Networking Events & Conferences Facebook Fined $5 Billion by FTC Due to Mishandling of User Data, the Largest-Ever Fine for a Tech Company MAICON 2019: Artificial Intelligence Will Upend Your Digital Marketing Strategies in the Best Way Possible 🚨With only nine days to go, the countdown is on for IMPACT Live! Few tickets remain for this two-day, immersive event for growth-focused digital marketers, sales pros, and business leaders. Use code IMPACT20 to take 20% off your ticket price. Yesterday evening, I came across this utterly perfect telegram written in 1945 by Dorothy Parker — an American treasure of a writer and a biting satirist — to her editors about how she was struggling with an unrelenting case of writer's block: I love this telegram for two reasons: Starting now, "I can't look you in the voice" is my go-to excuse for not wanting to talk on the phone.  "All I have is a pile of paper covered with wrong words" is basically the banner headline for how I've been feeling the past three weeks. The latter is a self-imposed pain, however. Because, even when you set yourself up for success with all of the right conditions for writing — plenty of time, a clean writing space, the right music, lots of mental preparation, realistic deadlines, and so on — sometimes the "magic" just won't happen. And absolutely no writer is immune to this scenario, no matter how talented or prolific. Sadly, that's easy to forget when you're facing immovable content creation deadlines but buried under your own "pile of paper with all wrong words." So, when I saw this tweet from Marcus Sheridan back in March, as he was working on the second edition of They Ask, You Answer...  ...I felt relieved.  I was reminded that yes, the act of creating something from nothing (particularly with words) is painful. But it's almost impossible to describe how satisfying it feels to complete a content creation project. The key word there being "almost." Again, Dorothy Parker comes through with the ideal articulation of this feeling: "I hate writing. I love having written." So, to those of you out there who are currently struggling to meet your next blogging deadline or to get a content project across the finish line, know you're not alone. (At the very least, you've got me as your comrade in creation misery, since I'm currently neck-deep in my own massive content project.) And know that, when you finally smash that "publish" button or make the final edit on your draft, you'll also experience the pure elation that always comes in the moment when you can finally say, "I love having written." 😮 13 Brutally Honest (& Surprising) Tips for Professional Networking Events Everyone Should Know  As many of us start to pack our bags and set out of office auto-responses for upcoming conferences, it's important to take a step back and remember why we're attending these conferences in the first place. Sure, you want to learn about the latest strategies and how to develop in your career. But some of the best moments you'll experience are the one-on-one interactions with other conference attendees. Which is why IMPACT Account Executive Jessica Palmeri wrote this rundown of her top 13 tips for making the most out of those upcoming professional networking events. (I don't know how I didn't think of #6). ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: You Need to Stop Working at Conferences (a "Because I Care" Intervention) "I'm Attending a Conference; What Should I Wear?!" (+Video) 💸 Facebook Mishandled User Data (Not News) & Now the FTC Says It Has to Pay a $5 Billion Fine (HUGE News) Part of us should have seen it coming — since Facebook seems to make headlines for all the wrong reasons at least once a week. Still, the most recent news is jaw-dropping. The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday it had slapped Facebook with a $5 billion penalty over the company's mishandling of user data. The accusations were brought against Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which broke last year. Although the scale of this story is massive, IMPACT Account Executive Kristin Linde explains the critical lesson all business leaders and marketers in the digital era need to take from this story — because ignorance may cost you. ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: Facebook & Cambridge Analytica Roundup: 7 Updates on the Data Privacy Scandal 4 Takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg's Washington Post Op-Ed 🤖 Business Leaders & Digital Marketers, You're on Notice: Artificial Intelligence Is Going to Rock Your World (MAICON 2019 Recap) Are you aware of how artificial intelligence (AI) can and will radically upend aspects of your marketing and advertising programs? If not, it's time to start exploring what's possible. This was the exact purpose behind the first-ever MAICON event — to help marketing leaders understand what technologies are available, how to get started, and how to scale AI within their organizations now and in the future. Lucky for you, IMPACT Client Success Manager Dia Vavruska is here with a full recap of all the artificial intelligence news and trends you need to know right now from MAICON 2019. ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: Debunking the Stigma of AI & Machines Replacing Humans Forbes Is Using AI to Create Content & (Surprise!) Now I Want My Own Robot 🎧  Our Latest Shows & Podcasts  HubSpot Village at INBOUND, Service Hub Reporting, & #TheyMadeThemFree (Hubcast) NEW I Sat in Silence for the First Time & Here Is What Happened (MarketHer) How to Pack & Prepare for IMPACT Live (The IMPACT Show)  10 Bad Habits of Unsuccessful People (Creator's Block) 📆  Upcoming Digital Sales & Marketing Events IMPACT Live is only nine days away! So, if you want to learn the step-by-step playbook you need to follow in order to drive significant revenue growth for your company, use the promo code IMPACT20 to take 20% off your IMPACT Live ticket today. Time is almost up!  Tired of running sales and marketing campaigns with "meh" results? There could be an unseen obstacle in your database that's directly impacting your campaign: bad data. Join top data experts from Insycle, Leadspace, and SalesIntel for a webinar on August 1 to understand how bad data is really affecting your business and what you can do to fix it. Register for this webinar now. Have your website critiqued by our panel of website strategy and design experts at our next Website Throwdown on August 8 at 1 p.m. ET. This is a very special episode, as hosts Stacy Willis and Jessie-Lee Nichols will be coming to you live from IMPACT Live 2019 — along with the entire IMPACT website team! So, now is the time to submit your site for next month's throwdown. You have until July 31 to submit your website for consideration! ❤️ Weekly (Work-Related) Twitter Crushes  Here are my favorites for this week, who are totally worth a follow: Databox CEO (and former HubSpotter) Pete Caputa (@pc4media). Not a day goes by without him sharing an invaluable piece of content or initiating a thought-provoking conversation. Usually both. Talking Shrimp founder and copywriting rockstar Laura Belgray (@lbelgray). Because she's hilarious and once said, "Let's sit on a stoop and ignore Black Friday emails together," and I felt understood. (Oh, and she's one of my copywriting role models. So, there's that.) Cute Emergency (@CuteEmergency). For when the world (and/or work) gets to be too much, and I need an 120 ccs of cute puppy, kitty, or otter, stat!  🤓 Weekend Nonsense On the one hand, Ava is making a valid point here about time management: On the other hand, though... seriously, how dare you? Until we meet again!  Liz Murphy Director, Web & Interactive Content @naptownpint I'm not interested at this time Sent with 💙 by IMPACT  470 James Street, Suite 10, New Haven, CT