Over the past 48 hours, Deepend’s Director of Analytics and Insights, Dan Taylor, Senior Strategist, Kim Verbrugghe, and Design Director, Noel Smetanig, have been completely immersed in the world of digital, alongside 250 other international business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Here are their key insights from day two of the SoDA Academy Learning Conference, held at the Museum of the Moving Image in NYC.

Advice from NASA: We know where the moon is, and we know where the earth is. The rest is just details.

Quote of the day: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. (No, that’s not Charles Darwin).

Speak smart: Artificial Intelligence, like Siri, Alexa or Cortana, is becoming an extension of a brand and its tone of voice.

‘Appening brands: Delta Airlines and Starbucks are great examples of companies that have turned their apps into a product that really delivers more value to their audiences.

Slow burn: Virtual Reality might be exciting for early adopters, but the mass market will need more time – the experience might be great but hanging cables and chunky hardware limits the movement of the user and the costs of compatible PCs are immense.

Crystal ball: Microsoft HoloLens is an outlook of a glorious future, and by the time it has matured as a product it will likely have several competitors.

Design thinking: Innovation isn’t invention – the best innovators instil this within their teams, and foster an environment where there is not pressure to invent (the wheel), but to be innovative with relevancy.

Money maker: Nobody has an innovation retainer. One person tried, but the budget was constantly redirected into other projects.

Dos and don’ts: Don’t fail at failing. Failure is becoming acceptable, but if you fail, fail quickly, and agree that all failure must at least deliver a learning.

Like a boss:  You need to intentionally create culture for distributed teams. Provide fruit, have a drinking or lunch budget, and hold team bonding activities so people work well together.

Strategy FTW: When discussing the user story, clarify the segment and add context to their problem statement.  

New York dos and don’ts: Make sure you eat A LOT of pastrami and don’t bother sleeping – it’s a waste of time.

Actionable tactic: Add a ‘discovery’ column into your client requirements sheet.