Canadian Marketing Association National Convention And Trade Show Is Right Around The Corner
While the CMA - Canadian Marketing Association would never use this Canadian Marketing Blog space to promote one of their own events, I have no shame or qualms about doing it myself. Yes, in the interest of full disclosure, I am one of the Co-Chairs of the upcoming CMA National Convention and Trade Show - Next : 2008. So, I feel like it's my duty to promote it and, more importantly, encourage you (and your staff) to join me in Toronto from May 12th - 14th, 2008 (under a month to go).
Bottom line, the 2008 CMA National Convention and Trade Show is the Mother of all Marketing conferences in Canada. It is the largest gathering for those serving the Marketing, Advertising and Communications industries - both client side, agencies and suppliers. It's a whole lot of Marketing. We've also done our best to secure some of the best and brightest Marketing minds to share, and I think that the keynote line-up alone should be enough to get you there.
Some of the speakers I just can't wait to see include:
Avinash Kaushik - known by those in the Digital Marketing space as the Blogger behind Occam's Razor, Avinash's work title is Analytics Evangelist, Google (best job title ever). He's the author of Web Analytics - An Hour A Day and has quickly become one of my favourite speakers on the topic of creating and demonstrating ROI in Marketing. If you think you're going to be staring at analytics reports in this session, you have another thing coming. Do not miss Avinash. Simply put, he rocks.
Seth Godin - widely recognized as the top Marketing speaker in the world, Seth has promised that he will deliver all new content based on the concepts from his latest best-selling book, Meatball Sundae (which is a must-read). If you haven't check out his previous books, Purple Cow, Free Prize Inside, Unleashing The Ideavirus, etc... you really should. Never has anyone made Marketing so much fun, insightful and personal. Seth is an amazing Marketing mind, and if you don't subscribe to his Blog, you really should. It's right here: Seth Godin's Blog.
Dan Ariely - many moths ago, I was asked to interview Dan for my other Podcast, Foreword Thinking - The Business and Motivational Book Review Podcast. The show is sponsored by HarperCollins Canada and Dan was getting ready for the launch of his first book, Predictably Irrational. Since its recent release, the book has shot to the top of The New York Times' Best-Seller list, and is toping most best-seller lists in Canada as well. Dan is an amazingly engaging Economist and Educator who will help Marketers understand just how predictable (and/or irrational) people really are - an important concept when it comes to pricing models and Marketing.
Penelope Trunk - I met Penelope when we both gave keynote addresses at BarCamp Nashville. Penelope is a well-known Blogger, and author of the book, Brazen Careerist. Both media outlets allow Trunk to share her insights on the world of HR, and how everyone from Gen Xers and Millennials affect the workforce. As one of the biggest challenges facing the Marketing industry, HR and the future of the workforce is explained by Penelope with insights that will, without a doubt, blow your mind.
W. Mitchell - for the past few years I've had the honour of being represented by a Speaker's Bureau. I've managed to share the stage at Power Within events with the likes of Bill Clinton, Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil, Mark Burnett and many more. In all of the conferences I have attended and all of the speakers I have seen, no speaker has touched me more than W. Mitchell. If you've ever stopped and questioned the human condition - why we're here? what are we really supposed to do with our lives? My guess is you'll ask those questions in a whole different light after seeing W. Mitchell speak. Every time I have seen him speak, I am left speechless by his power, strength, passion and compassion. You will never be the same after meeting W. Mitchell.
Also slated is Dr. Sherry Cooper (Executive Vice-President, Global Economic Strategist, BMO Financial Group, Chief Economist, BMO Capital Markets) on Global Growth -Canadian Opportunities, Sylvia Reynolds (Chief Marketing Officer, Wells Fargo & Company) on Navigating Toward Marketing Mastery - Guideposts for a New Marketing Era, and Bryan Segal (President & CEO, Rogers Publishing Limited) on Engaging Customers in a Multi-platform World... and that is just the keynote sessions.
There's also plenty going on in the concurrent sessions, on the trade show floor, in the lobby, at the hotel bar and... you get the picture.
Get psyched (as you can tell, I already am), get your tickets, and get your staff to the Marketing event of the year.
More information is available here: Canadian Marketing Association - National Convention And Trade Show - Next : 2008.
I'll see you there.
