Next week, the Windy City will welcome ad:tech for an exciting conference. I reached out to Susan Bratton, Cendara CEO and outgoing ad:tech chair, to see what conference-goers can look forward to on the agenda.
Brad Berens: Let's start with the vital statistics for ad:tech Chicago. When is it and what's the venue?
Susan Bratton: July 24-25 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.
Berens: Who are the new speakers that you're excited about?
Bratton: There are nearly 100 new speakers for this ad:tech Chicago but some of the most heralded include:
Fay Ferguson, Co-CEO, Burrell, who will be speaking about how to successfully deploy rich media-driven creative strategies and targeted media strategies to deliver interaction rates that exceed today's norms; Lauralee Alben, president, Alben Design LLC, who will talk about designing a strategic flow of ideas and innovation and how this new creative can lead you to what is profound and meaningful in your work; and Hunter Hastings, CEO, EEM Group who will reveal the tools and engagement components behind a new intellectual paradigm designed to help marketers reach customers.
We also recently launched a series of workshops in Chicago on topics ranging from New Product/Service Growth Strategies for Marketers, to Effective Email Inbox Organization to How to Use Emotional Buy-In to Create Long-Term Customers.
Berens: Any returning speakers that attendees should know about?
Bratton: Sessions that are back by popular demand from San Francisco include How to Grow a Profitable Affiliate Channel: Recruit the Best Partners for Your Business featuring panelists Ola Edvardsson, CEO, Performancy, Inc., Jeff Molander, CEO, Molander & Associates, and Amanda Watlington, owner, Searching for Profit; and an Organic SEO Fireside Chat with Dana Todd, executive VP of SiteLab and president and board of directors for SEMPO, and Bruce Clay, president Bruce Clay, Inc.
We also have a panel session we've brought back from the ad:tech 1MPACT series: Customer Analytics and Marketing Dashboards: Rolling Up Your Numbers to Create Data-Driven Business Advantage moderated by Stephen DiMarco, VP of marketing and client services, Compete, Inc.
Berens: Is there a particular theme to this conference? Or a particular mid-western flavor?
Bratton: The theme for the Chicago show is Crossroads: Technology and Creativity. ad:tech Chicago explores the groundswell of activity around the intersection of technical innovation and creative process. Attendees will discover how the lines between these symbiotic worlds are blurring, and what it means for modern marketers.
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Berens: Let's dig into the conference's theme "Crossroads: Technology and Creativity" a bit more. What particular technical innovations come to your mind when you think about the ad:tech Chicago speakers and attendees? Or conversely, what innovations seem particularly key or trenchant for where the industry is developing?
Bratton: Our particular industry is deeply in love with all forms of technical innovation. The make up of our collective psyche comes from a need to pioneer new capabilities, many of which are rooted in technological ideation. The internet provides us with a platform, the concept of Web 2.0 delivers us new ways to connect with users socially and personally, information syndication through blog networks, RSS, media casting et al are white hot, message targeting through contextual, behavioral and remarketing techniques is finally finding its footing after a decade of trial and error; new ad models continue to be formed-- such as innovative overlays and consumer-generated content housed within advertising. With the technical availabiitly comes a need for creativity. ad:tech Chicago covers the technology, but it's conference core is set up to evoke creativity in every attendee. Speakers such as Lauralee Alben, Robert Cringely, the Midwestern Creative Showcase speakers, Jordan Ayan and Dan Hill are all speaking specifically about creativity. My intent is to get everyone's juices flowing through creative workshops and presentations and to provide a catalyst to getting the market to the next level of genius and flair.
Berens: If you had to guess what will be happening at ad:tech Chicago 2007 based on the agenda you've put together for 2006, what's your guess?
Bratton: I think we'll continue to see more companies find ways to have one-on-one connections with their customers in a more fearless and scaleable environment. We'll see more innovation around customer retention instead of focus on acquiring new customers. We'll see more bridges from various reporting- and anayltics-siloed services into greater dashboards and uber-metrics. We'll see more creativity in search marketing-- more branding, less text, more imagery. We'll see solid examples of web-wide ad targeting campaigns that delivered breakthrough numbers in optimization. 2007 will be the year of the big, global ad campaign from one of the top 10 consumer multi-national brands. It will be a campaign that is global, yet cleverly nationalized by major markets finally being in tune with the globe-trotting world we live in today.
Companies will rally around corporate blogs, giving organizations a personalized feel from their employees never before experienced in industrialized society. 2008 wiil be the year of massive M&A activity, making 1999 look like child's play, creating wealth again in the digital marketing and internet industry like we've never seen before.
Brad Berens is executive editor for iMedia Communications. Read full bio.
