August 4th, 2010 by Mark | 2 Comments

Last year, we took a major step forward with the launch of meshmarketing, a one-day event focused on providing engaging, hands-on and stuff-you-can-use sessions about the fast-changing digital marketing landscape. It was a major success with lots of terrific feedback about the workshops and panels.

So, we’re really excited to pull the covers of meshmarketing ‘10. meshmarketing is happening on November 17, 2010 in downtown Toronto. (We’ll announce the location soon.) Tickets are $489 (plus HST) before Sept. 17, and $539 afterwards. There are also 50 student tickets for $99 each (plus HST). And, of course, we’ll have a social afterwards. Tickets can be purchased here.

While we’re keeping the same focus and approach, there are some wrinkles that we think are going to make meshmarketing even better.

First, we’ve partnered with Trina Boos, who has been running the successful Ad Lounge events. Trina delivers terrific insight into the advertising and marketing worlds, as well as a huge community that she has nurtured and built over the past nine years. As meshmarketing’s programming director, Trina is the driving force behind the event’s sessions and and speakers, and we’re overjoyed about her key role within meshmarketing.

Second, we’ve tweaked the programming format. Rather than have a single keynote, we will kick off meshmarketing with two keynotes – Michael Slaby and Marian Salzman – along with a super-presentation by Lee LeFever. Part of the change in format was our excitement about several speakers. Rather than pick only one, we decided to go with a three-pack.

Michael Slaby is executive vice-president and global practice chair of Edelman’s digital practice. Before joining Edelman, he was a technology and new media advisor to the Obama administration where he led operational and long-term planning for technology including web strategy and utilization, and data integration opportunities.

Marian Salzman, one of the world’s top five trend spotters, will offer insights into the future of digital marketing and communications. As a leading communications professional, digital marketer and author, Marian will provide her insight on what’s on the horizon and what we need to know now to prepare.

And for those not familar with Lee LeFever, he (along with his partner and wife, Sachi) are the brains behind the popular Common Craft video series that provides user-friendly insight into technology and technology trends that everyone can understand.

As for the rest of the programming, we’ve got a great line-up of speakers, panels and workshops – everything from the ROI of social media customer and trans-media storytelling to how retailers are using location-based services, and future of social TV. For more details, visit the speaker and schedule page.

meshmarketing tickets can be purchased here. Don’t forget to take advantage of the early-bird special until Sept. 17.

Tags: conference, marketing, mesh, meshmarketing, social media, Toronto

Posted in mesh news, meshmarketing | 2 Comments

April 30th, 2010 by Mark | No Comments

Thanks to the work of Jeff Sarmiento and Seth Singer, the mesh Web site is a thing of beauty – terrific design and lots of colours.

What you might not realize is there is a method to the madness of the colours – in addition to the fact we think it makes the Web site look purdy. Here’s a break-down on the mesh rainbow.

Red – Red is media, which covers our keynote (Chris Thorpe), panels and workshop about things such as real-time content, user-generated media, the battle between machine-generated and human-generated media, and a case study on the Vancouver Olympics.

Orange – Orange is our society stream in which you will learn more about hackers from keynote speaker Joesph Menn, how Médecins Sans Frontières is using social media, and panels about the growing issue of online privacy and what’s going on with open government.

Blue – For the marketers in the crowd, blue is your colour. Blue covers our keynote speaker, Arvind Rajan, from LinkedIn, as well as panels on real-time and how it forces marketers to be real, what businesses should really do with Facebook, and workshops on how to scale social media, and 10 no-nonsense ways social media can be applied to your business.

Green – Like the colour of money, green is our business stream, led by keynote speaker Scott Thompson, who is president with Paypal. Green also accounts for panels on the state of Canada’s seed and start-up landscape, mobile as a way to drive business, and why real-time matters.

So, there you have it – the mesh rainbow explained.

To purchase tickets to mesh, head on over this way.

Tickets for meshU, our hands-on workshop event for people who design and development online services, and people who manage designers and developers, can be purchased here.

Tags: conference, mesh, social media, streams, Toronto

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October 9th, 2009 by Mark | No Comments

It wasn’t that long ago that public relations, digital and advertising agencies operated in their own spheres, providing specific services to their clients. And while there might have been some collaboration, there was little overlap of services or competition.

The emergence of social media as a new, different and effective marketing medium, however, has changed the competitive landscape. Today, public relations, advertising and digital agencies are all providing or moving to provide clients with social media services – everything from strategic plans and tactical implementation to creative and applications.

It means that the days of working in isolation are over. Instead, the different agencies are competing for business and increasingly working together to meet the needs of clients.

The challenge for clients is determining who provides what services, and who should be the lead agency when doing social media marketing campaigns. Do companies lead with their advertising agency, and get them to coordinate with the public relations and digital agencies on record? Or do all three agencies need to be at the table at the same time so they’re reading off the same script?

At meshmarketing, one of our two panels is focused on marketing within the social media landscape, how marketing fits into the scheme of things, and how public relations, digital and advertising agencies are competing and co-existing. Our panelists – Fleischman-Hillard Canada president Mia Wedgbury, iStudio co-founder Katherine Fletcher and Juniper Park president Jill Nykoliation – will be offer their perspectives on what’s happening and what it means to their businesses and their clients.

You can register for meshmarketing here.

Tags: advertising, marketing, meshmarketing, social media

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October 8th, 2009 by Mark | 2 Comments

With the first meshmarketing conference happening in two weeks, we’re really excited about the response we’re getting. The calendar is chock-a-block with conferences and events, and many people are still being pragmatic about how they spend their money.

One the major reasons why we’re so enthusiastic about meshmarketing and how it meets the needs of people within the digital marketing space are the eight workshops that are happening in the afternoon after Hugh MacLeod’s keynote and two panels in the morning.

The workshops are happening because people who attended the marketing stream during the last mesh conference said the keynotes and panels were interesting but they wanted more insight and information into the tools and tactics to help them get things done.

As a result, we’ve put together workshops featuring people who are working in the digital trenches, which means they can provide hands-on insight into best practices, the most compelling tools, and real-world examples of what works and what doesn’t. Here’s a snapshot of the eight workshops.

Insight Into SEM/SEO
Search engine marketing and optimization continues to attract more attention and advertising dollars because advertisers like the fact it is an activity that can be tracked and dynamically adjusted to get the best results. Jeff Quipp will provide insight and perspective on best practices and how to be more successful with your SEM and SEO spending and programs.

Social Media Analytics – What, Why and How
As social media becomes a bigger part of the marketing/advertising landscape, more companies want to know who’s talking about their brands and products, and how they can engage with key influencers and opinion leaders. Katie Delahaye Paine will talk about why social media analytics is being embraced so enthusiastically, the benefits its provides to companies who want to get a better handle on the social media ecosystem, and tips into using social media analytics services.

Tapping Into Facebook
Facebook has more than 300 million registered users – a number that makes it an interesting advertising medium. But many companies are still trying to figure out what works within Facebook. Is advertising effective? Or should marketing activity be focused on Facebook Pages that engage consumers while offering them information about products and services. Facebook Canada’s Elmer Sotto will offer his thoughts on how companies should approach Facebook to reach consumers.

How to Approach Mobile Marketing
With the continued growth of wireless device usage and the emergence of high-speed networks, the mobile advertising market has huge potential for advertisers and marketers. eMarketer suggests the U.S. market will grow to $1.3-billion from $320-million in 2008. One of the big challenges facing advertisers and marketers is determining the most effective mobile campaigns. Tagga Media CEO Amielle Lake will talk about how media planners can create, deploy, manage, and analyze mobile marketing campaigns for their clients.

The Keys to User-Generated Creative
One of the more interesting parts of social media marketing is how a growing number of companies are “outsourcing” the creative process by encouraging consumers to come up with videos and new product designs. Among the most successful campaigns was Dorito’s, which attracting a huge amount of attention with a program in which consumers created Super Bowls ads. Frito Lay’s Andrew Sutherland and BBDO’s Dino Demopoulos will provide behind the scenes insight into how user-generated creative campaigns work, and how they can be effective in driving brand awareness and consumer engagement.

Build Web Properties that Convert
After you have managed to attract people to your Web site, how do you get visitors to convert into customers? What are the tricks in getting them to make a purchase, fill out a contact form, or make a phone call. Dan Martell promise to offer nine tactics focused on Web conversions and user retention to drive real results.

Creating Inbound Marketing Campaigns
Finding it hard to get leads and customers? Are things such as tradeshows, advertising and telemarkteting not working that well? Dharmesh Shah will show you how to attract people using through Google, blogs and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and provide insider tips from the trenches about what works and what doesn’t when trying to “get found” online.

Targeting Audiences: Practical Uses of Behavioural Targeting and Retargeting
This workshop is an introduction into the world of online audience targeting through the use of behavioural and retargeting technology. In this session, you will get a better understanding of audience targeting and how data is collected and used, receive insight about current privacy issues, and practice advice when it comes to best practices for marketers. Olive Media’s Mladen Raickovic will provide insight how advertising networks work and what they offer.

Tags: marketing, mesh, meshmarketing, social media, workshops

Posted in meshmarketing | 2 Comments

September 24th, 2009 by Mark | 1 Comment

It’s been awhile since we did a mesh meet-up so we’re excited about seeing everyone next week to talk about mesh, meshmarketing and all the exciting happening on the Web these days.

Here are the details for next week’s meet-up:

Where: The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland Avenue, Toronto (Map)
When: Sept. 30, 6 p.m to 10 p.m.

Tags: meet-up, mesh, meshmarketing, social media

Posted in meshmarketing | 1 Comment

September 21st, 2009 by Mark | 1 Comment

In many ways, meshmarketing was created because many people who attended the marketing stream at the last mesh conference asked us for more hands-on insight, advice and tools-they-could-use. After exploring the idea of doing another conference, we decided to take the plunge…and glad we did because we think it’s something the community wants and needs.

Here’s why we think you should come to meshmarketing:

1. Hugh MacLeod’s keynote. A marketing consultant, blogger and a well-known cartoonist, Hugh’s going to offer a unique perspective that will draw upon his experience in launching creative and successful marketing campaigns for clients such as Saville Row tailor English Cut, South African winery Stormhoek.

2. The panels. While there are only two panels, we think they’re going to be provocative and engaging.

The panel looking at how digital, public relations and advertising agencies are co-existing and competing will be fascinating at a time when social media is causing the lines between them to blur, making it a bigger challenge for clients to determine who does exactly what these days.

The second panel exploring the role that marketing plays in social media will offer lots of food for thought given the rules of engagement are very different from traditional marketing.

3. Mitch Joel. This is the first time that we have had Mitch at a mesh conference so we’re excited about the insight he’ll offer. The timing for Mitch’s appearance couldn’t be better as his new book, “Six Pixels of Separation” looks at how businesses can use digital marketing and social media to reach a global audience.

4. The workshops. The entire afternoon of meshmarketing will be devoted to eight hands-on, interactive workshops that will put the spotlight on the tools, technique and best practices for digital marketing.

The workshops cover a broad range of topics: everything from how to effectively use SEO/SEM and insight on how to market on Facebook to social media analytics and creating Web sites that convert. The workshops are designed to be interactive and engaging so be prepared to participate and contribute, as well as learn.

5. The socials. The opportunity socialize, network and meet new people is a key part of the mesh experience so we’ve got two socials happening.

The pre-conference party will be an art exhibit featuring Hugh MacLeod’s work, and an opportunity to meet all of our speakers. The after-party, sponsored by the Social Media Group, is open to the high-tech community, and a great opportunity to meeting and mingle.

We’re really exciting about putting on the first meshmarketing. More information about the speakers and the schedule can be found on the Web site. Tickets can be bought through Eventbrite.

Tags: advertising, hugh macleod, marketing, mesh, meshmarketing, social media

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September 14th, 2009 by Mark | 1 Comment

Since we announced meshmarketing a few months ago, there has been a lot of work happening behind the scenes – a challenge given how many people seem to disappear during the summer.

So, what is meshmarketing and why should you come?

It’s a one-day event happening on Oct. 22 in Toronto that is focused on insights, tools and tactics to help you get more insight about the growing online marketing and advertising markets. It’s an event designed to provide you with ideas and perspective on the key trends but, as important, practical and valuable knowledge that you put in action. You can register for meshmarketing here.

Our keynote speaker is Hugh MacLeod, a popular cartoonist, author and marketing thought-leader. meshmarketing also features two panels, which will provide some more food for thought to start the event.

One panel looks at how public relations, advertising and digital agencies are co-existing and competing at a time when the silos between them are blurring as the agencies start to offer similar services focused on the Web. The panel features Mia Wedgbury, president of Fleischman-Hillard Canada; Katherine Fletcher, a senior partner with iStudio; and Jill Nykoliation, president with Juniper Park

The second panel looks at how what role marketing plays within social media, and how it can be effectively and successfully done. The panel includes Mitch Joel, president with Twist Image and the author of a new book, Six Pixels of Separation; and Ferg Devins, chief public affairs officer for Molson Coors, who leads Molson’s social media activities.

We’re also really excited about the eight workshops taking place in the afternoon. Truth be told, a big part of the inspiration for meshmarketing came from feedback that we received during mesh from people looking for more hands-on insight and tools-they-could-use information and knowledge.

The workshops, designed to be interactive and engaging, include:

- Building Web Properties that Convert (Dan Martell)
- Advertising Networks 101 (Mladen Raickovic)
- Search Engine Marketing/Search Engine Optimization (Jeff Quip)
- Generating Customer-Driven Creative (Andrew Sutherland, Dino Demopoulos)
- The Keys to Mobile Marketing (Amielle Lake)
- Facebook 101 for Marketing (Elmer Sotto)
- Social Media Analytics (Katie Delahaye Paine)
- Inbound Marketing Campaigns (Dharmesh Shah)

We’ll kick off meshmarketing with a pre-event party and, of course, an after-party. More details to come soon. We’re looking forward to seeing you at meshmarketing!

Tags: advertising, hugh macleod, marketing, mesh, meshmarketing, social media

Posted in meshmarketing | 1 Comment