Ottawa’s jam-packed June
June 23, 2010
I’m not sure if it was intentional or not – trying to beat a pre-summer vacation frenzy? – but this past month, Ottawa has been jam-packed with with web-related events. Which is, of course, excellent news for our fair city. Our web-ian community grows!
A quick round up of those I was able to catch:
- GovCamp Ottawa, our local version of GovCamp Canada: “an open environment for conversation about the role of municipal, provincial and federal governments in cultivating the growth and prosperity of Canada’s vibrant communities…”. My first ‘un-conference’, and an intriguing experience. After hearing from a kick-off panel, the audience created the agenda on the spot. I joined a debate about how valuable (or not) subject matter experts are in an open government model, a discussion about inter-jurisdictional (federal, provincial and municipal) applications and a session about how to measure the impact of open government data using examples and success stories. Overall though, my favourite part was the live Twitter feed during the panel itself; highly amusing to be part of a top-trending topic on Twitter for a day…
- “Winning the War on Google” featuring Rebecca Lieb, presented by the nascent Ottawa Web Marketing Club.ca. Rebecca has an impressive search pedigree and covered a lot of the fundamentals of search. Unfortunately, the most interesting material – the future of search – came at the end with little time left. She touched on implications of universal search e.g. the blending of search results – organic, news, images, video, social, etc. to illustrate why it’s – truly – no longer about rankings. Also, intriguing stats from comScore: “In early 2008, 17 percent of searches contained some type of blended result. In late 2008, it was 31 percent of all search results.” Look out marketers!
- “Social Media Marketing Experts Reveal All” with panelists Scott Lake from SWIX, Erin Blaskie, Lifestreamer (my new favourite word – see BabyCenter’s research segmenting social moms) and Michele Bedford-Thistle from Microsoft, presented by OCRI‘s, Zone5ive technology marketing speaker series. Each panelist had an extremely different take on social and how they’ve incorporated it into their professional selves and businesses. Finally – concrete evidence about why organizations don’t need to panic about the ‘right’ way to ‘do’ social.
There were still other events I was not able to attend, including:
- “Wikibrands – Reinventing Your Business in A Customer Controlled Marketplace”, featuring Sean Moffit and presented by SMB Ottawa (Social Media Breakfast Ottawa). For reasons that I’m unclear about, there’s no reference to the event on the SMB Ottawa web page, but you can find the presentation on slideshare. Perhaps they are pure-Twitterists?
- MARCOM 2010 – “professional development and educational forum for public and not-for-profit marketers and communicators”
- Your Facebook Business Account – Turn “Fans” into Customers Session 3 of Using Social Media to Drive Business featuring Erin Blaskie, presented by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. Fortunately for me, Erin posted the presentation on slideshare.
If you were able to attend any of these, comment away – I’d be curious to hear what you learned at each.
And finally, although it not exactly an event, there is a deadline worth noting – CMA Ottawa is touting the fact that the entry deadline for the 2010 Canadian Marketing Associations Awards is June 24th, 2010.
Go Ottawa!
Is Your Search Marketing Missing In Action?
April 16, 2010
Many thanks to CMA Ottawa, the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Marketing Association, for inviting me to speak at their upcoming luncheon on April 27th, 2010.
I’m especially pleased about the about the topic I get to tackle – search engine marketing. Back in December 2008, I was fascinated to read a study describing how business owners find search campaigns more scary than filing taxes. Since then, I’ve concluded that this might indeed be the case – which is not a good thing.
Search marketing may be the great leveler and I don’t like the idea of business owners shying away from it. Instead, I’d be much happier if they at least understood enough about the tactic to decide if it should be included in their marketing mix or not.
My hope is to demystify search marketing and in particular, talk about:
- Measuring visibility instead of worrying about rankings
- Why it’s not really about your home page anymore
- How you can leverage your own subject matter expertise
I’ve just returned from eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in Toronto and Canada’s Search Marketing Expo, SMX Toronto, and my head is brimming with search ideas and issues; I’m really going to have to rein myself in…
I hope to see you on April 27th!
Event details:
When: Tuesday April 27th, 2010, from 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Where: Hampton Inn and Conference Centre, 100 Coventry Rd, Ottawa
Cost: $40.00 for CMA members, $55.00 for non-members
CMA Ottawa Speed Networking Event
May 25, 2009
On May 26th, 2009, join myself and other members of CMA Ottawa for great opportunity to pitch yourself, your company or a new product and service to your marketing colleagues in the nationagl capital region.
The event is called “Speed Networking” and it will be held at the Hampton Inn at 100 Coventry Road in Ottawa, Ontario.
Be sure to arrive with your business cards & brochures, and be prepared for your three minute elevator pitch! To ensure you get the most out of the event, also be sure to tell others what kinds of services you’re looking for. There could be some great suggestions right across the table from you.
Due to the special nature of this event, space is limited, so be sure to register ASAP.
Event details:
- When: Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 from 11:45 a.m. to` 2:15 p.m.
- Where: Hampton Inn and Conference Centre, 100 Coventry Road, Ottawa ON offering plenty of free parking
- Cost: $ 35.00 for CMA members, $ 50.00 for non-members. Price includes lunch, coffee and dessert.
Presented by the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Marketing Association. CMA Ottawa hosts monthly networking and educational luncheons and seminars throughout the year. The CMA is a place of dynamic exchange among direct, interactive and customer contact marketing users, creators, managers and suppliers.
Thank you CMA Ottawa
October 28, 2008
A big thank you to everyone who attended today’s CMA Ottawa‘s luncheon, “Secrets to Effective Internet Marketing“. I enjoyed everyone’s questions and appreciate the time you took out of your day.
For those who may not be familiar with CMA Ottawa, it’s the local chapter of the Canadian Marketing Association, “the largest marketing association in Canada representing the integration and convergence of all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies.”
CMA Ottawa welcomes marketers from all sectors, public and private, from both sides of the river to its monthly luncheons (September to May). For information about upcoming sessions, please visit http://www.CMAOttawa.com.
Thanks!