BLAZE - The 2013 Global BMA Conference
Start blazing your way to Chicago for BLAZE, BMA’s 2013 annual global conference, May 29-31 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers.
With 800+ b2b marketers expected to attend—from 300+ companies, 35+ states and 10+ countries—our annual conference will again be the single largest b2b marketing event in the world in 2013.
Now, click on the links below to see what we have In store you at BLAZE!
DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, MAY 29
DAY 2 - THURSDAY, MAY 30
DAY 3 - FRIDAY, MAY 31
WHY “BLAZE”?
Our board believes b2b marketing is entering a new golden age, with marketers dealing with change (thus, opportunity) at blazing speed and being asked to take on bigger roles to help blaze paths to greater collaboration, customer focus and growth.
Marketers are afire with new ideas. Marketing is out of its silo for good, has a seat at the table almost everywhere, is better aligned with sales than ever and is increasingly influential with sales, IT, HR , R&D, innovation and other functions.
A FIERY PROGRAM MIX FOR YOU
With Bloomberg returning as the title sponsor, BLAZE will examine a wide range of our time’s hottest b2b marketing trends and issues, including:
• The interface of marketing and sales
• The interface of marketing and IT/technology
• How b2c commerce is changing b2b buyers and distribution channels
• How marketers are using technology and analytics to market big physical assets
• Real-time, political-campaign-style marketing and “newsjacking”
• What is or should be on the minds of forward-thinking b2b marketing leaders
• Why b2b marketers need chief content officers
• The new breed of 2.0 online b2b communities
• Using innovation centers as powerful customer marketing tools
• B2b marketing in established and emerging global markets
And much more!
During BLAZE, you’ll be able to attend 14 keynote (45-minute) and panel (one hour) sessions featuring, among others:
• Dan Pink, our May 30 luncheon speaker, on his new book, To Sell is Human
• Phil Kotler and Neil Rackham in a fireside chat on marketing and sales
• Motorola Solutions’ Eduardo Conrado and IBM Global Services’ Katharyn White in a panel on marketing and technology
• ChannelAdvisor’s Scott Wingo and Emerson’s Charlie Peters in a fireside chat on b2b buyers and distribution channels (and the threat/impact of Amazon Supply)
• Fred Wiersema and a panel of CMOs on ISBM’s ground-breaking new study, “The B2B Agenda”
• The Content Marketing Institute’s Joe Pulizzi and a panel of chief content officers (or equivalents) on b2b content marketing
• David Meerman Scott and a panel of experts on real-time b2b marketing
• Brian Resnick on how Deloitte went from #8 to #1 in professional services brands
You’ll also hear from senior marketing executives from many other top companies, including:
• ADP
• Catamaran (the nation’s fastest growing firm in 2011)
• Cognizant Technology Solutions
• Coyote Logistics (Chicago’s fastest growing company)
• Deloitte
• Domtar
• Dow Corning
• Freightliner
• GE
• Ingredion
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Juniper Networks
• Kelly Services
• Molex
• Kennametal
• SAP
• Spencer Stuart
• ZS Associates
In addition—and at the top of the conference—incoming BMA chair Kathy Button Bell, VP and CMO of Emerson, and Laura Ramos, VP and Principal Analyst of Forrester Research, will present the findings of an exclusive Forrester-BMA study on the expanding influence of b2b marketers.
NEW: “Firestarter” Sessions
Continuing last year’s successful experiment with shorter, “TED”-style sessions, we’re recruiting a whopping 16 top marketing “Firebrands” to raise the roof in 15-minute “Firestarter” sessions grouped four at a time at four points during BLAZE.
Like everything at BLAZE , these Firestarter sessions are full-audience sessions, as we are breaking with past practice and dispensing with breakout sessions this year.
Networking Events
Also reprising our popular networking cruise at Unleash in 2010, we’ve chartered Chicago’s big Odyssey cruise ship for another (but longer) and pyrotechnic-enhanced jaunt out onto Lake Michigan on Wednesday evening, May 29.
Start Blazing Your Way to Chicago!
Please help us spread the word—and bring associates and even your sales and other colleagues to BLAZE.
Also, if your company has an internal marketing excellence awards program, consider making attending BLAZE the reward, as Kimberly Clark Professional did last year when 23 company marketers attended GROW!
See you in beautiful downtown Chicago! You won't want to miss BLAZE, which will be the biggest, most comprehensive and most global conference in BMA history.
Sincerely,
Gary L. Slack |
Eduardo Conrado |