BMA Annual Conference
In 2009, we Unlearned. In 2010, we Engaged. In 2011, we’ll “Unleash.”
Unleash...that’s the theme of the 2011 international BMA conference June 1-3 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on the Chicago River and lakefront in downtown Chicago. We've negotiated a special BMA "Unleash" rate of $229/night. You can reserve your room now by clicking here.
Unleash…as in unleashing your organization’s creativity, market and leadership potential, ambition, brand, purpose, innovation, imagination, expertise, sales force, people, personal passion, content, network, customer relationships, online presence and social footprint.
All to achieve better sales, marketing, brand and company performance.
Conference Highlights
As in previous years, the 2011 conference will run from Wednesday noon (June 1) through Friday noon (June 3) with a combination of 12 keynote and 8-12 breakout sessions.
We are expecting another sell-out event with an estimated 1,000 attendees (vs. 700 last year and 350 in 2009) from 40+ states and as many as 10 countries.
Here is a short list of a few already confirmed keynote speakers:
- Josh Bernoff, Co-Author of Groundswell, and Sr. VP, Idea Development, Forrester Research
- Aaron Davis, Vice President, Global Marketing, Schneider Electric
- Tom Haas, Chief Marketing Officer, Siemens
- John Kennedy, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, IBM
- Jim Lecinski, Managing Director, U.S. Sales & Service, Google
- Mich Matthews, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Microsoft
- Roy Vallee, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Avnet
The full conference program and official registration will go live March 1.
This year, BMA is adding a three-hour, pre-conference session, from 8-11 am on Wednesday, June 1, titled “Unleash Your Inner Publisher,” to be led by b-to-b content development expert Paul Gillin.
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I am delighted to announce that Bloomberg has renewed its title sponsorship of the conference. More sponsors will be announced soon.
Other highlights:
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Networking Cruise—Responding to requests for more networking, we are adding a two-hour networking event early Wednesday evening, June 1, on the Odyssey Chicago, a sleek Lake Michigan cruise ship that docks at the Sheraton and holds 900 people on three decks.
Marketing Leader Dinners—On Thursday evening, June 2, we will again produce up to 60 of the very popular Marketing Leader Dinners, begun in 2009, all to be hosted by speakers and other top b-to-b marketing leaders. We will increase their intimacy by reducing their size to eight diners.
Mobile Messaging—We are partnering with mobile messaging provider Syniverse Technologies to enable real-time communications (conference news and updates, questions for speakers, polling) to and from your mobile devices at the conference.
Conference Registration
We expect our 2011 conference to fill up quickly and quite likely sell out by the middle of May.
You can pre-register now to be guaranteed a seat when registration officially goes live on March 1. By pre-registering now, you will automatically receive a $100 discount on the early-bird registration rate. Pre-registration is available until February 28, with early bird rates starting on March 1.
Last year, more than 250 people pre-registered within days, so please click here to pre-register today.
As in 2009 and 2010, BMA will offer a special 3x-person-plus registration rate—this year $695 per person. Last year, 100+ companies sent three or more people.
Please click here for registration rates.
Thanks and best regards, and I look forward to seeing you here in Chicago June 1-3.
Gary L. Slack
2009-11 National BMA Chairman
P.S. Whether you register early or later, you will receive at the conference a free copy of Advice From the Top, an impressive new book featuring contributions from 24 experienced regional marketers on effective b-to-b marketing being published this May by the Colorado chapter of BMA.