Speaking at the IMC

On Tuesday next week, I will be speaking at the Internet Marketing Conference in Calgary.

You can find out more about it here.

My presentation is on Alternate Reality Games (ARG) and Immersive Marketing... I've got 30 minutes to provide some examples and explain how to make a successful ARG... if you're at all familiar with ARG's, you'll know that we will be moving fast to cover it all. There will be time for questions after the other two speakers, as we form a discussion panel.

This international conference is in it's 10th year of production and is the largest in dealing with internet marketing... this is the first time it's come through Calgary.

It seems more and more companies are beginning to jump on the social marketing bandwagon and everyone and their dog are calling themselves internet marketers. I wrote a blog a while back that explains that social media is simply a tool, and like any tool it needs to be in the right hands. We recently had Christina Greenway join our team, as our social marketing manager - she has a background in marketing and knows the tools - this is a great mix.

It never ceases to amaze me how even today, large companies put inexperienced people in charge of the very thing that will drive their business, their marketing on the web. Having a teenager run your social media or a technical person run your web site is a recipe for failure online. Nothing against teens, there's no question they understand the tools, probably better than most people out there - but they are not brand or marketing experts. And, nothing against technical people, but just because you are the only person in the office that knows what a browser is, does not qualify you to drive the marketing speak of your company on the internet.

So, as a business owner, you should take time out to check out this conference, you need to understand the tools that will drive your marketing over the next few years. But, please bring along your marketing person(s) - for they are the ones who can make these tools work for you in presenting your brand online.

It's important to learn how these tools work, but ensure that the right person is using them - this conference is a great place to start taking your online marketing to the next level.