Tentative October 2010 schedule

January 2010 Schedule

Great ideas for next time so far.

–Shorter time frame (4 hours)
–Moderators for roundtable discussions
–Have food and registration table in OWN room
–Keep one room open for impromptu presentations
–Keep the presenters fresh
–Nobody presents more than once

There’s more, but those really stood out. Keep it up!

The rooms have been paid for.

Thanks to Phoenix Innovation Foundation (PIF) for their help with that.

The agenda has been set.

Thanks to Mark Dudlik for making that pretty.

The sessions are ready to go.

Thanks to the session sponsors for that.

In addition to their donations, Rhonda Bannard of Inspired Connections and JoMarie MacDonald sent out information to their distribution lists (Rhonda sent it to 500 contacts alone). Nick Bastian wrote a great blog post on Raillife.com. CenPho.TV mentioned it in their weekly vlog. Downtown Phoenix Journal published a really fantastic story. Joan Koerber-Walker opened her network to us.

We thank you for that.

Jim McPherson and Steve Weiss from Downtown Voices Coalition invited Yuri to present to their monthly Steering Committee Meeting as well as the Visioning Conference. Jim also posted the event on the DVC website. Jeff Moriarty mentioned us at Social Media Club.

Thanks for that.

Izzy Video let us borrow one of his camcorders. Gangplank lent us two coolers.

Thanks to you both.

Also, thanks to Don Crossland and kontaktmag for getting me to care about downtown Phoenix in the first place.

Thanks to Katie Charland for editing the session descriptions.

Thanks to Dean Callahan for trusting us not to tear up his building.

A HUGE thanks to all the speakers and panelists. They are the shining stars of this event.

See you on Saturday!

Social Media Integration
Chad Swaney
It can be frustrating when you are the only one in your business who seems to get social media. In this presentation, Chad will talk about strategies that have worked for him to help get everyone on board and excited about the possibilities that are available when you connect with your community.

Facebook apps
Kimber Johnson
Kimber will discuss how to let technology do the work for you in the realm of social media. With Facebook up to 132 million unique visitors in the United States alone, a Facebook app just might be the marketing boost your business is looking for.  Kimber will focus on the all to important planning and design phase and give you some great insights into how to create an app that gets used and shared and creates real results for your business.

New Media Discussion
Nick Martin, Si Robins, Brahm Resnik, Matt Wynn
Roundtable talk centering around the future of newspapers, journalism, TV news and blogging as a news source.

Telling your business’s story
Shane Cathers
Just as the stories you share about yourself help people identify and build rapport with you as a person, sharing the story of your business will help people identify and be interested in your business.
Essentially, your business is connecting with current and future clients while planting the seed for viral marketing, getting people talking about your business via word-of-mouth and social networking sites.

Low– to no-cost sales methods
Chris Conrey
Sales is a pain in the ass, doubly so when you’re trying to run your business, do sales, and produce whatever it is that you’re doing.  There are lots of tools you can use to help make this whole process easier from day 1.  I’ll spend some time talking about some of these and how you can use them to your advantage while still doing what you love to do. 

From suburban to returning customers
Matthew Petro
Your Central Phoenix business needs a solid base of repeat customers to achieve lasting success. But how do you get people out of their suburban homes and into your business on a regular basis? Tools like Twitter, Facebook and Yelp provide tremendous opportunities for business owners looking to turn first-time customers into regular patrons. The session will discuss many of the ways you can leverage social media to stay connected with customers and build a loyal base of patrons.

Building Event Buzz
Oden Hughes, Jeremy Smith, Katie Charland
Roundtable discussion on how to plan, promote and execute an event with limited funds using readily available tools.

Intro to Twitter
Jack Smith
Twitter seems to be everywhere — newspapers, celebrities, athletes and your next-door neighbor.  But why should you and your business care about this new online tool?  In this session, we’ll talk Twitter basics, where it’s being used in business and how to get started and some popular tools to help you manage it within your business.

Activating passionate groups
Derek Neighbors
How to make passionate, highly-connected people do something that benefits them.

Benefits of working with higher education
Nina Miller
Connecting and supporting higher education is a long-term solution to problems our community faces. Come learn how to connect with the systems in place at Arizona’s universities to help your business and your community.

The 3rd Place
Nina Simmons, Sunny Thaper, Real Joe, Zack Newsome
Roundtable discussion focusing on the impact that 3rd places (destinations that are not work or home) have on our social lives, our community and our growth as individuals.

Intro to podcasting
Debbie Walker
Podcasting for you! Simple steps to get started and the philosophy behind making your podcast great.

Online Risk Management
Paul Valach
Can you just be you online? Can you just tweet away every little thought that enters your mind? Who really cares who you follow or who your friends are on Facebook? Can you be a fan of The Ugly Big Bear and still maintain a professional image? What about all those party photos on Flickr? We’ll take a look at these things and see what we can come up with. By the way how many social sites can you name? Maybe we will have a contest. Prizes!

Performance as a Community Pathway
Jose Gonzalez
Part performance, part presentation, and part exploration of community-building & connecting with people in the Valley of the Sun, Team ABC seeks to stir up your spirit of playful danger, get your ideas out of your head, and get moving. None of what will be covered is guaranteed to grow your business or maximize your profits because nothing in life is guaranteed. Once we all get comfortable with that idea we can stop fearing uncertainty and look at all the possibility it affords us. That’s what Team Adventure Beta
Collaboration is all about, Charlie Brown!

Get on Track with public transportation
Tony Arranaga, Nick Bastian, David Bickford
Roundtable discussion on the importance of using mass transit as an advertising and event vehicle.

Mobile Apps
redPear
We’re a culture going wireless–going remote. We’re working less from a desktop computer and more from our laptops, Macbooks, netbooks, and mobile phones. We need access to our contacts, our essentials, our everything from everywhere. We’ll tell you about the apps that already exist that you shouldn’t live without. And we’ll tell you how you can build new apps that work just for you and your business. 

Niche Blogging
Kate Benjamin
Kate Benjamin is the founder and editor of popular cat-style blog Moderncat.net. Since its creation two and half years ago, Moderncat has grown to become a leading online resource for design-conscious cat lovers. The site currently receives 150,000 page views per month, reaching an international audience. Kate will discuss how Moderncat got started, as well as what she learned about turning a passion into a successful online business.

Civic Involvement as Advertising
Sam Richard
Community service has always been a large part of Richard’s life. This presentation will cover the foundations of service he has learned throughout his life including; responsibly caring for the earth, the foundations of leadership, civic engagement, and group dynamics.

Analog to digital and back again
Kyle Jordre, Catrina Knoebl, Morgan McNally, Kimber Lanning
Roundtable discussion on how to take traditional methods and apply them to a digital market, then using those connections to build a greater offline following.

Intro to blogging
Paul Martinez
Introduction to blogging will cover information on some of the tips and techniques that you can use to get your blog up and running with full steam. From choosing your domain name to marketing your blog, this presentation will provide you with all of the information that you need to get your blog started on the right foot.

Relationships and the web
Katie Charland
With social media exploding at such a phenomenal rate, the general public is left scrambling to keep up not only with the technology, but with the rewriting of traditional social scripts and human interactions. This session will explore how social media is changing the way we form relationships in all instances – from dating, parenting, in the office and when making friends.

Make business memorable
Justin McHood, Susan Baier
Learn the key to being memorable in business. Find out how to have top of mind awareness with your target customers who will want to buy, buy more and come back and buy again. In today’s business world, if you are not memorable, you are going to be forgotten — and being forgotten means (at best) barely staying in business. The essence of being memorable can be found in one word… and you have to be present to learn what it is!

Small biz strategy
Brandon Stout, Nick Bastian, Petit Fromage
Roundtable discussion on marketing strategy, overall implementation and questions from the previous presentations.

Intro to video blogging
Clintus McGintus
Let’s talk video. Video blogging, online shows, video marketing… there are tons of ways to use video on the web. We’ll explore a few of the more popular ones and why you should use it too.   

The event will start at 1:30pm, with a keynote by organizers Yuri Artibise and Tyler Hurst.

We’re looking for a few good speakers.

Each 60-minute slot¹ will be teaching sessions designed to complement and improve the attendees’ existing marketing and sales efforts. There will be a learning track, so if you’re a complete newbie, follow that track in order to get the most from your time.

Speakers will be presenting topics such as: “How businesses can attract return suburban customers” to “How to create and implement a company-wide social media plan” and “How civic involvement can improve your community” to “No– and low-cost methods for salesmen”. A series of more technology-oriented topics will also be addressed along its own track.

Three presentations will be scheduled per hour, with a few speakers repeating their sessions in an effort to cater to the beginning track.

In order to cover the widest variety of topics, presentations will be determined beforehand. If you have an idea or would like to present, please email us or leave a comment.

All speakers will have a projector and wireless mic. Please bring your own laptop,² a VGA connector and/or USB drive. You will have internet access during your presentation. Presentations do NOT have to be Powerpoint/Keynote based, but we do suggest visual aids of some kind.

1. 45 for speaking, 15 for questions
2. Let us know if you need to borrow one