Savvy Experts Spotlight Bend WebCAM

by RENEE PATRICK Cascade Business News Feature Writer

Some of the most innovative minds in SEO, social media and traditional advertising and branding will be presenting at the Bend WebCAM (Web + Creative and Marketing) conference on October 25-26 in downtown Bend. Attendees will learn how to become more successful in the digital marketing space and gain new insight into budgeting for the growing and emerging marketing possibilities.

Now in its fourth year, the conference prides itself on offering a rich and balanced view of the latest online trends. “We bring people who can educate on the newest trends (i.e. Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) as well as people who are dynamic speakers and personalities,” commented Cam Davis, one of the WebCAM organizers.

“The WebCAM speakers each year are chosen in a combination of ways,” Davis continued. “Many are on the national circuit delivering presentations and keynote addresses at much larger conferences and we’ve made connections with them there. Others have recently done breakthrough work in traditional or interactive media and we bring them here to share their story, often for the first time. Still others are accomplished at guiding workshops that present new approaches to business challenges.”

This year, three female forces to be reckoned with in the advertising, marketing and digital publishing industries are adding an extra dash of excitement to the conference.

Kat Gordon (photo)

Gordon is the founder and creative director at Maternal Instinct, an agency dedicated to marketing to mothers. Her agency’s proprietary product, the MBA Program (Mom Brand Audit), results in a guide map of specific ways brands can attract moms as customers.

“We discovered Kat Gordon through a conference that she established to explore the astonishing lack of women in high-level, decision-making creative roles in agencies, especially when you consider that the decision makers at the product level are women,” commented Davis. “WebCAM has a history of bringing insightful and influential female speakers in SEO, social media, advertising, design and interactive media. We thought it was time to bring someone who specializes in marketing to women and mothers to share ideas on how all of us could speak to them more effectively.”

Gordon created this September’s 3% Conference in San Francisco to address the statistic that only 3% of creative directors in large advertising agencies are women. She witnessed first-hand the absence of women in senior leadership positions in ad agencies and wondered why the most powerful consumer segment in the world – women – was not being marketed to from a place of understanding. Her session titled, Where are all the Donna Drapers? addresses this issue and gives everyone – even single guys – a better understanding of how to connect with women (at least on a marketing level).

“Too many people assume Mad Men is a quaint time capsule when, in reality, only three percent of women are creative directors today in 2012,” Gordon commented. “Showcasing the business need of more women to motivating an overwhelmingly female marketplace is my goal for the day. That — and to have fun in the beautiful Oregon setting.”

www.maternalinstinct.com.

Anna Sawyer (photo)

As content marketer at Trada, a company that provides a community-based solution for mid-market advertisers to run paid search advertising (Google, Yahoo! and Bing) in Boulder, Colorado, Sawyer knows that integrating laughs into marketing strategies isn’t a joking manner. In her session, Funny Business – Humor in Marketing, she will identify practical strategies and real-life examples of companies who brought a good dose of humor to an advertising fight – and won.

“I’ll be sharing an interactive, fun presentation packed with real information from some of the premiere researchers in the humor-in-marketing space. Attendees will learn how to predict whether a humorous attempt will help or hurt potential buyers’ attitudes about their brand,” Sawyer said. “They’ll learn how to apply learnings from larger brands and companies to their smaller businesses, and how to use humorous language and imagery to increase awareness and sales beyond the Superbowl ad and print spread: in emails, social media, paid search ads, on-site and more.

“I’ve never been to Bend, but after reading a recent Washington Post article, I’m sold! As a resident of Boulder, I have a great love for natural beauty and microbreweries.”

“Anna is one of those people whose infectious personality can be the hit of any conference. And the fact that she’s going to speak on the subject of effective use of humor in marketing should create a very entertaining program,” commented Davis.

www.trada.com.

Lisa Rutherford (photo)

Lisa Rutherford, co-founder and CEO of Coliloquy, will share a case study from the front lines of the convergence of tech, creative and marketing. In Tell Me A Story, Rutherford will explain how the cutting edge of digital publishing technologies is opening up new opportunities for storytellers of all types to use narrative to reach consumers. She’ll share a candid perspective of their hits, misses and new opportunities on the horizon.

“I love conferences that focus on convergence, and this year’s line-up of speakers and attendees looks amazing. I’m expecting thoughtful, creative panels, as well as casual conversations that inspire,” said Rutherford.

“We thought Lisa would be a dynamic speaker for a breakout session after seeing a video online about how Coliliquoy is changing the way you interact with your favorite book. The choose-your-own-adventure type of interactive fiction that Coliliquoy is publishing…has wide appeal to not only aspiring and published authors/writers, but also fiction readers in general,” said Davis. “After all, Bend WebCAM has always been an event to attend for emerging media and trends and we’re happy to announce that reading a book will have an entirely new meaning with interactive fiction being in the mix.”

www.coliloquy.com.

WebCAM Sessions & Workshops

During the two-day series of sessions and workshops at the Tower Theatre and Oxford Hotel, marketing and advertising professionals will have a chance to choose from three different tracks. “The entire premise of the conference is that you can’t just be doing web marketing and you can’t just be doing traditional marketing. Today it requires you to be creating marketing and advertising in both spaces,” Davis said, “The best piece of advice is to really take advantage of switching it up—meaning you left brainers need to get some right brain and vice versa.”

The Geek (left brain) sessions dive into the technical, logical and cutting edge methods of communication such as social media, SEO and mobile marketing where speakers will address topics such as the structure of digital marketing and Pinterest.

The Right Brain (aka “Chic”) track focuses on the creative, emotional and imaginative messages of communication, including advertising, design, copywriting and brand development. Topics include originality, effective marketing towards women and the narrative power of digital publishing.

And finally, Super Freak (hybrid) track merges the two ways of thinking into a synergistic gumbo, enriching anyone involved in the web and creative and marketing industries, especially those who realize the inseparability of technology and creativity in a successful 21st Century business plan.

“Ever since I first heard about Bend WebCAM, I’ve been excited to jump in. Too many conferences are all left brain or right brain. The combination of both at Bend WebCAM promises for lively conversation and idea generation,” Gordon said.

The event will be kicked off Thursday morning by opening keynote speaker, Editor Danny Sullivan of Third Door Media. In A Return To Bend: How SEO Has Changed Since I Was Last Here, Sullivan will talk about the state of SEO from when he first came to Bend in 1997 to help train locals who themselves went forward to conquer the SEO world.

. “We encourage the speakers and attendees to tweet (#BWC12 @BendWebCAM) and post on Facebook during the event and even reward it with a chance to win Kindles and other fabulous “techy” prizes provided by Bend Broadband and Zolo Media.”

Bend WebCAM is hosted by the Advertising Federation of Central Oregon and Pixelsilk, For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.bendwebcam.com.