Agenda & Presentations
Tuesday | Wednesday
See Wednesday's Schedule!
Welcome: Third Annual State of the Industry
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.
Celebrate the successes of the word of mouth marketing industry. Prospects for the future of our profession as word of mouth marketing faces the challenges and opportunities of becoming part of the mainstream marketing mix. Where we've been this year, and where we're going next.
Keynote: Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman of AOL
8:50 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.
WOMMA is pleased to announce Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of AOL, as keynote. Widely known as AOL's "champion of the member," Leonsis will address hundreds of the industry's top word of mouth marketers at this exclusive event. Don't miss it; seats are limited!
Great Word of Mouth: Award-Winning WOM Case Studies
10:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Learn word of mouth from those who do it best. Winners of the WOMMA Case Studies competition present their best work in order to help you do yours.
Consumers in Control: Respect, Trust and Marketers Learning to Live with It
11:05 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
- Gary Stein, Director of Strategy, Ammo Marketing
- Rob Gould, Partner, Porter Novelli
- Mary Engle, Associate Director for Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
Consumers control the conversation. To succeed, we must adopt a philosophy of customer satisfaction in order to earn our customers' trust, and continue to commit ourselves to a code of ethics to maintain that trust. Find out how marketers are learning to cope in a consumer-centric world.
WOM 101: Who's Talking: Working with Influencers, Evangelists, Agents and Fans
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
- Warren Ackerman, VP, Product & Business Development, Affinitive
- Virginia Miracle, Director of Word of Mouth Marketing, Brains on Fire
- Julian Aldridge, CEO, Freestyle Interactive
Successful word of mouth is all about real consumers spreading the word for you. Learn how to find them now and work with them later.
- Influentials vs. the average Joe
- Are your existing customers the best evangelists?
- How to identify active talkers in your database
- Reaching out to highly connected people
- Messages that influence influencers
The Internal Sell: How to Make the Business Case
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
- Jim Nail, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Cymfony
- Tom McMillian, Director, Relationship & Interactive Marketing, Pfizer
Word of mouth is more than just marketing; it's a company-wide activity. Create a business case and a communications plan to get everybody on board.
- Learn to convince the skeptics in your company that word of mouth is important
- How to deal with cross-departmental issues
- Learn to share word of mouth responsibilities and successes with your marketing, customer service, management and sales teams
Offline WOM
12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
- Ed Keller, CEO, The Keller Fay Group
- David Clark, President & CEO, TALK Marketing
- David Adler, CEO/Founder, BiZBash Media
Word of mouth isn't all blogs and MySpace. Studies show that a majority of WOM takes place offline. Sure, it's harder to monitor and manage, but in the end, it's also more effective.
- Learn to understand what people are saying in the real world
- Discover tools and techniques for getting your customers to talk
- Find out what happens when an online story goes offline
- Make sure discussion board conversations are also picked up at companies' watercoolers
- Download Ed Keller's presentation
- Download David Clark's presentation
- Download David Adler's presentation
Lunch Activity led by Doug Walker, Managing Director of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society
12:55 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Douglas Walker is an Interactive Strategist at ad agency TBWA\ Toronto, but in the off hours he is also the Managing Director of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society and the co-author of "The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide".
The World Rock Paper Scissors Society (www.worldrps.com) and RPS World Championships have been an extraordinarily successful experiment in viral/Word of mouth communications. Without ever using traditional media it has been a massive communications success leading to hundreds of interviews with top-tier media (Today Show, Conan OBrien, New York Times, Front page of Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, BBC, Boston Globe, NPR, etc.), a one-hour special on Fox Sports Net, a book deal with Simon &Schuster and a feature-length documentary. The RPS experiment illustrates many of the ideals of new marketing and social media (participation, storytelling, authenticity, attention, etc.) and shows how a couple of guys with some talent and creativity can garner the attention of the world.
The networking event will feature a 15 minute presentation where you will learn the key success factor: continuous mutation of an idea to keep WOM flourishing. Presentation is followed by a lively Rock Paper Scissors networking competition where all attendees will get a chance to meet, greet and defeat their fellow attendees.
WOM 102: Creating Messages that Travel: Ideas, Items and Actions People Want to Share
2:40 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.
- Jim Calhoun, CEO, PopularMedia
- David Rabjohns, President, MotiveQuest
- Joel Book, Director, eMarketing, ExactTarget
Learn to package your brand message for maximum pass-along.
- What makes a message go viral?
- Why do people get inspired to share a message?
- How do you get the brand message included in the word of mouth conversation?
- Seeding and sampling: How to start the conversation
- What do you do when the conversation goes negative?
- Download Jim Calhoun's presentation
- Download David Rabjohns's presentation
- Download Joel Book's presentation
Managing a WOM Program: Make it Work
2:40 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.
- Amy Cotteleer, President, A Squared Group
- Sam Decker, VP, Marketing and Products, Bazaarvoice
- Dan Buczaczer, VP, Director, Starcom MediaVest Group
Who should be in charge of your word of mouth program? Client-side departments? PR agencies? Ad agencies? Media specialists? Learn to coordinate internal and agency teams, and to get word of mouth into both your business plan and your media plan.
Are Bloggers Journalists? The Politics of Blogging
2:40 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.
- David Armon, COO, PR Newswire
- Julia Hood, Editor-in-Chief, PRWeek
- Henry Copeland, CEO, Blogads.com
As bloggers continue to influence the media landscape, debates continue over their rights, roles and responsibilities.
- When are bloggers acting as journalists?
- Should bloggers enjoy freedom of the press?
- When must bloggers demonstrate journalistic accountability?
- Do anonymous bloggers deserve press privileges, or is free speech protection conditional on disclosure?
Influencers in Action: Working with Powerful Voices
2:40 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.
- Renee Wilson, SVP, Director, Consumer Practice, MS&L
- Paul Leinberger, ComBlu
- Jet Wharton, Director, Marketing, McElroy LA
Identifying influencers is only half the battle. Once you find them, you've got to keep them happy, too. Learn to manage a mature influencer program.
- How to keep conversations going
- Learn to motivate and inspire your most influential customers
- Understand how to maintain relationships with influencers
WOM 103: Tools That Accelerate WOM: Blogs, Communities, Emails, Samples and More
3:35 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.
- Peter Klaus, Head of Word of Mouth, Fleishman-Hillard
- David Neupert, CEO, M80
- Tom Eiland, Partner, Conkling, Fiskum & McCormick
Once a conversation starts, how do you keep it going? Learn to work with the best online and offline tools in order to make it easier for people to talk about you.
- Making messages portable
- Adding viral elements to your communications
- Offline conversation starters
- Creating your own blogs
- How to get people to use the forward-to-a-friend link
- Download Peter Klaus's presentation
- Download David Neupert's presentation
- Download Tom Eiland's presentation
WOM in the Marketing Mix
3:35 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.
- Jamie Tedford, SVP, Marketing & Media Innovation, Arnold Worldwide
- Dave Balter, Founder/CEO, BzzAgent
- David Rockland, Partner Global Director of Research, Ketchum Communications
Learn to integrate word of mouth efforts into your broader marketing campaign.
- Creating a complete media plan
- Working with media planners
- Using WOM metrics with other marketing data for maximum impact
- Is WOM a media channel?
Marketing on Social Networks and Second Life
3:35 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.
- Debra Aho Williamson, Senior Analyst, eMarketer
- CC Chapman, VP, New Marketing, Crayon
As social networks continue to grow and prosper, and as virtual communities continue to take shape, marketers are discovering increased opportunity and increased responsibility alike. Learn to be both creative and ethical in emerging social spaces.
- Learn the role of marketers in social media
- How to advertise successfully and appropriately within social networks
- Maintaining standards in virtual communities
WOM 104: Participation: The Right Way to Join the WOM Conversation
4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
- Rick Murray, President, Edelman
- Scott Wilder, Group Manager, QuickBooks Online Community and Collaboration, Intuit
Learn the safe and ethical way to participate in the word of mouth conversation.
- Who from your staff should be participating in the conversation?
- How to effectively and honestly participate in social media environments
- Learn the correct methods of disclosure and identification
Ethics and Disclosure: Safeguards to Protect Your Brand
4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
- Gary Spangler, E-Business Leader, DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies, DuPont
- Idil Cakim, VP, Interactive Media, GolinHarris
- Andy Sernovitz, CEO, Word of Mouth Marketing Association
Keep your company out of trouble by adopting word of mouth ethics policies. Learn to use the tools that WOMMA has created to ensure that stealth stays out of your work.
- Questions to ask that will keep stealth marketers at bay
- How to prevent agencies, partners and junior staff from doing stealth in your name, without your knowledge
- Integrating ethics into your brand identity
- Learn to ethically participate in consumer-generated media environments
- How to practice disclosure while preserving creativity
- Download Gary Spangler's presentation
- Download Idil Cakim's presentation
- Download Andy Sernovitz's presentation
Beyond Buzz: Keeping It Going After Your 15 Minutes
4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
- Paul Rand, Partner, Global Chief Development and Innovation Officer, Ketchum
- John Bell, Executive Vice President/Creative Director, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Word of mouth is more than surprising stunts and outrageous one-offs. Learn strategies for building long-term buzz. How to create relationships with fans that keep them talking month after month.
- Managing long-term relationships
- Giving your supporters more reasons to talk over time
- Building lasting conversations
Brands Roundtable
3:35 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Based on demand from members, WOMMA will be moderating a special session for brand marketers only. This private discussion group will bring brands together in a vendor-free environment to share their word of mouth insights, techniques, and knowledge. The roundtable discussion is confidential, so you can feel confident sharing your experiences with others, including what's worked in your company and what hasn't. You'll leave this session with fresh ideas, action items, and enthusiasm, not to mention a new network of peers for future support. Please note: In order to attend the Brands Roundtable, you must first register for the WOMMA Summit. There are only 25 spots available for this special event, so hurry; email events@womma.org for more information, or to sign up.
Networking Time
5:25 p.m. - 6:10 p.m.
Meet your fellow attendees and apply the lessons that you've learned in hands-on group sessions. Groups will mix and match you with interesting people and present a challenging case study for discussion. This guided session gives you the opportunity to apply the lessons you've learned while building relationships with your fellow attendees. Results will be shared on the WOMMA blog.
Official Dinner Banquet
6:30 p.m.
Eat, bond, and network with your fellow attendees at one of WOMMA's legendary dinners. We've taken over Philippe Lajaunie's world-renowned French restaurant, Brasserie Les Halles, for this must-attend event. This is where Congress comes to dine, and the staff is rolling out its red carpet for WOMMA. Dinner is free with conference registration.