• Cindy Gallop
• Chris Heile
• Mike Adams, Aharon Cagle, and Janet Comenos
• Michael Kelly
• Dave Balter
• 60 Second Keynotes

Download the full program guide (PDF)

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Event Locations (click to zoom)

Tuesday’s Schedule (click to zoom)

Wednesday’s Schedule (click to zoom)

The schedule for the 2011 Digital Non Conference is also available as a PDF.

Ready to register? Click here.

People have always relied upon brands to create identity, differentiation and meaning. Today our expectations are much greater, placing brands in the precarious position of performing both as agents of business and the creators of culture. Since the 1950s, brands have played an increasingly significant role in creating both culture and the lifestyles we aspire to live. In the same way that religion or fine art once shaped our socio-cultural context, brands have assumed much of that role in our daily lives. Increasingly, marketers find themselves at the center of these socio-cultural crossroads.

The marketing paradigm of the future will be vastly different from the approach that many marketers know intimately: Designing a product in secret, testing its performance in focus groups, unveiling a brand for “consumers” and then broadcasting its message through mass media.

Amidst a roller coaster of economic volatility and increasingly precarious environmental concerns, our view of the world feels vastly more complex and chaotic. People are far less interested in consumption for consumption’s sake. The shift appears to be toward a greater need for brands, products and services to align with personal values and to resonate emotionally. People evaluate and engage with brands as conduits for personal identity, expression and storytelling. Beyond these traits, brands today are judged based on their “hackability,” as people derive meaning from their positioning and mine for a deeper communion with brands where they can participate in the brand’s innovation or evolution.

More than ever before, the digital revolution has empowered the people, greatly democratizing our culture, putting the creative tools in the hands of the populace and giving them the channels to broadcast and dialogue on their own. And if brands don’t follow along? These super-empowered “prosumers” (producer-consumers) will take credit as co-creators anyway.

So, how can we as marketers create meaning for consumers and help brands transition to this already-present future to become more authentic, transparent and compassionate?

• We look beyond controlled ideas like the equity pyramid.
• We throw out ideas related to monotonous, homogenous, “one size fits all” theories.
• We create opportunities for people to discover our brands in a more interactive way, invite them into the storytelling and give them open-ended platforms to create their own ideas and identities.
• We give everyone (hackers and non-hackers alike) the tools to hack and create.
• We encourage consumers to draw their own conclusions and to create new functional and emotional purposes for our brands.
• We enable and empower “citizen brand managers.”

Valerie Jacobs will be presenting at the Digital Non-Conference on “Building a Place to Connect: The Brand-Consumer Relationship and the Future Role of Marketers.” Check her out on Tuesday, September 13^th at 2:00p.m. at The Penguin Dueling Piano Bar, 441 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

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Valerie Jacobs, vice president, group director of trends at LPK, isn’t just a forecaster of design, she’s a seasoned storm-chaser. Her trend analysis for LPK client brands is grounded in a strategic approach that incorporates research, analysis and translation of trend data into actionable strategies for consumer brands with the nerve to keep up.

In addition to a 15-year career in the marketing communication and design fields, Valerie has been an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) for a decade. She has shared her insightful and uncanny perspective on socio-cultural trends with international industry professionals, including the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and the In-Store Marketing Institute (ISMI) and has authored white papers for the Design Management Review, Innovation magazine and Interactions magazine.

The digital universe is essential for companies to better understand and reach customers. One of the biggest challenges on companies’ minds today is building a digital presence that does its job: one that engages customers, cultivates loyalty and spurs advocacy.

Adding to that complexity is the constant state of evolution in the digital space with new channels, new platforms, new apps, new data, and new analytics emerging in real-time. For marketers, navigating the vast potential of the digital space can feel like swimming in shark-infested waters. Too many opportunities and too many marketing silos result in a strategy that is chronically misaligned. And many fail.

We know the stakes are high. Customers today have greater expectations of how their shopping experience should look and feel both in-store and online. Beyond value, they look for relevance, meaning and consistency along the path to purchase. Harris Interactive found that 84% of U.S. adults who used mobile for an online transaction were disappointed in their shopping experience. Further, 63% of those surveyed indicated that they would be less likely to buy from the same company in other channels as a result of their negative experience.

Winning with customers online requires a pervasive strategy that delivers personalization and relevance across digital silos, including advertising, e-commerce, social media, brand websites and beyond.

Luckily, there are some common truths for realizing the promise of the digital space.

• Interpret the needs of your customers less as segments and more as individuals.
• Build loyalty and advocacy together by giving customers the tools to share and manage their own experience.
• Implement processes and solutions to analyze online data assets and integrate those with data captured off-line to create a comprehensive view of the customer.
• Deliver a seamless, relevant experience across channels.
• Regard digital as one more channel to support an overarching, integrated customer-centric strategy.

You can hear more from Matt Keylock at the Digital Non Conference on “Realizing the Promise of Digital,” on Tuesday, September 13^th at 3:00p.m. at The Lunar Lounge, 435 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

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Matthew Keylock, Senior Vice President, New Business Development & Partnerships, dunnhumbyUSA is recognized as an industry leader in building winning customer strategies, helping to transform some of the world’s largest enterprises, including major retailers in North America, Europe and Asia. Keylock is responsible for building dunnhumbyUSA’s capabilities and customer base, providing foundational data solutions, insights, products, communication and media for companies within the retail, manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, travel, automotive, utilities and e-commerce industry segments. Keylock also works to enhance and develop strategic partnerships that expand dunnhumby’s capabilities and innovation strategies. He is an active contributor to industry and academic outlets and frequently lends his expertise for speaking engagements within the business, marketing, retail and technology industries. He is also a member of RetailWire’s BrainTrust panel of experts. Keylock is a graduate of Oxford University in England.

Becoming the second of what is being called “an unprecedented lineup of top-calibre Non Conference keynoters,” Dave Balter is the brains behind BzzAgent, a social marketing company that accelerates word of mouth to drive sales and the co-founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Dubbed by Harvard Business School as one of Boston’s “Hottest Technology CEOs,” Balter will present on the first day of the two-day event, on September 13, at a 4 pm keynote in the Hall of Mirrors at the Cincinnati Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel. He lectures around the world on trends in social media.

When London-based dunnhumby, whose U.S. headquarters is in Cincinnati, acquired BzzAgent in May, it made Cincinnati an even bigger player in the digital arena. BzzAgent creates measurable business results for marketers through an influential advocate network, a powerful engagement platform, and a proven analytics approach. Since its launch in 2001, the company has been featured everywhere – from the CBS Evening News to the BBC to The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

At the Digital Non Conference, Dave will discuss the innovative work BzzAgent and dunnhumby are doing now to connect two of the most important trends in marketing today- social media and shopper marketing. He’ll demonstrate what brands need to do to build influential consumer advocacy in social media and how the impact on sales can be measured. After this session, social media marketing may never look the same.

The first-named keynoter, Cindy Gallop – who kicks off the Fourth Annual Non Conference as speaker at the Tuesday, September 13, luncheon – is founder of IfWeRanTheWorld.com and MakeLoveNotPorn.com, both newsmakers in the digital space. Cindy – who promises to be a “jolt” to the Cincinnati digital marketing scene, characterizes herself as a persons for whom “thinking outside the box” is, well, stale.

According to AdClub President Lori Krafte and AdClub Executive Director Judy Thompson, additional headliners – along with presenters and panelists featured in Digital Non Conference breakout sessions – will be announced within a week. Unique to the Non Conference – and the reasoning behind its name – breakout sessions are be held at fun and interesting nearby venues including The Penguin Piano Bar, the Lunar Lounge and other yet-to-be-named locations.

Social + Local + Mobile.  Being able to successfully fuse these together is captivating the minds of advertisers and industry leaders.  The potential of hyper-targeting and improved consumer loyalty to brands and products is very compelling.   Mike Kelly will discuss the latest trends and how The Weather Channel has grown its business by being one of the first media companies to embrace mobile and satisfy the intense demand for localized content.  He will also share his perspective on how digital media will continue to evolve and what you should know to maintain relevance and profitability in an increasingly social-driven global marketplace.

MICHAEL J. KELLY
CEO AND PRESIDENT, THE WEATHER CHANNEL COMPANIES

Mike Kelly is the president and chief executive officer of The Weather Channel Companies, which consists of The Weather Channel^® television network, The Weather Channel digital properties (Weather.com and Weather channel mobile) and Weather Services International. With 100 million TV viewers, 42 million web visitors and 35+ million mobile users, TWCC is the largest cross-platform content company in the media industry.  He joined The Weather Channel in 2009.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the media industry, Kelly most recently served as senior advisor to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a $3 billion, media-focused private equity firm.  He also served on the board of several fast-growing digital media companies – MediaMind (formerly Eyeblaster), Visible World and American Town Network – and as an advisor to the board of Contextweb.

Previously, Kelly was president of AOL Media Networks from 2004-2007, where he was responsible for all of AOL’s advertising properties globally.  Kelly effected enormous change at AOL and in the industry by pioneering the media network strategy through a number of successful acquisitions such as Advertising.com and Third Screen Media.  Under his leadership, AOL was repositioned in the media and advertising marketplace and experienced significant advertising revenue growth.  Prior to this position within Time Warner, Kelly also served as president of global marketing at Time Warner, working with all its companies to bring cross-platform marketing solutions to major advertisers.

Kelly began his media career in 1980 at the Chicago Tribune.  In 1983 he began a 17 year run at Time Inc., first at Fortune magazine then as part of the launch team of Entertainment Weekly, eventually becoming EW’s publisher.   Kelly was named Publisher of the Year twice during the four years he served in that role.

A proven entrepreneur, in 2000 Kelly founded American Town Network (www.americantowns.com), a locally focused and community-based digital platform, serving as CEO and bringing the company from concept to operating entity. Today, ATN is the largest “hyper-local” platform.

Kelly currently serves as a board member of the Ad Council,  The American Advertising Federation and is the Chairman of the AAF’s Advertising Hall Of Fame..  A Chicago native, he is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

CINCINNATI- AdClub Cincinnati and its Ad2 young professionals will host, on September 13 and 14, 2011, the region’s fourth Annual Digital Non Conference. This year, it’s “Where Digital Meets Art Deco,” with home base at the historic Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. Dubbed a “Non Conference” because the event is far different from a traditional conference, the event has featured totally transformed hotel ballrooms and breakout sessions in casual, nearby venues from local pubs to galleries.

A sellout at 300-plus in 2010, the event brings together digital-savvy participants ranging from industry enthusiasts, early adopters and young professionals to forward thinking mid-management and veteran professionals.  Generating a buzz far beyond its two days, the focus of the two-day meet-up is the cutting edge world of digital marketing.  Everything is up for discussion, debate, and digital discourse. In 2010, participants were 35% from ad agencies or branding firms, 25% from advertiser companies, 19% from the media with others from production and professional services companies, colleges and universities.

This year’s kickoff keynoter, Cindy Gallop – recognized in the digital space as a highly compelling and inspirational speaker at events around the world – is certain to get the Non Conference off to a lively start. Cindy is founder and CEO of www.IfWeRanTheWorld.com, a web meets world platform designed to turn good intentions into action one microaction at a time, which launched in beta with a demo at TED 2010, and of www.makelovenotporn.com, launched at TED 2009.

Sponsor recruitment for the Digital Non Conference, currently in high gear, has already landed Electronic Art; Wood, Herron & Evans; Profitability.net; and Institute for Social Media at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.  More targeted sponsorships are also available, one of which — from F&W Publishing – supported the News Media event held at Orchids at the Hilton on July 26.

With Cincinnati having been named the “most social city’ by Mashable this summer, a creative “hot spot” by the national organization ‘Creative Class’; and “Ohio’s Consumer Marketing Hub of Innovation” in 2010, it’s clear that Cincinnati has a strong reputation as being a leader in digital advertising, marketing and branding. And this event is a great way to strengthen that reputation and attract new talent to Cincinnati.

Individuals interested in attending, sponsoring or speaking at the Digital Non Conference may connect online at www.digitalcincinnati.org. For more information about the conference, contact Brooke Trusty at 859.907.3270 or email brooketherese@gmail.com.

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Media Contacts:

• Brooke Trusty  ●  brooketherese@gmail.com ●  859.907.3270
• Jaclyn Smith  ●  jacyn.smith@uc.edu ●  513.295.7399

The Digital Non Conference, now in its 4th year, is an initiative of AdClub Cincinnati that has been supported by a number of other professional marketing and communications associations in the Greater Cincinnati business community.  AdClub Cincinnati is a local nonprofit with about 400 members, one-quarter of those from its Ad2 young professionals division. A staple in the business community for 107 years, AdClub seeks to provide better understanding of the function and value of advertising while using industry talent and creativity to advance the current standards of advertising. Both AdClub and Ad2 are affiliated with the American Advertising Federation (AAF), www.aaf.org.