American Marketing Association - AMA - HotTopic Blogging Seminar Weblog

AMA Speakers Are MarketingSherpa Readers' Choice Blog Nominees

Three of our speakers are nominees for the prestigious MarketingSherpa 2005 Readers' Choice Blog Awards.

-Dana VanDen Heuvel, Blog Savant in the  B-to-B Marketing category
-Ben McConnell - Church of the Customer in the Group Weblogs category
-Toby Bloomberg - Diva Marketing Blog - in the General Marketing and Advertising category

Categories include:
1. Best blog on b-to-b marketing
2. Best blog on PR
3. Best blog on small business marketing
4. Best individual’s blog on the general marketing & advertising
5. Best group (multi-author) weblog
6. Best blog on search marketing
7. Best blog in other languages
8. Best blog on online marketing
9. Best blog on niche marketing

To be considered:
1. Blogs must have been on the topic of advertising, marketing or public relations
2. Launched prior to December 31, 2004
3. Regularly updated this year

Winners will be announced in June, and will receive a “Voted Best Blog” icon for their site, a hotlink from MarketingSherpa, and a MarketingSherpa Best Blog Winner coffee mug.

Voting ends June 8th. I encourage you to pay a visit to the ballot page. There are some excellent blogs to discover.

 

Corporate Blog Survey

Backbone Media is conducting a survey of people who run business blogs in order to get a better understanding of why companies start them, potential roadblocks in the process and how blogs are impacting key aspects of corporate communications. The Backbone Media Corporate Blogging Survey is accessabe through this link:
http://www.backbonemedia.com/blogsurvey/

The AMA HotTopic Blog Seminar Marches to Boston on June 24th

The American Marketing Association was one of the first to hold marketing-specific blog education events for marketers, and we're continuing the fun in Boston on June 24th.  Be a part of the most comprehensive 'blogging for marketers' education program.  Here's a rundown of what we have in store for you.

Location: Batterymarch Conference Center
60 Batterymarch Street, Second Floor
(Located on the 2nd floor of the Wyndham Boston Hotel)
Boston, MA 02110
617.556.8000
http://www.batterymarchmeet.com

Event: AMA Hot Topic Series  -  Blogs: Marketing Beyond the Website
Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Schedule: See below and the link.

Price: Non Member $695, AMA Member $645

Registration Link: Click here to register for the Boston Blogs: Marketing Beyond the Website Event

For the workshop's blog: Click here

Schedule June 24th 2005

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Setting the Stage/Introductions
Speaker: Toby Bloomberg, President, Bloomberg Marketing
Diva Marketing

9:00 - 9:45 a.m. Blogging 101
Speaker: Ben McConnell, Author, Speaker, Church of the Customer
Church of the Customer

9:45 - 10:30 a.m. It's Not Just A Website: Why Blogs Are Different, And What That Means To Marketers
Speaker: Stowe Boyd, President, Corante
Get Real

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Blogs: It's All About the Story
Speaker: Millie Garfield
My Mom's Blog by Thouroughly Modern Millie

10:45 - 11:00 a.m. Break

11:00 - 11:45 a.m. RSS: Marketer's Next Big Thing?
Speaker: Bill Flitter, Chief Marketing Officer, Pheedo, Inc.
Pheedo Blog

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Lunch

12:45 - 1:30 p.m. Searching for Blogs
Wayne Pelletier, Interactive Creative Director, 360i.com, Inc.
search engine scoop

1:30 - 2:15 p.m. Weblogs in Practice: How Smart Marketers are Using Weblogs
Speaker: Dana VanDen Heuvel, Managing Director, BlogSavant

2:15 - 2:45 p.m. Corporate Blogger
Dr. Ronald Lasky, Senior Technologist, Indium Corporation and a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College,
Dr. Lasky's Blog
Rick Short, Director of Corporate Communications at Indium Corporation, Short's Blog

2:45 - 3:00 p.m. Break

3:00 - 3:45 p.m. Weblogs and the Law
Speaker: Charles M. Smith, COO and Legal Counsel, Pheedo, Inc.

3:45 - 4:30 p.m. Helping Your Company Jump on The Weblog Bandwagon Panel Moderator: John Cass, President-Elect, AMA Boston Chapter & Backbone Media Blog Survey
Participants: All available speakers and special guest Georgeo Pulikkathara Microsoft's MSDN Webcasts

4:30 - 5:00 p.m. Wrap-up and Review - Taking it Back to the Job
Speaker: Toby Bloomberg, President, Bloomberg Marketing
Diva Marketing

[Simulposted at BlogSavant, Dana VanDen Heuvel, The AMA Blog, and John Cass]

First Consumer Research Study: Blog Usage

Finally! One of the first pieces of research on customers' perceptions about marketing/business blogs and the influence these types of blogs can have on the brand/company. This study was conducted by the German agency CRM agency Proximity.  

Please keep in mind this is a German-based study; we don't know if cultural differences would impact findings. I challenge a  research  firm to  conduct  a similar study with  U.S.  customers and go a step further to include questions on type of content, frequency of posts, length of posts...you know the drill. 

• 91% of the blog readers expect a fast and appropriate reaction to questions and comments in enterprise blogs. Okay U.S. research firms - your turn at bat!


• 90% think it's important to make a clear difference between commercial and non-commercial content.


• Of the blog readers, 54% form their opinions about products/companies on the basis of blogs.


• 51% of the blog readers visit product and/or corporate sites as a results of reading blogs.


• 58% of the blog readers, read them to find news and information they can't find otherwise.


• 57% of them are interested in the personal opinions of the authors, but only 43% are interested in the discussions.