Want to network AND get smarter? Check out these conferences

93277987 There's no better way to learn than to mingle with smart people, learn from smart people and share your own smarts.

There are three excellent opportunities to do just that in November.  Check them out.

I Blog Conference — November 5-7 (Perry, IA)

The I Blog Conference was designed to educate and celebrate bloggers in the Midwest. Sessions are filled with useful information from the brightest minds in social media. Whether you're just beginning your journey into blogging and social media or you've been building your brand for years, the I Blog Conference has relevant information for everyone!

The I Blog conference takes at the historic Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa; just minutes from Des Moines. You'll be embraced by the charm and history of Perry as you check into one of the 40 tastefully themed rooms and enjoy specially prepared meals from the extraordinary chef at David's Milwaukee Diner. 

 

The Secret Service Summit — November 4 – 5 (Cleveland, OH)

The Secret Service Summit is a 2-day customer service learning experience where 10 speakers, authors and top brand executives from leading national brands, share HOW to evaluate, improve and become a 'World-Class Customer Service organization. Speakers include Dennis Snow from Disney, Amy Mendenhall from Hallmark and Aveda's CEO, among others.

The Ritz-Carlton, The Melting Pot, Progressive Insurance, Zappos.com, Starbucks, Nestle, Goodyear, PNC Bank are some of the bastions of world-class customer service excellence who have participated in the "Secret Service Summit." 

 

The Senior Marketing Executive Conference by The Conference Board — November 9 -11 (NYC)

In 2009, The Senior Marketing Executive Conference was cited as the #1 Senior Marketing Venue Globally; this year’s 2010 conference promises to deliver. You will hear some of the greatest business marketing stories of our time—directly from the leaders. Speakers will include Steve Forbes, Tony Hsieh from Zappos, Shelly Lazarus from Olgilvy, Seth Goldman from Honest Tea and many others.

Day 1 you will hear the presenters focus on 7 focus areas like innovation and social media. Day two will be selected case studies and will wrap up with a panel discussing how to implement the 7 focus areas.

If you'd like a discount to this conference, please use the code DM1 and save $500!

 

 

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5 comments on “Want to network AND get smarter? Check out these conferences

  1. Deb Brown says:

    Drew –
    Glad to see you put up the iBlog Conference — it’s great to see Midwesterners coming together and creating some sparks! I was blessed to speak there last year and am looking forward to being part of the Destination Midwest at the event this year.

    You missed the 140 Character Conference in Hutchinson Kansas November 1. http://smalltown.140conf.com This conference has been held in big cities around the world. Becky McCray, who knows how to make a difference, contacted the organizers and explained they needed to come to a small town in the Midwest. This one day conference covers the technology of Now and how it’s made a difference in our businesses and lives. I’ll be there.

    As always – you rock!

    @debworks

  2. Claire Celsi says:

    Hey Drew! Thanks for putting this list together. I also want to let your readers know that Todd Defren from Shift Communications is the keynote speaker at the PRSA Institute, on October 29. It’s being held at the Iowa Health System conference center. Todd will be the lunch speaker and members may attend lunch only for $30 and $40 for non-members. Here is the link for more information and people can email me at claire.celsi@gmail.com if they have more questions. Thanks! http://prsaciowa.org/meetinginfo.php

  3. Deb & Claire —

    Thanks for sharing the additional conferences! One of the joys and challenges of this era of business is that there is SO MUCH opportunity to get smarter. But of course, we can’t live there forever, we have to get some work done.

    I’m curious — how do you decide which conferences to attend and which ones you have to skip?

    Drew

  4. Deb Brown says:

    Drew –
    Good question! If I had my druthers I’d go to a lot more. I’m concentrating on getting applicable information and perhaps being on a panel or speaking – that’s what my next year looks like.

    I tend to follow Becky McCray around — we’re both in the same kind of business and she’s one smart cookie. That helps. I met her in Kansas on a bloggers tour and then again at SobCon08. SobCon is a must conference.

    I listen very closely to Amber Naslund from Radian 6. She attends some great conferences too. Once again, met her at SobCon.

    I support Iowa conferences (and shouldn’t we all?) and that’s how I ended up at iBlog.

    Next year I’ve added BlogWorld to my list – the attendees and speakers are talking about the things I want to know and use.

    SXSW is a possibility. It’s rather expensive – and there’s some fundraising to be done around that.

    I look for seminars, webinars, conferences and meetings around the topics of tourism, Iowa, and
    networking in social media.

    Long winded answer!

  5. Shannan O'Bryan says:

    Thank you for posting these. As a soon to be graduate from Central College, networking is really important. Do you have any good tips to help someone who is hoping to find employment in the spring ways to stand out?

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