March 29th The Future of Marketing

Saw this article on mashable - should be an interesting event - look at http://futureofmarketing.com for more information
On March 29, a fast-paced online conference will confront the heated topic of personalized marketing, and you’re invited to listen in.

Personalized marketing — the act of customizing messages and offers based on a specific consumer’s preferences and buying patterns — has been viewed as good and bad among industry experts. Some say personalization puts customers in charge; others argue it kills the exchange of ideas by not allowing those customers to discover new things.

You can hear perspectives from both sides during the virtual event called “The Future of Marketing: Technology Driven Personalization,” where in 60-second snippets, 60 speakers will each discuss how personalization is changing the marketing industry. The speakers include industry analysts, CMOs, technologists, authors and bloggers.

Event creator Sam Rosen said personalized marketing is one of the most important intersections between marketers and consumers particularly now because of the array of tools — such as traditional and social media as well as mobile apps and other technologies — marketers can use to build brand awareness and increase sales.

“For marketers, personalization is the Holy Grail: reaching the right customer, with the right offer, at the right time,” Rosen told Mashable. “For the consumers, it’s potentially the enemy: giving away your personal data to marketers who will then use it to sell you products.

“What would it look like for marketers’ goals and consumers needs to become aligned? That’s the discussion we want to spark through this event. We want to share leading-edge examples, case studies and technological innovations that marketers can begin applying immediately.”

To gain free access to the broadcast (Tuesday at 1 p.m. EST), MP3 recording and transcript of the event, register here.

Rosen is hopeful the 1-hour broadcast will attract time-strapped listeners. “We’ve found the 60-in-60 format to be ideal for curious, forward-thinking executives who simply don’t have the time to commit (or are tired of listening) to longer webinars with only one or two speakers,” Rosen said.