The Online Marketing Summit is an incredible opportunity to see some of the best and brightest search marketers present in an intimate conference setting. Aaron Kahlow has organized an awesome show for Portland and I’m glad he’s taken the time to answer some questions about the conference and about Internet Marketing in general.
1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.
I’m the Chairman & Founder of the Online Marketing Summit and its related educational arm, the Online Marketing Institute. I also write columns for ClickZ, MarketingProfs, Online Strategies Magazine, Electronic Retailer, iMediaConneciton, BtoBOnline, MarketingSherpa, SearchEngineWatch, American Business Media and my personal favorite Online Marketing for Marketers Blog
2) What is the Online Marketing Summit and why should I attend?
The Online Marketing Summit is an Education Only event that is built to teach marketers and business professionals the best practices in Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Website Usability, Integrated Planning and Strategy, Web Analytics, Email Marketing, Demand Generation and all domains of Online Marketing. Case studies to hands on workshops; Thought Leadership Keynotes to Usability and SEO labs, OMS covers the full gambit of educational content to hit every level and type of marketer to ensure they have true take away they can implement and act on tomorrow.
Folks should attend to understand what their peers and competitors are doing to succeed. Those that attend the Online Marketing Essentials Certification program are also attending to get credits toward their certification (a program offered through the Online Marketing Institute). No tradeshow booths, no sales-folk, no pitch environment also facilitates a world class networking environment that leads to lifelong industry relationships and career opportunities.
3) This is the second year OMS is coming to Portland. How will this year’s show differ from last year’s?
We have 100% new content and great new speakers like:
Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOMoz,
Jeanniey Mullen, CMO Zinio, Founder of Email Experience Council
Steve Gelen, Internet Strategy Forum
Anne Kennedy, Founder, Beyond Ink and Joblr.net
Patrick Neeman,CEO, Usability Counts
4) How do you see the economic downturn affecting the online marketing space?
I think it’s a great opportunity for Online Marketing as we have the most accountable, measurable marketing in the history of marketing. With all things heading in that direction and accountability being so high, I believe ONLINE will shine brighter and get the attention and budgets we’ve longed deserved. No better opportunity to advance career and gain market share than in a recession.
5) Many businesses want to embrace social media but few know how to do it well. How can these folks get educated on the best practices?
Well, of course OMS has a few session dedicated to just that and for continual education the “Essentials of Online Marketing Certification Program” through our Online Marketing Institute partnered with Wharton and our new Advanced Social Media Certification program being launched in July. Details can be found Institute https://OnlineMarketingConnect.com.
6) Lots of folks think email marketing is past its prime due to many issues (shorter attention spans, the rise of social media, crowded inboxes). How do you respond to this?
I do agree with sentiment that the dependence of email as a communication tool is waning… but email as marketing tool and overall is not “dead” by any stretch… it’s got a lot of life left… just going to be fragmented on communication cycles… remember we all go back to Facebook b/c we get emails saying “Aaron posted on your wall”.
7) Do you have anything else you wish to tell our audience about your event?
June 29th Hotel Monaco; see www.onlinemarketingsummit.com and SEMPDX20 for 20% discount code from our friends at SEMpdx valid for one more week.
Todd Mintz knows PPC…knows Social Media…knows SEO…knows Blogging…knows Domaining…and knows them all real well. He runs growth marketing for )and is also a Director & Founding Member of SEMpdx: Portland, Oregon’s Search Engine Marketing Association, and he can be found here on Twitter and Facebook.