Talking About My Education: New Media and Other Conferences, Seminars and Events

If President Obama is a nerd, then I am definitely a geek. In elementary, middle and high school, I dutifully followed my father's direction to do any and all extra credit. In college, having calculated the cost of each individual course, in fact, lecture, I opted to take four extra classes - one more per year than required. And now, I have become the guru of "continuing education," industry conferences, topical seminars, webinars, podcasts, you name it. Here are some examples:

Upcoming:

Social Media Week: February 1st-5th, 2010

The Official PressLift Launch Event

Recently Attended:

The New Age of Social Media, Monday, February 3rd, 7-9pm. SLC Center - 352 7th Avenue, 16th Floor - New York NY.

This event, in conjunction with Social Media Week, featured a panel that discussed the "truths and myths of social media." They were:

Eric Hamilton - Author, Social Media Branding in the Age of Obama
Ellie Nieves - Founder, Leadership Strategies for Women, LLC
Orietta E. Ramirez - Lawyer, HR Professional & Employment Blogger
Mike Street - Director of Social Media Marketing, Zezza Network

Moderator:
Anthony Quinones - CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Q Ball Media, LLC


Branding The Future With Social Media, sponsored by Pepsi Refresh, Monday, February 3rd, 2010, 10:30am - 12:30pm. New York, NY

The opening session of Social Media Week will focus on a top-level discussion of the increasing importance in utilizing social media to grow and develop corporate brands in the twenty-first century.

SPEAKERS:

Brian Morrisey, Digital Editor at AdWeek, will moderate this panel with panelists,

Lauren Hobart, Chief Marketing Officer of Sparkling Brands, for Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages,
Max Schorr, Co-founder of GOOD, Inc.
Facebook VP of Sales Tom Arrix
Frank Cooper, Chief Engagement Officer of Pepsico.


Social Media Week Official Press Conference, Monday, February 3rd, 8:30-10am. The Paley Center for Media - 25 West 52nd Street - New York, NY

Screening of "The Paper Chase," Friday, January 29th, 2010 - Harvard Club of New York

Baratunde Thurston, America, Race, and One Year Into Our Nation’s First Half-Black Presidency. Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Breaking Business Books: "The Power of Many" by Meg Whitman, Former EBay CEO, on Life and Business, Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

"Over-Under, Sideways-Down" - screening of the 1979 film followed by discussion with director-producer Steve Wax

Keynote speech by Louise Richardson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor University of Saint Andrews - expert on terrorism, January 21, 2010

iPhone workshop at Apple Store, Upper West Side - Monday, January 19, 2010.

Aperture workshop at Apple Store, Upper West Side - Monday, January 18, 2010.

Meeting of the Minds Webcast Series: 50+ Metrics Every Marketer Should Master (an Update)

Sponsored by American Marketing Association and MarketingNPV

Paul Farris of Darden School at UVA will offer an update on the new 2nd edition of 50+ Metrics Every Marketer Should Master – and discuss the additions and changes to the key metrics shaping marketing measurement. He’ll also share with us some new research into who is using which types of marketing metrics and how.

· Which metrics matter most?
· The evolution/update of marketing metrics
· New metrics for marketers to know

Speakers:
Paul Farris, Landmark Communications Professor, Darden School, University of Virginia; Author of 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master
Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner, MarketingNPV (moderator)

-- January 14th, 2010 @ 1pm ECT

Meeting of the Minds Webcast Series: Effective Marketing for the Economic Recovery -- Presented by: American Marketing Association in cooperation with MarketingNPV

Speakers:
Dave Reibstein, William Woodside Professor of Marketing, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Author: Dynamic Competitive Strategy
Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner, MarketingNPV (moderator)

Dave Reibstein of Wharton will share his learnings on effective marketing during the economic recovery. Should we be waiting until the recession is all the way over? Should we be returning back to the original spending levels—slowly, immediately, or even exceeding the previous levels? Should we be spending differently in the recovery stage? Dave will discuss how spending should rise or fall as economic conditions vary, and when marketers should look to reallocate spending between acquisition and retention based on the type as well as the length of the recession.

* Recessions - what type of effects are being felt in your industry?
* How does a recession affect your total spending?
* What steps should you take in the allocation of spending between customer acquisition and retention?
* Should you wait until the recession is over to start increasing your spending?

-- December 15th, noon CST

"Market Forecast: The Economy and Markets at the Crossroads" NYSSA (New York Society of Security Analysts) - The stock market rally that began in early March sparked hope that the global economy has seen the worst of the recession. Yield spreads have moved closer to normal and credit has begun to flow with greater regularity. Yet, there remains significant doubt among many investors that the rise in stocks and the return to some semblance of normality in the credit markets is justified by the current and future state of the economy. Additionally, a high and rising level of concern of many investors is the degree of government activism exhibited by the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress. Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

"Understanding Social Media: An Introduction." Fridays with Vistage - Social Media Webcast with speaker Gini Dietrich. Friday, July 17th, 2009. I thought this would be kind of elementary as it was promoted as an intro to social media for executives. It definitely started out that way and reinforced most of what I already knew from my own experience, from Steve Wax at Campfire and from OMMA Social - among other social media sources; however, as Gini got more specific, there were some interesting tidbits, and I always find that the more you immerse yourself in a topic, the more knowledgeable, fluent and comfortable you become - even if it's your area of personal expertise. Moreover, I discovered after the fact a Twitter discussion community full of social media fluent participants and a total audience of 1,000 people according to one tweet. I'm looking forward to next Friday's installment (and hope to post some key takeaways).

"Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29: A Screening and Q&A with Director Kevin Rafferty '69." Harvard Club of New York - Wednesday, July 15th, 2009.

Advanced Investing Committee Meeting. NYSSA (New York Society of Security Analysts) - Tuesday, July 14th, 2009.

"Inter-Ivy Comedy Night." Penn Club of New York - Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

"What is Twitter, Facebook? LinkedIn? Hulu? And Why are They Important to You?" Harvard Club of New York with speaker Shelly Palmer - Later revised to: "What is Twitter? And how did it become a force in Iranian politics?" - Organized by Karen Levine, Program Committee, Harvard Club of New York

"Advanced Excel for Data Analysis" New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) - Streamline your number crunching process and conduct more in-depth analysis with sophisticated techniques. Minimize manual labor, save time and perform more detailed analysis quickly. Develop more efficient ways to apply commonly used formulas. Discover often overlooked Excel formulas. Analyze data using functions such as pivot tables, sumif, sum+if, transpose, working with arrays, vlook-up, subtotals, and regression analysis. Enhance your spreadsheets with data validation techniques, automation of alternate row shading and much more! Increase your Excel efficiency up to 75%.

"6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times" New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) with speaker Whitney Tilson - During recent years, a flood of liquidity fueled a worldwide asset bubble, in which the most significant element was the Great Mortgage Bubble in the United States. The unwinding of this bubble remains the primary driver of the credit crisis that is reverberating through the global financial system. Value investor Whitney Tilson, co-author of the recently released book More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times, will share an in-depth analysis of the state of the housing market and a prediction of what the future may have in store. This session will conclude with an overview of the current opportunity set, discussing what has already been priced into securities and where the best opportunities can be found on the short- and long-side.

Inaugural Meeting of the Wharton Marketing Professionals Association (WhAM) -- Presented by Wharton Dean Tom Robertson and Marketing Professor Dave Reibstein. Wharton Dean (and former Marketing Department Chair) Tom Robertson launched the Wharton Association of Marketers (WhAM!) in New York on Tuesday, March 17th. Sponsored by the Wharton Club of New York -- WhAM! is the first Wharton alumni program of its kind -- an exclusive network dedicated to the professional, career and personal growth of the best trained, most elite group of marketing professionals in the world -- Wharton Marketers!

In his launch address Dean Robertson also provided an update on the state of the school, followed by Professor Reibstein's update on the University's latest developments and initiatives in the field of Marketing - March 17, 2009