We’ve just announced the initial lineup for ILM East in Boston, March 21-23, which follows hot on the heels of our Interactive Local Media 2010 conference in Santa Clara – possibly the largest local event ever, with 681 attendees.
ILM East is a brand new show, built to leverage this fast-changing environment. We’re especially excited to have David Weinberger as our opening keynoter. As co-author of “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and sole author of “Everything is Miscellaneous” (my favorite book), Weinberger was among the first to recognize that the “new marketplaces” go beyond transactions to focus on conversations, engagement and customer acquisition.
ILM East also features two “SuperForums” on 1) mobile local media and 2) group buying/deal a day. These will individually focus on where mobile and group buying are going, and will feature many of the top leaders in each space. Living Social CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy – hot off his company’s sale of 1.3 million Amazon coupons — and Gilt City CEO Nate Richardson will point the way on that. Yipit’s Jim Moran , WildFire App’s Victoria Ransom and Local Thunder’s Jim Boutin provide a 360 view of the deals environment.
Other major speakers confirmed to date include Gannett Digital Media Network GM Josh Resnik, who has been deeply involved with all of Gannett’s digital and vertical initiatives; Facebook’s Local Monetization leader Maz Sharafi, who joined Facebook from Google to help jumpstart the local revolution there; Former Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarity, who is now entrepreneur in residence at The Mayfield Fund; NY Magazine Digital GM Michael Silberman, who has been redefining the local city magazine into a vertical-based product; and Yext’s Howard Lerman, who will be discussing the company’s Real Live Promotions/Tagging initiative.
We are also doing something that everyone always asks for: a panel of smart small business advertisers will talk about why they make the marketing decisions they make. AT&T’ Interactive’s Maria Kermath spearheads that effort, along with AT&T Advertising’s Charles Lee.
We’ll also have a strong focus on maximizing local retail online – a major development for 2011. Milo’s Jack Abraham, JiWire’s David Courtney and PaperG’s Victor Wong will talk about the new, revolutionary retail environment.
Hyperlocal also gets a different spin at ILM East. Rather than focusing on community and content, we’re ready to talk dollars – real dollars. AOL Local’s Mike DeLuca and The Washington Post’s Tim Condon will headline that.
And we’re digging deep into events – the roots of most things local — with trendsetters such as Eventbrite’s Kevin Hartz and Goby’s Mark Watkins.
And we’re also looking at how national companies are approaching local search, with local search leaders such as U-Haul’s Elnora Palms and Progressive Insurance’s Matthew Marko.
There is much, much more planned. Register early and take advantage of “earlier bird” rates.