The upcoming MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer takes place next month in Scottsdale, Arizona. You’ve probably already seen the stellar speaker lineup, keynotes, and sponsor list. But as the name “Mixer” suggests, the attendees are an equally important part of the.. well, mix. In an occasional series, I highlight some of the people that will be attending. Now up: Amber Naslund.
Q: So what do you do?
A: I’m a social media marketing consultant, based in Chicago. My background is a little bit of everything …. from non-profit fundraising to traditional corporate marketing …. and I’m passionate about helping companies take a straightforward, common sense approach to social media to unlock its brand-building potential.
Q: What do you hope to get out of the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer?
A: Most of all, I’m hoping to learn more from companies and pros who are using social media marketing to build their brands and their businesses. This space is so new and growing so rapidly that learning from companies who are actually doing it …. from the challenges to the successes …. is critical to establishing it’s long term value and place in the marketing and communications world. Best practices and quality case studies are so valuable to this space, and I can’t wait to absorb mountains of information about the business cases and ROI evaluations of social media marketing.
I’m also a search marketing novice, so I’m looking forward to getting out of my social media fishbowl for a while to build my knowledge in this arena. It can only add value not just to my business, but to how I advise clients. That’s the fantastic thing about this conference …. three awesome tracks with equally awesome information. Is cloning included with my registration?
And I’d be remiss to not mention the networking benefits. I can’t wait to meet so many people in person that I’ve gotten to know in the social media and online marketing world, and the new, brilliant people that I don’t yet know.
Q: What session tops your list of “must-attend”?
A: You’re going to make me pick just one? Yikes! Ok, I definitely won’t be missing KD Paine’s session on Making a Business Case for Social Media: Measuring Its Impact. This is at the core of so much of what businesses are asking for when starting out in social media, and it’s going to be ever more critical that we as social media “professionals” can spell this out in clear, concise terms for the companies we work with.
Q: Who are you most looking forward to meeting?
A: Can I say you? Seriously! From a professional perspective, I’m looking forward to meeting Frank Eliason, Chris Brogan, and Christopher Penn. All have done some super cool work in social media, and I’d love to put some faces with the names and the work and congratulate them on their success.
On a personal level, I have about a dozen friends from Twitter and Plurk and the blogosphere that will all be converging on Phoenix for the Digital Mixer, and I can’t wait to meet them all. There’s just no substitute for conversation and connection in person.
