Diverse group of Confluence speakers to offer actionable marketing tips
Confluence Conference and its slew of digital marketing experts are due to arrive in Oklahoma City for the sixth year. The twoday conference is scheduled for Sept. 20-21 at the Tower Theatre in the city’s Uptown 23rd District. Tickets are now on sale.
As every year, conference attendees can expect updates on the latest digital marketing trends. However, speakers are expected to go deeper with their presentations, arming listeners with actionable takeaways that they can use to help audiences achieve their marketing goals — small and large.
Aimclear founder and creative director Marty Weintraub leads as one of the keynote speakers this year.
He will illuminate a new world of federal regulation and data usage. Because no slowdown is expected, we must brace ourselves to be adaptive.
“The marketing universe has gone all wonky. Data misuse — followed by intense restrictions, GDPR and whatever is coming next — ensures things won’t settle down any time soon, if ever,” Weintraub explained. “I want attendees to envision beyond channels and focus on integrating classic creative greatness with search and social channels, ads, data, and crazy cool tactics, so they can thrive in a challenging era and avoid becoming one-trick-pony marketing roadkill.”
Confluence adds Weintraub, who is a regular presenter at industry events such as UnGagged and MozCon, to its roster of nationally renowned speakers who have come to Oklahoma to share their expertise. Confluence, which is presented by BigWing, an Oklahoma Citybased digital marketing agency, is an opportunity for this region’s professionals to engage with some of the industry’s most influential minds.
Wistia video strategist Shannon Cassidy is also keynoting. Wistia creates software for creating, managing and sharing videos for business, and has partnered with wellknown businesses including Mailchimp and Squarespace.
“My presentation is called ‘A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach to Video ROI.’ Participants will learn about how to employ quantitative metrics like video viewing data and leads generated, but also qualitative indicators like brand influence and product education to determine the success of any campaign,” Cassidy said.
“Often the best marketing strategies deliver on both, and I'll be giving real live examples of how some of our Wistia, our clients, and our partners have seen success.”
Speakers come not only from a national pool of influencers. Regional powerhouses also are represented in the conference’s lineup.
David Christopher, the original founder of Confluence and now director of marketing and growth at Tailwind, will also be featured. Christopher helped shape the conference’s direction of growth. His Confluence presentation will discuss how community drives business.
“Over the past few years, Tailwind has grown from a small Oklahoma City software startup to an important tool for hundreds of thousands of visual marketers. Our community of members have been a fundamental driver of our growth,” Christopher said.
“At Confluence, I'll be talking about what we've learned at Tailwind over the past few years about the importance of community for any customercentric business, and how to harness its elemental power to generate word of mouth for your product.”
It’s a suitable topic for Confluence as one of its main ideas is to build community among marketers in the region. Christopher believes that a strong Oklahoma marketing community, full of thought leaders and creativity, positions every business to have a better shot at succeeding.
“The more businesses succeed, the stronger and more diverse our economy grows,” he said. “To be a part of any enterprise that creates jobs and so changes lives is a privilege. I'm just happy I get to come back every year and enjoy the hard work the Confluence team puts into this really valuable event.”
Confluence is also a homecoming for other speakers.
Rachel Mann, team lead of American Fidelity’s Digital Engagement Department, will be a speaker this year, but she has seen Confluence from behind the scenes in her role as a former Confluence Planning Committee member.
“I’m excited to experience Confluence from a completely different perspective this year. From 2014 to 2015, I was involved in planning the conference and 2017 was my first year as an attendee. Being a speaker will be a surreal experience,” she said.
Mann headed the launch of American Fidelity’s new website and will share lessons learned.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled. I have a lot of new digital marketing experiences to share that I think will really resonate with the audience. I’m honored to be a part of it,” she said.
Speaker Caleb Cosper represents Portent, a Seattle-based digital marketing agency, and will cover content hub usage and accessibility.
“The great thing about content hubs, as attendees will learn, is that anyone who has access to make changes on a website, can create one. I'm planning on my talk being actionable not just for digital marketing experts, but for everyone in the room," Cosper said.
As a former Oklahoma City resident and Confluence organizer, he does not only feel the excitement of presenting, but is also thrilled to see so many former colleagues and friends.
“One of the most humbling parts about speaking at Confluence this year is that I'll be speaking the same day as Ruth Burr Reedy (who will be the third keynote speaker). Back when I was brand new to SEO as a trainee, Ruth was my manager and taught me most of what I know! Funny enough, after she moved on to UpBuild, David Christopher became my manager. I'm the warm-up act for two of my former managers!"
Janelle Archer, this year’s Confluence Conference chairwoman, said it’s one of the strongest lineups ever and she is excited about holding Confluence at a new location.
"This year's Confluence will take place at the historic Tower Theatre in the Uptown 23rd District. Not only is this location perfect for our event, but it also highlights an upand-coming part of our local community filled with activity, life and great food,” Archer said. “Locals and out-of-towners alike can take a piece of history from the beautiful venue, while sharpening their digital marketing knowledge with some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.”
For a full speaker lineup or to register, visit confluenceconference.org. Tickets are $250. One-day passes are available.
This article is sponsored by Confluence Conference.