Digital Domination
OKC to host Confluence Conference for fifth year
If you are looking for a way to optimize what you know about all things digital, you’ll want to attend the Confluence Conference next week in Oklahoma City.
The conference, in its fifth year, will be held Thursday and Friday at the Chevy Bricktown Events Center in Oklahoma City.
Organizers expect this year’s event will be attended by about 350 people. Tickets are $250 a person and one-day passes are available.
“We have grown beyond what we could’ve imagined,” said Kaitlyn Bullard, Confluence chair. “In 2017, we’re excited to move the region’s premier digital marketing conference to the Chevy Events Center.
“We’re ready to put our city on the map for digital marketers, and what better place to do that in OKC than Bricktown?”
Conference attendees can expect to learn about best practices involving everything from creative digital marketing, content marketing and social media to paid search, search engine optimization and advanced analytics.
As in past years, some of the digital industry’s top leaders will deliver the conference’s keynote addresses.
Confluence Conference speakers this year include Ruth Burr Reedy, Erik Deckers and Matt Wallaert.
Reedy, the director of strategy at UpBuild, will discuss why people need to invest in technical search engine optimization.
“It’s easier than ever to get a website up and running quickly, but from a business perspective, it’s important to make sure that website is easy for search engines to find, crawl and understand,” she said.
Deckers, owner and president of Pro Blog Service, will talk about the future of digital marketing and content’s role in its evolution.
“I’m excited that longform content is coming back, and people are focusing more on storytelling,” said Deckers. “I hope more companies are willing to break away from yet one more ‘Five Secrets’ post and try something a little daring.”
Wallaert, a behavioral psychologist, entrepreneur and previous director at Microsoft Ventures, will talk about digital marketing.
Wallaert said he has seen many examples of good and bad marketing.
“Good marketing is about helping people select from a field of options. Done right, it even enhances those options,” he said.
Plus, 14 other industry professionals will be presenting at the conference, organizers said.
Bullard said the Confluence Conference recently was featured on Entrepreneur’s website as one of 10 conferences a business owner should attend, adding she felt it will be a great experience for both newbies and seasoned digital professionals.
“Confluence is all about bringing actionable, practical knowledge to our attendees while showcasing all that OKC has to offer. If you want to grow your skill set, improve your business, and get to know like-minded marketers in the region, this is the place to be,” Bullard said.
Bullard also said organizers worked hard to keep the price to attend this year’s Confluence Conference stable.
“We know budgets are tight, so we’re not raising prices for 2017, but we are implementing a few new things past attendees have asked for, like tailored breakout sessions and longer speaker talks,” she said.
“2017 Confluence attendees should get more out of this conference than ever before, for a steal of a price,” Bullard said.
Sponsorship opportunities remain available for the conference.