Convergence 2008 is a digital marketing and communications event organised by Cossette West that is taking place next week in Vancouver. It will bring together marketing and communication professionals from across North America in order to gain knowledge and share information regarding branding, cross-platform marketing, and the culture of social media in our society. This all day session will also be of benefit to students, bloggers, and people interested in developing their brand for successful promotion to a targeted audience in this digital age.

The keynote speaker is Grant McCracken, a cultural anthropologist.

Grant McCracken is the author of several books including Culture and Consumption, Plenitude, and Transformation, and Culture and Consumption II: Markets, meaning and brand management. His work has been covered in The New York Times and on Oprah. In his newest book, Flock and Flow: Predicting and Managing Change in a Dynamic Marketplace McCracken deploys “complex adaptive theory” to track the movement of trends and new groupings of consumers. He shows how to monitor new trends, whether and when to introduce new brands and brand extensions, how to speak to niche markets, and how to avoid costly mistakes.

Sebastian Siethoff will be one of the speakers. He is a Global Marketing Director - Young Adults, McDonald’s Corporation which is providing sponsorship for the alternate reality game, The Lost Ring created by Jane McGonigal. As a participant of this game (see blog post), I am interested in how McDonald’s has marketed itself in relation to the game.

Darren Barefoot and Rebecca Bollwitt are two well-known BC bloggers that are part of a panel entitled “Blogger Relations: Influencing Online Influencers”. It should be an insightful discussion and worth attending for anyone that want to enhance their online identity.

The dialogue about your brand is happening in a much more transparent manner these days. Influencers have grown beyond just traditional media outlets to include bloggers, who reign in the online space and who can drastically affect perceptions about your brand, your campaigns and/or any other aspect of your company operations. Are you listening? If so, are you talking back? In the very least, you should be working to tell your side of the story; at best, maximizing your message impact among these powerful individuals. Our panel of experts will share the good the bad and the ugly about successful - and not so successful - approaches to online media relations.

List of speakers are here
Event schedule is here
Registration is here

Date: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Time: 9:30-5pm
Location: Granville Island Arts Club Theatre, 1585 Johnston St
Cost: $200 (until May 13th); $225 (after May 13th)

If you have a vidfest VIP Pass, access is provided to the main stage

Relevance: A great opportunity to learning about digital marketing and social media.