CATFOA with Jen Faucon - Thursday August 16

Ten years ago we launched an ongoing, always-in-beta speaker series called Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. Over 25 luminaries have participated since. In 2018 the series continues with a Summer of CATFOA—three different speakers, three different nights, and all kinds of ideas to expand your brain—presented by the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA.org).

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018
FEATURED GUEST: JEN FAUCON 
AMSTERDAM BAR & HALL

6 W. SIXTH ST., 

ST. PAUL, MN 55102

HUMANIZING THE NEW SHINY OBJECTS OF ADVERTISING — Let’s talk AI, Blockchain and Mixed Reality in a way that’s useful for marketing and advertising in the near future. 

Our industry loves to throw the newest tool at a problem, even if we’re not 100% sure what the technology means or why it exists. So let's dig into the salient, close future of Artificial Intelligence — how data, machine learning, and algorithms both threaten and enable advertising as we know it. Then let’s talk about Blockchain — and the ways in which a new approach to currency might prevent ad fraud and enhance the trust we place in media. Last but not least, we’ll talk about the ways Artificial and Virtual Realities enable new approaches to content and marketing as a service. 

Jen Faucon has lived and worked in Dubai and Singapore, Sydney and Detroit—developing new e-commerce brands, payment platforms, user experiences and integrated marketing. Jen (LinkedIn) serves as Chief Customer Success Officer at Codelattice, a global digital solutions provider with expertise in cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI and digital marketing. She’s worked agency-side for MRM and BBDO and iProspect, and client-side for SendItLater. She graduated from Tufts University, hold an M.Ed. from Lesley University in English as a Second Language, and is a Babson College M.B.A. candidate in Entrepreneurship and Global Management.

REGISTER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT

CATFOA with Sung Chang — Wednesday July 18

Ten years ago we launched an ongoing, always-in-beta speaker series called Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. Over 25 luminaries have participated since. In 2018 the series continues with a Summer of CATFOA—three different speakers, three different nights, and all kinds of ideas to expand your brain—presented by the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA.org).

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018
FEATURED GUEST: SUNG CHANG 

He helped build the future we’re living in now—so what does he see coming next?

Sung (LinkedIn) has built all kinds of mobile apps, payment systems, interfaces and experiential environments for Sony, Nike, Kraft and Time Warner. He's taught at Columbia University, Miami Ad School and the School of Visual Arts as well as designed album covers for the Wu-Tang Clan. 

He's spent the past 20 years leading creative teams, building new practices and departments, and helping brands and agencies embrace and integrate digital. He's currently the CCO of MRM//McCann East working across accounts such as the U.S. Army, NY Lottery, Cigna, IHOP and USPS. Most recently, he was the Executive Creative Director of AKQA NY, primarily leading the Verizon and Starbucks accounts And as ECD at Ogilvy & Mather he led Nestle, Motorola, American Express, Castrol, BP, Cisco, SAP, DuPont, Metlife and Yahoo!

REGISTER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT >

CATFOA with Jeff Kling — Wednesday June 20

Ten years ago we launched an ongoing, always-in-beta speaker series called Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. Over 25 luminaries have participated since. In 2018 the series continues with a Summer of CATFOA—three different speakers, three different nights, and all kinds of ideas to expand your brain—presented by the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA.org).

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018
FEATURED GUEST: JEFF KLING 

He created Dos Equis’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” rubber-stamped Nike’s “Write the Future” campaign and authored the Miller High Life manifesto and campaign that still forms the playbook for many strategists, agencies, and brands. Recently Jeff gave Arby’s “The Meats,” helped America win their taxes for H&R Block, and helped Loctite win advertising’s Super Bowl. Just imagine what he has in mind for the future. 

On June 20 we’ll hang with Jeff Kling (LinkedIn), former Chief Creative Officer of Fallon. A man who hopes: 1. His ambient dislike of advertising has bettered his own work; and 2. That no one will mind his not having fulfilled his imagined potential as a world-champion surfer. In his fourteen-hundred thirty-seven-thousand years in the business, Kling has quarterbacked national and global work for Heineken, Coca-Cola, Jaguar, EA, Nokia, Volvo, Honda, The Eye Film Institute Netherlands, Miller Genuine Draft, ESPN, Clearasil, Gore-Tex and many, many more—and for a host of dead dot-coms, for whose busted first-wave bubble he is personally responsible.

REGISTER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT 

CATFOA with Faris Yakob - July 19 2017

He's back! Seven years ago strategist (and now author) Faris Yakob regaled the CATFOA audience with thoughts on "Stuff that doesn't work properly: How technology changes the nature of advertising," during our third year of hosting speakers.

After traveling the world, working nomadically, Faris returns to Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 6:00pm at the Fine Line Music Cafe to talk further about the future of advertising -- presented by the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, sponsored by BBDO MPLS and Fredrikson & Byron.

>> REGISTER NOW TO ATTEND

Faris will leverage his global experience to talk about four key themes, which present challenges and opportunities for the advertising and marketing industries: Attention Collapse, Everything is PR, The Great Blur and Integrative Branding. He'll share useful insights from his experiences developing strategies, creative briefs and presentations inside agencies and marketers all over the world. And he'll reference themes from his 2015 book Paid Attention.

It's certain to be a very useful and engaging event for strategists of all stripes, brand planners, insights junkies, design thinking aficionados and all manner of idea people.

Don't miss it!

Conversations About The Future Of Advertising
with Faris Yakob
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Fine Line Music Cafe
318 N 1st Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55401

5:30pm - Registration
6:00pm - Presentation

Presented by MIMA. Please register to attend. 

CATFOA with Peter Nicholson, CCO Periscope - August 17, 2016

UPDATE:  Many thanks to the 120+ attendees and especially Peter Nicholson for elevating our 24th Conversation About The Future Of Advertising.

Click here to watch the video from the August 17 event via MIMA.org.

* * *

Here we go again (but with a twist for you CATFOA loyalists). This time the Conversations About The Future Of Advertising speaker-series features Periscope’s newly minted Chief Creative Officer, Peter Nicholson. We're going to talk about the difficulties of change (see below). Doors open at 5:30pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. The twist? We're in a new location: The Minneapolis Event Centers' Riverside Ballroom next to St. Anthony Main. (Loyalists: please don't go to the old venue.) Huge thanks to the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association for hosting this event.

YOU MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND >



Peter Nicholson has led an impressive 20+ career in creativity and ideas and leadership -- from Leagas Delaney to Goodby Silverstein, Deutsch, JWT, McKinney and now here in Minneapolis at Periscope.

On August 17 we're going to talk with Peter primarily about change management. It'll be a useful conversation for agency leaders, owners, creatives and pundits. 

Specifically, we'll talk about the challenges in making an agency or a marketing organization more fluent in the technology of modern advertising. We'll talk about how the efficacy of advertising has changed - and what that means for advertising ideas. And the changes in client/agency relationships, revenue models and staffing models. We'll also talk about what needs to change within agencies so there is a more even balance of genders and races (especially in leadership positions). 

It's going to be a rich, nuanced conversation. Don't miss it. 

AND DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER >

The Return of CATFOA with Rick Webb - July 15

[UPDATE 07/27/15: VIDEO EMBED AT END OF POST]

We're excited to reignite Conversations About The Future Of Advertising with Barbarian Group co-founder, VC and author Rick Webb, who recently published Agency: Starting a Creative Firm in the Age of Digital Marketing.



Rick’s book is really strong. He’s cornered a lot of useful insights for agency owners, managers and anyone curious about how to improve their agency -- be it an advertising, design, technically-focused and/or in-house agency. You'll learn a lot!

We’re going to talk primarily about culture -- and how culture influences everything from great ideas to client relationships, budgeting to contracts, creative briefs to cash projections, lawyers to exit strategies.

It's an honor to regroup with the team at MIMA to produce this event (REGISTER HERE). And a huge kudos to Fredrikson and Byron for sponsoring the rebirth of CATFOA.

Event Details: 

CATFOA with Rick Webb 
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Fine Line Music Cafe
318 N 1st Ave., Mpls.
Doors at 5:30pm
Rick at 6:00pm
This event is free to MIMA members only. Please register to attend.

April 2 update: Barry Judge, Best Buy CMO kicks off CATFOA 2012

UPDATED:  The video of our April 2 session with Barry Judge is embedded at the end of this post.

The fifth season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising kicks off Monday, April 2, 2012 as we welcome Best Buy's CMO, Barry Judge.

In this session, Barry will discuss a range of topics, including the future of brands and agencies and their roles in creating products, design, content marketing, and advertising in the era of empowered consumers

We're also excited to host this special event at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design! So be sure to carve out some extra time the evening of April 2 to survey all the student portfolio work while you're on campus.

Event details:

CATFOA with Barry Judge
Monday, April 2, 2012
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Avenue, Minneapolis
Doors at 6:00 p.m.
Conversation starts at 6:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public, no reservations required, with grateful thanks to MCAD and MIMA for their ongoing sponsorship.

Bio:

Barry Judge is executive vice president, chief marketing officer for Best Buy Co., Inc., a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services. In this role, Judge provides overall vision and leadership to all areas of marketing for the enterprise, including brand management, customer research and development, trend, promotions, advertising, marketing communications, internal communications and public affairs. Judge also holds a leadership role in Best Buy’s overall strategy and development in the U.S., Asia and Europe. He began his career at The Direct Marketing Group and has held positions ranging from marketing assistant to product group manager with Young & Rubicam, Coca Cola USA, The Quaker Oats Company and the Pillsbury Company. He also served as vice president of marketing for Caribou Coffee Company. Judge has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in marketing from the J.L. Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

2012

Welcome to the 5th season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising (CATFOA), co-sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association. Specific dates and speakers are being organized and will be announced here.

Many thanks to our amazing audiences and 20 outstanding speakers from the past four years (see below). We look forward to bringing even more awesome to the Twin Cities in 2012. Stay tuned.

Monday, May 2 update: Dennis Ryan and Jim Cuene

Life happens.

So we're calling an audible, as Matt Howell can't make it to Minneapolis tonight.

Instead, we're very fortunate to close out the 2011 edition of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising with two very insightful gentlemen (L to R): Dennis Ryan, the new Chief Creative Officer at Olson and Jim Cuene (@jcuene), Director - Interactive Marketing for General Mills.

Tonight promises to be vibrant and new—just the kind of energy we need to get spring moving.

Please join us at 6:00 p.m. (doors at 5:15 p.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 North First Avenue, Minneapolis. No reservations, and it's free because CATFOA is generously sponsored by MCAD + MIMA.

Monday, May 2: Matt Howell - "Agencies: Welcome to the Software Business"

Please join us for the fourth and final episode of the 2011 edition of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising on Monday, May 2 when we welcome Matt Howell (@mrhowell), newly minted Managing Partner, Global Chief Digital Officer at Arnold Worldwide.

Whether they like it or not, ad agencies are getting into the software business. And this means change. The structures and processes that guided us for the past 50 years won't work for the next five. Matt will discuss how agencies can change to keep pace with consumers and technology.

Matt has built his career at the intersection between marketing and technology. As Managing Partner, Global Chief Digital Officer at Arnold, Matt leads digital teams across the agency's global network. He arrived at Arnold from years at Modernista!, where he left as President. While there, he managed the agency's transition from a focus on traditional to interactive media and technology. Previously, Matt spent seven years at R/GA. In his last four years at R/GA, he ran the Nike engagement and oversaw award-winning work on products such as Nike+, NikeiD and the Nike Online Store. He was also a part of the agency's expansion into Stockholm, Sweden. Matt began his career in traditional advertising at Ogilvy & Mather in London before transitioning to digital marketing in 1996. Since this time, he has overseen work for clients ranging from AT&T to Sony to Cadillac to Prada. Over his career, Matt’s work has taken top honors at Cannes, the One Show, the Clios, and others, and has been featured regularly in Communication Arts and Creativity. He also sits on the Board of Directors at Boulder Digital Works at the University of Colorado, where he is a frequent lecturer.

This event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up!

Like our previous 18 speakers, Matt will appear at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Matt's presentation starts at 6:00 p.m.

Many thanks to MIMA and MCAD for their generous sponsorship!

(Maybe you're asking yourself, "Hey, wasn't Andrew Keller supposed to close the 2011 CATFOA series? He was. But he had to cancel. And so it goes. We're thrilled Matt was able to fit us into his schedule.)

Monday, April 4: Anders Sjostedt - "F*CK DIGITAL"

UPDATE: Video from Anders' presentation is embedded at the end of this article.

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Join us for the third session of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising on Monday, April 4, 2011 when we welcome Hyper Island USA Managing Director Anders Sjostedt (@anderssjostedt).

Based on Hyper Island's very recent experience counseling marketing and ad agency executives, it's easy to understand why agencies express worries their digital efforts aren’t sufficient. In fact, whole floors of agency executives hope to retire—without really having to care about all that new technology stuff. The sentimentally inclined lament the loss of art and beauty in their work, often laying the blame on data, measurements and Facebook chats.

Meanwhile, CMOs are equally worried they’re not able to ask the right questions when being presented with Google search optimization strategies, that they don’t know how to trust the increasing flurry of agencies that advise them through more fragmented channels.

What most agency and marketing leaders have in common is that they really just want the whole digital thing to go away.

But there is still room for beauty and enchantment, argues Sjostedt. Everything doesn’t have to be squeezed into 140 characters. Digital is not the message.

What digital does is change the way societies, humans, and consumers interact. We have to build our organizations accordingly. Creativity doesn’t have to suffer, but be sure, both you and your organization will have to get ready for a serious digital, uhm, f*ck.

Based in Sweden, Hyper Island is a global leader in training within the digital/interactive field. As the Managing Director of Hyper Island USA, Anders Sjostedt is in charge of building and expanding the organization throughout the US and heading the company’s Global Business Development. Previously, Anders was Director at Swedish Creative Industries and CEO of Sweden's largest business incubator, Minc.

This event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up!

Like our previous 17 speakers, Anders will appear at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Ander's presentation starts at 6:00 p.m.

Many thanks to MIMA and MCAD for their generous sponsorship!

Monday, February 28: Julie Roehm - "Fearless in the Face of Marketing Complexity"

UPDATE: Video of Julie's presentation is embedded down below.

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In the digital age, successful marketing organizations embrace and leverage the complexity wrought by interactive technologies—they're fearless in the face of empowered consumers and ever-changing media. On Monday, February 28, our second CATFOA speaker, Julie Roehm (@jaroehm), will bring decades of global marketing experience to the Twin Cities to discuss the advantages of her fearless approach.

Julie spent six years as a brand manager at Ford, before serving as Director of Marketing Communications for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, overseeing $2.1 Billion in marketing investment—earning praise from Brandweek as its 2004 Automotive Marketer of the Year. Also in 2004, Julie was inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement for outstanding performance in the field of marketing and advertising to executives under 40 years old. She then moved to Wal-Mart, as Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications, with responsibilities for its $800M marketing budget. Julie currently serves as a marketing advisor and consultant through /Meta LLC for start ups, media companies and corporations including Sports Illustrated, Time, Credit Suisse and ADP. She is an official AOL blogger and commentator for Fox Business News.

This event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up!

Just like our previous 16 speakers, Julie Roehm will appear at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Julie's presentation starts at 6:00 p.m.

Many thanks to MIMA and MCAD for their generous sponsorship!

Monday, January 31: Ana Andjelic - “Do We Need a New Definition of Creativity?”

UPDATE (Feb 10): Video of Ana's presentation available at the end of this post.

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Join on Monday, January 31, at 6:00 p.m. for the inauguration of the fourth season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising, co-sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, when we discuss rewriting the creative dictionary with Ana Andjelic (@andjelicaaa), Senior Planner at HUGE, Inc.

The creative of the digital world is vastly different from its traditional predecessor; where creative once represented the astounding idea comprised of art and copy, or a brand identity turn cultural icon. Now the best work is about coming up with relationships and interactions that connect people into networks — potentially never ending, always in beta. The era of strategic creative has begun, and the best campaigns are being executed by the most unlikely of sources. Let's have a conversation with Ana as she shares her insights from Groupon, Best Buy Shopkick, SCVNGR, and more — illuminating how brands can leverage new approaches to great effect.

Ana works as Planning Director at HUGE, Inc. Prior to joining HUGE, she worked at AKQA, Razorfish, The Barbarian Group, Create The Group and Wunderman for clients Citibank, Nokia, CNN, Kashi, Maybelline, Unilever and Burberry among others. She is a frequent contributor to AdAge, and her articles often inspire fierce discussions in the industry. Ana regularly shares her thoughts on digital marketing on her blog, "I [love] marketing." She was a guest on Bob Knorpp’s The Beancast in November 2009, and presented “What is Digital Creativity?” at Miami Ad School in October 2010. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University. Her dissertation, “Google Doesn’t Have a Jingle: How Digital Media Turns Brands Into Behaviors” is currently being reviewed for publication by Palgrave.

Once again, we'll be at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

The event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up!

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Ana's presentation starts at 6:00 p.m.

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Here's the CATFOA video of Ana's presentation on January 31:

Just announced: February 28 CATFOA to feature Julie Roehm

Stop shoveling.

We're excited to announce the fearless, resilient, dynamic and even unruly Julie Roehm will be our fourth CATFOA speaker on Monday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m. at the Fine Line Music Cafe.

More information to come very soon.

In the meantime, don't miss Ana Andjelic coming soon on Monday, January 31.

2011 CATFOA season to begin Monday, January 31

We're excited to announce the complete line-up for the fourth season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising (CATFOA), proudly co-sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

2011 will bring four unique perspectives on "the future of advertising." We're proud to post our four speakers today:

Monday, January 31, 2011

Ana Andjelic, Planning Director, HUGE

Monday, February 28, 2011

Julie Roehm, Marketing Strategy Consultant and 2004 Automotive Marketer of the Year (Brandweek)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Anders Sjostedt, Managing Director, Hyper Island USA

Monday, May 2, 2011

Andrew Keller, CEO, Crispin Porter Bogusky

All four events will take place, as usual, at the wonderful Fine Line Music Cafe on First Ave N in Minneapolis. Doors at 5:15 p.m., speakers start at 6:00 p.m.

Admission is free. No reservations needed. Just show up, enjoy each other's company and ask intriguing questions to keep the conversation going.

Thank you everyone for your continued enthusiasm for CATFOA!

(More info on each speaker, including our fourth, and their take on our theme will appear here shortly.)

Rock.

What do you think about Fast Company's "The future of advertising?"

The most recent issue of Fast Company magazine is on the street. We were excited to see Danielle Sack's piece titled, "The Future of Advertising." Good fodder here for those of you beginning to think about the 2011 edition of CATFOA.

A couple of comments stick out for us. How about you?

"'The irony is that while there have never been more ways to reach consumers, it's never been harder to connect with consumers,' explains (Brad) Jakeman, chief creative officer at Activision. The death of mass marketing means the end of lazy marketing. At agencies, the new norm is doing exponentially complex work. Think of the 200 Old Spice YouTube videos whipped up by Wieden+Kennedy in 48 hours. 'Creating more work for less money is the big paradox,' says Matt Howell, president of the Boston agency Modernista."

Howell's quote is likely the most telling. It's noble to draft the new treatise and brave the edge, but ultimately people expect a fair paycheck for the effort. As Seth Godin stated recently, the challenge of the Internet is "either you do something I can't do myself (or get from someone else), or I pay you less than you'd like."

"At a time of shrinking budgets, chief marketing officers don't know where to turn. They have little confidence that old-world agencies know how to navigate the chaos, and they don't know which newcomers to trust.

With clients in a tailspin, the very role of agencies is in question.

Squeezed by clients, agencies are also beset by a host of new competitors attacking from every direction."

Sounds like fun! The quotes in Fast Company from Hyper Island convey these sentiments with greater emotion. We are in an era graced with great change and even greater creativity—but at a cost to old ways, comfortable assumptions and lazy habits. As the esteemed writer Robert Grudin put it back in 1991, “Creativity is dangerous. We can not open ourselves to new insights without endangering the security of our prior assumptions. We can not propose new ideas without risking disapproval and rejection.”

Great to see our friend and previous CATFOA presenter Edward Boches quoted heavily as well!

2011 CATFOA series coming soon

Hello, friends and fans of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising.

Good news! MCAD and MIMA have agreed to sponsor us again in 2011.

We'll be back with four awesome speakers, likely in February, March, April and May, 2011. Exact dates to be announced very soon.

We'll also be returning to the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, because they're awesome.

Stay tuned. And thanks so much for your enthusiasm!

- Tim

Colleen DeCourcy, Monday, May 10, 2010: "The Rise of Craft and the Fall of the Campaign"

+ + + + + + +

UPDATED AGAIN: Video from the conversation with Robert Stephens and Dan Beranek embedded below.

UPDATE: We're calling an audible. Unfortunately Colleen had to cancel her appearance, so we're bringing in Robert Stephens (@rstephens), Founder & Chief Inspector at Geek Squad and Dan Beranek (@dantronic), Social Media Channel Planning Manager at Target, for a conversation around "Retail in the Age of Empowered Consumers." It's going to be awesome. Same date, same time, same location, same "free"—different speakers. See you there!

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It's time to talk about Technology as a Creative Craft.

Join us on Monday, May 10 for the final installment of the 2010 edition of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising—as we welcome Colleen DeCourcy (@decourcy), Chief Digital Officer at TBWA Worldwide.

Colleen notes, "Today we're immersed in social media and crowd sourcing, but those aren't the only futures of advertising." Her presentation will help us navigate where we are right now as a society trying to work together and process information. What do we do in this environment, as consumers and marketers, where "the big idea" is under siege? Colleen believes part of the answer is craft. Interfaces. Collaborative creativity. "We are looking at a future where the best thing we can do for a consumer is to make things for them that they can't make for themselves," she says.

This final CATFOA event for 2010 will take place, as usual, at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

The event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up.

Doors open at 5:00pm. Colleen's presentation starts at 6:00pm—sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

Hashem Bajwa, Monday, April 19, 2010: "Look out, the future is all around us!"

UPDATED--Video of Hashem's presentation embedded below.

Evidence abounds—300,000 iPads sold in one day, a seemingly endless proliferation of smart phones, the ubiquitous Facebook and Twitter networks, and whatever the mad scientists are cooking up next—which suggests we're living amidst the future, today. As Director of Digital Strategy for Droga5, Hashem Bajwa (@hashembajwa) is charged with living part of his life in the future, the better help his clients decide how to act today.

On Monday, April 19, Hashem will talk about his adventures as an agency professional that’s nurturing and cajoling organizational change, advising and leading brands, and attempting to figure out "what's next? (and why should we care?)." Hashem will discuss how agency structure and leadership can affect digital strategy positively and negatively; how and why clients are reacting to "digital" strategy; and his thoughts on the future of advertising and the ad agency.

Prior to joining Droga5, Hashem was Digital Strategy Director for Goodby Silverstein & Partners. At Goodby he was part of the central team that led the agency’s digital transformation and interactive work across all clients at the agency. His career began at the United Nations in 2000 working on global communications, and in 2003 he entered advertising at McCann Erickson as an account planner until joining Goodby in 2005.

Hashem studied international affairs at New School University in New York and brand strategy at Art Center College of Design. Hashem does not have any children or pets...but he does have a robotic dog.

This is our third event in the third season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. As usual, we'll be conversing at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

The event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up.

Doors open at 5:00pm. Hashem's presentation starts at 6:00pm—sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

UPDATE: Here's the video of Hashem's presentation...

Faris Yakob, Monday, March 8, 2010: "Stuff that doesn't work properly: How technology changes the nature of advertising"

UPDATE: Video of Faris' presentation embedded below.

On Monday, March 8 Faris Yakob (@faris), the former Chief Technology Strategist at McCann Erickson NYC, will be talking about what technology actually is [and what his job was], why it scares people, why everything changes this year, how advertising has to adapt to a post-scarcity media environment, and what cultural latency is.

Prior to McCann, Faris was the Senior Strategist and Digital Ninja at Naked Communications; a Speaker at the MIT Convergence Culture Consortium; and a Strategic Media Planner at OMD.

Learn more about Faris' many interests and endeavors here.

This is our second event in the third season of Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. As usual, we'll be conversing at the Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

The event is free. No RSVP required. Just show up.

Doors open at 5:00pm. Faris' presentation starts at 6:00pm—sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.