That's a wrap. CATFOA 2009 series recap

(Image by Jamie M via Flickr)

And just like that, we're done. Another fantastic year of wonderful guest speakers, questions, insights and most important—useful conversation.

Thank you, Alan Wolk, Kristina Halvorson, Bob Thacker, David Armano and Michael Lebowitz for defining and evolving Conversations About The Future Of Advertising in 2009. We very much appreciated your enthusiasm, wisdom and energy.

(Image by Jamie M via Flickr)

Thank you, everyone who turned out, brought co-workers, clients and friends and helped spread the word. We live in an amazing community here in the Twin Cities, in large part due to your willingness to turn out and participate.

Thank you to our great sponsors—the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, as well as the Fine Line Music Cafe. We all benefit from your generosity.

Here are just a few images from our 2009 series—many more can be found via Flickr.

Alan Wolk

Kristina Halvorson

(Image by Warren Parsons via Flickr - from An Event Apart Seattle '09.)

Bob Thacker

David Armano

Michael Lebowitz

We'll be back in January 2010. If you have recommendations for speakers in 2010, please contact Tim Brunelle at "tim [at] helloviking.com."

Alan Wolk - Monday, Feb. 9, 2009: Your Brand Is Not My Friend

UPDATE: Huge thanks to Alan for making the trip to the Twin Cities. We had a great crowd on Monday for this event. Alan's presentation is embedded below, as well as links to coverage of the event. Plus, check out Alan's blog for his reaction.

* * * * *

Creative Strategist Alan Wolk will be joining us from NYC on Monday, February 9 from 6:00 - 8:00pm (doors open at 5:00pm) at the Fine Line Music Cafe. 

Admission is free. No RSVP required. And there will be food. Free food. How can you resist?

Alan's ongoing blog series, "Your Brand Is Not My Friend," will fuel his presentation as he shares his perspective on what he sees as the critical mistake brands make when entering the social media space: the assumption that they too can enjoy the cult-like following of a "Prom King" brand like Nike or Apple. This session will discuss what to do if you aren't among the 1% of brands who achieve Prom King status; the effects of The Real Digital Revolution (the ability of consumers to research products online and how this shifts the focus of advertising); and what the future of ad agencies might look like, in light of this.

This will be a great event for anyone working inside an agency and those who work with agencies of all stripes. Alan brings long experience working in a variety of ad agencies, large and small working on major branding campaigns, and has written extensively about becoming a "tradigitalist"—one who appreciates the (traditional) value ad agencies can bring to branding, but now works primarily within the new realm of digital marketing. 

[UPDATE: Alan will also discuss this very recent story making the rounds in advertising regarding Eric Silver's apparent move from BBDO to DDB, chronicled with insight by former CATFOA speaker, Adweek Digital Editor Brian Morrissey.]

We hope to see you there!

* * * * * 

Here's Alan's presentation via Slideshare:

Links recapping this event:

The Wah Report

Interactive Snack

Evol's blog at The Image Lab

YAYBIA

Greg Swan