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."

Kristina Halvorson - Monday, March 9, 2009: "Content Strategy - The Care and Feeding of Your Biggest Brand Asset"

UPDATE:  Great attendance (150+) last night! The UStream video is embedded below, along with Kristina's slideshare. 

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Kristina Halvorson, president of Brain Traffic and nationally-renowned content strategist, will be joining us Monday, March 9 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:00.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe.

Admission is free. No RSVP required. And we'll have free food. So tell your friends!

Kristina's presentation, "Content Strategy - The Care and Feeding of Your Biggest Brand Asset," asks us to rethink our preconceived notions of marketing and how marketing gets done in the digital age. 

Often, the way we talk about content makes it sound like something that will magically create itself, an omnipresent commodity that can be StumbledUpon with ease. But what about our core marketing messages? How are we communicating - and demonstrating - our brand positions online? With our branded content, of course. Clearly, this content is a critically valuable asset that can make or break our customers' online experience. So why are agencies and their clients constantly forgetting to consider their online content until the eleventh hour?

You've heard a lot about how to 'listen' to the customer using social media. Content strategy creates a consistent, clear roadmap for your (ongoing) online communications. What should you publish, and why? Where? How? Who will own the content, both before and after launch?

This event promises to be a must-attend for anyone involved in marketing planning, strategy, budgeting, creation and production. Kristina will bring valuable insights for creative directors, media planners and account strategists - anyone with an interest in What Gets Said.

(Did we mention it's free? And there's free food?)

Kristina will look past today's "bright shiny objects" towards a future where a company's (and their customers') content is treated as a valuable asset, not an afterthought. You'll appreciate her challenging yet very useful insights, examples and suggestions.

(Here's the video from last night. Sorry about the lighting. The club was set up for Atmosphere's show later on.)