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, 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.

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.

Announcing CATFOA 2010

UPDATED with final roster!

The insights will be deep and useful. The subject-matter diverse and relevant. The conversation inspiring and pragmatic. Here's the initial line-up for the 2010 Conversations About The Future Of Advertising speaker series. (We'll ultimately have four dates in all.)

Each sessions will occur, once again, on Monday evenings (doors at 5:00 p.m., events start at 6:00 p.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe on First Avenue North in Minneapolis.

And, as in years past, all events are FREE and open to the public due to gracious support from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association. We thank these organizations for their continued generosity and enthusiasm!

:: CATFOA 2010 Speaker Series ::

Monday, February 8, 2010

Edward Boches (@edwardboches)

Chief Creative Officer/Chief Social Media Officer, MULLEN

EdwardBoches.com

Edward is one of Mullen’s four original partners. Over the last 26 years he has helped define the agency’s creative standards, established its public relations group, integrated digital design and production into all of the agency’s operations, and most recently launched its growing social media practice. Edward also acts as chief advocate for TheNextGreatGeneration.com and speaks frequently on the merits of crowdsourcing.

(Click here for the MIMA event listing for Edward Boches.)

Monday, March 8, 2010

Faris Yakob (@faris)

EVP Chief Technology Strategist, McCann Erickson NY

Blog: Talent Imitates, Genius Steals

As Chief Technology Strategist, Faris is tasked with helping to work out how brands, people and technology can play better together. Before his current position, he spent 5 years being the Digital Ninja at communication strategy agency Naked Communications. As a strategist Faris has worked on brands such as Sony, Google, Yahoo!, Nestle and Virgin Mobile, in Sydney, London and New York. Faris regularly writes about brands, media, communications and technology for Fast Company, Contagious Magazine and Forbes.

(Click here for the MIMA event listing for Faris Yakob.)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Hashem Bajwa (@hashembajwa)

Director of Digital Strategy, Droga5

WhoIsHashem.com

At Droga5, Hashem works with brands to shape their digital marketing and helps to keep the agency and its creative work ahead by tapping into the latest innovations in technology, media and the web. Before joining D5, Hashem was Digital Strategy Director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. In 2007, Hashem was the youngest person to be named in AdAge’s “40 Under 40 to Watch”.

(Click here for the MIMA event listing for Hashem Bajwa.)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Colleen DeCourcy (@decourcy)

Chief Digital Officer, TBWA Worldwide

As Chief Digital Officer for TBWA Worldwide, Colleen is responsible for developing and implementing a global digital strategy throughout the TBWA network. Her areas of expertise range from digital postproduction and motion-graphics design to creative campaign development across digital platforms. Prior to joining TBWA, DeCourcy served as Chief Experience Officer at JWT, and as the Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Organic. Colleen was the Cyber Lions Jury President at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2008.

(Click here for the MIMA event listing for Colleen DeCourcy.)

Follow @CATFOA on Twitter for future updates.

Michael Lebowitz - Monday, May 11, 2009: "Living in a Post-Advertising World"

UPDATE:  Video recap from the event is embedded below (scroll down). Thanks to all who turned out! It was another great crowd. Thanks especially to Matt from MIMA for the cupcakes. 

This is it! Our final speaker for the 2009 series is Michael Lebowitz, CEO of Big Spaceship. He'll be joining us this coming Monday, May 11 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:00 p.m.) at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis. 

No RSVP required. Admission is free.

Michael founded Big Spaceship in 2000. An architect and board member of SoDA (the Society of Digital Agencies), he is also a member of AIGA's Visionary Design Council and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. 

An innovation-led digital creative agency, Big Spaceship partners with brands to create deeply engaging experiences, products and relationships. Telling stories and starting conversations across the digital landscape, the company has garnered many accolades for its work, including One Show, Clio, Webby and Cannes Lion awards. Big Spaceship holds more FWAs than any other firm and was the first American agency inducted into the FWA's Hall of Fame. Big Spaceship's work for Epson, Sony Pictures, HBO, OfficeMax, Adobe, Corona, NBC Universal, Ford, Target, Royal Caribbean, Nike, Coca-Cola and LG demonstrate a strong breadth of strategic thinking, creativity and production in the digital space.

On Monday, Michael will speak on "Living in a Post-Advertising World." He'll touch on getting rid of the mindset of making "ads that people will love" and focusing, instead, on an understanding of creating a value exchange between brands and their audiences. Michael will also talk about the major infrastructure issues facing advertisers and agencies—noting these challenges encourage opportunistic thinking: "Never waste a good crisis." Finally, he'll discuss shifting from campaign thinking to persistent strategy that affords us the ability to make products and experiences of incredible value. 

Don't miss this final event in our 2009 series. Michael's presentation promises great insights, examples and inspiration. Bring your friends and co-workers!

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Here's the recap video of Michael's presentation from MIMA Live (Michael's presentation begins about eight minutes in):

2009 Speaker Series

This is going to rock.

For 2009, we've lined up an incredible roster to speak about the continuing evolution of advertising and marketing—from content strategy to user experience, cutting edge websites to new ways of thinking about traditional techniques.

Here's a quick preview of our speakers and when they'll be appearing. More details on their specific topics to come shortly.

We'll be back at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis. Like last year, everything happens on a Monday, starting at 6:00pm. And, of course, admission will be free, thanks to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

Monday, February 9

Alan Wolk

Toad Stool Consultancy

Monday, March 9

Kristina Halvorson

President

Brain Traffic

Monday, April 6

Bob Thacker

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Advertising

OfficeMax

Monday, April 27

David Armano

Vice President, Experience Design – Critical Mass

(and pundit at Logic+Emotion)

Monday, May 11

Michael Lebowitz

Founder & CEO

Big Spaceship

Thanks again to everyone who participated in last year's Conversations About The Future Of Advertising. 2009 will be just as awesome. 

Stay tuned.

Event #5: Conversations with Brian Morrissey, Digital Editor at Adweek

On Monday, April 28, 2008 we're pleased to be welcoming Adweek's Digital Editor, Brian Morrissey, to our series, co-sponsored by MCAD and MIMA.

Prolific Twitter-er, blogger, marathon runner and journalist, Brian brings a wealth of experiences to our conversations about the future of advertising. He currently leads coverage of digital media and marketing for Adweek, and has covered the Internet advertising industry since 2000, working for DM News, ClickZ and the Silicon Alley Reporter. Brian regularly speaks at ad:Tech, iMedia Summit, MIXX, and AdForum, among other industry conferences.

Aside from his perspectives on the future, Brian will focus his presentation on building brands through utility, community and authenticity. 

This event is free. No registration required.

Details:

Brian Morrissey presentation

Monday, April 28, 2008

6:00 PM - 7:45 PM

The Fine Line Music Cafe

Minneapolis

We'll be taking questions for Brian live during the event. You can also send them in ahead of time. Use one of the following methods to send a question. We'll do our best to answer them live as quickly as possible.

Twitter:  "@catfoa" or "d catfoa"

Email & MMS:  5catfoa@drop.io

Or visit http://drop.io/5catfoa

Event #4: Conversations with Joseph Jaffe (April 14, 2008)

We're very pleased to announce marketing pundit and author Joseph Jaffe will be with us on Monday, April 14, 2008, sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association and MSP Communications. The event starts at 6:00 PM at the Fine Line Music Cafe in downtown Minneapolis. Admission is free. Joseph will be making a presentation on "The Future of Advertising and Other Short Stories."

Joseph Jaffe is one of the most sought-after consultants, speakers and thought leaders on new marketing. He is the President and Chief Interruptor of crayon, a conversational marketing company specializing in community, dialogue and partnership. (Learn more about Joseph here.)

Joseph's latest book, Join the Conversation, is a must-read for marketing and advertising professionals. It offers the familiar blend of strong insights, witty commentary and useful advice found in his first book, Life After the 30-Second Spot.

The first 250 people to attend the event at the Fine Line will receive a free copy of Join the Conversation. Big thanks to our sponsors Carmichael Lynch, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Hello Viking and MIMA for their generosity in making the books available. 

Details:

Joseph Jaffe Presentation

Monday, April 14, 2008

6:00 PM - 7:45 PM

The Fine Line Music Cafe

318 First Ave North

Minneapolis

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UPDATE:  Here's a link to Jaffe's latest podcast, including his observations about being in Minneapolis with all of us.

Event #3: Conversations with Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer (March 17, 2008)

On Monday, March 17 we welcomed Matt Dickman, director of Digital Marketing for Fleishman-Hillard (Cleveland, OH) and author of Techno//Marketer, one of the top 150 marketing blogs according to Advertising Age.

Matt joined Fleishman-Hillard in January 2008 as a director in the company’s growing digital practice. He brings over 10 years of emerging media, technology and integrated marketing experience to this role. Mr. Dickman’s extensive experience working with traditional offline advertising and PR efforts affords him a strategic vision across marketing channels.

Matt's presentation focused on "Micromedia," and the rising power of micro-blogging, micro-broadcasting, consumer-controlled platforms. (You know, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, flickr and Utterz, as well as gadgets, widgets and other redistributed marketing content technologies.) Here's his presentation, with audio commentary.

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Event #2: Conversations with Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent (March 3, 2008)

Valeria Maltoni has been called a communicator, a marketer, and a Renaissance person. Her blog, ConversationAgent.com, is recognized among the world's top online marketing blogs.

Valeria is also a Fast Company Expert Blogger and a contributor to The Blog Herald and Marketing Profs Daily Fix. She is a co-author of The Age of Conversation, a groundbreaking eBook collaboration by 103 of today's top marketing writers. Valeria is a frequent public speaker on brand marketing, customer service, and building successful business teams. She publishes in both English and Italian.

Valeria's day job is the Director, Marketing Communications, at SunGard Availablility Services -- a company that specializes in keeping people and information connected.

Here's Valeria's presentation, "Potable Marketing," from Monday, March 3 at the second incarnation of Conversations About the Future of Advertising, co-sponsored by MCAD and MIMA.

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Event #1: Conversations with Jan Leth, Ogilvy (Feb. 4, 2008)

Jan Leth is the Vice Chairman, Global Digital Creative for Ogilvy & Mather. He is based in New York, but travels the globe. Since 1996, Jan has overseen all creative development at OgilvyInteractive for IBM, Ameritrade, American Express, Coke and Cisco. He has won the Grand Prix at Cannes and the LIAA, the Grand Clio, Caples, Adtech, One Show, and Effies. He's chaired the One Show and Clios, and judged Cannes, Andy Awards, Adtech, Caples and Echoes.

Here's Jan's presentation, "Dada.Data.Alpha.Beta" from Monday, February 4, 2008 at the debut of Conversations About the Future of Advertising, co-sponsored by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association. 

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