Whoever came up with the phrase Actions Speak Louder Than Words probably didn’t realize they were creating the rallying cry for our entire industry. Especially given experiential marketing probably didn’t exist at the time. So hopefully they will be flattered that we have ironically taken their words literally and fashioned a vital form of business communications from them.
Day III of CSFX16 is an action packed day. It should be since I am asking you to attend a conference on the Saturday of a holiday weekend. But then again I am inviting you to spend it with some pretty active people. The highlight of which will be the NBA All-Star Practice. We have great seats reserved for you to watch the best basketball players in the world get warmed up for the All-Star Game.
We also have great seats for you to watch the All-Stars of our industry share with you their best game plans for implementing experiential and sponsorship marketing programs. Immerse yourself in their worlds as they demonstrate how they connect with consumers and stakeholders alike.
Another highlight of the day is our women’s-only panel. This was first deployed at our CSFX15 event and is the brainchild of former WTA CEO Stacey Allaster. So many of you implored me to ensure we had it become an annual feature that I not only agreed, but doubled the time allocated to it. For young female leaders in our sector, this panel promises to be the most important 90 minutes of your year. You need to be there. Tell your boss. Bring her as well.
For those looking for digital activation, Twitter is fielding an All-Star group of their own which will sure to trend highly among our attendees. Back by popular demand to lead the panel, Christopher Doyle has developed and executed media strategies for some of the most enviable sports properties, like FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He’s joined by Jared Kleinstein, who stumbled upon and turned Tebowing into a mini-craze, award-winning Head of Brand Strategy, Jamie Michaels, and TJ Taylor Adeshola, Twitter’s Content Partnerships Manager for Sports.
Gregory Hegger’s passion for live music may be fuelled by a self-confessed terrible singing voice. At least at Virgin Mobile, he’s able to live out any musical dreams by bringing to life Virgin’s major partnerships with Osheaga and the Squamish Valley Music Festival.
One speaker whose executional talent took her to the world stage is Rogers’ Alexandra Orlando. She dedicated over 15 years to rhythmic gymnastics and represented Canada at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Sherida German has taken media partnerships to a whole new level, having negotiated the largest co-marketing initiative in Shaw’s history with Johnson & Johnson and recently gave CFL fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes content and virtual experiences for the Grey Cup.
I’m banking CP’s Mark Wallace grew up playing with some intensive train sets as a kid. He’s been in the railway business, a business predicated on flawless timing and execution, for almost 20 years.
Having evolved Crankworx from an exclusive high-performance event into a massive celebration of endurance, we knew Darren Kinnaird would be perfect for a workshop on Activity Day.
We’re wrapping up the day with someone who has clearly made an impact on PepsioCo and its consumers, having started her career as a Sales Representative in Australia before climbing the ranks and moving abroad to Thailand, back home to Australia, and then ultimately around the world to become Senior Director, Sports, PepsiCo North America Beverages.
In any business you must have a sound strategy and devise creative solutions to problems. But at the end of the day, if you don’t execute with greatness, you’re sunk. All that preparation, focus, and concentration is out the window. The moment of truth is all anyone will remember.
There’s a reason in Hollywood the final words before the camera rolls are Lights, Camera, Action.