My Nomination Pitch

The United States is bearing witness to fierce nomination campaigning right now.

Party representatives are being faced with tough choices of unknown candidates, disgraced former governors, religious zealots, racist bullies, and mysterious managers of government email records.

But there is another more important nomination campaign being waged. This one is for the privilege and honour of being a presenter at the 2016 South by Southwest Conference. For that important race, I have thrown my hat in the race along with my running mate, IMI International’s legendary Don Mayo.

To call Southby a conference is a bit like calling Burning Man a concert. SXSW is a dizzying circus of presentations, events, stunts, panels, parties, pitching, schmoozing, films, concerts, networking, demonstrations, workshops, learning, and food trucks. Any event held in Austin, Texas must include reference to their food trucks.

I have been twice and wish I had started attending a decade ago. It is in a nutshell, the conference every marketer needs to hit at least twice. Why twice? The advice I was given prior to my first Southby was to expect nothing out of it. Just learn the lay of the land.

Those particular advisor givers were both right and wrong. SXSW is overwhelming. It takes a first visit to figure it out. Maybe more. But I did get a lot out of it Year 1 and even more Year 2.

If I was to highlight one takeaway it would be the people. There are venture capitalists attending, social media influencers, celebrities, agency staff, baby faced entrepreneurs, client side stars, media, and a whole ton of wannabes.

So now in to my pitch.

I want to speak at SXSW. Why is the obvious question? Is it to build our agency’s profile? Attract new business? Recruit new talent? Yes. Yes. And Yes! Is it to feed my ego? No Answer.

But there is more to it than that. I love public speaking as you know and work harder than you might realize for every presentation I give. So I want to test my skills and see how I do on a massive stage. I want to share our agency’s learnings and client experiences, as truly it’s a passion of mine to help build our industry. I want to show off what Canada has to offer, hence my pairing up with as unique talent as this land can boast in Don Mayo. I want to meet like minded people and being front and center is a powerful magnet.

So to do all this I need your help. I need your votes. I need you to go online, create an SXSW account, and show me some love. Here is the link: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/54525

Our topic?
Moneyball: Translating Analytics into Marketing Gold

Here is the official write-up (thanks to Maria on our team!):

No industry draws as much universal passion as sports. And no industry draws as much data. When everything is measured – speed, heart rate, agility – how do you know what will actually be helpful in creating the perfect team or play? With the advancements in digital analytics and consumer research, sports marketers are now faced with a similar challenge – endless possibilities in measuring fans’ engagement and affinity. Avoid data overload. Learn how to effectively leverage data’s power to fuel your winning plays for compelling and authentic brand experiences. Get insights from more than just best-in-class cases – go behind-the-scenes with the researchers and strategists themselves. – See more at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/54525#sthash.xr8fYnJR.dpuf

Now you have the link and the ask, here is my platform. If you vote for me I promise to:
1. Wear a Canadian flag when I present. Not sure where yet, but the suggestion box is open.
2. Provide copies of the presentation to all who can prove they voted for Don and me. Autographs will be extra.
3. Periscope Don and I’s rehearsal of the final presentation the night before, for your viewing pleasure. Subtitles will be sponsored by IMI wizards Neal and Adam.
4. If we get picked, I promise not to talk endlessly about it at CSFX16 in February. (Man it’s hard to type with my fingers crossed.)
5. Invite all confirmed voters who also attend our presentation at SXSW to our post presentation celebration on 6th Street. Understand of course the polite thing is for you to buy, not us.

In all seriousness, I think you know the importance of this to me and I can only say thank-you a million times over for your support.