by Ann Krzmarzick
Sometimes I wonder if I should tell people that I was one of the first people on the planet to learn HTML. And that I started my career when there was no such thing as email. Smart phones were not even a concept. And who would have thought that we’d be using Twitter as a brand channel?
For sure, change has been a constant in my career as a marketing and communications professional – the technologies, the rapid dissemination of information, the need for complete transparency in the digital age, and Google. (Who doesn’t say, “Let’s Google that.”?)
For those who know me, it’ll be nothing new when I say that IABC has been my mainstay when it comes to navigating the change. It is a safe haven when I feel I’m drinking from a fire hose. And I’m always rubbing elbows with the best-of-the-best to learn the latest.
To stay connected to the cutting edge, I volunteered to chair IABC Minnesota’s third annual Convergence Summit. Our vision for the Summit is to discover how we can drive business success in an ever-changing world of converging communication opportunities (audiences, technologies, messages, channels, etc.).
In 2018, we are again proud to partner with the University of Minnesota School of Journalism for this event to blend leading-edge research with practical application. We already have the date and location reserved and have lined up a top keynote speaker.
Save the date
Friday, March 23, 2018
McNamara Alumni Center
For those of you traveling to Minnesota from out of town, we will have a hotel block and a Thursday night social hour.
Keynote Speaker
Dan Mallin, Founder and CEO, Equals 3, LLC, is a force in technology-based entrepreneurship, creating transformative tools that serve the needs of Fortune 1000 marketers and the agencies that serve them. Dan’s presentation, “Thriving in an age of disruption: The convergence of communications, business and technology-enabled marketing” will address disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR), and how these emerging technologies can be directly applied to the world of marketing and communications. Learn more at summit.iabcmn.com.
Call for volunteers
While we have a few cornerstones of the event in place, we are just getting started with the planning and need a few enthusiastic volunteers to develop the speaker lineup, spread the word and plan the night-before social hour. Please contact me at amkrzmarzick@hotmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn if you are interested.
Ann Krzmarzick, ABC, is a past president of IABC Minnesota and the chair of the third annual Convergence Summit to be held March 23, 2018.
