Entries open today for the ad:tech Digital Young Guns Shootout, a competition to find Australia’s sharpest minds in digital marketing under the age of 30.

Contestants will be given the opportunity to create a digital advertising campaign pitch for V Energy Drink on “V Powering Social Encounters”. Entries will be uploaded to YouTube or SlideShare for evaluation by the expert panel of judges including Nicolas Chu, MD, Expedia and Cathrine Dyer, Marketing Manager, Frucor, with further judges to be announced soon.

The top ten entries will be publicly voted on to whittle it down to the final four. They will then pitch their campaign live on the ad:tech show floor to determine who is the ad:tech Digital Young Gun 2012.

The winner takes home two return flights from Australia to San Francisco or New York, two tickets to either ad:tech San Francisco or New York and $1,000 spending money.

Mark Abay, VP Digital Marketing, dmg::events explains “ad:tech Digital Young Guns Shootout is a great opportunity for up and coming digital marketers to show their peers what they are capable of. As an integral part of the digital marketing and media industry ad:tech is thrilled to provide the platform for this.”

The ad:tech Digital Young Guns Shootout is part of ad:tech, ANZ’s leading digital marketing and media event which takes place from 14-15 March at the Sydney Convention Centre.

ad:tech strives to educate and connect the digital industry by producing Australia’s most thoroughly researched and targeted digital marketing and media events. The two day ad:tech Sydney CONFERENCE covers the most pertinent and timely issues, featuring over 100 leading minds. The adjoining EXHIBITION floor showcases industry leading solution providers.

Further information

Visit www.ad-tech.com/sydney
Contact: Gavin Stewart, National Marketing Manager, ad:tech and iMedia
gavin@ad-tech.com.au or call 02 8923 8363

ad:tech Australia is an integral part of the Australian digital marketing and media industry and is committed to its growth.  As part of our commitment to the industry, we want to provide start up businesses the opportunity to launch their company to the largest audience of digital marketing and media professionals in ANZ.

That’s why we’ve initiated the ad:tech Launchpad at ad:tech Sydney next year: to provide a place where companies with limited budgets can leverage the exposure of the ad:tech exhibition and take their product to market, gain valuable new business leads and build their networks.

We have reserved a 6m x 6m area on the expo floor that will house a limited number of small “pods”.  By securing a pod in the Launchpad, start up organizations will benefit from all the pre-event profiling we provide our exhibitors as well as the opportunity to showcase their products and services onsite.

The investment required to be part of the ad:tech Launchpad is small and space is limited to qualifying organisations only.  To find out if you qualify and to secure your pod please contact Tim Stuart-Harris on tim@ad-tech.com or 02 8923 8306.

We have had an overwhelming response rate for participate in this year’s ad:tech activities and as well as a torrent of speaker submissions. I’m reminded once again how lucky we are to be working in such a vibrant and active industry, where everyone wants to be involved in developing the industry for tomorrow’s marketer as well as today’s.

We have now finished holding the 9 advisory councils, made up of approximately 60 industry experts from across brands, publications, vendors and agencies. These meetings are critical for the ad:tech team to get to find out what’s really going on in the day to day lives of digital marketers from as many different angles as possible.

The insights given to us by our incredibly knowledgeable and generous committees are invaluable in ensuring that the ad:tech conference programme contains the topics that you, the visitors and delegates, truly want to hear about. So a MASSIVE thanks to all those who gave up their time to contribute. I’m looking forward to what tomorrow’s ad:tech Melbourne Advisory Council will bring now.

I am really excited to be reading through the speaking submissions that so many people have put so much time and effort in to producing and I’m sure that this year’s ad:tech conference programme will be a key part of every digital marketers education and training programme for 2012.

As always, the ad:tech team are keen to hear from you, the marketer, with any feedback that you think will help make his year’s ad:tech better than ever so please get in touch.

Don’t forget to tell us who you want to see as a keynote speaker this year ….

Genevieve Mayne
Content Manager

We’ve been busy at ad:tech HQ so I just wanted to give everyone a quick update of where we are up to for the 2012 ad:tech Sydney & Melbourne events….

The advisory councils – The final council meeting will be held Friday of this week with the initial conference grids due to be released early December

Event Registration – is due to open this week, with our first keynote announcements to follow shortly, so watch this space

The Young Guns Shoot Out – We’ve had a great response and will be announcing more competition details shortly, please get in touch to register your interest.

ad:tech Launchpad – If you are a start up and would like to profile you business on the expo, please get in touch

The Exhibition and Sponsorship – the next few weeks is the time to secure the key opportunities and best locations.  To leverage Australia’s #1 digital media and marketing events and profile your business to the largest gathering of digital professionals in Australia contact me, Tim Stuart-Harris, on tim@ad-tech.com or 02 8923 8306.

Some of the latest ad:tech 2012 exhibitors and sponsors include

LinkedIn Australia – http://au.press.linkedin.com/

Funbox Media Group- http://www.funbox.com/

Datarati – www.datarati.com.au/

Intela – www.intela.com /

Adobe Systems – http://www.adobe.com/marketing/
Xcom Media – http://www.xcommedia.com.au/

Strongmail – http://www.strongmail.com/

Planet49 – www.planet49.com/

The third installment of ad:tech University kicks off in Sydney next Wednesday 23rd November. If you or your team are looking for a cost-effective digital training course then you should consider joining us next week. Here’s 5 reasons why:

1. Accelerate your digital marketing & media awareness and skills. FAST.

In just one day you will truly cement your digital knowledge through a carefully crafted program of content, exercises and networking.  The learning experience is combines a highly interactive & practical onsite program, supported by e-learning modules.

2. Build your business network…because it’s not just what you know

ad:tech uni provides excellent networking opportunities: by spending the day with other, like-minded professionals who have similar challenges & opportunities to you, you can come away with a list of genuinely useful contacts.

3. Continue to study in your own time, at your own pace.

Following attendance at the ad:tech University you’ll receive access to the e-learning syllabus so that you can repeat modules that you found particularly useful or perhaps challenging, do exercises to practice what you’ve studied, and really reinforce what you learned at the ad:tech University.

4. It’s cost-effective and tax deductible

Attendance is just $650 and there are group registration discounts available. Register here

5. Our independant guest speakers are awesome

In addition to the course leader, you’ll hear from guest speakers who have been hand-picked for their expertise and experience in their field. No bias, no buying on to the program, just well respected talent, brought along for your benefit.

Learn from Google, The Monkeys, 303 and George Patterson Y&R

ad:tech University Melbourne, Friday 25^th November, Crown Plaza

Check out the fantastic speakers at ad:tech university MELBOURNE and take advantage of the earlybird special that ends tomorrow.

http://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/ad-techuni/47951/

Michael Padden, Head of Telstra Advertising Network

Zac Jacobs, General manager, Melbourne, Tigerspike

Lucio Riberio, Lead Strategist and Co-Founder, The Online Circle Social Agency

Kate Conroy, Ads Product Specialist, Google Australia

ad:tech, ANZ’s #1 digital marketing and media event is back for 2012. ad:tech Sydney takes place on 14 & 15 March and ad:tech Melbourne on 28 & 29 March.

Based on your feedback and a comprehensive analysis of ad:tech over the last 5 years we are making some exciting changes; look out for further info soon via the usual channels.

This year there’s multiple ways to get involved:

Be a Speaker (Call for Papers Now Open)
Present to Australia’s largest audience of digital professionals at either ad:tech Sydney or Melbourne – propose your presentation idea. Submissions close Fri 28 October.

Sponsor or Exhibit
Generate new business opportunities by showcasing your products and services to the largest gathering of digital marketing professionals in Australia. Contact Tim Stuart-Harris (or call 02 8923 8306).

Be an Advisory Council Member
Join one of our advisory councils to help shape the content for this year’s programme. Contact Genevieve Mayne.

Chair a Conference Stream
Add your insights and guide a conference stream as a chair. Submit your interest.

NEW FOR 2012: ad:tech Launchpad
Would you like to showcase your killer digital business on the coveted ad:tech exhibition floor? We are offering a limited number of subsidised price exhibition stands to start-ups – our way of giving you a bit of a leg up. Contact Tim Stuart-Harris.

NEW FOR 2012: Digital Young Guns Shoot Out
We’ll provide the brief. You create the digital campaign. Make the top 4 and perform your pitch, live at ad:tech in front of an expert panel of judges to win a fantastic prize and of course, the glory! Submit your interest.

These opportunities have a limited capacity so submit your interest early to avoid disappointment.

We’re raising the bar for the 2012 ad:tech conference and we want to help you write a winning presentation to hit to right note for the audience. Therefore we are asking that you think about the following ideas when creating your offering to the programme.

Actionable Insights
Delegates want to take clear actionable insights from your presentation back to their office to share it with their colleagues and show what they learned at ad:tech.Therefore show a final slide listing your top 5 key actionable insights.

We Love Case Studies
Our audience love to hear real life stories of how you ran successful projects or not so successful projects showing what you learned.

If you are a vendor or agency with a great presentation topic, it’s a good idea to have an end user client presenting alongside you. The audience can identify with the case study, hearing about their experiences, results and of course …. what’s next?

Recognisable Brands
If you represent a recognisable brand (or an up and coming brand with some success) then we want to hear about your experiences.

Alternatively, co-presenting with recognisable brands will add weight to your session and help market your presentation on the ad:tech programme.

Relevant and Targeted Experience
Give clear, specific and measurable examples from your project experiences and don’t forget to tell us your results to make your teachings relevant to the ad:tech audience.

Who - The brand
Why - What’s the reason for the project
When – Timeliness – our audience want recent examples
Where – Platforms and channels used to get your message across
How – Your methods
Results – Measurable outcomes
What’s next ….

Submit your ad:tech 2012 presentation idea here

The hotly anticipated iMedia Brand Summit has come and gone for another year, leaving delegates with a stack of business cards in hand and wealth of innovative digital marketing knowledge drawn from keynote and sponsor presentations to share with the rest of their teams

The delegation was comprised of 100 of Australia’s top marketers and every industry vertical was accounted for, which created an innovative and insightful mix for learning and networking in the beautiful Hunter Valley sunshine; not a bad office for 2 days.

The conference was kicked off by Mike Weeding, Head of Digital Banking for Citi and also Chairman of the iMedia Advisory Board. He astounded us with his array of Dad jokes inciting more than a few groans but also provoking questions and discussions, keeping the audience on their toes.

The 2 international keynote presentations illustrated campaigns and strategies being implemented north of the equator. Asad ur Rehman, Director Global Media – Foods for Unilever flew in from London to tell us that whilst TV is certainly not dead, the broadcast mentality is and if marketers want to sustain then on-demand, interactive and easily accessible have to be embraced. Kevin Ryan, CEO of Motivity Marketing visiting from California spoke about the 3 simple rules (section B, paragraph 5, sub-section c) of practical application to gain a successful track record in social media. Kevin admitted that whilst he can be the biggest brand critic he is can also be best your advocate. Definitely a guy to be friends with in online land!

Although the BBQ cooking school seemed to create some rivalry between the teams, pupils seemed keen to get home and try out their new skills and prove that they can now cook the perfect steak. We eagerly await our dinner invitations! The wine tasting groups appeared to return surprisingly level headed but struggling under the weight of boxes of wine. Under the guidance of Nick Bolton and his team, 2 groups composed some sage marital advice for iMedia VP, Mark Abay and his upcoming nuptials, which you can view again via the iMedia Brand Summit LinkedIn group.

Of course, big thanks go to the sponsors and networkers who attended and put so much effort into making the event possible. Sponsor presentations gave compelling insights to the industry and trends to watch out for.

Please use this space to share your experiences and insights about the iMedia Brand Summit. We want to continue making this the best event we can.

Genevieve Mayne

Content Manager, ANZ

It’s hard to believe but the iMedia Brand Summit is now just three weeks away. The iMedia team is busy putting the final touches to the program and delegate list and I’m pleased to report that this year’s summit is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

The delegate list has been carefully researched to bring together the most senior digital marketers in the region. It genuinely reads like a ‘who’s who’ of client side digital marketers. We’re really proud to have built this event over the last four years, one that digital marketers now recognise as the main event for themselves and their peers.

I’m looking forward to a number of the presentations. Asad ur Rehman, Director Global Media-Foods, Unilever (UK) is presenting on the future of TV as a medium. It’s fascinating to think that not long ago people were predicting the slow demise of TV. Now, interactive TV and TV on demand is going from strength to strength – “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. Asad will talk us through what the future holds and what it means for brand advertisers.

I’m also looking forward to hearing from Linda Duncombe, Director, Marketing, Customer experience and Digital Banking, Citibank Australia. A huge amount of marketing innovation has taken place at Citi over the recent years and with Linda at the helm we can be sure of more to come. During her session Linda will address how Citi approached the holy grail – the delivery of a holistic brand experience both on and offline.

Henry Talbot, Managing Director, Loopster Media will be talking us through how the world’s biggest brands are using smart content to drive Facebook success. Loopster is a genuinely interesting start-up and will no doubt open delegates eyes to new content and engagement opportunities with their customers.

You can check out the full program of speakers and see some of the brands attending on the iMedia Brand Summit website.

Of course, I’m also looking forward to the wine tasting in the Hunter Valley, the golfing and other networking activities.  However,  I’m most looking forward to the collective intellect idea sharing that the summit attracts. It never fails to impress both my team and our delegation. It also, in my humble opinion, helps drive and strengthen the digital marketing industry in ANZ.

Hopefully we see you there in three weeks time!

Mark Abay

VP Digital Marketing UK & ANZ

ad:tech – iMedia