Tory Smith

Confluence Digital Marketing Conference Is Almost Here

August 24, 2015 By Tory Smith

Brain power, expertise, and swagger all under one roof in OKC

The Confluence Conference will be held in Oklahoma City on September 10-11, 2015.

Immerse yourself with digital marketing brilliance

Our good friends just north of us in Oklahoma City, led by DFWSEM Ambassador Ruth Burr Ready, are hosting a digital marketing conference next month that will feature some of the brightest minds in the industry.

Confluence, now in it’s third year, is known as The Complete Digital Marketing Conference and will be held on September 10-11, 2015 at the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City.
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Practical Ecommerce To Host 2-Day Conference In Dallas In September

August 17, 2015 By Tory Smith

DFWSEM members to present at Ignite 2015 ecommerce conference

Ignite 2015 conference to hold 39 sessions, two keynotes and eight networking events for ecommerce professionals

A conference built specifically for ecommerce professionals

Ecommerce business owners, managers, and marketers of small businesses don’t get the chance to attend a conference targeted specifically to them very often. Practical Ecommerce plans to change that.

Ignite 2015 is a two-day conference to be held in Dallas on September 16-17 and is considered the premiere, business-building event of the year for small and mid-sized ecommerce merchants and professionals.
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SMU Launches Digital Marketing Certificate Program

August 6, 2015 By Tory Smith

Fast track your marketability

SMU CAPE now offers a digital marketing certification program to add to your marketable credentials

SMU Continuing & Professional Education (CAPE) is pleased to announce the launch of its new Certificate Program in Digital Marketing. Upon completion of the program you may add a Professional SMU Certificate in Digital Marketing to your credentials. The program consists of two required courses and two related electives of your choice and can be completed in as little as one semester (6 months) or as long as 18 months.

Special discount available for DFWSEM members

DFWSEM and DFW employers were instrumental in the development of this program. As a DFWSEM member you will receive a discount off the entire certificate program or off one of the related individual classes (if you would like to just take an individual class and not pursue the whole certificate). To receive your discount of $200, $100, or $50 please use code DFWSEM15 when you register. The level of discount is dependent on what you select.

SMU CAPE intentionally keeps class numbers very low to allow for a higher quality student experience. Please register early to avoid being waitlisted.

Class registration links

Digital Marketing Strategy & Management
Digital Marketing Analytics
Writing Engaging Content & Copy
Mastering E-mail Marketing
Search Engine Optimization & Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Digital Public Relations
Developing & Implementing a Social Media Marketing Campaign

Read more about the SMU CAPE Digital Marketing Certificate Program.

Search Engine Land Teams Up With DFWSEM To Recognize Charitable Marketers

July 6, 2015 By Tory Smith

Are your search marketing results stellar? Now they can be award-winning, too

DFWSEM board will participate as a judge at the Search Engine Land Landy Awards 2015

Whether you are an individual consultant, an external agency or in-house search marketer for a small business or enterprise, if you and/or your team have achieved outstanding results from organic and/or paid search, then your efforts deserved to be recognized!

Search Engine Land recently announced the addition of an industry awards program, a.k.a. “The Landy Awards” to the lineup for the annual Search Marketing Expo and conference in New York City this fall.

With twelve search marketing award categories covering SEO, SEM, mobile, local, retail search marketing, and individual achievements, there are a number of ways to earn recognition for your best search marketing success story or honor an exceptional team member.

Search Engine Land is pleased to have partnered with the board of DFWSEM, which will be participating in the judging of the “Pay It Forward” category – an award that recognizes an individual or an agency for volunteer hours (or steeply discounted consulting rates) for digital marketing expertise committed to helping a non-profit/charitable organization with its online marketing efforts.

Celebrate the power of search – all profits for charity!

Over the years at the annual SMX After Dark event, the search marketing community has helped raise more than $60,000 in donations to charitable organizations.

This year, with the addition of the awards ceremony, together we’ll celebrate the search industry and give back at the same time, with all profits from awards entry fees, sponsorships and event celebration tickets sold going two worthy charities: BeTheMatch.org and CODE.org.

Search Engine Land’s parent company, Third Door Media, guarantees a minimum $5,000 donation.

The Awards Ceremony and After Dark party will take place at @SMX East in New York City, Wednesday evening (8 pm – 11 pm). Tickets for this event are available for $75 when you register for an All Access Pass or Expo+ Pass (FREE, with pre-registration) to SMX East.

Entry Deadline: July 31, 2015
Finalists Announced: September 1, 2015
Awards Celebration:
- When: September 30, 2015 @ 8 pm – 11 pm
- Where: @SMX East After Dark Event
  - BB King’s Times Square, NYC
- What: Opening Cocktails, Awards Ceremony, Hors d’Oeuvres + 2 Hours of Live Entertainment!
- Who: The Search Marketing Community + YOU!

Learn more about the 2015 Search Engine Land Awards, including details and guidelines for entry in each category, and information about how to sponsor the awards.

Industry Leaders Recognized by UTD Jindal School of Management

April 6, 2015 By Tory Smith

Marketing Legends and Awards Banquet April 20

The first season of the Marketing Legends and Awards Banquet Series recognizes leaders who have created a transformational impact in marketing. The event will be held at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Jindal School of Management April 20.

Hal Brierley will be the first recipient of this award and is known for his innovation of customer loyalty programs. Hal is the mastermind behind the popular AAdvantage^® Loyalty Program which has become a household name for both business and personal travelers worldwide. In addition, Brierley co-founded the billion dollar company Epsilon also helped start eRewards (now known as Research Now).

Brierley will be speaking on Rewards for Engagement: Winning the “Share of Attention” Battle.Lee Cullum, host of KERA-TV’s program CEO, will be the moderator, covering the following topics:

“Share of attention” is becoming as important as “share of wallet”
Background and future of loyalty programs
Building blocks to make loyalty programs a profit center
Maintaining customer attention and loyalty with Rewards for Engagement™ programs
The DNA of entrepreneurships (at the banquet)

When

Lecture: April 20 at 5:30 – 6:45 pm (Free)
Awards Banquet: April 20 at 7:00 – 8:30 pm ($65)

Seating is limited to 110 participants, only 60 seats remain. Proceeds go to the UTD Marketing Scholarship fund.

Where

Davidson Auditorium at the Jindal School of Business, UT Dallas

BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL Three Day Conference in Dallas’ Westin Galleria on March 25

March 23, 2015 By Tory Smith

BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL is a leading edge event focused specifically on the national marketing, local targeting theme. Several hundred industry executives will gather at the Westin Galleria to hear the industry’s top leaders, watch demonstrations, share insights, absorb new research and network.

DFWSEM is a partner for this conference and we were involved with judging of the GOLOCAL competition that is going to award prizes to the best national-local marketing campaigns. Through our partnership, we can offer our members a reduced rate to attend. See details below.

More than $68 billion will be spent by national brands on local marketing by 2018, according to BIA/Kelsey, which is a leading research firm. A major part of this spending will increasingly be spent on digital channels, ranging from Google and Facebook to Hulu and ValPak blue envelopes.

The agenda includes more than 60+ speakers, including a dozen top brand leaders. Leaders in national marketing and local targeting will speak from companies such as Google, Facebook, YP, ValPak, Hulu, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, The Washington Post and many more. Dallas is also well represented, with top executives on the program from The Dallas Morning News, Speakeasy, Advice Interactive Group, SImpli.fi and many more.

An extra added attraction: A Dallas Innovators Breakfast at The Addison Treehouse featuring a bunch of Dallas’ great young talent. The event, sponsored by Speakeasy, will take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 starting at 7:45 a.m.

We encourage you to attend. Through our partnership, you can attend for the special pricing.

For those who wish to register for the conference, go directly to the conference registration page and sign up with one of the discount codes below.

Full event pass:

$200 off w/promo code: DFWSEM

One-day passes (choose a WED, THU or FRI):

$695 w/promo codes: SEMWED, SEMTHU, SEMFRI

To register, visit https://www.kelseygroup.com/Register/registration.asp?CID=87.

Greg Gifford Named as One of Inc.com’s Top 20 Digital Marketing Experts

March 12, 2015 By Tory Smith

If you’ve been keeping up in the fast paced digital marketing world, names like Rand Fishkin, Danny Sullivan, and Joe Pulizzi come to mind as top experts in the SEM arena. Let’s add another one to the list: Greg Gifford.

Yes, DFWSEM’s very own Greg Gifford was recently named one of Inc.com’s Top 20 Digital Marketing Experts to Follow on Twitter.

Larry Kim, Founder of Wordstream, admits spending an hour a day reviewing and engaging with digital marketing communities. Through time, he’s discovered a number of movers and shakers who deliver rock star content on an ongoing basis and compiled a list of the “Who’s Who” among Twitter. Larry was “super impressed” with Greg’s video content, digital marketing tips, and his active speaking roles at conferences that he ranked Greg #18 among the top 20 digital marketing experts to watch closely and follow.

Congratulations, Greg! You’ve made DFWSEM proud.

Next time you see Greg, be sure to give him a pat on the back for his dedication to DFWSEM and his ongoing commitment to digital marketing.

Oh, and don’t forget to follow @GregGifford on Twitter if you’re not already:

Tweets by @GregGifford

New Meetup: Insider Tips from One of the Biggest YouTube Channels, FUNimation

February 19, 2015 By Tory Smith

Due to weather, this event has been rescheduled to April 28th.
Have you ever wondered what makes a video so engaging that it goes viral? How do the people behind the scenes evoke belly laughs, tears, and pull on the heartstrings of their audience?

With sites and apps like Instagram, Vine, Keek, Vimeo and YouTube, video is now the fastest growing online medium, providing you a ton of options for exposing your brand’s message to untapped audiences.

DFW Cre8tors Club is excited to hold their first meetup which will include guest speakers from FUNimation Entertainment:

Justin Rojas, Senior Manager of Social Strategy and Development
Mario Rodriguez, Digital Business Development Manager

FUNimation Entertainment, the leading anime company in North America, has used creative and proven techniques that spawned more than 1.3 million channel subscribers and 340 million views, raising the bar for the anime industry.

Justin and Mario will share how FUNimation generates revenue from their various YouTube channels, and talk about some of the major business challenges the company has faced and overcome.

With so many people and brands clamoring to tell stories, you know the difficulty of getting your messages into timelines and news feeds. You will learn directly from the FUNimation experts on how to cut through the cluttered video landscape and turn clicks, likes, hearts, and shares into dollars. This is a meetup you won’t want to miss!

The Details

Host: DFW Cre8tors Club

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Date: April 28, 2015

Location: Improving Enterprise, 16633 Dallas Parkway Suite 110 Addison, TX

RSVP

For further information contact Jeremy Vest, [email protected] or visit DFW Cre8tors Club to find out more about our group.