Great Ideas Summit, where DR dreams come true

Great Ideas Summit, where DR dreams come true

Dial800 will be networking Feb. 22–24 at the Great Ideas Summit in Orlando, Florida, a 13-year-old conference expected to draw the movers and shakers in direct-response (DR) marketing.

The event is owned and produced by Washington, D.C.-based trade group the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).  Sixty percent of attendees are expected to be senior-level execs, while 32 percent will travel from outside the U.S. and 21 percent will join the event for the first time. Promoters tout the summit as the place “where deal-makers come for high-powered meetings, connections and global expansion.”

The keynote speaker will be Robin Marc Shapiro of STiKi, discussing “Ring in the New: Engaging Customers in the Smartphone Age.” Ten other “Masters Series” presenters include Andrew Farrar of HandsOnConsulting LLC; Robbie Kellman Baxter of Peninsula Strategies LLC; Shail Prasad of Telebrands; Ranjit Mulgaonkar of DNA Response; Randal M. Shaheen of Venable LLP; Ivan Wasserman of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP; Adrian Vender of Internet Marketing, Inc.; Keith Lovgren of Data Inclusion; Lindsey Carnett of Marketing Maven and Julian Bartlett of Manifest.

The Masters Series includes a variety of topics relevant to DR marketing, including “Manage Product Reviews To Listen To the Voice of the Consumer”; “Multi-Touch Attribution Insights For Digital Marketing” and “How To Use Conversion Rate Testing To Grow Your Revenue and Profits.”
Previously held in Miami, this year’s summit is staged at the 1,500-acre Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort. At previous events, the website reports, 77 percent of attendees have generated between one and 10 leads, while 50 percent have solidified a deal or signed a contract. Half of attendees are marketers and 39 percent are service providers.

“The Great Ideas Summit draws a bigger concentration of C-Level marketers and suppliers than any other event its size,” reports a press release. “People who attend this conference are the cream of the crop, the top-tier professionals and the VIPs of the direct response industry.”

Proceeds of the event support the ERA. For more info on the summit, access http://www.retailing.org/greatideas/about/.