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Word of Mouth Basic Training Conference Wrap-Up
450 attendees. 70+ speakers. 16 case studies. 16 how-to sessions. Everything came together for two exciting days as top marketers and industry experts came together to teach and share practical, hands-on advice on word of mouth marketing at WOMMA's Word of Mouth Basic Training Conference.
Conference Charged with Excitement
A feeling of positive momentum charged all the keynotes, breakout sessions, and hallway chit-chat with a feeling of amped-up excitement. Word of mouth is gaining traction everywhere. Clients and brands came out in full force and learned how to get buy-in from throughout their company. Agencies and creatives shared tips and advice, while talking up the need to work together to create tools and metrics that will help their clients become advocates for WOM and prove the ROI.
WOMMA CEO Andy Sernovitz kicked the festivities off with a state of the industry speech, reporting that 2006 will be remembered as the year WOM joins the marketing big leagues. As one person blogged: "Andy almost sounds like a good ol' southern preacher when he says, 'Honesty matters. You do well by doing good.. Satisfied customers promote your products and services for free. Consumer respect makes more money.'"
Big News Made at WOMBAT
Everywhere one looked, news was being made:
* Thomas Pahl of the Federal Trade Commission spoke on a morning panel, giving a positive assessment of WOMMA's work promoting strong industry ethics.
* Northeastern University professor Walter Carl unveiled new research demonstrating the importance of disclosure in WOM campaigns.
* Several new companies officially launched and some of the most dynamic industry players announced they were joining new companies.
* Four well-known bloggers covered the event from start to finish, taking pictures and writing summaries of each session.
* Video blogging emerged as a new twist on the medium as several key industry officials were interviewed and shared their insights into word of mouth.
On both days, the message rang out loud and clear: "WOM works."
Press/Blog Coverage
Here is a "small" sampling of all the WOMBAT post-event coverage:
WOMMA's WOMBAT blog
WOMBAT video blog
Dana VanDen Heuvel (WOMBAT blogger)
Josh Hallett (WOMBAT blogger)
Toby Bloomberg (WOMBAT blogger)
Marianne Richmond (WOMBAT blogger)
Flickr stream (photos)
Del.icio.us links
Technorati coverage -- "WOMMA"
Feedster coverage -- "WOMMA"
BlogPulse coverage -- "WOMMA"
New York Times -- "Advertising Is Obsolete. Everyone Says So."
Advertising Age -- "The Good Word from the Word of Mouth Conference"
AdAge.com
Adrants
The Basement
Brand Autopsy
Brand Builder Blog
Business Blog Consulting
ClickZ/Pete Blackshaw
ClickZ/Dave Evans
Consumer Generated Media
Creating Customer Evangelists
Cymfony's Marketing Insight
Digital Influence Mapping Project
E-fluentials
Emergence Marketing
E-venting.net
frank
George Silverman's Word of Mouth
Hello, My Name is Scott
iMedia Connection
Marketing to Moms
MediaBuyerPlanner
Micro Persuasion
Poynter.org
NOLS Blog
Son of a Pitch
Word of Mouth Communication Study
WordSpreadsQuickly