This year’s conference is dedicated to those actionable tips, hacks, and content marketing tactics that will make your business not just bigger, but infinitely better. Our four keynote speakers speak to that theme perfectly – and then some. Each keynote uniquely highlights a different aspect of content marketing that, while valuable on their own, come together to make a sum far more powerful than its parts. Catch one, catch all – you don’t want to miss these content marketing gurus giving this year’s conference attendees all they’ve got.
Kindra Hall
Keynote: “The Irresistible Power of Strategic Storytelling”
Wednesday, May 18 – 9:00-10:00 AM
Stories sell, something Kindra Hall knows a little something about. Kindra’s resume includes time as a marketing director and vice president of sales for a multi-million dollar enterprise, but some would argue that it’s her achievements as a national champion storyteller, former board member of the National Storytelling Network, and winner of a 2014 Storytelling World Award that make her especially qualified to discuss the limitless potential of storytelling. She’s currently a traveling bard of sorts, but her audience is entrepreneurs and high-powered executives. Her message is less folksy and far more centered on brand-building strategies and her remarkably effective three-step process for crafting the perfect story. It’s an approach that will help you captivate the hearts and minds of current and prospective customers alike, and breathe new life into every aspect of your content creation process.
Byron White
CEO, WriterAccess
Chair, Content Marketing Conference
Keynote: “Fireside Chat with Byron White – What’s Next: Content Rock Stars”
Wednesday, May 18 – 4:30-5:30 PM
As the CEO of WriterAccess and the chairman of the Content Marketing Conference, Byron White wears a great many hats – his favorite of which is a well-worn Stetson, but that’s a tale for another time. Byron was (and continues to be) at the forefront of the content marketing revolutionary, and he’s known as much for his laid-back yet undeniably dynamic speaking style as he is for his ability to identify and cultivate winners. His Day 2 keynote is a “fireside chat” that looks at the how artists and entertainers like co-hosts musician-marketer Will Dailey, creative content guru Jessica Ann of Jessica Ann Media, and Amanda Goodwin, who’s the head storyteller and steward of the optimism-driven non-profit Life is Good Kids Foundation, connect with their fan bases in some pretty special and exciting ways. It’s an opportunity for attendees to see what it’s like when content rock stars get together to talk shop – except this time, you’re with the band.
Josh Bernoff
Author, Writing Without Bullshit and Groundswell
Chief Trouble Maker, WithoutBullshit.com
Keynote: “Writing Without Bullshit”
Thursday, May 19 – 8:35-9:30 AM
Josh Bernoff has held a slew of important titles in his life, but “Believer in Bullshit” would definitely not number among them. He’s been a professional writer for more than 30 years, he’s a communications expert, he spent more than 20 years at tech giant Forrester Research, and his blog – which generated more than 1 million views in its first year – is jam-packed with information that people actually want to read. It’s his daily ode to the idea that everyone can write content, but not everyone can write great content that cuts through the BS to deliver something interesting, entertaining, and above all, worth the time the end user has invested in reading it. How can you stand out in a very crowded field? Josh believes it’s by weeding out the buzz words that say little and replacing them with active statements that are both powerful and empowering. Interested? We thought so. Intrigued? How can you not be, really?
Bryan Kramer
Author, Shareology and Human to Human
CEO, Purematter
Keynote: “Shareology: How Sharing Powers the Human Economy”
Thursday, May 19 – 4:00-5:00 PM
The biggest, most important factor in marketing is the human element. It may seem odd, then, to have a keynote on sharing delivered by someone who has consulted with Fortune 500 clients such as Cisco, IBM, and Pitney Bowes, but think about it this way: what if the humanizing lessons that Bryan Kramer delivers are exactly what propelled those companies into the stratosphere? Bryan’s books are bestsellers and he’s a popular TED speaker, but all these worthy achievements boil down to something very simple (yet simultaneously global in both impact and scale): marketing is a human-to-human endeavor, and until we relax our death grip on “our” ideas and learn how to share, our collective evolution will slow to a knuckle-dragging halt. Bryan’s keynote is the ideal way to wrap up three days of hack-packed sessions – come together, chat, and rethink how we, as humans, can steer the rudder and sail our global tribe to a nicer, cooler, more interesting place.