Looking back on the CMA/Canadian Marketing Association Trade Show and Conference

The Canadian Marketing Association ("CMA") held its annual convention slash trade show at the Ottawa Congress Center last week. It was a major event, with close to 1500 delegates attending over 3 days.

I was scheduled to open Day 3 with a 45-minute keynote speech, and I decided to take a few days away from the office to attend the conference and soak it all in as an attendee. I thought it would give me some additional perspective on what's happening in Marketing (capital M) and who some of the players are. WOW. What an experience. I met so many impressive people and learned a ton in just three days (plus two free books, more on that later).

My top three keynote speakers were Mitch Joel ("Burn The Ships" was loaded with great examples), Don Tapscott ("Wikinomics" zoomed in perfectly on the new brand relationship) and John Wood ("Room to Read" outlined what's truly possible when you stop listening to Ballmer and start listening to yourself), though I would throw in the Nintendo exec as well, if I had won the one Wii they gave away after his speech (c'mon Nintendo, get it together, you had 1400 marketers on site and you bring only one machine to give out!!!?).

"Geek Dinner" on Tuesday with among others, Mitch Joel (yes, he is everywhere these days!), TwistImage CEO Mark Goodman, Michael Seaton of ScotiaBank and The Client Side Blog, Alan Flint of the CMA, Erin Rayner of EdMarketing.ca, Bill Sweetman from MacLaren McCann Canada, Renee Bourgon, Maribelle, et. al. (sorry for not remembering everyone's name - I was somewhat pre-occupied with my speech, if you couldn't tell). A great evening, highlighted by a funny discussion of great service experiences, followed, of course, by everyone ranting on Air Canada - it seems like you can't go anywhere these days without hearing another nightmare story about flying Air Canada...

And so on Wednesday morning, it was yours truly for 45 minutes on the Power of Persuasion... Sure, I was nervous (the tech guys told me that a lot of the speakers this year were really nervous!), but the speech went smoothly and I was overwhelmed by the positive response from delegates and organizers. Stephen Brown (outgoing Chair of the CMA Convention) congratulated me as I walked off, followed by April from Taylor and Associates, and then who else but Mitch Joel comes right away backstage to congratulate me...

To sum it all up: what a super thrill!! Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. The best part is that we had the whole thing taped, so I've got some broadcast-quality footage to share.