The story goes like this. I wrote an article titled WTF Does Mark Hamill Know About Content Marketing.
I had done this before for Kevin Spacey and John Cleese to help my good friends at Content Marketing Institute (CMI) to promote this year’s keynote speaker at Content Marketing World. No big deal.
But at this year’s closing keynote, Luke Skywalker said my name. He mentioned my article. He said my name again. Then he mentioned the article a 3rd time.
I think I fainted. And then Peter Loibl, one my good friends at CMI, insisted I come backstage to meet Mark Hamill in person! Well, OK.
So yes. I got to meet a boyhood idol because I wrote an article about him. But I have a secret: I had tried this tactic before. And it worked!
Except the person I got to meet is an even bigger celebrity in the world of marketing. And she certainly knows a lot about content marketing.
Her name: the one and only Ann Handley
The Single Best Reason To Attend MarketingProfs B2B Forum
In 2011, I attended MarketingProfs B2B Forum with one mission: to meet Ann and to get her advice on how I could gain executive buy-in for content marketing at SAP.
I wrote 9 Things I’m Looking Forward At MarketingProfs B2B Forum. And when I arrived in Boston for the event that year, Ann actually mentioned and showed my article on stage at her opening kickoff!
Later I introduced myself to Ann and asked for her advice (“read my book, Content Rules” she said in jest!) Which of course I had already read 3 times.
If you “know” Ann through her online social sharing, you already know that she is smart, authentic, gracious and kind. Well she is exactly like that in person too. But even better!
At that year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum, she introduced me to Joe Chernov, Joe Pulizzi, Tim Washer, Carlos Hidalgo and all these other amazing people who have been so completely inspirational for my career.
I was nearly brought to tears by Nancy Duarte’s lunchtime keynote that year and will never forget the insights she presented on the elements of great presentations. And I haven’t missed a MarketingProfs B2B Forum since.
The single best reason to attend MarketingProfs B2B Forum: Ann Handley!
Last year, Ann played the accordion to open the show (image above.) They had a brass band kick it all off. They had a foul-mouthed opening keynote from Google that I thought was awesome.
And of course, they had the best marketing speakers, the smartest people you can ever meet in B2B Marketing. And we all had some fun in addition to all the great insights we learned.
People like Ann, along with Joe Pulizzi, Andrew Davis, Lee Odden, and others, are all coming back for this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum October 18-21 in Boston. This is the must-attend event in B2B Marketing every year!
The Best Marketing Speakers Will Be At MarketingProfs B2B Forum
So if you are looking for some additional reasons to attend Marketing, here are, Oh I dunno, here are 87 MORE reasons.
Based on this year’s speaker line-up, there’s going to be nearly 100 of the best marketing speakers on the planet.
And you can join and meet hundreds more B2B Marketing professionals at the event, who just might have that key insight, or connection, or big idea, to make your career.
Marketing Speakers At This Year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum
- I will be presenting the Content Rules Workshop on Tuesday and then presenting Content Marketing Strategy For Any Size Budget on Wednesday. Come say “hello!”
- SARAH LEWIS Author of The Rise, Guest-Editor of Aperture’s “Vision & Justice” Issue @sarahelizalewis
- JOHN MAEDA Design Partner | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers @johnmaeda
- MICHAEL WESCH University Distinguished Teaching Scholar/Associate Professor of Anthropology | Kansas State University @mwesch
- JAY ACUZNO Host and Creator | Unthinkable @jayacunzo
- STACY ADAMS Head of Marketing | GoAnimate @atl2oz
- ARDATH ALBEE CEO | Marketing Interactions @ardath421
- PIERRE-LOIC ASSAYAG CEO | Traackr @pierreloic
- JIM BERETTA President, Customer Attraction Marketing | Consulting @beretta
- KATHERINE BERRY Founder & CPO, Allocadia @katherineberry
- DOUG BEWSHER CEO, Leadspace @Dougino
- ANITA BREARTON Co-founder/CEO | CabinetM @abrearton @cabinetm1
- SCOTT BRINKER President, ion interactive, inc. @chiefmartec
- DOUGLAS BURDETT Principal | Artillery @MarketingBook
- AMI CHITWOOD Senior Social Media and Analytics Strategist | Deloitte Services LP @achitwood
- HEIDI COHEN Chief Content Officer | Riverside Marketing Strategies @HeidiCohen
- JEFFREY L. COHEN Director, Content Strategy | Oracle Marketing Cloud @jeffreylcohen
- KRISTEN CRAFT Director of Business Development | Wistia @thecrafty
- ANDY CRESTODINA Co-Founder, Strategic Director | Orbit Media Studios, Inc. @crestodina
- JIM DEVER Vice President, Influencer Marketing, Global Audience Marketing — SAP @jdever
- KAREN DEWOLFE Vice President, Sales | interlinkONE / Grow Socially @KarenLoueez
- JANET DRISCOLL-MILLER President | Marketing Mojo @janetdmiller
- JA-NAÉ DUANE Managing Partner, Innovation | Revolution Factory @TheSunQueen
- MARY ANN FITZMAURICE REILLY Senior Vice President, Global Advertising & Brand Management | American Express @AmericanExpress
- JOHN FOLEY CEO/CMO | interlinkONE / Grow Socially @johnfoleyjr
- LAURA FORER Manager, Original Content Services | MarketingProfs Made to Order
- OLI GARDNER Co-Founder | Unbounce @oligardner
- STEVE GARFIELD Investor, Writer, Humorist @stevegarfield
- CARLOS GIL Global Head of Social Media | BMC Software @CarlosGil83
- CHRIS GOWARD Founder | WiderFunnel @chrisgoward
- MATTHEW T. GRANT Director of Content Strategy | Aberdeen Group @MattTGrant
- KAREN GUGLIELMO Global Content Marketing Manager | Iron Mountain @kgugl
- MATT HEINZ President and Founder | Heinz Marketing Inc. @HeinzMarketing
- CARLOS HIDALGO CEO and Principal | ANNUITAS @cahidalgo
- DAVID HONIG Vice President, Corp Partnerships | Dynamic Signal @DaveHonig
- STEPHAN HOVNANIAN Content Solutions Architect | Bambu by Sprout Social @stephanhov
- ALBERT JAN (AJ) HUISMAN Founder | Y Content @AJHuisman
- MITCH JOEL President | Mirum @mitchjoel
- JUSTINE JORDAN Vice President of Marketing | Litmus @meladorri
- JEFF JULIAN Chief Marketing Officer | AJi Software @jjulian
- BRIAN KARDON CMO | Fuze @bkardon
- LARRY KIM Founder & CTO | WordStream, Inc. @larrykim
- JONATHAN KRANZ Principal | Kranz Communications @jonkranz
- MARK LANGE Chief Marketing Officer | Reputation.com
- BOBBY LEHEW Chief Branding Officer | ROBYN @bobbylehew
- DEBBIE MACINNIS Professor Of Marketing | University Of Southern California Marshall School Of Business
- ERICA MCGILLIVRAY Senior Community Manager @emcgillivray
- LOREN MCDONALD VP, Industry Relations/Marketing Evangelist | Silverpop, An IBM Company @LorenMcDonald
- JASON MILLER Senior Manager, Global Content Marketing, Marketing Solutions | LinkedIn @jasonmillerca
- JEREMY MILLER Brand Builder | Sticky Branding @StickyBranding
- JON MILLER CEO | Engagio @jonmiller
- TISH MILLSAP Consultant | Demand Generation Consultancy @TishMillsap
- JIM MOLISKI SVP Sales Enablement and Product Marketing | Corporate Visions, Inc. @Moliski
- MARGARET MOLLOY Global CMO & head of Business Development | Siegel+Gale @MargaretMolloy
- SCOTT MONTY CEO and Founder, Scott Monty Strategies @ScottMonty
- CHRIS MOODY Content Marketing Leader | GE Digital @cnmoody
- ANDREW MORAVICK Senior Research Associate, Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy | Aberdeen Group @Amoravick
- AMANDA NELSON Senior Manager | AppExchange Content & Community, Salesforce @amandalnelson
- LEE ODDEN CEO | TopRank Marketing @leeodden
- CHRISTOPHER S. PENN Vice President, Marketing Technology | SHIFT Communications: A Google Analytics Certified Partner @cspenn
- HALLY PINAUD Senior Product Marketing Manager, Marketo @Hallypino
- JOE PULIZZI Founder | Content Marketing Institute @JoePulizzi
- TURNER ROACH Social Media Marketing Manager | Deloitte Services LP @turnroach
- PAUL ROETZER Founder and CEO | PR 20/20 @paulroetzer
- JUSTIN RONDEAU Director of Optimization | Digital Marketer @jtrondeau
- MARIBETH ROSS Chief Content Officer | Aberdeen Group @maribethross
- BOB RUFFOLO Founder and CEO, | IMPACT Branding & Design LLC @BobRuffolo
- ED RUSCH Vice President, Corporate Marketing | Elemica @elemica
- YOAV SCHWARTZ CEO & Co-Founder | Uberflip @yostar
- DEAN SHAW Global Chat Program Manager | SAS Institute @deanshaw
- MARCUS SHERIDAN President | The Sales Lion @TheSalesLion
- JEN SLASKI Executive Director of Marketing Communications | Spiceworks
- SHANE SNOW Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder | Contently @shanesnow
- SAMANTHA STONE Founder | The Marketing Advisory Network @samanthastone
- MATHEW SWEEZEY Evangelist | Pardot @msweezey
- KAREN TALAVERA President and Founder | Synchronicity Marketing @syncmarketing
- TRICIA TRAVALINE Chief Marketing Officer | Skyword @travwin
- ANDREA VAHL Social Media Consultant and Speaker, Social Media Consultant @andreavahl
- TIM WASHER Executive Producer, Cisco @timwasher
- TAMSEN WEBSTER CEO and founder | Strategic Speaking @tamadear
- TOM WEBSTER VP, Strategy | Edison Research @Webby2001
- ALLEN WEISS CEO | MarketingProfs @allenweiss
- NICK WESTERGAARD Chief Brand Strategist | Brand Driven Digital @nickwestergaard
- HEATHER WITHERSPOON Life & Leadership Coach | Coach.Discover.Grow. @heathercdg
- BRANDON WOOD Video Production Manager | Snagajob @brandonmwood27
So what are you waiting for? Click here to sign-up!
Holy wow. I’m honored (and slightly embarrassed) by your generosity here. But more than that, I’m grateful for your friendship and support.
Geez that “friendship and support” sounds… lacking. Pedantic. Inadequate.
Maybe this: The B2B Marketing Forum is soul-filling incredible only because of the quality of the people who attend, speak, and sponsor — and my heart overflows each October when I take it all in. Thanks for being Squad.
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
Thanks Ann, at least now you know that you rank ahead of Luke Skywalker in my book! And I agree, there are so many reasons that I love the event your amazing team puts on every year. But most of all it’s the people who attend and the connections and friendships that form every year.
Can NOT wait to see you in a few weeks!
That was my first year at #MPB2B, too, Michael. What an amazing conference… and it gets better every year! I’m going to miss it this time around, but I have no doubt Ann will deliver the awesome sauce again (she’s a rockstar like that).
We will miss you this year Brian. Hope to see you back next year!