The Best Reason To Attend This Year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum

By on in Content Marketing

A few weeks ago, I had a pretty amazing moment: I got to meet Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker.

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

  1. 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!”
  2. ANDREW DAVIS Bestselling Author & Marketing Speaker @DrewDavisHere
  3. SARAH LEWIS Author of The Rise, Guest-Editor of Aperture’s “Vision & Justice” Issue @sarahelizalewis
  4. JOHN MAEDA Design Partner | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers @johnmaeda
  5. MICHAEL WESCH University Distinguished Teaching Scholar/Associate Professor of Anthropology | Kansas State University @mwesch
  6. JAY ACUZNO Host and Creator | Unthinkable @jayacunzo
  7. STACY ADAMS Head of Marketing | GoAnimate @atl2oz
  8. ARDATH ALBEE CEO | Marketing Interactions @ardath421
  9. PIERRE-LOIC ASSAYAG CEO | Traackr @pierreloic
  10. JIM BERETTA President, Customer Attraction Marketing | Consulting @beretta
  11. KATHERINE BERRY Founder & CPO, Allocadia @katherineberry
  12. DOUG BEWSHER CEO, Leadspace @Dougino
  13. ANITA BREARTON Co-founder/CEO | CabinetM @abrearton @cabinetm1
  14. SCOTT BRINKER President, ion interactive, inc. @chiefmartec
  15. DOUGLAS BURDETT Principal | Artillery @MarketingBook
  16. AMI CHITWOOD Senior Social Media and Analytics Strategist | Deloitte Services LP @achitwood
  17. HEIDI COHEN Chief Content Officer | Riverside Marketing Strategies @HeidiCohen
  18. JEFFREY L. COHEN Director, Content Strategy | Oracle Marketing Cloud @jeffreylcohen
  19. KRISTEN CRAFT Director of Business Development | Wistia @thecrafty
  20. ANDY CRESTODINA Co-Founder, Strategic Director | Orbit Media Studios, Inc. @crestodina
  21. JIM DEVER Vice President, Influencer Marketing, Global Audience Marketing — SAP @jdever
  22. KAREN DEWOLFE Vice President, Sales | interlinkONE / Grow Socially @KarenLoueez
  23. JANET DRISCOLL-MILLER President | Marketing Mojo @janetdmiller
  24. JA-NAÉ DUANE Managing Partner, Innovation | Revolution Factory @TheSunQueen
  25. MARY ANN FITZMAURICE REILLY Senior Vice President, Global Advertising & Brand Management | American Express @AmericanExpress
  26. JOHN FOLEY CEO/CMO | interlinkONE / Grow Socially @johnfoleyjr
  27. LAURA FORER Manager, Original Content Services | MarketingProfs Made to Order
  28. OLI GARDNER Co-Founder | Unbounce @oligardner
  29. STEVE GARFIELD Investor, Writer, Humorist @stevegarfield
  30. CARLOS GIL Global Head of Social Media | BMC Software @CarlosGil83
  31. CHRIS GOWARD Founder | WiderFunnel @chrisgoward
  32. MATTHEW T. GRANT Director of Content Strategy | Aberdeen Group @MattTGrant
  33. KAREN GUGLIELMO Global Content Marketing Manager | Iron Mountain @kgugl
  34. MATT HEINZ President and Founder | Heinz Marketing Inc. @HeinzMarketing
  35. CARLOS HIDALGO CEO and Principal | ANNUITAS @cahidalgo
  36. DAVID HONIG Vice President, Corp Partnerships | Dynamic Signal @DaveHonig
  37. STEPHAN HOVNANIAN Content Solutions Architect | Bambu by Sprout Social @stephanhov
  38. ALBERT JAN (AJ) HUISMAN Founder | Y Content @AJHuisman
  39. MITCH JOEL President | Mirum @mitchjoel
  40. JUSTINE JORDAN Vice President of Marketing | Litmus @meladorri
  41. JEFF JULIAN Chief Marketing Officer | AJi Software @jjulian
  42. BRIAN KARDON CMO | Fuze @bkardon
  43. DOUG KESSLER Co-founder, Creative Director | Velocity @dougkessler
  44. LARRY KIM Founder & CTO | WordStream, Inc. @larrykim
  45. JONATHAN KRANZ Principal | Kranz Communications @jonkranz
  46. MARK LANGE Chief Marketing Officer | Reputation.com
  47. BOBBY LEHEW Chief Branding Officer | ROBYN @bobbylehew
  48. DEBBIE MACINNIS Professor Of Marketing |  University Of Southern California Marshall School Of Business
  49. ERICA MCGILLIVRAY Senior Community Manager @emcgillivray
  50. LOREN MCDONALD VP, Industry Relations/Marketing Evangelist | Silverpop, An IBM Company @LorenMcDonald
  51. JASON MILLER Senior Manager, Global Content Marketing, Marketing Solutions | LinkedIn @jasonmillerca  
  52. JEREMY MILLER Brand Builder | Sticky Branding @StickyBranding
  53. JON MILLER CEO | Engagio @jonmiller
  54. TISH MILLSAP Consultant | Demand Generation Consultancy @TishMillsap
  55. JIM MOLISKI SVP Sales Enablement and Product Marketing | Corporate Visions, Inc. @Moliski
  56. MARGARET MOLLOY Global CMO & head of Business Development | Siegel+Gale @MargaretMolloy
  57. SCOTT MONTY CEO and Founder, Scott Monty Strategies @ScottMonty
  58. CHRIS MOODY Content Marketing Leader | GE Digital @cnmoody
  59. ANDREW MORAVICK Senior Research Associate, Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy | Aberdeen Group @Amoravick
  60. AMANDA NELSON Senior Manager | AppExchange Content & Community, Salesforce @amandalnelson
  61. LEE ODDEN CEO | TopRank Marketing @leeodden
  62. CHRISTOPHER S. PENN Vice President, Marketing Technology | SHIFT Communications: A Google Analytics Certified Partner @cspenn
  63. HALLY PINAUD Senior Product Marketing Manager, Marketo @Hallypino
  64. JOE PULIZZI Founder | Content Marketing Institute @JoePulizzi
  65. TURNER ROACH Social Media Marketing Manager | Deloitte Services LP @turnroach
  66. PAUL ROETZER Founder and CEO | PR 20/20 @paulroetzer
  67. JUSTIN RONDEAU Director of Optimization | Digital Marketer @jtrondeau
  68. MARIBETH ROSS Chief Content Officer | Aberdeen Group @maribethross
  69. BOB RUFFOLO Founder and CEO, | IMPACT Branding & Design LLC @BobRuffolo
  70. ED RUSCH Vice President, Corporate Marketing | Elemica @elemica
  71. YOAV SCHWARTZ CEO & Co-Founder | Uberflip @yostar
  72. DEAN SHAW Global Chat Program Manager | SAS Institute @deanshaw
  73. MARCUS SHERIDAN President | The Sales Lion @TheSalesLion
  74. JEN SLASKI Executive Director of Marketing Communications | Spiceworks
  75. SHANE SNOW Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder | Contently @shanesnow
  76. SAMANTHA STONE Founder | The Marketing Advisory Network @samanthastone
  77. MATHEW SWEEZEY Evangelist | Pardot @msweezey
  78. KAREN TALAVERA President and Founder | Synchronicity Marketing @syncmarketing
  79. TRICIA TRAVALINE Chief Marketing Officer | Skyword @travwin
  80. ANDREA VAHL Social Media Consultant and Speaker, Social Media Consultant @andreavahl
  81. TIM WASHER Executive Producer, Cisco @timwasher
  82. TAMSEN WEBSTER CEO and founder | Strategic Speaking @tamadear
  83. TOM WEBSTER VP, Strategy | Edison Research @Webby2001
  84. ALLEN WEISS CEO | MarketingProfs @allenweiss
  85. NICK WESTERGAARD Chief Brand Strategist | Brand Driven Digital @nickwestergaard
  86. HEATHER WITHERSPOON Life & Leadership Coach | Coach.Discover.Grow. @heathercdg
  87. BRANDON WOOD Video Production Manager | Snagajob @brandonmwood27

So what are you waiting for? Click here to sign-up!

Michael Brenner  is a Top CMO, Content Marketing and Digital Marketing Influencer, an international keynote speaker, author of "Mean People Suck" and "The Content Formula" and he is the CEO and Founder of Marketing Insider Group, a leading Content Marketing Agency . He has worked in leadership positions in sales and marketing for global brands like SAP and Nielsen, as well as for thriving startups. Today, Michael helps build successful content marketing programs for leading brands and startups alike. Subscribe here for regular updates.

4 thoughts on “The Best Reason To Attend This Year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum”

  1. 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!

    Reply

    1. 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!

      Reply

  2. 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).

    Reply

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