Listen. Engage. Connect.

One of the largest gatherings of professional marketers is about to take place.

The Canadian Marketing Association‘s 2012 CMA Summit is happening next week (May 16th – 17th, 2012 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Ontario). I’m fortunate to be the chairman of the board of the directors of this association and prior to that role, I was co-chair of these national annual gatherings. Each and every year offered professional marketers from across the globe the opportunity to connect and share. This year will be no exception.

All under one roof.

During the two days, just some of the amazing speakers include:

• Sir Ken Robinson. If you’ve never seen his amazing TED Talk, Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity, it is twenty minutes that will change your life. He is also the author of Out Of Our Minds and The Element. He’s a master presenter on the topic of creativity.
• Jim Lecinski – Vice-President of US Sales for Google will discuss his ZMOT – Zero Moment Of Truth concepts.
• Jordan Banks – Managing Director of Facebook Canada will be joined by L’Oreal Canada‘s Chief Marketing Officer, Marie-Josee-Lamothe, to discuss the marketing power of friends marketing to friends.
• Bryan Pearson – President and CEO of LoyaltyOne will officially launch his brand new business book, The Loyalty Leap.

And much, much more…

On top of that, there will be a breakfast session on May 17th where I will lead one of nine roundtable conversations. My breakfast chat is called, Digital Marketing…is your brand or agency still struggling to catch up? and there are plenty of other choices. My plan is to attend the entire two-day event. It’s another great opportunity to both catch-up with my fellow marketing professionals and to learn about the trends and movements in our industry. If you plan on being there, make sure to come over, hang out and say "hi!".

Would you like to come to this event for free?

The Canadian Marketing Association has offered up two free passes to this event to the Six Pixels of Separation community. If you would like to win one of the two passes, all you have to do is leave a comment below about your thoughts on what it takes for marketers to listen, engage and connect in today’s world. The deadline for entries will be May 14th, 2012 at 12 pm ET and the winners will be announced by 5 pm on that same day. If you win, you have to cover everything else (travel, accommodations, etc… are not included… it’s just the tickets).

I hope to see you there!

Congrats to the winners… Marc Ensign and Heather Briggs! Each will receive one guest pass to the CMA 2012 Annual Summit. Check your emails for more details.