The 4A’s welcomed nearly 1,000 attendees from across the marketing communications industry today to Transformation 2010, the mash-up of the association’s Media and Leadership Conferences. The event kicked off today with the first half of the special management workshop for Small and Mid-Sized Agencies (SAMS).
“The goal of the conference is gathering the entire media and marketing ecosystem into one room and onto the same page,” said 4A’s President and CEO Nancy Hill. “In a world where everything is digital and global, the conversations about the transformation of the business needs to be held together, so that we can cooperatively find solutions to the challenges ahead.”
Transformation 2010’s lineup has evolved to better fit the representation of the communications world. 31 CEOs or Managing Directors are speaking at the conference, more than in the last five years combined. In addition, 18 women speakers, roughly one out of three, marks the highest percentage and number of women in the history of 4A’s events. Featured speakers at the conference include:
- Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post;
- Cathleen Black, President, Hearst Corporation; Jack Griffin, President National Media Group, Meredith Corporation, and Ann Moore, Chairman and CEO, Time Inc.;
- Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo!;
- Larry Light, President and CEO, Arcature LLC;
- Jeff Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company;
- Steve Burke, Chief Operating Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Cable Communications;
- Elizabeth Harz, Senior Vice President, Global Ad Sales, Electronic Arts and Andrew Wilson, Senior Vice President, Electronic Arts; and
- Andrew Ross Sorkin, Reporter and Columnist, The New York Times.
In addition, the Conference will host seven guest, five-minute sessions from the winners of the 4A’s Transformers Contest, which asked users to submit their own ideas and concepts for revolutionizing the advertising industry, as well as the winner of the first-annual 4A’s Account Management Impact Award.
Beyond the speaker lineup, this year’s conference also features the Transformation Lounge, a limited and special exhibition of innovative digital products and trends, a Media Lab courtesy of The New York Times, video interviews from Fast.Forward, a partnership between Google and the Wharton School of Business, and a live broadcast of the popular “This Week in Media” podcast.
Events and insights from Transformation 2010 can be followed online, via these social networks:
About the 4A’s
The 4A’s is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. The 1,196 member agency offices it serves in the United States employ 65,000 people, offer a wide range of marketing communications services, and place 80 percent of all national advertising. The management-oriented association helps its members build their businesses, and acts as the industry’s spokesman with government, media, and the public sector. For more information visit our Web site at www.aaaa.org.
