Business Marketing Association Opens Pre-Registration for 2012 International Conference

CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Marketing Association (BMA) announced today the opening of pre-registration for its 2012 international conference slated for May 30-June 1, 2012, at the Swissotel in Chicago.

Themed "Grow," the 2012 conference will follow three of BMA's most successful and well-attended annual international conferences ever—"Unlearn" in 2009, "Engage" in 2010 and "Unleash" in 2011—and will be the single largest b-to-b marketing conference in the world in 2012.

Expected to draw as many as 800 marketing and sales leaders from as many as 10 countries, the jam-packed two-day conference—running from Wednesday noon, May 30, through Friday noon, June 1—will feature 12 keynote sessions, eight breakout sessions and two evening networking events.

With "growth" being the #1 focus today of most C-suites and boards, "Grow" will explore how b-to-b marketing organizations large and small are successfully and efficiently enabling their organizations to generate growth in customer demand, sales and profitability.

BMA is strongly encouraging its members and other b-to-b marketers to invite their sales counterparts to this conference, as the conference content is being designed with both marketing and sales in mind.

"Grow" will be kicked off by Jim Stengel, the former chief marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, and author of a new book, Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies," to be published in May of 2012. All attendees will receive a copy.

Other confirmed keynote speakers include:

• Greg Brown, Chairman and CEO, and Eduardo Conrado, Senior VP and CMO, Motorola Solutions (continuing BMA's practice of having a CEO and CMO present together)
• Kathy Button Bell, Senior VP and CMO, Emerson
• Brian Chermside, VP and Chief Commercial Officer, Dow Corning
• Neil Rackham, the "Professor of Professional Selling" and author of Spin Selling and Rethinking the Sales Force

The conference will include several general-session panels on such topics as "B-to-B Sales Enablement" and "B-to-B Marketing Creativity," the latter to be moderated by Christoph Becker, chief creative and executive officer of gyro.

Taking a page from the TED™ conferences, "Grow" will feature two general sessions of four compact 15-minute presentations each on high-profile and emerging b-to-b marketing topics, delivered by prominent b-to-b marketers, consultants and authors.

Following last year's extremely popular networking cruise on the lake-faring Odyssey cruise ship, "Grow" will host a networking extravaganza at Chicago's House of Blues on Wednesday evening, May 30, the first night of the international conference. BMA will follow Wednesday with an early evening networking event on Thursday, May 31.

In addition, BMA's 2012 national "B2s" Marketing Awards winners and the annual G.D. Crain Award recipient will be announced and showcased during the national 2012 conference.

"We are expecting record numbers for this year's conference, based on strong interest in BMA and a diverse agenda of content that the BMA board, led by Conference Chair Gary Slack, is planning," said Al Maag, 2011-12 National BMA Chairman and Chief Communications Officer of Avnet. "Our objective is to provide a unique, high-profile venue for b-to-b marketing and sales leaders and their staffs to gain the edge they need to accelerate their growth versus their competition."

A complete speaker line-up and agenda will be announced in early January, according to Slack, 2009-11 National BMA chairman and the organizer of BMA's 2009, 2010 and 2011 national conferences.

Pre-registration is currently open with an early discounted rate of $795 for BMA members and $995 for non-members. These rates will be available until January 30, when early-bird registration rates kick in $895 and $1,095, respectively. Regular registration rates, $995 and $1,195, respectively, kick in April 1.

As in previous years, BMA will offer a special flat rate of $795 per person for companies registering three or more attendees (BMA members or not)—a rate that is good up until the day of the conference.

Registration and some 2012 "Grow" conference details are available at www.marketing.org/Grow

B-to-b marketers who have not attended prior international BMA conferences can view much of the content (video, audio, decks) at BMA's 2009, 2010 and 2011 international conferences at these links:

• 2009 "Unlearn" conference
• 2010 "Engage" conference
• 2011 "Unleash" conference

About the Business Marketing Association

Started in 1922, today's Business Marketing Association (BMA) works to increase the importance, impact and value of marketing in businesses worldwide.  BMA is the only professional organization with an exclusive focus on business-to-business marketing and its key drivers: customer engagement and relationships, product and service innovation, value pricing, channels, online/offline marketing communications and analytics. BMA's members represent state-of-the art expertise in business-to-business marketing and communications, and share best practices for the benefit of the global business community. For more information visit www.marketing.org. Or phone 630-544-5054. E-mail [email protected].

SOURCE Business Marketing Association