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B altimor e, M D - Mar ch 21 -2 3

2018 Call For Speakers 2

We need you to bring your ideas to our 2018 conference!

A fresh perspective and focus to this year’s conference aims to curate

engaging content and an experience that challenges the A/E/C status

quo through exposure to people, ideas, and examples from leaders and

progressives within and outside the industry.

ME RG E 2018C A LL FOR SP E A K E R S

ARE YOU A . . .

FUTURE-THINKER CHANGE-MAKER BUBBLE-POPPER

KEEP-IT-MOVING MAKE-IT-HAPPEN DON’T-HOLD-ME-DOWN PERSON?


MERGE is the theme for the SMPS Northeast Regional Conference, a conference that

brings together innovative thinkers from across multiple industries, geographies, and

SMPS chapters to discuss the ongoing transformation of A/E/C marketing.

We’re excited to MERGE in Baltimore, MD - March 21-23, 2018!

Baltimore is undergoing an exciting transition of its own. Hosted at the Four Seasons

Hotel Baltimore overlooking the beautiful Inner Harbor, the conference will attract over

350 of the region’s top A/E/C marketing, business development, and firm leaders for

three days of learning, networking, and inspiration.

The Northeast Regional Conference is supported by SMPS chapters in Boston, Central

Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Northern New England, Philadelphia,

Washington, DC, and Upstate New York.

W H AT IS ME RG E?

M E R G E . . .

Chapters Ideas People

Firms Industries Trends


We’re breaking out the MERGE experience into three modules – Firm, Profession and

Personal – with the content organized from macro to micro. Regardless of level of

experience, we’re looking to tailor discussions around opportunities for growth and

impact at each of the three levels.

We are seeking individuals, teams, or panels to present 45-minute breakout sessions in

support of the following conference modules:

Firm:Addresses the challenges and priorities relevant to firm owners and

management through topics that help identify potential opportunities

for marketing professionals to add value and create greater impact

within their firms.

Profession:Includes the processes, procedures, tools and resources relevant to

the roles and responsibilities of the modern marketing team, including

strategic and integrated marketing, communications, and business

development.

Personal:Focuses on developing the individual as a professional and leader

within the industry, their firm,. or their team by sharing tools and

topics that increase self-awareness and emotional intelligence to

encourage proactive and strategic professional growth.

HOW IS TH E CON FE R E NCE ORG A N IZE D?


We’re looking for fresh voices with fresh ideas – particularly those who can help expose

A/E/C marketing professionals to people, ideas, and examples from outside our industry.

The person or team submitting the proposal MUST be the primary speaker(s).

Your proposal should fit clearly within one of the identified conference modules: Firm,

Profession, or Personal. To help source content that fits within the conference vision,

we’ve developed a list of topics for each module that we feel reflects some of the current

needs and challenges faced by A/E/C marketers. We encourage you to submit proposals

that directly relate to these topics – while also supporting the submission of alternative

topics that strengthen the identified conference module and MERGE mission.

Firm

• Collaboration: Breaking down operational silos to leverage, track, and create

shared results between departments and organizational hierarchies (HR, IT,

Marketing, Finance)

• Employee Recruitment and Retention: Developing effective and targeted

recruitment and retention strategies, and maintaining an engaged workforce

• Geographic Diversity: Sustaining culture, processes, and messaging across

geographically diverse offices

• Strategic Planning: Making the transition to sustained and strategic growth

that integrates business goals with marketing efforts

• Integrated Systems: How to streamline, connect, and leverage your systems for

bottom line impact

• Profitability: Understanding, maintaining, and improving profitability for

business success

W HO SHOU LD SU BM ITA P ROP OSA L?


• Mergers and Acquisitions: Communicating and surviving the change

management process

• The New Marketing Department: The current and future state of the

marketing department, what it looks like and how should it function

• Global Outlook: Understanding and integrating macro-trends into your

planning and implementation

Profession

• Leveraging Data: Understanding what can and should be tracked, how to do it

and how to actually use the results without information overload

• Streamlining Processes: From proposals to content generation to tracking

leads, finding ways to improve processes and work smarter

• The Marketer’s Digital Toolbox: Getting more ROI of current tools and

technologies, understanding what else is out there and how to leverage it

• Marketing Leadership: Finding, growing, and keeping future marketing and

BD leaders

• Client Account Management: Providing clients with a personalized and

positive customer experience through strategic client management plans

• Seller-Doer Shift: Mastering the shift from salesman to coach and building a

seller-doer culture

• Strategic Marketing Plans: Developing actionable plans that align with the

firm’s strategic goals for maximum impact

• Mastering Media: How to leverage in-house and external resources for

maximum target audience exposure and engagement

W H O SH OU LD SU B M ITA P RO P OSA L?


Personal

• Uncharted Path: Adding value and building business through expanded

marketing roles and career paths

• Strategic Relationship Development: Building and leveraging relationships

for career growth, support, and advocacy

• Office Politics: Navigating complex relationships, situations, and conversations

• The Review Process: Making the most out of the review process to grow

yourself and your team

• Productivity and Time Management: Managing expectations, commitments,

and workload to increase productivity and avoid personal and professional

burnout

• Leadership Development: Seeking opportunities to develop personal

leadership skills

• Career Growth: Continuing to stretch and grow professionally without a clearly

defined career path

• Proving Value: Demonstrating business transformation through marketing

leadership

W H O SH OU LD SU B M ITA P RO P OSA L?


Session Description

Provide a brief summary that tells prospective attendees what the session is about, and

what they will gain from attending. Write to persuade prospective attendees that yours

is a “must attend” session. If approved, this summary will be published on the convention

website and included in the final program book (75 words max).

The conference organizing committee reserves the right to adjust session descriptions

as necessary across all conference promotions, including the website, program, social

media, and the conference app.

Abstract

• Provide the thesis or main idea for your proposal and discuss the value proposition

for the audience. You should include how your session leverages innovative

trends and ideas from both inside and outside the A/E/C industry to fit into the

conference goals.

Learner Engagement

• How do you plan to engage the audience to support learning outcomes? What

tools or techniques will be used to keep the attendees engaged in your session?

P ROP OSA L R EQU I R EME NTS


Format

• To deliver engaging and interactive learning, MERGE will give preference to

proposals that promote audience participation and engagement. Identify which

delivery style best describes your session.

• Workshop

• Lecture with Q&A

• Panel discussion with audience participation

• Peer to peer discussions

• Small group breakouts/roundtables

• Other

Content Level

• Select the knowledge level required to optimally participate in your session.

• Introductory

• Intermediate

• Advanced

Learner Outcomes

• Include 3-5 learner outcomes. These are best expressed by using active verbs

such as: identify, discover, practice, describe, chart, define, list, etc. For example:

“By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to identify key skills

needed to influence change.”

P RO P OSA L R EQU I R EM E NTS


Post-Conference Value

• Describe the impact your session will have on attendees’ ability to contribute

to business success upon their return to the office. This refers to your session’s

return on investment for a marketer’s firm.

Supporting Materials

• You may choose to email materials to help the review committee gain a better

understanding of your topic, expertise, and fit for the conference. Please note

that these are not required and will not harm your chances if not submitted.

• Acceptable forms of supporting materials include sample presentations slides,

research/white papers, graphs, photos and images, speaker curriculum vitae,

speaking references, etc.

Video Pitch

• In 60 seconds or less, communicate what your session is about and why it’s

relevant to the conference audience. Videos can be recorded on your phone, and

emailed with your submission.

P RO P OSA L R EQU I R EM E NTS


Proposals will be assessed by a group of peer reviewers comprised of current SMPS

leaders and subject matter experts, and evaluated per the criteria below:

• Incorporation of the MERGE mission – bringing new people, ideas, and examples

from outside the A/E/C industry to the SMPS audience.

• Relevancy of content to the current responsibilities and challenges faced by all

levels of professional services marketers and their firms.

• Program format and approach to audience participation and engagement.

• Clarity and strength of learning objectives and key takeaways.

• Fit within one of the three identified conference modules of Firm, Profession,

and Personal.

• Expertise and experience of the proposed speaker(s).

• Alignment with the conference budget.

HOW DOES TH E R E V I E W P ROCESS WOR K?


Speakers who are selected to present at the Northeast Regional Conference will benefit from:

• A full conference registration for each speaker ($595+ value per person)

• One (1) night stay at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, MD ($199 value, up to two

rooms for presentations with more than one speaker)

• All conference meals and attendance at all conference social events

• The reputation as an industry expert in their respective specialty areas

• The opportunity to educate like-minded professionals on relevant topics

• Exposure through the conference website and promotional materials

• Networking with a prospective audience of 350+ A/E/C leaders

• The opportunity to build new business for their companies

• Potential speaking opportunities with SMPS chapters throughout the northeast

• Complete contact list of conference attendees

• Opportunity to provide a flyer, swag or other promotional material for inclusion

in the conference goodie bag

• Lasting brand recognition and repeated reference through session handouts

provided to all attendees

• An evaluation summary from conference participants

Additional stipends for time and travel costs may be considered based on

the conference budget and proposals received. Please clearly indicate any

requirements in your proposal.

SP E A K E R B E N E FITS A N D R ESP ONSI B I LITI ES


By submitting a response to the Call for Speakers, you agree to the following

information:

• No travel costs will be reimbursed.

• Presenters will receive a one (1) night stay at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, MD

($199 value, up to two rooms for presentations with more than one speaker).

Hotel rooms have been blocked out at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, MD.

• If for some reason you must cancel, we respectfully request that you give NERC

a minimum of 30-days notification. This will allow us enough time to find

another speaker to take your place.

• You will serve as the Primary Session Contact for NERC and must have a valid

e-mail address.

• Co-presenter(s) must all agree to the terms and conditions for participation.

Refusal to agree to all of the terms and conditions will result in any

co-facilitator(s) being dropped from the presentation.

• We will make your handouts available digitally for conference attendees, but you

are responsible for any hard copies.

• Each meeting room will be equipped with a screen and projector. You are

required to provide your own laptop. If you are unable to provide your own

laptop, let us know and the Logistics Committee can provide one for you.

S P E A K E R B E N E F ITS A N D R ES P O NSI B I LITI ES


• In order to make the valuable information from NERC accessible to members

who cannot attend the conference, we may record the sessions and make them

available for purchase post-conference. In agreeing to this agreement, you are

providing NERC with permission to record, edit, transcribe, archive, duplicate,

distribute, reproduce, and sell any written or visual material submitted in

connection with and including the oral presentation, delivered at this program, in

any and all media now existing or hereafter developed, throughout the world.

• NERC reserves the right to revise titles in consultation with the presenter,

reassign the identified topic area, or edit the program summary for promotional

and program materials.

• You agree to be available to our communications team to provide content to help

promote your session at the conference.

S P E A K E R B E N E F ITS A N D R ES P O NSI B I LITI ES


Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for MERGE the SMPS Northeast

Regional Conference. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact:

Catherine DeWitt, CPSM at [email protected]

Laura Ewan, CPSM at [email protected]

To present at the 2018 SMPS Northeast Regional Conference, please submit your

proposal by Friday, August 18, 2017 5:00 PM E.T.

Email to:

Catherine DeWitt, CPSM

2018 SMPS NERC Programs Co-Chair

[email protected]

Please enter “2018 NERC Program Submission” in the subject line. All session proposal files MUST

be submitted electronically in PDF format and received by 5:00PM E.T. on the due date.

Links to videos or other supporting materials should be included in the PDF.

Best of luck!

HOW TO SU BM IT

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