Hosts Of Canadian Mobile Social Media Conference Comes to Saskatoon
Hosts Of Canadian Mobile Social Media Conference Comes to Saskatoon
Article by DARREN Rosenbalm
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is set to host the Canadian Mobile Social Media Conference June 16th and 17th at the University of Saskatchewan campus. The two-day conference will feature presentations from many of the world’s top mobile and social media companies. Speakers from Research-in-Motion, Yahoo!, Freshbooks, Syncapse, The Globe, Mail, Deloitte and Queens University will be at the event with over 200 experts in attendance.
According to Ron Styles, CEO of SaskTel, the goal of the conference, aimed at both businesses and developers, is to integrate the many aspects of mobile and social media technologies that are “transforming business and world we live in.” More than 20 speakers will host presentations discussing the impact of mobile and social technology, its use in mobile applications, online user experience, current trends in technology, social media marketing and entrepreneurship.
The MoSoApp Showcase will be a part of the mobile and social media conference featuring applications developed locally with discussion groups led by developers and industry leaders. MoSoFest, an indie music festival, will also be incorporated into the conference to encourage idea sharing and socialization among attendees. Adam Moffat, of Molson Coors Canada, noted that there is a “staggering” amount of social media talent in Canada with innovative companies and individuals ready to present “pioneering new approaches” to connect and share information with businesses, customers and clients. Moffat added that delegates should inspire each other and share ideas.
Key speakers scheduled to speak at the two-day event include Rajeev Massand, a senior application development consultant for RIM working on viable counterparts to Apple’s iPad and Craig Saila, director of digital products at Mail and The Globe. Craig will speak on emerging trends and online media strategy. Sidneyeve Matrix is a digital trends analyst for several national media outlets. She is considered on of the top marketing professors on the practical marketing applications of Twitter. Many of her mobile and social initiatives have been featured on Yahoo! and in Macleans Magazine.
Saul Colt, head of Magic at FreshBooks.com, will speak on experimental marketing. Colt is considered to be one of Canada’s top community builders in terms of social and mobile technology. Michael Scissons, founder and CEO of Syncapse, will speak on social media management. Scissons has worked with Facebook to integrate the company’s marketing efforts. M. Jackson Wilkinson, director of User Experience at San Francisco-based Posterous, will speak on designing online products and services. Wilkinson has worked with LinkedIn and founded the UX group, a part of Washington, D.C.-based Viget Labs. Jonathan Snook, the Lead Prototyper at Yahoo!, will speak about his experience design engineering across multiple platforms involving multiple products for both desktop and mobile use.
Even though the event hasn’t taken place yet, there are already plans to make it an annual events. The website for the conference, already sold out for this year, will be updated frequently during the event with pictures, attendee insights, video footage, blogs sparked by speaker comments and more. The advent of social media is a fairly new innovation in terms of technology. The goal of this conference is to come up with viable ways to use the growing social and mobile technologies in a productive way to direct marketing efforts to the correct audience in the most effective way possible.
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