Join MITX for our first event of the year: a Fireside Chat with Nicholas Negroponte.  Moderated by Larry Weber (Co-Founder of MITX and Chairman of W2 Group), this one-on-one conversation will reveal Negroponte's view of the current and future state of technology, media, entertainment and their intersection. 

About Fireside Chats
The MITX Fireside Chat programs are provocative one-on-one discussions that present a premier thought-leader and unlock their passions, interests and overall analysis of current trends in our society and economy. Discussion focuses at the intersection of technology and popular culture, societal values, traditional businesses, the world economy and politics.

Audience:
This program is for business and creative professionals or anyone passionate about the future of technology and media.

Agenda:
8:00am - 8:45am Breakfast & Registration
8:45am - 10:00am Fireside Chat

Follow this event or contribute the conversation, live on Twitter using hashtag #MITX

• The factors that shape each generation's view of the world
• The most common challenges each age groups faces in working with other groups
• The challenges and solutions for hiring, managing and working with multiple generations

CSN Stores - 177 Huntington Ave Fl 24, Boston MA

This Thursday! Don’t miss out! Social, Mobile and E-Commerce: The Retail Transformation

Senior executives from key players in the space will offer their perspective on the trends, tactics and new ideas that are changing how consumers shop and buy. Featuring:

Speakers:

• Tom Burgess - CEO, Clovr Media
• Jim Crowley - President/CEO, BuyWithMe
• Mike Dreese - CEO, Newbury Comics
• Dustin Humphreys - General Manager, CVS.com *NEW SPEAKER*
• Andrew Paradise - CEO, Aislebuyer

Moderated by: Jeff Glass - Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures

Session Overview:
New technologies are powering a revolution in the retail industry -- mobile apps are influencing customers’ in-store experiences, social shopping is creating new forms of discovery, and group buying is reinventing the purchasing process.

Come learn from leading technologists and industry practitioners who are transforming the retail experience – to share best practices and talk about what’s next for the retail world.

Our panel of senior executives will cover lots of ground during this session, including discussion and debate about:

• Mobile as the link between offline and online retail
• The impact on social on marketing and promotion
• The application of closed loop marketing and couponing in online promotion

Agenda:
8:00am – 8:30am Registration and Breakfast
8:30am – 10:00am Panel Discussion

Voltage Coffee & Art, 295 3rd Street, Kendall Square, Cambridge

Announcing Women’s History Month Coffee Hour

In celebration of Women’s History Month, join the Microsoft New England R&D Center, MITX and the new Kendall Square coffeehouse, Voltage Coffee & Art in a special series with female luminaries in the tech, startup and government community.

Throughout the month of March, we’ll host a unique weekly coffee hour where influential women will share their stories and advice for success.

Our first line-up will feature Angie Anderson, Partner Product Unit Manager, Microsoft Application Virtualization. Angie Anderson is Partner Product Unit Manager for the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Team in Cambridge, MA. Angie joined Microsoft in January 2008.  Before joining Microsoft, Angie was Senior Vice President of Development at Openwave, delivering browser, messaging, identity and location based products to phone vendors and mobile carriers. Prior to Openwave, Angie worked at Novell for fourteen years in various organizations and on many technologies, including the NetWare OS, Windows Clients for NetWare, Directory Services, ZENworks management and Linux.h a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics.

Microsoft will fully match all coffee sales from this series with a donation to Science Club for Girls, a Cambridge-based organization committed to increasing K-12 girls’ self-confidence and literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Voltage Coffee & Art, 295 3rd Street, Kendall Square, Cambridge

Announcing Women’s History Month Coffee Hour

In celebration of Women’s History Month, join the Microsoft New England R&D Center, MITX and the new Kendall Square coffeehouse, Voltage Coffee & Art in a special series with female luminaries in the tech, startup and government community.

Throughout the month of March, we’ll host a unique weekly coffee hour where influential women will share their stories and advice for success.

Our March 17 program will feature Debi Kleiman, President of MITX.  Debi is currently the President of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange.  Prior to joining MITX, Debi was vice president, product marketing & sales operations at Communispace Corporation, the pioneer of online customer insight communities working with many of the world’s leading brands. Prior to Communispace, Debi was with the Oral-B Division of P&G leading a team responsible for a $50 million new product launch. Before that, she held marketing management positions at Welch’s, Framelogix.com, the Coca-Cola Company and Burlington Industries. Debi received an M.B.A. in general management and marketing from Harvard Business School, and a B.S. in organizational behavior from Cornell University.

Microsoft will fully match all coffee sales from this series with a donation to Science Club for Girls, a Cambridge-based organization committed to increasing K-12 girls’ self-confidence and literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Dillon’s - 955 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02115

This event is currently sold-out, and a waitlist has been started.   Add yourself to the waitlist now!

"At MITX, we believe our community needs to party more” – Words of wisdom from MITX President Debi Kleiman. We thought about it (for 30 seconds) and decided that we should party more; so we’re going to! We’re buying 100 beers to start the night off right (because there’s not quite enough in our mini fridge) and we want you to help us drink them.

Join us at Dillon’s to meet some of the new faces in our industry, enjoy a beer on us, and take advantage of this rare opportunity to meet one-on-one with members of our Board of Directors, including Emily Nagle Green, Troy Kelley, Scott Savitz, and Gus Weber. And since a party isn’t a party without prizes (right?) we’ll also be giving away prizes and gifts – including gift cards to Shoebuy.com. (If you’re interested in providing a prize, please e-mail Kate Jurras.)

Soon we’ll have more information about the one-on-one meetings with our board, but in the meantime, you'd better add yourself to the waitlist, because this party will be THE place to be on March 22. I mean, who else offered to buy you beer on a Tuesday? Thought so.

Join the conversation on Twitter using hashtag #MITX100Beers.

Togas not required.

Voltage Coffee & Art, 295 3rd Street, Kendall Square, Cambridge

Announcing Women’s History Month Coffee Hour

In celebration of Women’s History Month, join the Microsoft New England R&D Center, MITX and the new Kendall Square coffeehouse, Voltage Coffee & Art in a special series with female luminaries in the tech, startup and government community.

Throughout the month of March, we’ll host a unique weekly coffee hour where influential women will share their stories and advice for success.  

Our March 24th program will feature Suzanne Bump, Massachusetts State Auditor. First as a legislative aide, then as Braintree’s elected state representative, Suzanne saw problems affecting her community and her constituents, and she solved them. When she was House chairman of the Commerce and Labor Committee, she addressed a crisis that was crippling economic growth – skyrocketing worker’s compensation insurance costs. As principal author of a sweeping 1991 law, she took on the entrenched interests that were benefitting from the status quo. The result was reform that, to this day, brings fairness, efficiency and accountability to the system. It has saved businesses millions of dollars while delivering faster judgments to injured workers.

After four terms in office, Suzanne went to work for businesses large and small, gaining first-hand knowledge of private-sector best practices and business start-up experience. She worked for a trade association and a financial services industry company, and sat on boards of directors, including the South Shore Chamber of Commerce and St. Francis House. She helped her son start a law practice, where she focused on services to small businesses and non-profits, and she helped to found a non-profit to run an alcohol and drug recovery home for 21 women located in Brockton. She also served on the U.S. Selective Service System’s local board for many years.

Microsoft will fully match all coffee sales from this series with a donation to Science Club for Girls, a Cambridge-based organization committed to increasing K-12 girls’ self-confidence and literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Microsoft NERD - 1 Memorial Drive, 11th Floor, Cambridge, MA

Speakers:

• Steve Curran – Founder/Chief Creative Officer, Pod Digital Design
• Nataly Kogan – Vice President, Consumer Experience, WHERE Inc.
• Trapper Markelz – Head of Product, MeYou Health
• Mike Schneider – SVP, Director Digital Incubator, Allen and Gerritsen (moderator)
• Peter Stringer - Director Interactive Media, Boston Celtics
• David Tyler – SVP, Bunchball

Gamification has landed a starring role in online marketer’s and investor’s vernacular, but how, when and where does one “gamify” their marketing strategies? From leader boards to badges, game incentives are creeping into a number of things we interact with on a daily basis because when games are fun and when the mechanics are appropriate, a high level of engagement is born.  Join us as we assemble some of the leading voices and thinkers responsible for leading the gamification trend to answer questions such as:

• What’s in a game? How do you appropriately apply game mechanics to marketing strategies? 
• What are the scenarios where gamification works?
• What is the future of gamification?  How will it manifest itself in other ways besides just games and location services?

Voltage Coffee & Art, 295 3rd Street, Kendall Square, Cambridge

Announcing Women’s History Month Coffee Hour

In celebration of Women’s History Month, join the Microsoft New England R&D Center, MITX and the new Kendall Square coffeehouse, Voltage Coffee & Art in a special series with female luminaries in the tech, startup and government community.

Throughout the month of March, we’ll host a unique weekly coffee hour where influential women will share their stories and advice for success.

Our March 31st program will feature Elisabeth Bentel Carpenter, SVP of Global Support & Services  at Brightcove.   Elisabeth is responsible for defining and executing Brightcove's go-to-market strategy, including working with major publishers, marketing and distribution partners. Elisabeth joins Brightcove from News Corporation's British Sky Broadcasting subsidiary in London. Over nearly a decade at News Corporation and Sky, Elisabeth held a variety of senior management roles, including directing Sky's broadband and new technologies strategy and operations, its new media division, corporate development and strategic planning roles. Elisabeth was also instrumental in the initial launch of Sky Digital, Sky's breakthrough digital satellite video distribution platform. Elisabeth also worked directly in the office of the CEO, helping to launch global joint-ventures as well as leading Sky's sports rights acquisition deals. lisabeth was a Fulbright scholar, a graduate of Harvard University, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Columbia School of Law.

Microsoft will fully match all coffee sales from this series with a donation to Science Club for Girls, a Cambridge-based organization committed to increasing K-12 girls’ self-confidence and literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

CSN Stores
177 Huntington Ave
Christian Science Center Office Tower
Boston, MA 02115

Digitas - 33 Arch Street, Boston, MA

MITX and TCN are hosting an interactive workshop to prepare for the competitions’ judging process for the entrants of the 2011 Innovation Awards. Why? Because, during our final round of judging for the Innovation Awards, entrants still in the running will be asked to present to our judges. 

Did you enter the Innovation Awards? Cool! We want you to blow the judges away with your pitch, and this session will give you all the tools you need to succeed. It’s kind of like wearing your lucky rocket ship underwear to school, only no underwear and no school. Wait, that doesn’t sound right…

Matt Witheiler, Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners and Member of the Innovation Awards Advisory Group, will begin the session with a 20 minute presentation on the key elements of a good pitch. Then, attendees will practice their pitch in front of a panel of coaches (and the audience, just like American Idol!), who will provide feedback and critique each presentation. Joining Matt for these critiques will be:

• Kent Bennett – Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners
• Ben Littauer - Member at Launchpad and Boston Harbor Angels
• Roger Walton – General Partner, Castile Ventures

This workshop is only available for entrants in the 2011 competition. Entrants should come prepared with a 5 minute pitch that covers:

• Why your product is innovative
• What problem/challenge does the product address?
• Why people should be excited about your innovation

Register now to reserve your spot!

About Our Partner, TCN
The Capital Network (TCN) is Boston's leading non-profit organization providing extensive educational programs and a community to help early-stage entrepreneurs master the entire funding process and successfully raise seed capital for financing their high-growth startup.. Through large breakfast roundtables, intimate deep-dive topic lunches, mentoring sessions, and focused industry special events and networking receptions, TCN connects New England's premier entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists, corporate/strategic investors, government agencies, educational institutions, and area-expert service providers.

Online - The log-in details will be emailed to the email address you register with.

From R&D to human resources, from the trenches all the way up to the top brass, social media has transformed how businesses communicate, operate, organize and create value. According to "Everywhere," Larry Weber's latest book on the topic of digital strategy, companies who leverage social media throughout their entire organization empower employees, recruit talent, win customers, innovate new products and allocate capital in ways that outpace their competitors.

Join MITX and Larry Weber, Chairman of W2 Group (includes Digital Influence Group and Racepoint Group) for a 30-minute webinette discussing the major learnings from Everywhere. “I wrote Everywhere to provide a starting point toward a comprehensive digital business strategy in a world ready for deeper collaboration and explosive innovation,” explains Weber.

Join this webinette from the comfort of your desk and get a sneak peek into the world of "Everywhere"!
Register now!

Please note that webinar attendance on April 27 will be on a first-come first-serve basis, with 100 total webinar seats. Sign up and log-in early!

CSN Stores - 177 Huntington Ave Fl 24, Boston MA

Register now for this free event!

Massachusetts has a thriving and dynamic Digital Economy that’s significantly contributing to the economic growth of the region. Tech and digital marketing companies are hiring, succeeding and making a name for the Boston area as a hub for new marketing thinking and doing.  But what more could we do to further grow and shine a light on this important industry?

Led by Jeff Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, a panel of government and industry leaders will start the event by offering their perspectives on what’s needed to support and propel Massachusetts’ Digital Economy and providing insights into the ways we can use our innovative capacity to fuel that growth.  In addition to Jeff, the speakers are:

• Noah Berger - President, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
• Brian Halligan – CEO & Founder, Hubspot
• Kofi Jones - Executive Director, Commonwealth Marketing Office
• Robert May - CEO and Co-Founder, Backupify
• Senator Karen Spilka – Commonwealth of Massachusetts / Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies

During this participatory session, panelists and attendees will ideate, discuss and brainstorm answers to these kinds of questions:

• What do Massachusetts companies in this industry need to grow?
• How do we increase the pipeline of talent with those who have relevant skills?
• How can we make it easier for new digital companies to start their businesses in MA?
• How can we create more collaboration in the community? How do we do a better job at public-private partnership?
• How is regulation affecting the industry? What should we do to support this discussion?
• What does the IT-centric innovation economy need from Massachusetts leaders to thrive?

DIGITAS - 33 Arch St Fl 18, Boston MA

Featured Speakers: 

• Tracy Stokes - Principal Analyst, Forrester Research and Former Senior Director of Global Brand Marketing at Timberland  (Moderator) 
• Chip Terry - VP/GM of Product & Strategy, BzzAgent (the leading word-of-mouth (WOM) media and marketing company) giving you the Technology/Media Perspective **new speaker**
• Stacey Howe - Global Digital Marketing & Brand Management, New Balance  (a leading global sports lifestyle brand with an active digital presence) giving you the B2C Viewpoint **new speaker**
• Polly Pearson - President, Pearson Advisory and 9+ years experience at EMC giving the B2B Perspective.

Developing a comprehensive social strategy that cultivates a community of advocates and delivers measurable sales results is critical to keeping loyal customers and building your business. Using a product launch as the example marketing activity, we are bringing together a community of technologists and B2B and B2C marketers to discuss:

• Building a Comprehensive Plan:  It’s no longer just about a marketing activity as its happening; learn the key steps to take before and after implementation and how to integrate with other media efforts.
• Cultivating a Community of Advocates: Find out how to identify your true influencers and turn them into a community of advocates.
• Driving Sales: Learn what activities marketers are using in social media to generate sales results.
• Measuring ROI:  Many still question the measurability of social, but it is possible.   Learn what to do and the insights you can then use to measure your success.

This event is part of the MITX Innovative Tech and Media Series, designed to explore the latest and greatest applications, platforms and technologies that are driving your marketing and businesses forward.

Agenda:
8:00am- 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am-10:00am Discussion

Opening Remarks: Alison Pepper - Senior Director of Public Policy, Interactive Advertising Bureau

Panelists to-date:

• Bryan Burdick – VP Corporate Development, Bizo
• Adam Cahill – EVP Co-Media Director, Hill Holliday
• Sarah Fay – Executive Advisor to Leading Emerging Media Companies
• Scott Meyer – CEO, Evidon
• Gene Landy – Chair of the Technology Business Group, Ruberto, Israel & Weiner PC

You just have to blink at your Google Reader to know that privacy is a hot topic these days. For example, The Wall Street Journal ran a hard-hitting 13-part series on privacy and tracking, with titles such as:  “Personal Detail Exposed” and “Kids Face Intensive Tracking.”   

Everyone now has a stake in the game; the privacy issue has the attention of Capital Hill, Main Street, Wall Street, and Madison Avenue. 

• The online ad industry is moving toward self regulation for behavioral advertising
• Surveys say that a majority of Americans oppose tracking. 
• All three leading web browsers have added voluntary “do-not-track” functionality. 
• The FTC advocates do-not-track restrictions and greater transparency. 
• Mandatory do-not-track rules are included in bills introduced in the House, in the Senate, and in the California legislature.  

This program will analyze where all this is heading and how it can affect you including: 

• Best practices for protecting data and avoiding risk
• Consumer implications of profiling and behavior tracking
• What’s going on in Washington?  New and upcoming rules and regulations to be aware of.
• The current “Do-Not-Track” technology initiatives for IE, Chrome, and Firefox
• Getting the most out of key technologies, like flash cookies and web bugs
• The future of location-based services and mobile apps

About the Featured Speaker, Alison Pepper - Senior Director of Public Policy, Interactive Advertising Bureau

Alison Pepper is the Senior Director of Public Policy for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, based out of their Washington, D.C. office. There she is responsible for government relations and communications, including federal and regulatory affairs. Before joining the Interactive Advertising Bureau, she worked as a Legislative Analyst for Experian, where she covered issues ranging from data security to identity theft. She has extensive experience working in state government, including the Georgia Senate and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. She is a frequent guest speaker on topics covering data security, privacy, advertising and technology law. She holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Georgia State University.

The Innovation District
The Westin Boston Waterfront
425 Summer St, Boston MA

The Innovation Awards celebrate the products that are driving the future of marketing and revolutionizing the way we work and play, and they connect the next generation of start-up success stories with resources and people to help create their stories sooner.

We need you to celebrate!  Whether you are celebrating your finalist nomination, meeting the next Mark Zuckerberg, or connecting with a new friend or business partner, this is a don’t miss event! So, register now and join us at the awards ceremony in the Innovation District on Thursday, June 16, 2011.

Congratulations to Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact and the 2011 MITX Innovation Hall of Fame Honoree!

“I feel truly lucky to work in such a thriving community of innovators here in New England. To be recognized among them by MITX is a true honor,” says Goodman. “I’ve long admired the work of MITX to foster digital innovation in New England and look forward to joining a prestigious group of past honorees.”

To find out more information, visit mitxawards.org/innovation.

UTKI, 1 Broadway, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA

Speakers:

• Christopher O'Donnell - Product Evangelist, Hubspot
• Bill Stone - President Founder, RenaissanceOPTI
• Jim Williams - Director of Product Marketing, Eloqua

Session Overview:

You’ve probably heard about marketing automation tools designed to simplify processes by automating repetitive tasks. But what does that really mean? Should you ignore it and save your energy for Angry Birds, or is this something that could change your marketing department for the better?   As with anything at the intersection of marketing and technology, marketing automation strategies and tactics are changing and evolving as these tools are adopted and expanded, so we’ve put together a panel of marketers and practitioners to investigate pressing questions like:

• With customers looking for more personalized marketing, when is automation appropriate and when it is it not?   
• How do you keep the humanism in the process, while still simplifying your processes and tying marketing into the sales loop in a way that delivers results?  
• Is it really possible to tie revenue and marketing performance to sales results?
• Marketing automation relies on good, clean data.  What best practices exist to capture and maintain this data?
• At the end of the day, automated processes come down to strong plans and good people.  How do you create these plans and hire the right people?

This event is part of the MITX Intelligence and Insight series, in which we explore how technology and analytics are changing what you can learn about your customers.

Follow this event on Twitter using hashtag #MITX.

Agenda:
8:00am – 8:30am Breakfast & Registration
8:30am – 10:00am Panel Discussion

Speaker Bios

Christopher O'Donnell is a technology products strategist, designer, and evangelist at HubSpot.  Prior to this role, Christopher managed a team of designers and product managers serving the largest customers in the world: our nation's various military and intelligence organizations. Simultaneously, Christopher started and drove a content-driven social media marketing effort that today boasts over a million readers. Prior to working in online marketing and product development, Christopher operated a music production business, where he put his B.A. in Music from Brown University to good use.

Bill Stone launched the company, and the concept, now known as RenaissanceOPTI - an innovative extension of the original Renaissance brand established in 1989. The company's focus then and now, is to deliver innovative, actionable, cost-effective marketing solutions to drive rapid sales growth. Bill's sharpening of his team's focus by way of Renaissance OPTI is in response to a dramatic shift in the way progressive B2B organizations can now utilize marketing automation to drive greater marketing and sales effectiveness. Bill has assembled a living arsenal of expert resources to supply his clients with the skills, processes and knowledge necessary to finally deliver on the Revenue Promise of Marketing Automation. Prior to creating Renaissance, Bill was a Sr. Account Executive at Mullen Advertising. He also had an early equity interest at Database Marketing Corporation, one of the first and fastest growing B2B database marketing agencies in the country. His depth of experience in demand generation, direct response advertising, and database marketing brings a unique holistic perspective to understanding the customer buying-cycle. This experience, along with his proven ability to define and then integrate strategy, creativity, process and data management into cohesive, measurable and repeatably successful initiatives keeps his clients' revenue, and Renaissance OPTI, growing. Bill has a BA from St. Lawrence University.

An Eloqua veteran and pioneer of the company’s Cambridge, MA presence, Jim Williams directs Eloqua’s product marketing team. In this role he works with internal stakeholders , customers and partners to develop the company’s go-to-market product messaging and positioning.  Jim has held a variety of marketing roles at Eloqua, from corporate communications to marketing operations, and applies lessons learned from each to the challenge of developing richer, more successful customer experiences.  Prior to joining Eloqua, he was a customer in his role as Sr. Director of Marketing for Unveil Solutions, a provider of intelligent automation solutions for call centers (acquired by Microsoft in 2007). Other roles include Director of Product Marketing for Lernout & Hauspie, a leader in speech and language technologies, and public and analyst relations at several prominent agencies. Before taking on the complex dynamics of revenue creation, Jim studied at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He’s the father of two fantastic children and resides in Cambridge, MA.

Foundation Room at the House of Blues

Boston is world-renowned for its innovation, and that means it's full of innovative people (like you!). And, because of people like you, we created FutureM to showcase Boston as the hub of modern marketing and innovation.

We will continue to grow, prosper, and make other cities jealous if we work together as a community; and that means supporting each other... and drinking beer together? Join us at our next 100 Beers party to do all of that and more!

The first MITX 100 Beers party was a smashing success, and this time there will be more beer and more fun, including:

• a band-jam of industry leaders - and really, who wouldn't want to see their boss rocking out on the guitar?
• a FutureM preview with some sneak peeks for the Boston crowd only!
• and of course, we're buying the first 100 beers to start the night off right (but we need you to help us drink them).

Join us at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues to mingle with fun people from tech, marketing, start-ups, dumpsters... just kidding, not that last one. There will be music and beer and music and conversation and music and talking and beer.

The event sold out faster than a cheetah chasing an antelope across a moving sidewalk, so sign-up for the waitlist now! 

And if that's not enough, we'll send you a discount code for 20% off a FutureM pass AND 20% off the registration fee for IMS and the Hubspot User Group, just for registering for 100 Beers!

Don't forget to join the conversation on Twitter using hashtag #MITX100Beers.

Interested in sponsoring this event or participating in the band-jam? Email us at info@mitx.org and we'll connect you with the right MITX'er to chat with!

Across Greater Boston

FutureM is a community driven event experience throughout the Greater Boston region that offers participants the opportunity to tap into the freshest thinkers in marketing, media and technology and hear about the future of marketing.  

Created by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) – the nation’s largest nonprofit trade association for the digital marketing, media and technology industry  – this event brings thousands of people together to explore the newest technologies and insights that are changing the way marketers think, create, engage, and measure. 

Passes are now available, including registration for the Opening Night festivities.  A pass provides you access to all events and parties that will be part of FutureM, discounts to full-day conferences occurring during the week and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to join the community that is defining the future of marketing.

Follow @FutureMBoston on Twitter or Like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest news from the event!

Back Bay Events Center

FutureM is a week-long marketing mash-up in Boston during the week of September 12th – 16th, celebrating the future of marketing. This multi-location, collaborative series of events will bring together the community to share and explore how the newest technologies and insights are changing the way marketers think, create, engage, and measure.

The week will kick off with FutureM’s Opening Night celebration, bringing together four passionate, internationally-renowned thought leaders.

• Jessica Greenwood, Director, Contagious Insider

• Carol Kruse, SVP of Marketing, ESPN

• Frank Rose, Author of The Art of Immersion and Contributing Editor, Wired Magazine

• Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, VivaKi

They will share their individual thoughts on the future of marketing – what it will look like, how it will change our lives, and how it will impact you – and then discuss as a group what it mean for the community in which we live and work.

Opening Night is a not-to-be-missed event! (Along, with all of FutureM.)

]]>5/16/2012 11:19:27 PMEvent Date: 04/19/1986
Time: 8:00am - 05:00pm
Location:

Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02142

Join MITX, Microsoft and The Commonwealth Institute (TCI), at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center for a full-day forum featuring top industry leaders that will give you the tools you need to drive success in your career and life.

What’s in store for you? Practical lessons to apply to your career today.

• Successful women entrepreneurs and business leaders sharing their insight and wisdom.
• Seminars highlighting trends for women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
• Communications workshops to help you deliver compelling pitches.
• Personal branding seminars to help you start building your own brand.
• Personal one-on-one time with innovative female thinkers.
• Networking opportunities with leading women across the tech and business community.

Speakers Include: 

• Keynote Speakers:
• Suzanne Bates - Author, Speak Like a CEO & CEO Bates Communication
• Carol Fulp - Senior Vice President, Corporate Responsibility & Brand Initiatives, John Hancock Financial
• Forum Speakers:
• Erika Ebbel Angle - CEO & Founder, Science From Scientists
• Ruth N. Bramson - CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern MA
• Yasmin Cruz - Senior Corporate Social Responsibility Analyst, John Hancock
• Sarah Fay
• Debi Kleiman - President, MITX
• Alesia Latson - Principal, Latson Leadership Group
• Ioannis N. Miaoulis - President, Museum of Science
• Mindy Mount - CVP & CFO, Microsoft Online Services Division
• Susan Windham-Bannister, PhD - President & CEO, Massachusetts, Life Sciences Center

Visit http://microsoftcambridge.com/successfulyou for more information.

MassChallenge - One Marina Park Drive, Fl 14, Boston MA
For GPS: Use 55 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210
Subway: Red Line: South Station (8-10 min walk) or Silver Line: Courthouse (1 min walk)

Attracting and Retaining Tech Top Talent 
What Does It Take?

Speakers:

• Joseph Finsterwald - CTO, Karmaloop.com
• Dayna Grayson - Principal, North Bridge Venture Partners
• Scott Jamison - CEO, Jornata
• Chris Rose - National Director of Technical Services, Hollister
• Drew Volpe, Co-Founder/CTO, Locately
  

We are all looking to grow our companies and know that it is first and foremost about finding (and keeping) the right people. Having employees that work well are only as good as their relationship with the company and the individuals within the company. This event will be beneficial for your business now and in the long run, don’t miss out!  

Join MITX and Hollister for this important dicussion, covering topics such as:

• What are the competency gaps between candidates and companies' needs, and how are they being addressed?
• What are the crucial tech roles, and what are the top companies doing now to ensure success for these positions within for their businesses?
• What are the specific strategies for attracting and retaining tech talent?  Which ones have a proven ROI?

Join us as we discuss the lessons learned, the obstacles, and the proven strategies around navigating tech recruiting and why it is so crucial to the long term success of your business.

Agenda:
8:00am - 8:30am   Registration and Breakfast
8:30am - 10:00am Panel Discussion

MassChallenge - One Marina Park Drive, Fl 14, Boston MA
For GPS: Use 55 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210
Subway: Red Line: South Station (8-10 min walk) or Silver Line: Courthouse (1 min walk)

ALL NEW LOCATION
The Sheraton Boston
39 Dalton St, Boston, MA
Parking

Join us on December 5th for the 16th Annual MITX Interactive Awards, starring John Michael Higgins (the hilarious Hollywood star who you know from such comic achievements as Best in Show, Bad Teacher, and The Break Up) and over 120 amazing finalists!

The Interactive Awards is the largest and most prestigious awards competition in the country for interactive and web innovations, bringing together 1,000+ of the best and brightest minds in the digital media, marketing and technology industry.

Sometimes called the Oscars for all things digital, the ceremony on December 5th will include our awesome celebrity host (have you Googled John Michael Higgins yet?!) a band, lots of drinks and nibbles, networking, and of course, the presentation of 30+ awards. The theme for this year’s show is Epic Battles, so come prepared to  weigh in on some of our biggest battles yet and watch the finalists battle it out to prove who’s at the top of the industry.  Here are the 2011 competitors:

Acsys Interactive / Affinnova, Inc. / allen & gerritsen / Almighty / AMP Agency / Arnold Worldwide / Aurnhammer / Bluefish Agency / BlueTrain Mobile / Boston Interactive / Boston University College of Communication / Boston.com & The Boston Globe / BzzAgent / Chrysler Group, LLC / Conover Tuttle Pace / Constant Contact / Convertiv / Corey McPherson Nash / Cramer / Digital Bungalow / DIGITAS / Dunkin' Donuts / E Ink / EMD Serono, Inc. / Emirates / Fresh Tilled Soil / Genuine Interactive/ Globoforce / Harley-Davidson / Harvard Business Publishing / Harvard University / Havas Digital / Hill Holliday / iFactory / iMarc / Irma S. Mann, Strategic Marketing, Inc. (ISM) / ISITE Design / Isobar / JetBlue / John Hancock Funds / Limelight Networks / LogMeIn / Mad*Pow / Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences / MeYou Health / MFS Investment Services / MLB / MMB / Mullen / New Balance / OHO Interactive / One to One Health / Oregon Health & Science University / Overdrive Interactive/ Pangea Media / PARTNERS+simons / PixelMEDIA, Inc. / PJA Advertising + Marketing / Pod Digital Design / PUMA International / Putnam Investments / Raka / RAMP / SapientNitro / SC Johnson Shout / Small Army / SolidWorks / Solutions PG / Starcom / Stoltze Design / StudentAdvisor.com / Studiocom / The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation / The Hartford Financial Services Group / Topps / TripAdvisor / Undertone / Velir / White Rhino / Zazu, Inc. / Zeo, Inc. 

Visit mitxawards.org/interactive for more information.

Follow this event on Twitter using hashtag #MITXAWARDS

British Consulate - 1 Broadway, Fl 7, Cambridge MA (Directions)

Join MITX for our first event of the year: a Fireside Chat with the new Director of the MIT Media Lab, Joi Ito. Moderated by Larry Weber (Co-Founder of MITX and Chairman of W2 Group), this one-on-one conversation will reveal Joi's, and the MIT Media Lab's, view on the convergence of social, design and mobility in creating impactful innovations.

A well-known thinker, venture capitalist, and Internet entrepreneur, Joi recently took over the MIT Media Lab as its fourth Director. Joi’s vision for the Lab merges the East Coast’s long term focus with the West Coast’s agile approaches, turning the Lab into a place to “build stuff” that has long-term, powerful effects.  

While the Media Lab is already known for its multidisciplinary-based research, Joi’s expertise in connecting the dots and providing context and connections will take the Lab’s research to a level never seen before. If the past 25 years of the Media Lab’s research has resulted in such products as the e-ink that powers today’s tablet readers, the first powered ankle-foot prosthesis and the One Laptop Per Child computer, imagine the impact Joi’s leadership and vision will have on the next 25 years.
 
Join us on January 10th to hear Joi’s view on the next wave of innovation and how his agile, long-term, multidisciplinary approach to building solutions can be applied everywhere and anywhere.

Featured Speaker:

Joi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab

Dogpatch Labs - 1 Cambridge Center Fl 6, Cambridge MA

MITX Up is a marketing mentorship program that matches pre-screened startups to marketing and communications mentors to help entrepreneurs be successful in telling their story, marketing their business and generally, “shouting louder and prouder.” 

What is MITX Up?

MITX works with local accelerator programs to identify the most cutting-edge and innovative start-up companies, ranging in focuses from energy tech to high tech, life sciences to social impact and fashion to youth/college media. We connect these startups to our amazing network of MITX marketing experts through "marketing hackathons."

At these marketing hackathons, teams of marketers are matched with start-ups in two hour sessions, where the marketers are tasked with providing real time strategic and tactical marketing/communications/biz dev-related ideas that address specific areas of need identified by the entrepreneurs. 

To learn more about MITX Up, read this, this and this.

Microsoft New England R&D Center
One Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02142

What’s Next – E-Commerce Summit is bringing together expert practitioners and thought leaders to examine how to develop and keep the love of your customers. We’ll look ahead to the future of E-Commerce and how technology innovation, business model evolution and creative marketing strategy are building loyal customers who convert the first time, buy more and keep coming back.

You don’t work for an e-commerce company? That’s okay.  Every session is guaranteed to provide insight, regardless of your industry or job function. Who couldn’t use a little customer love these days?

Check out our agenda

Why you should attend:

• Unprecedented access to some of the best minds in the industry, just check out the speakers list
• Massachusetts’ largest E-Commerce businesses reflecting on the future and their plans to succeed.
• Four Entrepreneurs who are shaking it up with their business models, and succeeding
• The Intersection of Technology & Marketing – Learn how companies like Demandware, Akamai, HubSpot, e-dialog, and Cartera Commerce are helping marketers think outside of the box to strengthen customer relationships and increase revenue.

Join us on Twitter with hashtag #MITXECS

Confirmed Keynotes & Speakers:

Tom Beecher, President & CEO, Cartera Commerce
Billy Conway, VP GSI Global Marketing Services, GSI Commerce
Steve Davis, President, Rue La La
Mike Dreese, CEO, Newbury Comics & Punk.com
Alex Finkelstein, General Partner, Spark Capital
James Keller, CMO, Shoubuy.com
Jessica Kim, CEO and Founder, BabbaCo
Scott Kirsner, Innovation Economy columnist, Boston Globe & Boston.com
Dusan Koljensic, XD Director , SapientNitro
Matt Lauzon, Founder & CEO, Gemvara
Leanne Letourneau, Client Services Manager, e-Dialog 
Gary Lombardo, Multichannel & Mobile Product Marketing, Demandware
Lelah Manz,  Chief Strategist,  Commerce,  Akamai Technologies  Inc.
Sucharita Mulpuru, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Jules Pieri, Founder & CEO, Daily Grommet
Niraj Shah, CEO, Wayfair
Brian Tilzer, VP, E-Commerce and Business Development, Staples
Prat Vemana, Director, Mobile Strategy, Staples

DLA Piper - 33 Arch St, Boston MA (Directions)

Senior executives from key players in the financial services space will offer their perspective on the trends, tactics and new ideas that are changing marketing strategies in this industry. Featuring:

• Rose Cahill, VP, Insurance Industry, Acxiom Corporation
• Richard Bennett, COO, AGS Benefits Group
• Mona Marimow, CMO, PerkStreet Financial

Moderated by: Michael Matteo, EVP & General Manager, Bridgeline

Session Overview
Developing effective digital engagement tactics and strategies with your consumer and producer audiences is both more critical and more challenging than ever. While you have more tools at your disposal, the challenge has never been more complex nor required as much innovation. There are boundless opportunities from your website to social media to mobile to increase engagement, increase revenue and reduce costs - the question is what is the right mix and strategy.

If you're in Financial Services and would like to hear what some Boston-area leaders are doing digitally to drive more business and reduce costs, then come join an MITX's expert panel for this roundtable discussion.
 
Agenda:
9:00am – 9:30am Registration and Breakfast
9:30am – 11:00am Roundtable Discussion

Communispace Headquarters
290 Congress Street Fl 7
Boston, MA 02210
Directions

The Internet is filled with breathtaking photos of wonderful vacations and lengthy reviews of bad trips.   But it is no easy feat to create a community around these love-or-hate extremes, embracing both of them to drive customer engagement and purchases.

Join MITX on February 9th to learn from the experiences of expert marketers who face this challenge every day. Speakers include:

• Nick Ayres - Manager of Social Marketing, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)
• Jeffrey Breen - President/CEO, Atomosphere Research Group
• Barbara Messing - CMO, TripAdvisor

They’ll cover topics such as:

• Community engagement tactics 
• The role of content in developing communities
• The importance of trust and confidence (and how to create it) in the purchase process

Their lessons will apply to anyone interested in community engagement and content creation, so register now for this information-packed event!

Speakers:

Nick Ayres - Manager of Social Marketing, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)

Jeffrey Breen - President / CEO, Atmosphere Research Group

 

Barbara Messing - Chief Marketing Officer, TripAdvisor

MassChallenge
One Marina Park Drive, 14th floor
Boston, MA

Celebrate Women Entrepreneurs with Exhale Magazine!

Learn about the wild world of startups in a conversation with some of Boston's most exciting women-led companies at MassChallenge headquarters, moderated by MITX President Debi Kleiman. Come and enjoy a glass of wine, light fare and an opportunity to network with an interesting group of women.

TechStars - 1 Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA

MITX Up is a marketing mentorship program that matches pre-screened startups to marketing and communications mentors to help entrepreneurs be successful in telling their story, marketing their business and generally, “shouting louder and prouder.” 

What is MITX Up?

MITX works with local accelerator programs to identify the most cutting-edge and innovative start-up companies, ranging in focuses from energy tech to high tech, life sciences to social impact and fashion to youth/college media. We connect these startups to our amazing network of MITX marketing experts through "marketing hackathons."

At these marketing hackathons, teams of marketers are matched with start-ups in two hour sessions, where the marketers are tasked with providing real time strategic and tactical marketing/communications/biz dev-related ideas that address specific areas of need identified by the entrepreneurs. 

To learn more about MITX Up, read this, this and this.

Back Bay Social Club - 867 Boylston Street, Boston MA

Close to the Hynes and Copley stops on the Green Line, and the Prudential Center garage.

"At MITX, we believe our community needs to party more."
-Words of wisdom from MITX President Debi Kleiman stated last year around this time. 

And that's why, last year, we created the now-infamous 100 Beers party. As it turned out, people like drinking beer, and they like seeing new faces too, so we've decided to host these get-togethers every quarter.

NEW!

UK Trade & Investment Boston
One Broadway
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142

Who should attend:
Anyone in the digital media space or interested in digital media that wasn’t able to make it to CES or SXSW.

We bet you'd love to have attended every event at CES and be in Austin right now experiencing all of the information coming out of SXSW Interactive. Unfortunately, not everyone in digital media or interested in digital media can make the trek to Las Vegas or Austin, but annually both events pump out a wealth of product announcements and information that you need to know about to understand where the industry is going. For those of you who haven't been able to get out from behind your desks we've created Bringing it Back: CES & SXSW. This lively panel discussion will outline the major technology and creative/design announcements and highlights from both of these events, and help you apply them to your job - and it's happening right here in Boston!

Meet our awesome moderator and panelists:

The Moderator:

• David Shing, Digital Prophet, AOL (@shingy)

The Panelists:

• Steve Brennan, Senior Vice President, Technology & Production, Digital Influence Group (@stevenbrennan)
• Mike Schneider, Senior Vice President, Director Digital Incubator, Allen & Gerritsen(@schneidermike)
• Jim Barry, Spokesman at CEA and Owner, JMBarry
• Adam Kasper, EVP, Digital Investments, HAVAS Digital(@adamfkasper)

Register your product online for entry into this year's MITX Innovation Awards.

The Innovation Awards celebrate the products that are driving the future of marketing and revolutionizing the way we work and play, and they connect the next generation of start-up success stories with resources and people to help create their stories sooner.  Register your product today!

Why?

• VALIDATION - We're known for picking companies that are poised to go places and do big things. After winning an award in 2009, Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja at SCVNGR said, “It's been absolute madness over here at SCVNGR! Win an MITX award and suddenly the phones don't stop ringing!"
• CONNECTIONS - You'll have the opportunity to make connections with the region's buyers, investors and influencers – both in-person and online.
• RECOGNITION - This one's a no-brainer. The Awards is a low-cost opportunity to help you raise your profile within the marketplace.
• CELEBRATION - The event itself will be a celebration of the industry.  In other words, a party.  Need we say more?

To find out more information, visit mitxawards.org/innovation.

Google - 3 Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA

Telling Boston’s Innovation Economy Story
A MITX Up Marketing Hackathon
 
Boston is one of the world’s most innovative cities. Yet to date we haven’t been able to capture the story and the utter awesomeness of our innovation economy in a way that’s succinct, compelling and exciting.
 
We’d like to have MITX Up hackers work on creating ways we can do a better job capturing people’s imagination and telling our story to the world. It should motivate people to want to work and live here. It should help catalyze new businesses and existing business to open here. And it should encourage students to truly believe that Boston is the place to be post-graduation.
 
There are many constituencies that care about this message and lots of different kinds of channels to use it – it needs to hold up in all. It can come in the form of a tagline, a visual, a video, a rap song or all of the above, really anything that conveys our best assets and the possibilities that are here. It also has to be easy to say and understand. We’d also love ideas about how and where to communicate this.
 
We use “Boston” to stand for the entire region of eastern Massachusetts since we know that globally that’s how most people identify it.
 
We want to hear any and all ideas.
 
Teams will consist of 5-6 local marketing experts from different disciplines. Representatives from the city and the state will be there to help brief you.  Like a regular MITX Up hackathon, we’ll break into teams for our 2 hour hack. However, at the end of this one since we all have the same topic, each team will share with everyone else what they think are their best 3 ideas that came out of the hack.

What is MITX Up?

MITX Up is a marketing mentorship program that matches pre-screened startups to marketing and communications mentors to help entrepreneurs be successful in telling their story, marketing their business and generally, “shouting louder and prouder.” 

MITX works with local accelerator programs to identify the most cutting-edge and innovative start-up companies, ranging in focuses from energy tech to high tech, life sciences to social impact and fashion to youth/college media. We connect these startups to our amazing network of MITX marketing experts through "marketing hackathons."

At these marketing hackathons, teams of marketers are matched with start-ups in two hour sessions, where the marketers are tasked with providing real time strategic and tactical marketing/communications/biz dev-related ideas that address specific areas of need identified by the entrepreneurs. 

To learn more about MITX Up, read this, this and this.

Felt
533 Washington Street

Metropolis Creative holds an annual Extreme Website Makeover event to promote innovation and creativity in the Boston area. This year, we are looking for companies with products or services that make a difference. The winning firm will receive a new look and strategy to help strengthen their brand, increase Search Engine Optimization effectiveness, incorporate social media strategy, along with expert advice to gain market share and increase web site visits.

The winner will be announced live during the Extreme Website Makeover party on Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 6:00-9:00PM at Felt, 533 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing. The evening will also include complimentary appetizers, free 10-minute website makeover consultations, and networking with some of Boston’s most innovative people.

One Marina Park Drive, 14th floor
Boston, 02210

Come learn how infrastructure investments, technology adoption and collaboration are enhancing the economic conditions for tech sector activity in the western part of the state.

Several key state investments are transforming the economic development landscape in western Massachusetts, and providing new opportunities for businesses to expand west. Two divisions of the Mass Tech Collaborative are guiding investments and initiatives designed to foster enhanced conditions for economic development at the regional scale.

The Mass Broadband Institute is building MassBroadband 123, an open access, fiber-optic, middle-mile network to expand broadband access to over 120 communities in western and north central Massachusetts.  The John Adams Innovation Institute is supporting a number of key initiatives designed to bolster innovation and strengthen Gateway Cities and the regional economies of the Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires, making western Massachusetts a more desirable location for business expansion.

Come learn more about how these investments and initiatives are sponsoring the conditions for economic growth in western Massachusetts.

Introduction:                         
Pamela Goldberg, CEO Mass Tech Collaborative

Keynote:                                
Congressman Richard Neal (D) Springfield, MA

Moderator:                            
Gregory Bialecki - Secretary of Housing and Economic Development

Confirmed Speakers:             
Judith Dumont - Director, Massachusetts Broadband Institute 
Art Price - CEO of Axia (MassBroadband 123 network operator)
Vanu Bose - Wireless Broadband Entrepreneur 
Patrick Larkin - Director, John Adams Innovation Institute

The link for the Webinar will be sent to registrants the morning of the program.

TODAY! Prat Vemana of Staples and Dusan Koljensic of SapientNitro will be joining us from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm for a FREE Webinar: Building Long Lasting Commerce Relationships Across Multiple Channels

Click here to access the webinar: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/994878127

Prat & Dusan will focus on how to engage in a true long lasting commerce relationship with your customers across multiple channels.

Find out about some of the steps Staples took in this anthropological case study including:

• What is the meaning of commerce in a multi-channel environment?
• What is a purchase continuum?
• How to start building a relationship continuum for long lasting engagement.

Space will be limited so be sure to register today

Speakers:

Prat Vemana
Director, Mobile Strategy, Staples

Prat leads cross-channel mobile initiatives for Staples.com and Staples stores to drive revenue growth and enhance the cross-channel customer experience. He is additionally charged with leading Staples Cambridge, Massachusetts e-commerce innovation center and global mobile growth initiatives. Under Prat’s direction, the Staples mobile team has recently launched several assets including a mobile website, smart phone applications and a tablet site.

Prat has over 15 years of experience leading mobile and online innovation as well as product development efforts for companies in the healthcare, finance, insurance and defense industries. He is passionate about online and e-commerce innovations and interested in learning more about cutting edge interactive and mobile technologies. Prat earned a Masters in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Madras.

Dusan Koljensic
Experience Design Director & Practice Lead, SapientNitro

Dusan leads the SapientNitro Boston Experience Design practice. His group provides customer-centric, research and strategy-driven multi-channel information architecture and experience design services across a variety of projects ranging from portals and on-line applications to e-commerce and brand-driven solutions. Dusan (although a long time Boston resident) joined Sapient in London 5 years ago. While there, he worked on projects for City of London Telecom, Vodafone, Times of London and Sky Entertainment among others. He missed Boston’s weather so much, he moved back 3 years ago and has since been leading a variety of projects for large Fortune 500 clients as well as the experience design group. Under his leadership, the team expanded from a handful to one of the largest and most vibrant experience design groups in New England.

Before Sapient, Dusan was a founder and UX Director at ArtMediaLab – working with major publishing companies such as Pearson, Thomson Brooks Cole and Addison Wesley. While running his company, he was an Assistant Professor at Massachusetts College of Art where he helped create curriculum for undergraduate and graduate web design and information architecture classes.

Dusan’s education spans a number of disciplines covering all aspects of web design: In his home country of Serbia, he graduated from a high school specializing in sciences and computer programming. In the USA, he holds a BFA in Graphic Design, and a Masters in Dynamic Media.

Umbria Prime, Boston

Calling all Boston area social media marketing enthusiasts! Join a panel of experts and a room full of peers from 6-9pm on Thursday, May 3rd for a night of learning, networking and libations at Umbria Prime restaurant. Space is limited due to room capacity so register now. This is a free event.

Your hosts, SnapApp & 451 Marketing have invited 4 Facebook Marketeers to share their tactics and strategies around how to grow, engage and convert Facebook Fans. Our panelists each offer a unique perspective on the ever evolving social media giant – but you decide what secrets they’ll share by asking great questions! In fact, you can share your questions in advance.  The event will consist of an hour of networking and cocktails leading into our panel discussion where we’ll take questions from the audience. The night will conclude with additional networking until 9pm.

May 4: Kickoff Party at the Cambridge Innovation Center

May 5-6: at Greentown Labs in Boston’s Innovation District

Are you ready?

Coders, Designers, Students, Business Professionals: The Boston Cleanweb Hackathon is almost here! Teams from around the region are now preparing for a weekend event in which they create apps to address energy and sustainability challenges! The race begins on Friday May 4th with a kick-off party at the Cambridge Innovation Center and launches in full on Saturday May 5th at Greentown Labs, a clean energy incubator in Boston’s Innovation District. Participating teams will have thirty hours to create a compelling web or mobile application that applies information technology to an area such as smart grid, renewable energy, resource utilization, or transportation optimization.

We think it’s a great opportunity to merge the worlds of web, mobile, and social media with the clean energy and sustainability communities. Our sponsors think so too and have committed over $10,000 in cash prizes for the winners! Members of the media will be present to report the event and we’ll have a team of celebrity judges on hand to help distribute the prizes. It’ll be a great weekend of fun, food, and hard work. Your efforts could help change the world and move you in directions you never imagined!

Check out the site for more details and when you’re ready use the Eventbrite links below to register! If you don’t yet have a team but want to participate check out our FAQ for some tips. If you’re looking for inspiration be sure to check out Sunil Paul’s fantastic Cleanweb presentation from SXSW!

Harvard I-Lab

We believe Innovation is the use of creative insights to combine, leverage, and develop knowledge and resources that are hidden, disconnected and/or not well understood in order to extract value.

The Boston Innovation Challenge is being managed by The Boston Globe/Boston.com in partnership with a growing list of organizations in the region: Harvard Business Publishing, Harvard I-lab, Nieman Foundation for Journalism, MetaLab, the City of Boston, Boston World Partnerships, Hack Hackers, and more every time someone learns about our mission of making Boston Better.
 
Here are the 5 Ws:
Who – You… and anyone that wants to work together to help solve problems, make connections, and build awareness.
What – 2-week “sprints” by teams of digital technologists, business people, and leaders competing to solve important issues. We tackle Challenges one at a time, such as: Autism, Cyber-bullying, civic volunteering,
Where – Throughout the region’s best locations… the next is at the Harvard I-Lab
When – May 5-20, 2012 with weekend events, sessions, and Awards
Why – Great solutions are discovered when a well-rounded Team is informed and inspired. Connections will be made, bridges will be built, and Media coverage of the process will expose all efforts and additional needs that our community can fulfill.

The Charles Hotel
Cambridge, MA

Harness Your Customer and Employee Networks to Drive Results

The Activate Networks Summit is the leading conference on harnessing the power of your customer and employee networks to drive results.  In 2012, we are bringing together the leading minds on the application of social networks to focus on the most important issues facing CEOs, marketers, and human resource professionals.
Act now to buy your tickets today by clicking here.  Last year’s Activate Networks Summit sold out.

Join the groundbreaking 2012 Summit to:

• Find your most valuable customers and learn to leverage their influence with their peers for sales success
• Use employee professional networks to multiply the effectiveness of your organization
• Find out which natural communities of your customers are most valuable to you
• Learn how to turn your company into an innovation powerhouse
• Get an x-ray view of how work really gets done within your company
• Use your customers’ networks to predict trends - and buying behaviors - months in advance
  

One Memorial Drive
Cambridge, 02142

Future Energy is a series of events that connects entrepreneurs, researchers, and private investors in the energy and clean-tech industries to develop and commercialize radical solutions to the world’s energy challenges.

The Problem

• Step change in Energy demand – In coming decades, the world will need huge amounts of energy to support population and economic growth and improve standards of living. We expect the global demand for energy will double by 2050.
• Supply will struggle to keep pace – Energy supply from all sources will struggle to keep up with demand. There will be continued dependence on fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal and we will also need rapid growth in renewables.
• Environmental stresses are increasing – Energy needs to be produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. Environmental stresses from producing and using energy are increasing. There is an urgent need for low carbon technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Solution

• Conventional oil and gas exploration, recovery, and extraction
• Non-conventional oil and gas
• Alternative and renewable energy (solar, wind, hydrogen, biofuels, geothermal, etc.)
• Renewable and bio-based chemicals
• Mobility / smart mobility
• Energy efficiency / smart grid
• Energy finance and trading
  

MassChallenge
One Marina Park Drive,14th Floor
Boston, MA 02210

Boston is home to world renowned, cutting-edge innovators who are leading the way to better customer engagement. Learn how these companies are using data, game mechanics, and social influence for greater good - and how their practices translate across all industries. This event, the first in the Innovators Exchange series, will demonstrate how local companies are using advanced marketing techniques to motivate people to live healthier lives.

WHO? Don't let the title mislead you - this event is not reserved for health professionals and fitness nuts. It's for you - marketers, technologists, and HR professionals. (And, of course, health professionals and fitness nuts!)

WHY? Because you want to better engage your clients and customers. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn from industries other than your own.

Speakers:

Tara Cousineau, PhD. - Founder/CEO, BodiMoJo 

Tara Cousineau, Ph.D, is BodiMojo founder, is president of Women Insight, Inc., and is a working mom and expert in e-Health and behavioral medicine.

Anmol Madan, PhD - Co-founder / CEO & Data Scientist, Ginger.io

Anmol leads the overall product vision at Ginger.io, and has extensive research experience in modeling large-scale human behavior data using statistical and pattern recognition methods. His past research has been featured in academic publications in computer science, and is frequently seen in popular media and press. He received his PhD from the Media Lab, at MIT (with Alex Pentland), and also worked at Microsoft (Windows Mobile).

Trapper Markelz - Head of Product, MeYou Health

Trapper Markelz has more than 10 years of direct experience building consumer-facing web products that focus on community and conversation. Specializing in product management, systems design and application strategy, Trapper's attention is now focused on creating products that engage, educate and empower people in their pursuit of achieving and maintaining well-being.

Adamian Academic Center
Wilder Pavilion
Bentley University
Waltham, Massachusetts

Julep Bar - 200 High Street, Boston MA

Believe it or not, it's time for our next get-together!  Join MITX on June 5th for our quarterly 100 Beers party, where we buy the first 100 beers and you bring the fun (well, we will, too).

We'll also be giving you a sneak peek into the amazing things we have in store for the final two quarters of the year - like early-bird access for FutureM, a revamped Interactive Awards and many other great opportunities to get involved, get educated and get connected.

We hope to see you there!

The Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02116

The MITX Innovation Awards is a competition that celebrates the innovations powering the future of marketing and revolutionizing the way we work and play.

Dogpatch Labs - 1 Cambridge Center Fl 6, Cambridge MA

MITX Up is a marketing mentorship program that matches pre-screened startups to marketing and communications mentors to help entrepreneurs be successful in telling their story, marketing their business and generally, “shouting louder and prouder.” 

What is MITX Up?

MITX works with local accelerator programs to identify the most cutting-edge and innovative start-up companies, ranging in focuses from energy tech to high tech, life sciences to social impact and fashion to youth/college media. We connect these startups to our amazing network of MITX marketing experts through "marketing hackathons."

At these marketing hackathons, teams of marketers are matched with start-ups in two hour sessions, where the marketers are tasked with providing real time strategic and tactical marketing/communications/biz dev-related ideas that address specific areas of need identified by the entrepreneurs. 

To learn more about MITX Up, read this, this and this.

Inbound 2012 isn't IMS.  And it isn't HUGS.  But it combines the best of both and a whole lot more.  Inbound 2012 is a 3-day marketing conference and training event designed to help marketing professionals, business owners, and agency executives deepen their knowledge of inbound marketing through a combination of inspiring keynote presentations, focused breakout sessions, expert-led small group workshops, innovative product demos, and exciting networking activities.

• 3 days
• 2,000 attendees
• 6 inspiring keynotes
• 40+ breakout sessions
• Expert-led training & certification
• Hands-on product demos
• 1-on-1 sessions
• Small group workshops
• Awesome networking activities

Hynes Convention Center

October 23-24: Boston

It all started here. With Chris Brogan and the gang at New Marketing Labs in Gillette stadium. And with partners like MITX and HubSpot, IMS has grown to reach several thousand participants at our event and online via our streaming coverage and content library. Come join the revolution!

Around Greater Boston

Known as the must-attend event for discovering what’s next, MITX’s FutureM brings together marketing and technology innovators to contemplate and celebrate the future of Marketing.

Created by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) – the nation’s largest nonprofit trade association for the digital marketing, media and technology industry  – this event brings thousands of people together to explore the newest technologies and insights that are changing the way marketers think, create, engage, and measure. 

Here's the latest news and udpates on the 2012 event:

• This is Our FutureM 2012 - What's Yours?
• FutureM Now Accepting Session Proposals!
• FutureM Reflects on 2011 – Looks Ahead to Third Annual Event
• The Future of Marketing: An Exploration

Follow @FutureMBoston on Twitter or Like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest news from the event!

The Interactive Awards is the largest and most prestigious awards competition in the country for interactive and web innovations, bringing together 1,000+ of the best and brightest minds in the digital media, marketing and technology industry. Visit mitxawards.org/interactive for more information.