Facebook partners with 18 global operators to offer free/discounted mobile data usage

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Facebook has continued to push its Messenger apps for mobile after it announced a deal to bring free and discounted data access for the apps to customers of 18 operators across 14 countries. The deal is an aggressive but industry-backed one to offer an alternative to SMS and promote mobile data services for carriers. Continue reading:

Marketing Conferences I’d Like to Attend in 2013

 

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I love conferences, I love to attend, network and track new trends. I love to speak, contribute and share. Luckily, I joined several conferences till now as a speaker. With the list I shared below are some of them that I would like to attend in 2013.  It would be great to find a conference sponsor for myself 🙂

PS: I like to follow marketing, digital media and mobile events, nowadays I am in search of big data events. It is the future of tech!

March 2013

AMA Analytics with Purpose: The Human Edge of Big Data
March 4-5, 2013 | San Diego, CA
http://www.marketingpower.com/Calendar/Pages/analytics-with-purpose-the-human-edge-of-big-data.aspx

The way we compile, assess, and act on data is evolving all the time, and marketers and researchers must adapt to it. AMA’s new conference is designed to help them do just that. This conference will provide two full days of emerging approaches, thought-provoking conversations and meaningful interaction for practitioners and researchers alike. It will focus on the purpose of analytics – driving better decisions, creating insights, and growing business, but it will also focus on the human side.

SMX West – Search Marketing Expo
March 11-13, 2013 | San Francisco, CA
http://searchmarketingexpo.com/west/

SMX West content is so compelling, you’ll want to implement what you’ve learned before leaving the conference. Dramatically increase the number of people who come to your site with ROI enhancing paid search advertising and search engine optimization techniques and best practices. Personalize your SMX West experience. Attend any of the more than 60 sessions and keynotes that suit your needs and maximize your investment. There are sessions just for you – whether you’re new to search or an experienced internet marketer, employed at a Fortune 500 company or run your own business or agency.

April 2013

Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) New York 2013
April 3-4, 2013 | New York, NY
http://www.inboundmarketingsummit.com/new-york/

Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) is the one event that brings together enterprise CMOs, business leaders, agency execs and their teams, awesome keynotes, expert panels, plus solutions providers and their tools, all in a dynamic, community-based setting. Learn about the latest in social strategy and branding, content marketing, online video, Social CRM, mobile payments and more. And explore how to turn your plans into action with exclusive demos, showcases and the multimedia experience you expect from The Pulse. Come join the marketing revolution

Social Media Marketing World
April 7-8, 2013 | San Diego, CA
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/

Join 1,000 fellow marketers at the mega-conference designed to inspire and empower you with social media marketing ideas—brought to you by Social Media Examiner. You’ll rub shoulders with the biggest names and brands in social media, soak up countless tips and new strategies, and enjoy extensive networking opportunities. This is a historic opportunity for you to connect face-to-face with the top social media marketing experts while breaking bread with like-minded peers from around the globe.

eM13: eMarketing Association Conference
April 9-10, 2013 | San Francisco, CA
http://www.emarketingassociation.com/2013/index.html

You will leave energized and ready, with relevant, actionable new processes,
techniques, ideas, and a bunch of new meaningful contacts. You can design your
own conference around dedicated topics on Social, eMail, Search and Mobile
marketing. Sessions are highly interactive and our speakers, panelists, moderators and
attendees attend most social networking events at the conference.

DemandCon: Accelerating the Sales and Marketing Funnel
April 15-16, 2013 | San Francisco, CA
http://www.demandcon.com/sanfrancisco/2013/

The industry’s premier event for education and insight into the art of aligning and accelerating your company’s sales and marketing funnel. DemandCon’s content is presented by the world’s foremost thought leaders and covers information on the latest research, strategies and tactical best practices in B2B Sales and Marketing today. The conference includes Keynotes, 45-minute presentations, 90 – 120 minute mini hands-on workshops, as well as optional full day intensive workshops.

iStrategy Miami 2013: Transform Your Digital Strategy
April 23-24, 2013 | Miami, FL
http://www.istrategyconference.com/events/miami/

It’s where the rubber meets the road in serious online business marketing. SEO, SEM, social, mobile, community, commerce. Join North America’s most forward-thinking digital marketers, social media mavens and online experts as they converge on Miami in April 2013 to discuss the future of digital marketing and share strategies for improving customer engagement, driving conversions and developing campaigns that positively ring with authenticity, relevancy and significance. If building a high-performing, integrated marketing strategy is important to your organisation, then iStrategy is for you!

May 2013

Content Marketing Strategies Conference
May 8-9, 2013 | Berkeley, CA
http://contentmarketingstrategiesconference.com/conferences/

The Content Marketing Strategies Conference, hosted by dlvr.it, is the only event to specifically focus on helping Small Businesses understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. Our boutique conference brings together thought leaders for two days of intense discussion and case studies. Come explore the future of content marketing.

The Un-Conference: 360° of Brand Strategy for a Changing World
May 16-17, 2013 | San Diego, CA
http://theblakeproject.com/un-conference/360-degrees-brand-strategy/

A unique, competitive-learning workshop limited to 100 participants, each working and learning in teams.  Dedicated solely to the art and science of brand strategy and management, this two-day workshop will be unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced!  A small, exclusive group of marketers will gather together with legendary marketer John Sculley and the senior partners of The Blake Project to create a one-of-a-kind learning and networking experience dedicated to all aspects of building successful brands for the 21st century. Intensive and illuminating, this workshop will equip participants with the insight, tools and techniques required to release the full potential of their brands in a new era where consumers / customers now drive and own the conversation about brands.

BlueGlassX 2013 Digital Marketing Conference
May 21-22, 2013 | Los Angeles, CA
http://www.blueglass.com/event/blueglassx-la/

BlueGlassX isn’t just a conference — it’s an experience for marketers, by marketers. When you attend, you’ll learn from world-class speakers, share unrivaled knowledge, and build priceless relationships, all in an intimate environment, with only 175 attendees. Here’s your chance to be a part of the next digital marketing eXperience. Attendees include representatives from some of the world’s biggest brands (like Disney, HSN, Google, Facebook), to the brightest startups, to agency pros, entrepreneurs and small-medium size business owners.

International Business Marketing Association (BMA) Conference
May 29-31, 2013 | Chicago, IL
http://www.marketing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=5681

Conference details and info to be made available in the near future.

September 2013

Content Marketing World 2013
September 9-12, 2013 | Cleveland, OH
http://contentmarketingworld.com/

The largest content marketing event on the planet, produced by the Content Marketing Institute. Content Marketing World is the one event where you can learn and network with the best and the brightest in the content marketing industry. You will leave with all the materials you need to take a content strategy back to your team – and – to implement a content marketing plan that will grow your business and engage your audience.

October 2013

DMA2013: The Global Event for Data-Driven Marketers
October 12-17, 2013 | Chicago, IL
http://dma13.org/

As all marketing becomes data-driven, marketers will need to up their game to not only anticipate their customers’ needs, but also deliver relevant, measurable, on-demand messaging—all the time—in an omnichannel marketing environment. DMA2013 will focus on meeting the tough demands of big data, global consumers, and shrinking attention spans so your integrated marketing efforts keep winning.

Pivot Conference: From Social Brands to Social Business
October 15-16, 2013 | New York, NY
http://2012.pivotcon.com/

Pivot is not a Social media conference, nor even a traditional conference at all. Pivot is as close to a true Social community of powerful leaders as a physical gathering can be. In our incisive on-stage conversations, the speakers contribute to the audience, the audience contributes to the speakers and everyone contributes to one another. All Pivot’s participants are leaders of Social initiatives from major brands and the organizations that serve them. The result is a singularity that defines the heart of Social for the year ahead. NOTE: Pivot is primarily an invitation-only conference for senior executives driving Social initiatives at Big Brands and Agencies. If this describes you, visit the site to request a VIP invitation to Pivot 2013.

The Market Research Event: The New Value Proposition: Transforming Insight Partners Into Strategic Consultative Leaders
October 21-23, 2013 | Nashville, TN
http://www.iirusa.com/research/event-home.xml

TMRE delivers more proven value than any other event of its kind. The annual meeting place for career researchers. Budgets are precious. Spend smarter with TMRE – the brand that delivers NEW value every year…making it the best investment for the future of both yourself and your company.

Date TBA in 2013

The Mobile Marketing Conference: Capturing Share of Mind, Driving Transactions & Proving ROI
Date TBA | Location TBA
http://www.iirusa.com/mobilemarketing/homepage.xml

Everything you need to know about the PlayStation 4

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The PlayStation 4 is real. Sony announced the next-gen console at an event in New York City earlier tonight. The multimedia conglomerate revealed a lot of games while skipping over a few details.

Basic info:

  • Price: Sony didn’t specify
  • Release: Holiday 2013
  • Backwards compatibility with PS3: No (may come later via Gaikai cloud streaming)
  • Backwards compatibility with PS3 PlayStation Network games
  • Free-to-play support: Yes
  • Vita/PS4 bundle: Possibly
  • Used games: Will work on PS4

Read more at

The world’s most expensive cup of Starbucks coffee

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Coffee is wonderful. Really, it’s the fuel that powers much of America. And better yet, most cups of coffee are reasonably priced — just $1 from a Manhattan coffee cart, and perhaps $2 to $5 if you get a fancy drink from some high-end java joint. But the saucy customer in the video above decided to go absolutely bananas by ordering a Starbucks beverage that cost $47.30. Continue reading:

 

 

 

 

How New York Can Be The Newest Tech Hub?

bbNew York is now home to the country’s fastest-growing and most exciting tech communities, with more and more entrepreneurs choosing to locate their start-ups here. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of New Yorkers working at digital media companies grew by 80%. New York is now number one in job growth in the $20 billion mobile app industry.

New York’s tech sector is bigger, more diverse and more innovative than ever. And it’s no accident. New York City has a deeper concentration of the tech industry’s most valuable assets – creativity and capital – than any place on earth. So do you think, will New York replace Silicon Valley?

The winners and losers of social media in 2012 [infographic]

Social media is on rise, everyday we become more engaged to our Facebook profiles, tweets and blog posts, or Instagram and Pinterest, visual social networking. We loved this game, it became a big part of our life, how we are sharing things through them. They provided us necessary platforms. If we have 140 characters to say something, we have Twitter there. Or, if you take a pic, you can share it on Instagram, pin it to your board and post it on your Facebook page.

Lets see what happened in 2012, which social platform rised and which one declined

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Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Looks Like Facebook

As Facebook moves closer to Microsoft, Bing is becoming more like Facebook.

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Microsoft’s search engine gained “five times more content” on Thursday, the company said, adding much more Facebook content to the “sidebar” on the right-hand side of Bing’s organic search results. Now, Facebook status updates, shared links, comments and photos will all be shown when a user performs a search, provided the user is logged in to Facebook.

Previously, Bing allowed users to ask their Facebook friends for responses to a query, such as the best restaurants in San Francisco. Now, those results will appear automatically, provided that a user’s friend network has actually discussed the topic. Photos will pop out, and queries such as “Notre Dame” will generate facts and figures on the cathedral, the university and your friends’ opinions. Continue reading…