Online Briefing

Digital Priorities: New Tools for Connecting with Customers

April 12, 2006
8:00 am Pacific – 11:00 am Eastern – 16:00 London (Duration: One hour)
(Free for ITSMA members)

Registration Closed

You’ve heard ITSMA (and a whole host of others) say it time and time again: Today’s customers are smart, savvy, and skeptical, and they put little trust in traditional advertising or direct marketing messages anymore.

They do, however, trust their colleagues and peers. More and more, customers want to talk with each other about what works, and new Web tools like blogs, RSS, and online communities are making it easier and easier to do so.

For marketers, this new, “social Web” suggests a shift from authority-based presentation to community-based interaction. Buyers are becoming increasingly focused on discussions with peers and other experts and tuning out anything that smacks of marketing or sales. Companies that want to succeed in the age of the social Web must therefore do everything in their power—from providing relevant Web content to deep-sixing traditional techniques to creating networks where like-minded customers can meet—to attract the right online communities.

Join ITSMA’s Rob Leavitt for an in-depth discussion of the new approaches and challenges to connecting with customers online. Specific tools we will discuss include:

• Corporate blogs
• Online communities
• RSS
• Podcasting
• And more!

We will also present best practices from technology companies that have begun experimenting with these new tools and are getting positive results.

Guest Speaker	[TOP OF PAGE]

Paul Dunay is a Director of the Global Field Marketing team for BearingPoint. Dunay is a proven innovator and leader of integrated marketing programs that deliver cost effective and profitable results. His unique approach to integrated marketing has been recognized by ITSMA as the winner of their 2005 Driving New Demand award and winner of the BearingPoint 2004 award for Best Overall Marketing campaign.

General Information	[TOP OF PAGE]

ITSMA's Online Briefings offer recent research findings or survey results from thought leaders on a variety of services marketing topics. The Online Briefings can be viewed individually, or in groups composed of people within the same company. The briefings are available anywhere in the world that has telephone service and access to the Internet. A typical program runs 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers. The person making the online presentation speaks into a telephone and advances the visual portion of the presentation via their computer connected to the Internet. At the end of the presentation. and at the presenter's discretion, the listeners are invited to ask questions. Each listener with a question identifies him or herself and is listed in a queue and taken one at a time by the presentation monitor. The monitor also manages the question and answer session by giving each questioner access to the phone line to communicate with the presenter.

Technical Requirements	[TOP OF PAGE]

This briefing will be administered by Connex International. All participants are required to test their browsers on Connex International's Website 24-48 hours prior to ensure they are ‘Java-enabled’. This test can be done at www.connexpresents.com, by clicking on the "Equipment Check" icon.
You will receive a pass code and dial in number 24-48 hours prior to the briefing.

The technical requirements for this ITSMA online briefing are:

• Direct or dial-up Internet connection of 28.8 kb/s or higher. An AOL or wireless connection is not recommended.
• A separate telephone line to access the audio teleconference.
• If participating from your company, ask about your company’s Internet Firewall 48 hours prior to the event. This will enable your technician or a Connex technician to reconfigure connections to ensure access to the Internet portion of the briefing.
• No plug-ins or software downloads are required.
• System Requirements: Windows 98 SE or higher with JAVA enabled, Internet Explorer 5.x or greater or Netscape 4.75, 4.79, 4.80, or 7.1. The following operating systems "may work with limitations," although they are not supported: Mac OS X family with Safari 1.0; Linux Redhat 6.2 with Netscape 4.7x; Solaris 8 with Netscape 4.7x.
• Works through 99% of all firewalls and proxy servers.

Fees and Registration	[TOP OF PAGE]

Aside from the telephone call, the fee for the presentation is complimentary for active ITSMA members, and $95 per location for non-members.

Note: Registration is on a first-come/first-served basis. You must register by 5:00 pm ET, April 11, 2006.

About ITSMA
ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions. As a membership organization, we work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services firms to generate new business, strengthen customer loyalty, and increase brand differentiation. Through research, consulting, training, and community we provide the insight companies need to improve marketing impact, sales performance, and business results. ITSMA is based in Lexington, Massachusetts, and has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Learn more at www.itsma.com.