10 Reasons to Attend the Inaugural MarTech Conference (Aug. 19-20)

Editor's Note: Others must have agreed that it's going to be an event worth attending—just this week the conference sold out! (Congrats, team MarTech!) Add yourself to the waiting list, follow the conversation on social, or mark your calendar for San Francisco in 2015.

We’re less than a month out from the inaugural MarTech Conference in Boston, Aug. 19-20. It’s a conference aimed to prepare hybrid marketers, managers and IT pros to “harness the potential of technology-powered marketing.”

PR 20/20 is looking forward to it (I’ll be there (@jessica_joellen), along with our CEO, Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer))! Why do we think it’s a marketing conference to add to your annual agenda? Here are 10 reasons: 

1. It’s vendor-agnostic.The event is hosted by Third Door Media (which you know from SearchEngineLand.com, MarketingLand.com, SMX Search Marketing Expo), and conference chair Scott Brinker (@chiefmartec), co-founder and CTO of ion interactive, and author of chiefmartec.com. Brinker’s blog is one that’s recognized the potential, led the conversation, and paved the way for the intersection of marketing and IT since 2008.
    
2. Better understand this: Scott Brinker’s 2014 Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic. Although the graphic is not all-inclusive, it is exhaustive and features 947 companies organized across 6 major classes—from marketing experiences through underlying platforms and infrastructure.
   
3. Define your own marketing technology stack. While there’s no universal stack or key to the equation, strategically mapping out your organization’s current and future potential, among others focused on the same (and willing to share their own experiences), has become a core component of marketer’s responsibilities. This will be the conference with speakers and sessions dedicated to it.
    
4. Tech-savvy, forward thinking marketers are on top of the latest shifts in consumer behavior, digital innovation, and how the latest news on <re/code> can impact marketing activity and strategy. Marketers who have a deep interest in the tech space sit at the edge of “what’s next.” MarTech promises to discuss the “innovative technologies impacting marketing today—and tomorrow.”
    
5. Grow and develop talent. As Jim Yu (@jimyu) writes, “digital marketers are in a constant state of professional growth.” As marketers keep pace with the proliferation of technology, this conference is sure to be good for your team’s professional development.
    
6. Speaking of talent: Who doesn’t want to go to something coined the, “Festival of Unicorns?” It’s said the marketing technologist is part hybrid marketer, technologist and manager. MarTech is sure to be filled with these innovating, like-minded individuals.
    
7. Bring your biggest marketing tech challenge. From MarTech, you can expect expert discussion around “managing the changes required in people, process, and structure to harness these capabilities in complex, real-world organizations.”
    
8. Be a part of the marketing transformation. As Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer) penned in The Marketing Agency Blueprint, “We are on the cusp of a truly transformational period in the marketing-services industry … The industry will be redefined by marketing agencies that rare more nimble, tech-savvy, open and collaborative.” The first of its kind, MarTech aligns with the nimble, tech-savvy, open and collaborative movement that is already shaping the industry.
    
9. The people. This agenda and speaker list is packed … It’s going to be 2 days of non-stop marketing technology goodness, as more than 25 of the leading minds and practitioners in the space share their experiences.
   
   Check out this list (in order of appearance):
   
   1. Scott Brinker (@chiefmartec), Conference Chair & author, chiefmartec.com
   2. Mayur Gupta (@inspiremartech), Global Head of Marketing Technology & Operations, Kimberly-Clark
   3. Laura McLellan (@lauramclellan), VP Marketing Strategies, Gartner Research
   4. David Raab (@draab), Principal, Raab & Associates
   5. Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer), CEO, PR 20/20, author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint and The Marketing Performance Blueprint
   6. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff (@kaykas), CMO, BitTorrent
   7. Erica Seidel (@erica_seidel), CEO, The Connective Good
   8. Jane Hiscock (@janehiscock), Founder & CEO, Farland Group
   9. Wes Hunt, Chief Data Officer, Nationwide Insurance
   10. Lisa Ritchie, SVP Customer Knowledge and Insights, Scotiabank
   11. Travis Wright, CEO, MediaThinkLabs
   12. Erik W. Holt (@erikholt), Partner Strategy Leader - Technology/ISV, IBM ExperienceOne
   13. Lou Pelosi, Sr. Director LaunchPoint, Marketo
   14. Suresh Vittal (@sureshvittal), VP Product Marketing and Strategy, Adobe Marketing Cloud
   15. Erik Brynjolfsson (@erikbryn), Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
   16. Sheldon Monteiro (@sheldon_tm), CTO, SapientNitro
   17. Sheryl Pattek (@sherylpattek), VP & Principal Analyst, CMO and Marketing Leadership Practice at Forrester Research
   18. Jason Heller (@JasonHeller), CEO, Agiliti
   19. Sean Ellis (@SeanEllis), Founder & CEO, Qualaroo and GrowthHackers.com
   20. Christopher Penn (@cspenn), VP of Marketing Technology, SHIFT Communications
   21. Shawn Goodin (@shawngoodin), Director of Marketing Technology, The Clorox Company
   22. Michael Krigsman (@mkrigsman), Co-Host of "CxO Talk"
   23. Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar), Chief Marketing Officer Extreme Networks
   24. Robert Tas (@TasRobert), Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Pegasystems
   25. Steve Mann (@stevemann), Chief Marketing Officer, Research Solutions, LexisNexis
   26. Dharmesh Shah (@dharmesh), Co-Founder and CTO, HubSpot
   
   Want to follow all the speakers above? Check out my Twitter list: MarTech Speakers.
    
10. Boston. Who doesn’t like this city? While you’re there, catch a Redsox game at Fenway (they’re playing the Angels), hop on a Duck Tour, or walk down Newbury Street for some shopping. Whenever we visit this city, it’s a good time with good people. 

Interested, or attending MarTech? We’d love to connect, and say hello. Hope to see you there!