"CLASSIFIEDS EVOLVE OR die"
BERLIN, GERMANY 5 – 8 MAY 2010
The Spring 2010 GM will take place in the largest city in Germany, Berlin. The classified market is ever changing and now so more than ever indicating only the strong will survive 2010 therefore our theme “Classifieds EVOLVE or die.” This is THE conference to attend for classified publishers who want to not only survive but thrive in 2010. The programme covers technology, usability, content, SEO and marketing to arm you with the tools to ensure you stay a step (or two!) ahead of the competitor.
As in Budapest, the conference will run for a full 3-and-a-half days, from the Wednesday Welcome Reception and dinner through three full days of sessions and networking, and finishing with the Gala Party on Saturday. The draft programme is published below and will be updated as speakers are confirmed in the next few weeks.
As well be sure to register you and your team for the first ever ICMA Innovation Award. An exciting new element we are adding to the ICMA events. The winner will be announced at the Gala Party on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.
Registration opens on 9 February for Early Birds (EUR 549 for members or EUR 799 for non-members) until 22 March when the Standard rate (EUR 699/EUR 999) will apply.
Wednesday 5 May
Afternoon - registration
Evening - Welcome Reception and Dinner
Thursday 6 May
Session 1
Chairperson's Welcome and Opening
Keynote Address
Is content still king? Or is content now marketing? The keynote address will look at why content matters to online businesses, different content strategies and how content can be used to build audience and revenues.
Speaker: To be confirmed
Session 2
Managing the challenges of technology
How should we approach the issues facing all of our businesses from hosting to software development? Is it better to do it yourself or let someone take care of it for you?
Speaker: To be confirmed
Open your development platforms for the future
Are you struggling with closed, proprietary and expensive platforms? Then this online strategy session is not to be missed. Discover how Openstandards are connected with SEO and how Opensource can help your business to respond quickly to competitors. Ease on integration with your clients and partners for commercial success."
Speakers: Ricardo Amaro, Internet Director, Ocasião Classificados, Portugal
other to be confirmed
Panel Session: Outsourcing development
Continuing on with this session on development we have invited three classified vendors to join us for this panel discussion on why and how to outsource. Informing us of the common pitfalls and cost structure with, none other than, an ICMA member/customer as the facilitator to ensure your questions are answered.
Facilitator: Koen Vandaele, Operations Director, Concentra Classifieds N.V., Belgium
Panelists: Kirsi Johansson, Sales Manager, Fiare Oy, Finland
Tünde-Csilla Fülöp, Quality & Knowledge Manager, Art-Soft Consulting, Romania
other to be confirmed
Lunch
Sessions 3&4
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SHARING BEST PRACTICE
(separate sessions for Business Leaders, Sales Managers and NEW ICT Managers)
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A repeat of the immensely successful sessions from recent conferences and we will be adding a third parallel session for ICT Managers. The aim is to ‘get behind’ the numbers and really understand what business decisions and strategies can impact these key markers.
Participants will be asked to submit in advance some easily-established business metrics relating to the principal areas of their online business. These will be shared with the session attendees, and then discussed in small groups, so that participants can quiz the star performers on how they have achieved their results, and in turn share their best practices with the group.
This will take place in two sessions (90 minutes then 60 minutes) informal and relaxed forum alongside a parallel sales track so the sales professionals don't miss out.
A fantastic opportunity to ask all the questions you’ve always wanted to!
Participation in this session is included in the registration fee, please indicate when registering that you wish to participate so that Head Office can send you the short questionnaire to complete.
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Late afternoon: PHOENIX workshop
Solution Providers Hour
Evening: German Brouhaha
Friday 7 May
Session 1
Creative Strategies
How can we create services that will be used and even loved? With methodologies used traditionally by designers businesses can create compelling services that satisfy users and customers needs. Companies must rethink the way they involve customers and users in the development processes, create a culture of constant innovation and support out-of-the-box thinking in all levels of the organization.
Speaker: Tim Hilpert, General Manager, eBay Kleinanzeigen, Germany
Does your brand matter?
Facebook, Twitter and of course Google, among many others are gaining grounds on classifieds. Services are working hard for SEO, SEM and trying to spread their content as far and wide as possible. Does brand matter and is branding needed anymore? Why use user-centric design and invest heavily on destination sites if people are merely using Google or tweeting to find what they need? Is there any value for brands? This session is set to answer such questions and much more about the “brand.”
Speaker: To be confirmed
Blending brands with social media
Are brands becoming more relevant to communities and how will that affect classified business? This session will provide the cornerstones to your social media strategy.
Speaker: To be confirmed
Session 2
Partnerships, Co-opetition and Affiliates
This session will cover different affiliate programmes that can be used from three angles generating content, traffic and revenue. Come learn about the other revenue generating opportunities available!
Speaker: To be confirmed
Debate: Man or Machine - Automated Self Service vs. Selling
How do you sell advertising online? Is there a place left for the traditional sales force or should your website be all the sales force you need?
Debaters: Rob Paterson, Group Managing Director, Friday-Ad, UK
Peter Lamb, President, Lamb Consulting, USA
Lunch
Session 3&4
Workshops
In Berlin we will be offering 3 workshops which will run for 90 minutes and which will be repeated twice. These interactive sessions allow 20 - 25 participants to work closely with an expert facilitator to guide their discussions and answer questions as they share experiences and ideas.
* WORKSHOP 1 –SCRUM METHODOLOGY
Do you have a Scrum master? How long are your sprints? If you don’t know what these terms mean this session will get you up to speed, and even if are familiar with these terms this session will give you the best time lines for the classifieds sector. You may get your chance at being Scrum as this session will be highly interactive ensuring everyone comes out able to implement Scrum upon return to the office.
Facilitator: Marc Lyne, Co-Founder, BrownBook.net, UK
* WORKSHOP 2 – DEVELOPING ADSENSE REVENUES
Wondering how to best benefit from Adsense? This is the workshop to attend! The focus is how to make more money from Adsense.
Facilitators: Christoph Adler, Director Media & Marketing, Camao, Germany
Walter Palma, Strategic Partner Manager, Google, Germany
* WORKSHOP 3 – USABILITY, DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN
This workshop will highlight a couple of case studies with detailed how-to. As well as a open discussion on the importance of these three very relevant topics .
Facilitators: Ander Tenno, Software Process Expert, Trinidad Consulting, Estonia
Hegle Sarapuu, Interaction Designer, Trinidad Consulting, Estonia
Evening: Free time
Saturday 8 May
Sessions 1-3
Business Meeting
The 2010 audit, Head Office updates, report on 2010 projects and Committee elections – come and get involved in your Association!
Business Leaders’ Meeting
The Business Leaders' Forum is designed specifically for senior executives to come together in an intimate closed meeting in order to share their opinions and ideas with their peers. The Berlin "BLF" will start off with a look at the current state of classifieds with the second session moving into case studies and the final session of the day keeping everyone on their toes with the red hat/green hat debate.
Chair: Felix Erken, Managing Director, Junk Mail Publishing Ltd., South Africa
Business Operations Forum
This dedicated session will focus on three main business operations – sales, marketing and ICT. The “BOF” is an excellent opportunity for middle management to have one session dedicated to their specialty while also participating and learning more about the other departmental needs, allowing for smoother operations overall and some excellent ideas on how to work as an even more solid team.
Chairs: Eero Korhonen, Managing Partner, Vaibmu, Finland
Gerhard
Köhle, Head
Portal Manager, Informmedia/VM Group, Austria
Other to be confirmed
Evening: Gala Party