Social Media conference to be held at Marquette

Milwaukee-based Hanson Dodge Creative will hold the third annual Social Media Summit, at the Alumni Memorial Union Weasler Auditorium at Marquette University on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Proceeds from the event will benefit scholarships for Marquette Diederich College of Communication students.
“We really want to be able to help foster opportunities for young people in our community,” said Al Krueger, partner and vice president of social media and public relations at Hanson Dodge.
The Summit, first held at UW-Whitewater and now at Marquette has donated more than $15,000 to local schools over the years.  
“It’s a big part of what makes this conference different,” Krueger said.
The one day conference, entitled Navigating the Social Media Landscape will focus on real-world examples and case studies of social media use in branding, marketing and communications.
“The social media landscape has evolved at an almost unbelievable speed,” said Sara Meaney, partner and vice president at Hanson Dodge Creative. “Our goal for this conference was to put together a speaker line up that really reflects real world successes. We’re hoping the conference will help people sift through the noise.”
Hanson Dodge worked in partnership with Marquette University to bring in keynote speakers and panelists from IBM, PepsiCo, American Eagle Outfitters, Lands’ End, North Face and others.
According to Meaney, the schedule for the day will be a mix of keynote presentations, coupled with panel presentations and workshops.
“We see the value of the real-world case studies,” Meaney said. “Our (speaker) lineup takes the discussion beyond theoretical and directly to the applied. They have all done these things and can speak to their successes and failures.”
Comet Branding, co-owned by Krueger and Meaney, merged with Hanson Dodge Creative last December. In its inaugural year, the Summit was held at UW-Whitewater. It was moved to Marquette University last year.
“Marquette approached us early this year and expressed interest in taking more of a partnership role in the Summit,” Meaney said. “It’s been great working with them. The Diederich College of Communications is very much ahead of the curve and quite progressive and strategic in education.”
The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is $99 to attend and is limited to 350 people. To register, click here.