"The Latest Wave" Internet Conference a Success

Approximately 130 marketing professionals participated in "The Latest Wave" in Internet Marketing at NIU's Naperville Center on April 19. Included in the group were about thirty students from the Interactive Marketing Program, most of whom will be graduating in several weeks with our certificate in Interactive Marketing or another specialization that prepares them for a career in search, data analytics, social, etc. Check out our interactive marketing program and see how you can benefit by hiring students and interns.

The Opening Plenary Session featured keynote speaker Ron Jacobs, President, Jacobs & Clevenger and Co-Author of Successful Direct Marketing Methods. Ron shared his insights on measurement and the merging of digital and Interacitve. Ron claimed that marketers are drowning in data and that in fact:

• 1 in 3 marketers make decisions without critical information
• 1 in 2 marketers don't  have the information they need to perform their job
• Knowledge workers spend 19 hours each week searching for information

Ron went on to talk about the benefits and weaknesses of Key Performance indicators and how to measure some of the newer media channels such as social and mobile.

The conference had a special track on social media and a general track with a B2B emphasis and topics such as search, analytics and mobile. We featured speakers from Dell, CDW, Walgreens and other leading Interactive Marketing practitioners. The conference web site is here for more information on The Latest Wave in Internet Marketing 2012.  Check out what happened by monitoring the Twitter feed at #niuinetconf.  There are some good comments and questions on that feed.

Over lunch, there were networking tables set up on various topics and facilitated by our board members. The picture above shows our students taking advantage of the networking opportunity provided by topics such as how to make the transition from school to work during the first year or how to successfully navigate through agency life.

Also over lunch, attendees could choose from a variety of hands-on workshops demonstrating the basics in Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and HTML. The best part is that these sessions were taught mostly by our current students, Jenny Yam, Tyler Miller and David Delaplane. Everyone seemed to get something out of the event and it was a successful day. I am sorry for those who could not attend.

Third Edition Internet Marketing Text by Roberts and Zahay

I was flattered earlier in the year to be asked to co-author one of the leading texts in Internet Marketing. My co-author MaryLou Roberts and I learned that the ISBN for the 3rd edition of Internet Marketing: Integrating Online and Offline Strategies, Roberts and Zahay, is available. ISBN 9781133625902.

There's a nice site for the new edition

The site contains a detailed Table of Contents that should help people plan courses. We cover the strategic use of internet and its direct marketing roots as well as a number of different acquisition and retention strategies such as search, social and email as well as measurement and future trends.

Shipment for the book is early/mid January. If that's a problem for any instructors, let me or MaryLou know and we will see what we can do for you to help you with your class.

NIU's Interactive Marketing Program Update

At Northern Illinois University, we have had our Interactive Marketing area since the early 00's and graduated our first students with a certificate in Interactive Marketing in 2007. The program is both online and offline channels and includes direct (where we teach email as a direct channel), imc, database marketing, Internet marketing (search, social, web design, etc.), and marketing technology where they drive traffic to a live web site acting as affiliates for Restaurant.com with two channels of their choice (10% of traffic is then donated back to charity). This marketing technology course is also taught as part of the Google Adwords challenge.

Forty students a year receive our certificate on their transcript and work for a variety of companies. Marketing Majors get a traditional major and then take four out of five courses in this area. We teach the managerial and strategic side, but students learn ExactTarget, Alterian's SM2, SPSS/Modeler and a variety of other technologies.

Let me know if you are interested in hiring our graduates for internships or full time positions or in joining our advisory board and helping us chart our direction.

Mixing, Matching and Messing With the Push and Pull Marketplace: Don Schultz tells it like it is in IMC on May 18th

Don Schultz, internationally known consultant and emeritus professor at Northwestern University will speak at our 'Hot Topics in Internet Marketing' conference on Wednesday May 18th at NIU Naperville on "Mixing, Matching and Messing With the Push and Pull Marketplace." Don is one of the leading experts on IMC and essentially created the field a few years back. We are excited to have him at the conference. I have had a chance to get a sneak peak at Don's slides and I think you will really enjoy the message he has to present.

Don will talk about how the traditional marketer's toolkit, the 4 p's and mass communication, has become obsolete and what we need to do as marketers to operate successfully in the new world of integrated marketing communications. Don always has provocative comments and I just heard him speak to an academic audience on Friday about what we can do to cope in this time of discontinuous change. I don't want to give away the whole store but I do want to invite you once again to attend our "Hot Topics in Internet Marketing Conference" on Wed. May 18th at NIU Naperville. There is still time to register and to get 33% off the full price of $399. Thanks so much for your attention and I hope to see you there. TO REGISTER: http://www.internetmarketing.niu.edu.

Event highlighted successful IM grads!

November 2, 2010 Interactive Marketing Student Advisory Board Inaugural Event Summary

Thanks to Will Johnson for this great event summary!

On November 2nd, 2010, the Interactive Marketing program played host to a packed house of aspiring interactive marketers. Four successful interactive marketing program students shared their stories on how they found their first positions outside of college and shared the skills that they had learned from the program.

Tara Vanderheyden Invitations By Design (Class of '05):
Tara found her first position from networking with the professionals who frequently enter Barsema Hall to guest lecture for interactive marketing students. During her time at Restaurant.com, she was able to use her professional communication skills and knowledge of online marketing to develop a stronger relationship with Restaurant.com partners.

From there Tara founded her own company, Invitations By Design. She admits that without her college of business training, she would not have been able to even fathom the idea of starting her own business. She is a strong proponent of networking with not only businesspeople, but with friends and family, as anyone can lead to a new opportunity.

Courtney Danner ARS Interactive (Class of '06):

Courtney, armed with her knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search, entered into a small agency right out of school. As the agency grew, so did her responsibilities and she quickly took up an account executive position. She now works with her clients to meet their business objectives using online channels. Courtney's work-life in an agency has been the most appealing for her and she encouraged the students to not rule out small companies and to instead, feel if a position is right for them and decide based on whether they could enjoy going to work everyday.

Ryan Eugene IT Supplies Class of '09):

Ryan graduated on a Saturday and started his job on the very next Monday. His overnight success was really a culmination of his studies in interactive marketing and then receiving a graduate degree in OM & IS from NIU as well. Ryan sought out a greater understanding of how data flows and is a strong proponent of life-long learning as he continues to improve his knowledge of technology. He found his position through the interactive marketing advisory board and has continued to take on responsibilities as he tacks on paid search campaigns and managing additional websites as a e-commerce webmaster for a mid-sized IT Supplies company.



Will Johnson Uline (Class of '10, degree expected in December)

Will found his position before he graduated. He received an SEO internship at Zebra Technologies through the interactive marketing program and then found a position at Uline, a large shipping supply company, performing paid search management. Will discovered Uline first through the many companies that students are exposed to in the program. His well-rounded knowledge of online marketing made him an ideal candidate even though he could only work part-time while completing his degree.

The career night gave students an idea of what to expect when entering the marketing world and allowed them to network with already successful alumni. After the event, amidst pizza and conversation, the current students shared their career hopes and the alumni gave a great deal of encouragement to these bright, future marketers.

This event was the first in a series of guest speaker events being held by the Interactive Marketing Student Advisory Board. Students on the advisory board meet with professionals who support the interactive marketing program and attend networking events from several marketing organizations.

Getting a job in Interactive Marketing

Kelli Hanson talked about places to look for a job in interactive marketing. She and I strongly believe in networking through professional associations, such as CADM, BMA, AMA and CIMA. Joining the groups these organizations have on linkedin is usually free and an easy way to start getting involved. Since 80% of jobs are not posted or advertised, it is important to network as well as look on these job sites. Still, there are hundreds of jobs posted online in this field. It is up to the student seeking a job to figure out what type of job he or she wants and then to target that position and demonstrate his or her value to potential employers. Develop specialized skills that might be needed to get that job. There is no substitution for networking and hard work. Be prepared to send out at least 200 resumes and to be focused but also flexible.Dates to watch out for: February 18: Lynn Hazan, recruiter, 5pm, February 26, Okner Symposium, 9-4. Both events are required for 455 and 470 and will take place in Barsema Hall.