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Host Sherrilynne Starkie visited MARCOM Annual Conference 2017 in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago to capture some of the presentations and speak to presenters.

MARCOM is Canada’s only marketing and communications conference developed exclusively for the non-profit and public sectors and for several years IABC Ottawa has partnered with MARCOM to bring its professional development opportunities to our members and our community.

Sherrilynne attended a full-day workshop: Connecting with the Changing Canadian Population presented by the team from Environics Analytics including Rupen Seoni, senior vice president and practice leader, Doug Norris, senior vice president and chief demographer, Nader Shureih, consultant and Tony Coulson, vice president corporate and public affairs at Environics Research.

This workshop spotlighted Canada’s new demographic portrait and its impact on marketing communications. It highlighted changing demographics, mindsets and values, and their implications for audience segmentation, channel selection and message customization.

The opening keynote speaker, Ron Tite spoke about the battle for time and how to thrive in the expression economy. His energetic and amusing talk explained how marketers in the public and social profit sectors aren’t competing for donations, budgets, or social change. They are competing for time. Often, marketers blame devices – mobile phones, tablets, and more. But it’s not the thing. It’s the stuff on the thing.

Sherrilynne attended a roundtable discussion about the keys to success in marketing programs designed to change attitudes and behaviours. Jay Kassirer, president of Cullbridge and Jim Mintz, managing partner at the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing facilitated. It was a discussion of the common mistakes organizations make when trying to develop and implement a marketing strategy to change attitudes and behaviours. The session also introduced the resources provided by the Social Marketing Association of North America (SMANA).

Her afternoon began with a session by the National Capital Heavy Construction Association’s executive advisor Dale Harley and Ken McIntyre, president. Together they presented a case study on how managing relationships has transformed the National Capital Heavy Construction Association from a sleepy social club into a highly-regarded and effective powerhouse that punches well above its weight.

Backstage, she got a chance to speak to Jeremy Harley, communications strategist for the Treasury Board of Canada and Alex Jasperse, senior communications advisor for Public Services and Procurement Canada. They presented a session on the modern public sector marketing toolkit. The practical session focused mapping and applying the essential tools for the modern public sector communicator. With a focus on low-cost and no-cost tools, the objective was to help identify opportunities to strengthen the current toolkit to increase the return on investment.

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Connect with Sherrilynne Starkie and IABC Ottawa.

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Contact Claire Mills at the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing or learn more about MARCOM Annual Conference.

This episode was produced by Amanda Speroni of Thornley Fallis Communications.

About Sherrilynne Starkie

Sherrilynne Starkie is IABC Ottawa’s past president with an international reputation as a PR social media pioneer. She is an independent consultant and in the past, has held leadership agency roles in Canada, the UK and USA. She’s a prolific blogger, a frequent contributor and, until now, only a sometimes podcaster. Have an idea for the show or want to connect? Reach out to Sherrilynne on LinkedIn and Twitter.