Applying To Speak at the Shop.org Annual Summit

So, do you want to speak at the 2009 Shop.org Annual Summit?   Well, here’s your chance to apply!

The highest ranked session at last year’s Annual Summit was a unique presentation titled “24+ Things You Can Do To Make More Money Next Week”  This was a no holds barred session where speakers presented their most tactical ideas that are instant money-makers for retailers in no more than 8 minutes.  It was fast, diverse, even chaotic at times, but based on user feedback the most valuable session of the entire Annual Summit.

This year we are expanding this same idea into a two-session track for the Annual Summit. We want even more speakers who can talk about SPECIFIC and EASY-TO-IMPLEMENT ecommerce tactics. We don’t care if you are a retailer, researcher, educator or vendor – if you think you have got some killer tips to share, we want to hear from you! Here are the details:

1)      Session title and description:

Session Title: 40+ Specific Things You Can Do To Make More Money Next Week (Parts 1 and 2).

Description: Last year’s highest rated session is back with a vengeance! Forget the grand strategy talks; ignore the expensive, time-consuming software implementations; discard the hard-to-measure long-term plans – this session is about specific, actionable tactics you can use to make money NOW. Our panel of experts is going to give you killer tips to improve your Paid Search, Natural Search, Affiliate Marketing, Social Marketing, Email Marketing, Web 2.0, Shopping Feeds, Technology Issues, and Site Optimization. We’re going to be moving fast so we will have a handout for session attendees with all of the gory details. This is the session you want to attend if you want to get your hands dirty and improve the bottom line. It will also help you convince your boss that you came to the Summit to make money – not just party in Vegas.

2)      To Be Considered as a Speaker:

a.       This session is a real meat and potatoes, get your hands dirty, down in the trenches (pick your favorite analogy) kind of session. There is no room for generalities or non-specific corporate jargon. The only points you want to talk about are things that people can make money with within 7 -14 days of them returning to the office. These tactics must not cost a huge amount of money and be realistic for the attendees to implement.   Tactics, tactics, tactics!  

b.      We are going to have six speakers and an alternate for each session (a total of 12 speakers and 2 alternates). Alternates will be placed on the panel in the event a scheduled speaker drops out or does not have their materials in on time (see below).

c.       Your presentation cannot run over 8 minutes. At EXACTLY the 8 minute mark, the moderator will use an air horn to stop your presentation.  Your presentation will also be limited to 12 slides.  This session is not for speakers that cannot stay within their time limit.

d.      Forget a long personal and corporate introduction – you won’t have time. The moderator will introduce you and we cover your bio and services in the handout. Let the quality of your presentation speak to the value of knowing you and your company.

e.      Speaking of Handouts: This session will be moving at a brisk pace. Therefore, we will be giving the session attendees a DETAILED handout so they can listen to you instead of taking notes. The deliverables for this session will be:

                                                              i.      A personal biography (150 word max). Bios longer than 150 words will be truncated at the 150 word mark.

                                                            ii.      A brief description of the company you work for (100 word max). Bios longer than 100 words will be truncated at the 100 word mark.

                                                          iii.      A PowerPoint presentation (remember 12 slides maximum)

                                                           iv.      You may, if you wish, provide limited additional material for inclusion in the handout as long as it DIRECTLY relates to the topics you discussed. Shop.org reserves the right to determine to include this material or not.

                                                             v.      All deliverables are due by 5:00 pm EST, Monday August 17^th.  We will remove speakers from the panel that do not have their FINAL Power Point presentation in on time.

3)      How to Apply: Send us the three (or more) tactical tips you want to discuss. Please briefly describe each tip and how it works. If we like what we are hearing, we will contact you and ask you to further define the tips. The deadline for application is Friday, June 26.

4)      There are three reasons why Shop.org is being so draconian with our session preparation requirements:

a.       We want to provide the absolute best quality content for our members. Speakers who pay attention to details tend to provide the best tactical presentations.

b.      The rapid-fire format of these sessions makes having a handout critical. We must have your materials in to us well ahead of the conference so we can get those handouts printed.

c.       We have 12 speakers and 2 alternate speakers for this track. We simply do not have the time to chase down speakers who are unable to stick to the format and deadlines associated with this program.

Send your ideas or questions to Larry Joseloff at joseloffl@shop.org.  We will be selecting the speakers soon after the June 26  deadline.