Thursday

Opening Keynote – Scott Stratten @unmarketing

11-12 pm; Main Ballroom- Mountbatten A&B

Engagement 2.0

Whether you run your own business or your business is your personal brand or blog, the ‘basics’ like sales, marketing, customer service have changed incredibly over the past few years and engagement is king. It’s not “if” your customers, fans, followers or readers are talking online, it’s “how often” and “where”. This session walks you through the landscape of online engagement both today and what’s coming tomorrow. Dynamic and witty keynote speaker, Scott Stratten, will paint a much clearer picture of what tools will suit your needs and which ones to ignore.

Content I: If a Blog Falls in the Forest? : How to get your blog to make a sound

1:30-3 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom A

For the beginner to intermediate blogger: what’s good content, how to create it, how to promote it. In this session, we’ll cover the basics of writing engaging content, writing to create a brand, building content around your brand and vice versa, to niche or not to niche, understanding and using SEO, extending your reach/building your audience through a variety of social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, et al)

Keywords: Beginner/Intermediate, Blog Writing, SEO, Audience Building, Twitter, Facebook, Niches, Personal Branding, Media Kits, PR/Marketing

Presenter: Annie (PhD In Parenting)

Panelists: Heather Greenwood Davis (Globetrottingmama.com), Aidan Morgan (thepalinode.com), Amy Urquhart (HeartsIntoHome.com), Emma Waverman (EmbraceTheChaos.ca/MSN.ca),

Content II: Kicking It Up A Notch: How to be a Content Creating Ninja.

1:30-3 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom B

You have a blog or a website and you’re pretty confident about the quality of your content – so what do you need to do to develop and carry that great content even further? In this session, you’ll learn how to evaluate your content to identify areas to improve, develop a strategy for improving your content, bring your content more in line with your brand, use social media tools more effectively to bolster your content, and use multimedia (video, photography, etc) to create more engaging content.

Keywords: Advanced, Content Development, SEO, Audience Building, Multi-Media, Personal Branding, Multiple Niches or Sites, Strategy.

Presenter: Catherine Connors (Her Bad Mother)

Panelists: Kate Inglis (Sweet/Salty Kate), Tanis Miller (Redneck Mommy), Jen Reynolds (Canadian Family), Elan (Schmutzie, Canadian Weblog Awards)

Content I: Collaborative/Community Sites ~ Is Bigger Better?: Citizens of Sisterhood or Lost in the Crowd?

3:30-5 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom A

We’re accustomed to thinking of blogs as independently-run, personal websites run by individual bloggers, but for some bloggers, setting up shop at a larger site is an appealing option. Built-in audience, a sense of community with other writers, and, in some cases, getting paid are compelling perks. This session will address how such sites get built, what their advantages and disadvantages are, and whether starting or joining a community blog might be right for you.

Keywords: Community Site, Contributors, Platforms, Strategy, Management, PR/Marketing, Aggregation, Social Media Tools, Networking

Presenter: Jen Maier (UrbanMoms)

Panelists: Sharon DeVellis (YummyMummyClub editor), Katie York (Bad Moms Club, MotherBumper), Samantha Ford (@craftastrophe), Julia Rosien (GoGirlfriend.com)

Content II: Work/Life Balance ~ Peaceful Coexistence Between Life and Laptop

3:30-5 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom B

However much you love using social media – whether as a hobby or a business – there ‘s no escaping the fact that it requires time and energy. In this session, we’ll talk about the importance of maintaining a balance between work and personal time, online and off, and discuss practical ways of preserving that balance.

Keywords: Balance, Tech Overload, Stress, Management, Family, Health

Presenter: Kathy Buckworth (KathyBuckworth.com)

Panelist: Maureen Dennis (weewelcome.ca), Ann Douglas (The Mother of All Parenting Blogs), Lara Galloway (MomBizCoach), Karen Green (KarenGreen.ca)

Sponsored by Pampers

Friday:

Monetizing I: Making Money From Blogging: Fiscal Fact or Fiction?

9:30-11 am; Mountbatten Ballroom A

Whether you’re new to blogs and websites, or just new to monetizing blogs or websites, this session will cover the basics like knowing when your site is ready to begin monetizing and how to earn money from the content that you produce online. It will cover the basics of working with PR/marketing companies, hosting advertising, choosing an ad network (or choosing to be your own ad broker), affiliate advertising, pros & cons of hosting reviews & giveaways, doing sponsored posts and maintaining the integrity of your content and your brand as you transform into a business.

Keywords: Beginner/Intermediate, Monetizing, Strategy, Advertising, Affiliate, PR/Marketing, Reviews, Giveaways, Valuation, Pricing, Sponsored Posts, Freelance Writing

Presenter: Jeannette Miller (Limelite PR)

Panelists: Angella Dykstra (Dutch Blitz), Ali Martell (cheaperthantherapy.com, urbanmoms.ca), Nadine Silverthorne (Sweetmama.ca)

Monetizing II: Cashing In with a Reality Cheque

9:30-11 am; Mountbatten Ballroom B

You’ve got an established blog, website or online business, and you want to know how to take it to the next level in terms of monetizing without compromising your content or your brand. This session will cover advanced advertising (managing your own advertising, layering ad networks, etc); content-marketing; conceiving, pitching and pursuing/promoting integrated content campaigns; sponsorships; how to use your status as an influencer to open up greater opportunities for making your blog business profitable.

Keywords: Advanced, Monetizing, Strategy, Advertising, Affiliate, PR/Marketing, Valuation, Pricing, Sponsored Posts, Freelance Writing, Spokesperson, Agreements, E-commerce

Presenter: Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper)

Panelist: Catherine Connors (Her Bad Mother), Janice Croze (5 Minutes for Mom), Duri Alajrami (@duriajrami)

Monetizing I: Women Entrepreneurs & Canadian Business Basics ~ What the Blogging M.B.A. would be… if it existed.

11:30 am -1 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom A

Canadian women are the driving force behind small and medium-sized businesses in the country. In this session, women entrepreneurs who are leading the way in doing business online and building online businesses will discuss their success, and will review tools and strategies for making it happen. Specific attention will be given to working within Canadian laws and tax codes and answering questions about registering a business, claiming free products, what you need to know about the FTC, and working with Canadian and US companies .

Keywords: Entrepreneur, Women, Mom, Canadian Business, Legal, Accounting, US-Canadian Business, Social Media, Strategy, Tools, Networking

Presenter: Tricia Mumby (Mabel’s Labels)

Panelists: Rebecca Brown (Bunch Land), Alison Kramer (Nummies Bras), Leigh Mitchell (Marketing 4 Moms), Tricia Mumby (Mabels Labels),

Monetizing II: Blogging for Social Action, Community And Empowerment ~ The Beauty of the Butterfly Effect

11:30 am -1 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom B

For some, a blog is much more than a place to tell stories and recount anecdotes – it’s a platform for actually pursuing real change. This session will feature bloggers who have used their platforms to raise awareness of certain issues, and/or to rally people to take action on issues or to inspire and create community, and who will discuss what it takes to effect change through social media.

Keywords: Social Action, Cause Marketing, Non-profits, Viral Marketing, Crowd-sourcing, Charitable, Social Media tools, Community Building, Change

Presenter: Erica Ehm (YummyMummyClub)

Panelists: Karen Humphrey (@scatteredmom), Barbara Jones (One2One Network), Shannon McKarney (EcoChick), Bon Stewart (Crib Chronicles/Glow In The Woods), Denise Tanton (@dtanton)

Building Your Social Media Toolbox, Round Robin Style

2:30-4 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom A&B

Join us as we break down the conventional conference room and embark on a round of social media ‘build your toolbox’ musical chairs: multiple tables, topics & speakers with 15-20 minutes per stop, each stop a densely packed mini-session on the tools you need and the topics you’re interested in. From video-blogging to photography tools; from mastering Twitter to figuring out Foursquare: it’s all here, in one session, in one room. Which tables will you visit? Which discussions can you simply not bear to miss? Bring your burning questions and your comfortable shoes and prepare to learn and have fun.

Building Brands And Beyond

4:15pm – 5:15 pm; Mountbatten Ballroom A&B

Canadian women are doing great things online: they’re connecting and building communities and businesses and brands. But they’re also using everything that they’re building online – their communities, their businesses and their brands – to inspire and empower and effect change. We’ll close the conference with a discussion with four of Canada’s leading online brand pioneers about how they’ve built their brands, and how they’re using those brands to empower and inspire and make their community – and the world beyond their own communities – a better place.

Keywords: Branding, Personal Brand, Brand Awareness, Merging Personal & Business, Social Capitol, Reputation Management, Strategy & Goals, Growth, Networking

Panelists: Julie Cole (@juliecole), Catherine Connors (@herbadmother), Janice Croze (@5minutesformom), Erica Ehm (@yummymummyclub)