The ‘Must-Attend List’ of US Hispanic Advertising, Marketing & Media events in 2009.

   After reviewing our travel and entertainment budget for 2009 to attend NATIONAL events.  We have decided to share our “Must-Attend List” of NATIONAL – US Hispanic Advertising, Marketing & Media focused events that are ‘a must to attend’ this year in our Industry.  We decided to post our list, after a flood of e-mails and calls from our readers asking us what to attend this year in a tight budget environment.

Our list will not include great promotional events such as Calle Ocho, Fiesta Atlanta, PR Day Parade and/or Fiesta Broadway, since they are not Marketing Executive specific events, but consumer focused.   These are excellent consumer focused events and need your support.  There area a couple of regional marketing events worth checking-out, but we will not address those in this post.

Not all events that promote themselves a US Hispanic focused advertising marketing and media events are worth attending.  Not being on this list does not signify that they should not be analyzed for their worthiness to each executive’s individual needs.

Many executives continue to be burned by poor content, poor attendance and dismal ROI for vendors.  Some of these events cover a small niche of our Industry and make them a luxury to attend even when budgets are not tight.

We sharpened our pencil and here is our list based on worthy content & great networking opportunities.

Must Attend on our LIST in 2009  (in chronological order):

1 – Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) Media & Account Management- Spring conference in Las Vegas from March 31- April 2, 2009.

This conference is essential if you are Media Sales, Media Planning, Account Management and Strategic Marketing Forecasting disciplines in the US Hispanic Industry.  This is the first of the bi-annual Hispanic advertising Industry conference by the AHAA association each year.   For more information at www.ahaa.org .

2 – Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) Creative & Account Planning in the Fall of 2009.

This is your second of the bi-annual Hispanic advertising Industry conference by the AHAA association.  Hispanic Creatives and Hispanic Ad Agency Management abound at this event.  For more information at www.ahaa.org .

3- Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Multicultural & Diversity Conference – October 4-6, 2009 at the Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, AZ.

For Client, Agency Management and Strategic Marketing Forecasting disciplines with Hispanic and/or Multicultural Marketing responsibilities.  For more information at www.ana.net .

4- Association of National Advertisers (ANA) annual conference – November 5-8, 2009 at JW Marriott Desert Ridge,  Phoenix, AZ.

This is the mainstream conference by the ANA, which encompasses everything under the ‘Marketing Sun’.  This conference is designed for Clients, Ad Agency Management, Creatives and Account Planning disciplines.  For more information at www.ana.net .

5 – Geoscape Multicultural Market Intelligence Summit –  October 2009 in Miami, FL.

We attended this event for the first time last year and it is well worth being mentioned.   Marketers attend, the content is viable and the networking is worth the time.   For more information at www.geoscape.com .

Other events worth mentioning due to worthy content & great networking opportunities in 2009  (in chronological order):

1- New York TV Upfronts – Mid-May 2009 in New York City.

Television and other media companies hold programming and networking events for the advertising, marketing and media Industry.  Not all companies will hold their events this year for obvious reason and are expect to hold regional presentations.  Most are by invitation only.

2- The Texas Upfront –  Fall 2009 in San Antonio, TX.

An event that began last year and will probably be held again this year in San Antonio, TX to ensure that Texas ad agencies can enjoy the same information and networking opportunities available in the NY TV Upfronts.  This probably will become one of the best local/regional event in our industry and maybe other states/cities should consider setting up similar events.

So that’s my short list.

What’s your?

Gene Bryan
CEO
HispanicAd.com