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Pre-Conference
Mid-Plains Community College, North Platte

When: April 18, 2012 from 1:30 to 4:45 pm
Cost: $25 for GROW Members and Non-Members

1:00-1:30 pm: Pre-Conference Registration
1:30-1:45 pm: Opening Remarks by Janell Anderson Ehrke

1:45-2:30 pm: eComm, Social Media & Pinterest - What's All the Hype? by Sally Cohen of eGrowth Marketing

Facebook, Pinterest, and the countless new social networking sites that pop-up every day can seem impossible to manage, but they’re an integral key to engaging consumers and establishing your brand online. Learn about the latest social media trends, tips, and practices to turn the endless impossibilities into limitless potential.

2:30-3:15 pm: Food & Beverage Networking Break
3:15-4:15 pm: Breakout Sessions

• Windows of Opportunity: Retail Store Fronts presented by Elizabeth Chase of Heritage Nebraska Main Street. Image is everything! Your storefront and window displays are the first point of contact for your customer. The look and feel of that space is extremely important for marketing your business and the products you sell. If you don’t have a “storefront that sells” or a window display that draws attention, you’re not going to get those customers to step inside your store. Learn how simple it is to improve your storefront and store image as well as how to create curiosity in your window displays. You will see a lot of examples and will be provided with some tools you can take home and use right away!
• Utilizing Resources & GROW Nebraska: Panel including Michael Foutch of the Small Business Association, Karen Kollars of the Nebraska Department of Tourism, Monica Braun of REAP, and Margaret Akin of the Nebraska Department of Revenue. Who is out there to get help from? Are you floundering in areas yet don't know who or where to go for the guidance you need. Attend this session to gain knowledge from experts statewide to get your business moving upward to the next level of success.

4:15-4:45 pm: The Must Have's in Mobile Technology: Presented by Kirk Malzer of Moblicate and closing remarks

Are you totally on board with technology? Are you a mobile app user? I’m not just talking about do you download apps but do you have an app for your business? Don’t get behind the learning curve to expand your business. The mobile web is growing 4 times faster than the internet and 25% of the population uses a mobile device as their primary internet access. In 2012 an estimated $16 billion will be spent on products purchased over mobile applications. Are you prepared to take your share? Attending this session you will learn: What is a mobile application, what can a mobile application do for my business and how can I use social media within my mobile application?

Member Networking and Reception
Pro-Printing and Graphics, North Platte

When: April 18, 2012 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Where: Pro Printing and Graphics, 200 East B Street, North Platte
Cost: FREE to Everyone!

MarkeTECH Conference
Holiday Inn Express - North Platte

When: April 19, 2012 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Cost: $30-$80 - please see registration form for details

8:00-9:00 am: Conference Registration
9:00-9:30 am: Opening Remarks by Janell Anderson Ehrke

9:30-10:15 am: That's My Story: An eCommerce Success Story by Todd & Diane Dickie of www.powersportsnation.net, the largest used ATV parts store on the internet.

In 2001 Power Sports Nation formally started with many life lessons learned through the school of hard knocks in the eCommerce trenches. Todd and Diane will illuminate the blunders they surpassed and have been able to overcome to come out on top in their industry. You will gain knowledge about how they evaluate and measure business weaknesses and strengths through their ownership structure, how they take care of customers and employees, managing profit margins, when to get help, turning inventory, paying it forward and running a company that is more that than a mom and pop company as a husband and wife team.

10:15-10:45 am: Food and Beverage Networking & Exhibitors
10:45-11:45 am: Breakout Sessions

• Marketing Through Branding: Learn about branding and packaging from John Holtgrew of PowerBand Graphics and Roy Noren of Performance Group, Inc. What is branding? Are you creating an experience? Learn why branding is more than marketing. Branding as a part of your business plan. Do you have a creative you can trust? There are legal issues to consider and things to avoid. Do you look professional online? Learn how basic services can help your image. Are you connecting with people using the latest tools? Learn how to realistically integrate social media and it's risks and rewards. Also learn basic search engine optimization, how to integrate e-mail newsletters, establish customer relationships and how to integrate an annual creative audit.
• Using Social Media to Affect Your Bottom Line: Presented by Joe Frost of V180 Media. You will learn the types of return on investment you can expect from new media efforts, strategies to enhance returns on investment, and ways to measure and quantify returns on investment for your business or organization.
  
• Rev Up Your Relationships, Referrals, and Results Online: Presented by Paige Cahill of Constant Contact and Michael Mitilier of the Small Business Association of the Midlands. This workshop will assist you in becoming better at marketing your products and services through digital marketing. Rev up your social and online marketing results, relationships, referrals and revenues. You will learn: why businesses owners are using social media, 5 tools to help you measure, monitor, and make your social media simple, 5 Ways to “Go and Grow” your social media, best practices and tips to increase your reach, engagement, and social media results, an overview of internet ads, mobile marketing and QR codes, e-mail marketing, tips on how to create content for your e-mail campaigns, and more.

11:45 am-1:00 pm: Networking and Lunch with Keynote Speaker Paige Cahill of Constant Contact

Engagement Marketing – Keys to Success

Paige Cahill will talke about how can you keep your client’s fans (entourage, audiences, and more) coming back for more? What’s the best way to stay top-of-mind with the people that need to be in-the-know, in ways that save you precious time and money? Fuel their passion and sustain long-term, meaningful connections with Engagement Marketing: building the relationships that build interest, highlighting publicity, increasing excitement, and growing your passionate fan base.

In this session you’ll learn how to:

• Identify appropriate Engagement Marketing technology that will help you exponentially increase your impact, track your effectiveness, and save you time and effort;
• Transform your client’s everyday experiences into provocative, engaging content that encourages re-sharing and promotes word-of-mouth;
• Understand how to acquire and interpret fan feedback, and turn that publicity into viral content that keeps folks talking!

1:00-1:30 pm: Exhibitors and Networking
1:30-2:30 pm: Breakout Sessions

• Marketing Through Branding: Learn about branding and packaging from John Holtgrew of PowerBand Graphics and Roy Noren of Performance Group, Inc. What is branding? Are you creating an experience? Learn why branding is more than marketing. Branding as a part of your business plan. Do you have a creative you can trust? There are legal issues to consider and things to avoid. Do you look professional online? Learn how basic services can help your image. Are you connecting with people using the latest tools? Learn how to realistically integrate social media and it's risks and rewards. Also learn basic search engine optimization, how to integrate e-mail newsletters, establish customer relationships and how to integrate an annual creative audit.
• Using Social Media to Affect Your Bottom Line: Presented by Joe Frost of V180 Media. You will learn the types of return on investment you can expect from new media efforts, strategies to enhance returns on investment, and ways to measure and quantify returns on investment for your business or organization.
  
• Rev Up Your Relationships, Referrals, and Results Online: Presented by Paige Cahill of Constant Contact and Michael Mitilier of the Small Business Association of the Midlands. This workshop will assist you in becoming better at marketing your products and services through digital marketing. Rev up your social and online marketing results, relationships, referrals and revenues. You will learn: why businesses owners are using social media, 5 tools to help you measure, monitor, and make your social media simple, 5 Ways to “Go and Grow” your social media, best practices and tips to increase your reach, engagement, and social media results, an overview of internet ads, mobile marketing and QR codes, e-mail marketing, tips on how to create content for your e-mail campaigns, and more.

2:30-3:00 pm: Food and Beverage Networking & Exhibitors
3:00-3:15 pm: GROW Mentor Member of the Year, Sheryll Hickman

3:15-4:00 pm: Dream Big. Think Big. Be Big. Small Town, Chic with a Big Town Business by Melody Hansen of Sublime Artistry

Get a glimpse of Sublime Artistry, a rural Nebraska graphic design business, and how the internet has built her business to what it is today. It's the good, the bad, and the ugly of what challenges a company can face as they grow their business and how internet has played an impact on it all. Melody Hansen, owner of Sublime Artistry, will share her experiences and shine some light on those obstacles that seem to be the most difficult for a growing internet based business to overcome. Embarrassing moments will be revealed. Successes and their ugly counterpart called "failures" will be exposed. But most importantly, throughout the presentation several tips and suggestions will be shared. Come hear how a business that does nearly 90% of it's business via the internet, has survived and prospered in this growing technological world.

4:00-4:30 pm: Closing Remarks and Door Prizes

Door Prizes:
Free setup and free first month for a mobile app (up to a $300 value) from Moblicate
Dinner for two ($50 value) from LakeShore Marina Resort
Bookmarks from Creations by Valerie