Acquiring Customers December 1, 2009

***Advance purchase of tickets is highly recommended. These events sell out***

Meeting Overview

You have been working so hard on your idea to make sure it works right every time, or makes sense to the investors and your own team, but now you need to take it to the broader market. Looking for investors takes a lot of time and energy, hiring the right people to fill in the empty spots in your process does too, and now sales and marketing will be a priority ongoing and forever.

You probably have more questions than answers. Is marketing a skill or an art form? How can you take sales and marketing ideas and execute the right way so you are not wasting your limited resources, i.e. money and time. What about Social Media? What is it and how can I use it to keep in touch with my customers and find new ones?
This panel will discuss:

* How to efficiently “go to market” from idea to execution
* The importance of well-placed PR to drive awareness and new prospects
* The emergence of Social Media and its impact on you and your customers

The number of marketing options can be overwhelming, and can quickly drain a marketing and sales budget with little or nothing to show for it. Many new marketing channels are free, but only on the surface. Time has become the new currency, especially the time your prospects spend on you and your products. Thinking strategically can increase your odds of success, of course, but new technologies and changing tastes of buyers can create massive growth opportunities if executed properly.

PANEL:

Sherry Alpert

Sherry Alpert is the Principal of Sherry Alpert Corporate Communications in Canton, MA, has been working in public relations since 1979, following five years as a journalist.

Having directed public relations departments for institutional nonprofit organizations and a government agency, managed accounts at a public relations agency, and served as the public relations arm for a broad range of corporations, Sherry has secured client placement in such media as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, Associated Press, CNN, CNBC's "Power Lunch" and all Boston TV news stations. She also writes, ghostwrites, edits and places bylined articles; creates corporate marketing materials; writes web copy; and books clients for speaking engagements.

Sherry serves on the Advisory Board of the 128 Innovation Capital Group and the Board of Directors of the Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum. She has guest lectured in public relations and journalism at Stonehill College, Easton, MA, Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, and Kent State University in Kent, OH.

A 1974 magna cum laude graduate of Connecticut College, she earned a Certificate in Graphic Design from Massachusetts College of Art and credits toward a Masters in advanced creative writing from Emerson College.

Christina Inge

Christina Inge is a marketing consultant with over 10 years' experience in content creation, web technologies, and project management. She is adept at finding creative ways to maximize the small marketing budgets of startups and nonprofits. Her articles on marketing have appeared in trade publications, and she is a speaker on cutting-edge marketing practices. Her areas of expertise include boosting clickthrough and conversion rates for paid search campaigns, and increasing organic search rankings through best practices SEO. She also consults for companies on product go-to-market plans, email marketing strategy and implementation, online lead conversion and lead generation analysis and optimization, and product positioning.

Christina has led workshops on wireless energy management systems at the UMass Sustainable Energy Summit, on cause marketing at the Center for Nonprofit Success' Boston Fundraising Summit, and on Web 2.0 technologies and event marketing at PodCampNH.

Prior to her work in marketing, Christina was a journalist for many years, writing for MSN.com, Succeed, and a variety of general and special-interest magazines. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Maryland with a Bachelor's in English, Christina also hold a Master's in Instructional Technology, focusing on designing optimal, user-friendly online learning experiences for adult students, from the University of Wyoming.

Catherine Weber

Catherine Weber, president of Weber Media Partners, has come full circle over the last 15 years in transforming her firm from a PR and Marketing Communications company to an interactive agency providing social media services to predominately B-to-B clients. Catherine has developed a thoughtful approach to bring small- and mid-size businesses into a conversational world. The client portfolio includes the National Park Service, mid-size technology firms, and notable organizations such as Bose Corporation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Top of the Hub Restaurant, and Conservation Services Group. Weber Media Partners’ blog, Impressions through Media, educates and provides thought leadership on social media and marketing, and the strategic integration into a business’ marketing mix.
Before founding Weber Media Partners, Catherine held the positions of public relations director, marketing director and senior web strategist for organizations in cultural, telecommunications, research and consulting industries. Catherine holds a Bachelors degree in Communications from Emerson College and an MA in Education from UMass Boston's Critical and Creative Thinking Program.

More information about Catherine and Weber Media Partners:
Blog www.impressionsthroughmedia.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Southborough-MA/Weber-Media-Partners/32646844015
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemweber
Twitter http://twitter.com/webermedia and http://www.twitter.com/catherineweber
Delicious http://delicious.com/cwcg

MODERATOR:

Kevin Flavin

Kevin Flavin is President of Carlisle Group, a marketing firm. Kevin is the Vice-Chair of Alliances for the Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network. He has deep experience in enterprise sales and marketing in B2B, as well as the financial services industry, most recently as global Director of Marketing for Investment Management for Bowne, Inc., the oldest company in the U.S. (NYSE:BNE). Kevin returns to the IEEE, he was a student member during his years at UMaine, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Kevin graduated with honors from Sawyer School of Management, Suffolk University, while working as an analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman.

You can find/follow Kevin at www.carlislegrp.com/blog
Facebook: facebook.com/CarlisleGroup
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kevinflavin
Twitter: twitter.com/carlislegroup

Boston ENET meetings are free for our members and $20 for non-members.

5:15 PM Pre-meeting Dinner
Bertucci's Restaurant
475 Winter St., (exit 27B off Route 128), Waltham, MA ("pay-as-you-go")

7:00 - 10:00PM Meeting Presentation
Note: Meeting at Foley Hoag Emerging Enterprise Center, 1000 Winter Street, Suite 4000, Waltham, MA.

No reservations are necessary for either the meeting or dinner.

Official Website: http://boston-enet.org