I have the good fortune to live in Cincinnati, which is the headquarters of Proctor & Gamble (the world’s largest marketer) and nine other Fortune 500 companies. We have a large number of major local agencies that serve this big market, as well as the surrounding region, which includes Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Lexington and Louisville, Ky. And very soon, the local chapters of the Ad Club and the American Marketers Association will host their third-annual Digital Non-Conference, Sept. 23-24.

The Non-Conference is untraditional because it takes a more “artsy” approach than a normal conference. The grand ballroom is full of leather sofas, coffee tables and high-top bar tables and features a creative lighting and set design that makes you feel like you are in a huge coffee shop-slash-game show setup. During the day, breakout sessions are located off-site at local bars, restaurants, museums and theaters. You know it’s not your typical event when you can sit in a bar with a Guinness in your hand and learn about digital signage from industry experts. The event also coincides with the MidPoint Music Festival, which showcases about 200 indie bands from around the world. Together, they bring a unique weekend of fun to my hometown and provide a creative way for digital marketers to interact and learn.

I’ve been involved with the event since its first year. Last year, we had two sessions on digital signage: One on the reasons why you should use digital signage provided by a regional integrator, and a panel discussion on digital signage that the Digital Signage Association and I helped create. Our panel was held at a western-themed bar and consisted of myself, John Czyrka of Samsung, analyst Bill Collins of Decision Point Media, Mike Collette of Healthy Advice Networks and Louie Hollmeyer of Stratacache.

The well-rounded panel fielded questions from the audience and from me on digital signage 101, educating local agencies, brand managers and technology strategists on how they can utilize signage for their brands and clients. The panelists spoke about LCD and LED technology, the importance of commercial-grade hardware, industry research, how people use signage, running a network, and tools for managing content. The session was well-received, and we’re planning something similar for this year’s conference.

Other topics for breakout sessions include:
• Digital Design & Creative
• Digital Market Research
• Mobile Marketing and Trends
• Social Media Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing
• Digital Innovation
• Emerging Digital Trends

While the keynote speakers have not been finalized yet, I’ve heard they are trying to secure Tim Westergen, founder of Pandora; Greg Coleman of the Huffington Post; Drew Buckley, COO of Electus; America Ferrera, an actress in an upcoming MTV interactive program; and Jerry Kathman, president of LPK, the world’s largest independent design agency. If you know of another good speaking candidate, please contact the conference by July 18. It should be a very insightful group.

If you would like to attend the event, join the biggest, brightest and best names in digital marketing for the third-annual non-conference. Jump in, engage and participate as an attendee, presenter or sponsor. If your company is interested in sponsoring the event, you can connect with your audience to share your message, service and products with leading digital marketers, communicators and potential clients. Sponsorship sign-ups are available on the Web site. And tell them the DSA sent you!

Tim Burke is CEO and partner at Electronic Art, a Cincinnati-based interactive agency.