The Interactive Marketing Council is a great group of eBusiness, eCommerce and eMarketing leaders from an array of different companies. I always learn a lot from the other members when we get together for these face-to-face meetings. Forrester is constantly innovating ways to make these meetings better and more interactive. I am looking forward to seeing several friends and colleagues I have not seen in many months.

The Forrester Consumer Forum is one of the best conferences I attend every year. The insights on the consumer landscape, social web marketing, interactive and integrated marketing are outstanding. I am looking forward to filling my brain with new ideas, data and tactics we can use to reach our Newell Rubbermaid consumers.

The theme for this years conference is “The Three Dimensional Consumer: Creating Breakthrough Multichannel Relationships.” This fits in well with my thoughts and theories around the social web ecosystem and integrated marketing.

The hashtag for the Forrester Consumer Forum 2009 is #FCF09 and they have a very cool iPhone app that you can download from iTunes or get here developed by ThoughtWorks. The Twitter id is @Forrester.

Here is a summary of what to expect at the forum:

“The Web has come a long way — but not far enough. Many transactional and even brand Web sites began as outgrowths of the catalog or phone channels. As a result, most online experiences are one-dimensional and treat all customers the same, and most sites support buying experiences but fail to engage customers before and after they make a purchase or brand decision. Executives seeking to create profitable relationships must evolve online channel efforts to support three-dimensional consumers. In short, it’s time for the Web to grow up and serve as the center of the relationship that companies have with their customers.

Three-dimensional consumers have needs, interests, and questions. To please these demanding customers, earn their repeat business, and have them recommend you to their networks — offline and online — you’ll need to effectively engage them as they plan their purchase or brand decisions, help them find the most relevant value as they’re buying, and support them during and between their purchases and interactions — all across multiple channels. At this Event, leading Forrester analysts will present research on how evolving consumer online behavior demands that firms step up efforts to engage them, and executives will share their companies’ best practices for creating breakthrough multichannel relationships.”

I will also be the Day 2, October 29, 2009 Keynote Speaker at eM9 eMarketing Conference Atlanta 2009. I will be discussing Newell Rubbermaid’s eBusiness, eMarketing and Social Web Marketing strategies and tactics.

I am very excited and honored to have been asked to deliver a presentation at this conference again. I last presented at eM7 in 2007.

The hashtag for eM9 eMarketing Conference Atlanta 2009 is #eMAtlanta and the Twitter id for the event is @eMAtlanta. Looking forward to seeing everyone at this conference.

With the theme of the event in mind, I have created the below list of blogs, blog posts, articles and videos I believe are foundational to the discussion. Of key importance to being included on this list is that the material be free, available and, of course, relevant and insightful.

• The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) February 26, 2003 is a seminal blog post on what it means to blog for your brand or company. This is the foundational document all bloggers should read before beginning their blog.

• 8 Principals for the Modern Blog …At Least for 2009 by Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang), the Web Strategist blogger and Forrester Research Principal Analyst for Social Media, Social Computing and Social Web Marketing. This article is an excellent update to the Corporate Weblog Manifesto. The blog is also a wonderful resource for all things social media/computing/web and social media marketing.

• Ask Jeremiah: The Comprehensive FAQ Guide to Twitter by Jeremiah Owyang is another great resource for those first timer Twitter users (or even a good refresher for long-time Twitter (Wikipedia Definition) users) to read before entering the very open and constantly shifting culture of Twitter.

• A Chronology of Brands that got Punk’d by Social Media by Jeremiah Owyang is a list of corporate brands that have been negatively impacted by social media. These brands either did it to themselves or something happened in the social media ecosystem to them. The list is a cautionary tale and a must read for those wanting to use social media marketing to benefit their brands, products and services.

• The Groundswell Blog by Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research Vice President and Prinicpal Analyst co-wrote the Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies book with Charlene Li (@charleneli), Altimeter Group and former Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst. Josh and Charlene developed the POST methodology for marketing and communicating in a social web world. POST stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology. It is a systematic process and approach that guides you through a straight forward and thoughtful process for reaching your target customers with social media marketing.

• The Pew Internet and American Life Project (@Pew_Internet) is another excellent resource for community, cultural and technology adoption research. Here are some recent reports that marketers and communications professionals should be reading: The Mobile Difference, Twitter and Status Updating, Generations Online in 2009, and Adults and Social Network Websites.

• Professor Michael Wesch (@mwesch), Cultural Anthropologist at Kansas State University runs the Digital Ethnography program that is proving to be an innovator and leader in university education on new media and its impact on cultures and society. These articles and videos are outstanding: From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able: Learning in New Media Environments, A Vision of Students Today (& What Teachers Must Do), An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube, A Portal To Media Literacy, A Vision Of Students Today, and The Machine is Us/ing Us. BTW – Prof. Wesch was just named one of the University Professors of the Year, November 8, 2008.

• Here is a video from Prof. Wesch’s World Simulation Class Project and Learning Environment:

• The University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School (@wharton), Knowledge@Wharton is another excellent resource that delivers relevant research and analysis on the digital ecosystem. Here are some recent articles: All That Twitters Isn’t Gold: A Popular Web Application In Search of a Business Plan, Advertising Yourself: Building a Personal Brand Through Social Networks. Also, keep an eye on The Wharton Interactive Media Initiative.

• I also like the social web ecosystem perspective shown in The Conversation Prism created by Brian Solis (@briansolis) and Jesse Thomas (@jessethomas):

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

• Finally a fun blog post that shows the scale and scope of the social digital ecosystem: 49 Amazing Social Media, Web 2.0 and Internet Stats by Adam Singer (@AdamSinger) from his TheFutureBuzz blog.

I hope I am able to provide as much information, insights and perspective to this event as I expect to receive in return. I will blog and Tweet about it after attending.

In addition to our Flickr program, we also have a Graco Baby branded blog, car seat microsite titled “Ready For The Road Ahead,” and several Twitter accounts: GracoBaby, LindsayLebresco, and KarenHartzell. Recently (December 19, 2008) we launched a new, redesigned Graco Baby branded website.

It takes several dedicated and passionate people to bring these programs to life and drive them to success. It also takes the support and guidance of agencies that work with us as partners. I want to call out two of the agencies that have actively supported these efforts: Converseon and the LBi Atlanta office.

I also want to call out another organization that has helped educate us on Social Media Marketing and Interactive Marketing: Forrester Research. They have some of the best analysts and researchers in the business and are wonderfully knowledgeable. They are also well connected throughout the industry and are great at networking you with peers and high quality agencies, consulting services and technology partners.

Finally, if you are looking for a place to start with social media marketing, get the book Groundswell by Josh Bernoff of Forrester and Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group.