We have been innovating in the approach and content of the annual social marketing conference held in Cleawater Beach, FL (aka Social Marketing in Public Health Conference, now in its 22nd year). The description and call for abstracts says it all...plan to be there.
The University of South Florida Social Marketing Conference (13-16 June 2012) enters its 22nd year with a renewed commitment to social marketing’s robust capacity to influence complex or “wicked” social problems. Social marketing has potential applications in a wide array of fields such as environmental studies, sustainability, transportation, financial literacy, education, not-for-profit management, labor relations, engineering, public health, and healthcare. All of these and others can benefit from social marketing’s consumer centered, strategic approach to influencing change. In recognition of social marketing’s expansive reach and increasing interest to persons in other disciplines, we are shifting the scope of the Social Marketing Conference beyond public health to welcome all professionals who work in or value the use of social marketing. [Ed Note: See The change we need: New ways of thinking about social issues.]
This year’s theme - “Getting Better at Doing Good” - reflects the global reality that government institutions, not-for-profit groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities and colleges and businesses are searching for better ways to improve people's health, the environment, infrastructures and social welfare. This international gathering will bring together social marketers and other social innovators in a forum where people can engage their collective wisdom and talents to discover new and creative ways social marketing can change the world for the better.
The four-day event consists of two major offerings: The Social Marketing Training Academy and The Social Marketing Conference. The Training Academy will continue its 20-year tradition of training professionals and students new to social marketing and others who want to enhance their understanding of the basic social marketing model.
The Social Marketing Conference will be enhanced to meet the needs of social marketers at all levels of experience. It will include conversational plenary sessions, interactive panels, and focused collaboratory sessions. We welcome social marketers, students and faculty, not-for-profit and government leaders, program planners and designers - all who share the commitment of getting better at doing good. The two-day conference will consist of opening plenary sessions with national leaders in education, design, organizational development and continuing professional development, and a closing plenary session with leaders in social marketing education. Each morning Opening Session speakers will introduce ideas from a variety of perspectives with time allocated in each one for participant questions and discussion. These will be followed by five (5) parallel sessions. On the first day four of these sessions will be seeded with panel presentations and conversations that focus on a variety of topics relevant to the practice, application and dissemination of social marketing. The fifth parallel session will be for presentations of exemplary work in social marketing research and practice. A poster walk and reception is scheduled to close the first day to present additional examples of social marketing practice and research and create more opportunities for conversations among participants.
Following the Opening sessions on Saturday participants may attend one of five collaboratories – facilitated discussions designed to dive more deeply into emerging issues and ways to apply innovative ideas for social marketing education, training and practice. Collaboratories will focus on the public sector, non-profit organizations, academic settings and education and training consultation. Additionally, six “incubators” (small conference rooms) will be available for groups that want to explore specific topics they determine will help them, and the field of social marketing, get better at doing good. Our Closing Session will discuss integrative innovations in social marketing.
Networking and Co-Creation are Key Goals: The conference is designed to offer numerous informal opportunities for networking with some of the world’s best social marketers and leaders from other social change disciplines. In addition to networking breaks, concurrent sessions are structured to give participants an opportunity to interact with presenters and other participants to explore and integrate new ideas into their own projects and organizations.
Call for Abstracts
Electronic Abstract Submission Deadline: March 31, 2012
The conference planning committee invites abstract submissions to be considered for oral and poster presentation.
Abstracts should demonstrate the application of social marketing strategies to behavior change, service marketing or improvement of social change practice. They may describe social marketing programs, innovative research methods or theoretical advances. Conference reviewers favor abstracts that clearly illustrate key elements of the social marketing approach (e.g., how formative research is used to make marketing decisions; description of audience segmentation methods and results, evaluations of comprehensive marketing programs).
Of particular interest are applications of social marketing strategies to pressing social issues, promoting social marketing within an organization, demonstrating the sustainability and/or self-sufficiency of social marketing programs or using innovative methods to understand consumer needs and wants. Other suggested topics include, but are not limited to: the use of social marketing to ameliorate health problems and social issues concerning special populations; evaluation of social marketing programs and strategies; social marketing approaches to defining social problems; examining solutions to health problems; changing health practices in school and community settings; and training and education in social marketing.
Oral presentations will be limited to 15 minutes and should address one of the five topic areas featured in this year’s conference:
A: Education and Certification in Academic Settings (e.g., new approaches for incorporating social marketing into academic curricula and post-graduate training; development of competencies for graduate education and certification; exploration of training differences and similarities for social marketers working in environmental protection, global health, public health, and other disciplines; new strategies for incorporating lessons learned from social enterprise, social design, social media, and Service-Dominant logic into graduate education).
B. Social Marketing in the Public Sector (e.g., recommendations for incorporating marketing’s mindset into public sector organizations; strategies for training public sector employees to use social marketing more effectively; techniques for designing social marketing programs on a tight budget and short timeline; and using the Service-Dominant logic to market program services.)
C: Social Marketing in NGOs (e.g., strategies for incorporating marketing’s consumer orientation into service delivery and program design; lessons learned from social entrepreneurial programs; techniques for using social marketing techniques when funds and time are limited; and using the Service-Dominant logic to market program services).
D: Social Marketing Training and Consultation (e.g., state-of the art techniques for training and consulting with public sector and non-profit organizations; lessons learned from social enterprise; application of social design approaches into program development; emerging issues and methods in use of social media and mobile technologies).
E: Program Applications (e.g., new techniques for incorporating social design and mobile technologies into program development and implementation; application of social design approaches into program development; emerging issues and methods in use of social media and mobile technologies).
Submission Details:
- Send abstracts to Bobbi Rose at [email protected].
- The abstract should have the title, author, and author’s organization on the first page.
- The email needs to state the name, email and phone number of the contact person, and state preference of ‘oral’ or ‘poster.’ The preferences are given consideration, but they do not determine the final status.
- Electronic submission is March 31, 2012.
- Late arriving abstracts are welcome, but they are only considered for poster presentation. Submitters will know outcomes in late April.
- The preference for formatting is in WORD, Arial font.
Support Opportunities
We are actively seeking sponsorship partners for The 22nd Annual Social Marketing Conference. Organizations or individuals can support specific events or become event co-sponsors in a variety of ways:
- Provide financial support one or more people from your organization to attend the conference on June 15-16, 2012 at Clearwater Beach, FL.
- Underwrite/subsidize participant costs at $600/per person (estimated cost for 3 nights and meals). (These costs are separate from registration fees.)
- Sponsor a special section/supplemental issue of a professional journal in which to publish the proceedings (this would include cost for editing and manuscript preparation and publication costs that are to be determined in consultation with the sponsor and targeted publication outlet).
- Sponsor webcasting of Opening and Closing plenary sessions and panels, video capture of conference proceedings, transcription of plenary sessions, other conference documentation activities, and meeting facilitation (the scope of these activities to be determined with the sponsor and the conference planning committee).
- Provide financial support for the conference. This support would offset costs associated refreshment breaks, lunches, signage, promotional costs, and the reception. Sponsorship levels include:
Diamond - $25,000
Platinum - $15,000
Gold -$10,000
Silver - $5,000
Bronze - $2,500
Copper - $1,000
For more information regarding opportunities for giving, contact Bobbi Rose at [email protected] (813) 974-6158
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