We Had a ROCKin’ Good Time at the 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference
What has 2 days, lots of local search and digital marketing information, fun networking and a ROCKin’ good time? The 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference! If you weren’t able to join us this year, here are the highlights of the learning and the fun we experienced during the two-day conference.
We had 2 full days which included 35 speakers, 9 workshops, 5 expert panels and a Vegas-style after-party event Friday night, filled with fun and even more networking opportunities!
Day 1 celebrated Local Search Day with topics ranging from brand marketing and social media for local search to mobile and web and SEO. All designed to help local businesses and entrepreneurs get on top of their local search game.
Day 2 shifted to our annual celebration of Social Media Day. Topics covered paid social, growing your brand on LinkedIn, Instagram stories and much more, including a panel of social media influencers to answer questions. Now let’s take a closer look at what happened in 2018.
The All-Star 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference Speaker Lineup
Cindi Aldrich | Hugo D. Aviles | Lance Bachmann | Kate Buck Jr. | Denise Casagrande | Bernadette Coleman | Goldie Chan | Kevin Clark | Dave Davies | Dennis Dayman | Antoine Dupont | Lissa Duty | Chaz Edward | Shelly Fagin | Elayna Fernandez | Leah Frazier | Bill Hartzer | Collin Holmes | Sinan Kanatsiz | Erik Leist | John Marrone | Jesse McDonald | Robin Moss | Faith Murphy | Nicki Patel | John Peterson | J. Schuh | Tyler Sickmeyer | Grant Simmons | Tanya Smith | Cynthia Smoot | Michelle Stinson Ross | David Szetela | Tony Wright
June 29th – Day One – Local Search Day Celebration
The Local Search Day celebration began with 2 speakers and our popular Rocks Talks TEDx style program all before lunch.
- Click and Mortar: The Ultimate Roadmap to Winning Locally Online | Lance Bachmann
- How to Create Brand Love | Faith Murphy
- Rocks Talks High-Energy Big Impact Presentations: featuring industry experts Michelle Stinson Ross, Collin Holmes and Kate Buck Jr.
Afterward, everyone took a break for lunch on-site and attendee networking opportunities until it was time for the break-out sessions. The sessions were broken up by topics, and attendees could choose between Social & Content, Local Search & SEO, and Mobile & Web. Each topic had 3 sessions, and for those you just couldn’t get to, we had live bloggers making sure you didn’t miss anything.
Social & Content
Emcee: Heather Nichols
- How to Create Video People Want to Watch | Antoine Dupont
- How to Build a Community with Facebook Groups | Shelly Fagin
- Human Needs Driving Content Strategy | Grant Simmons
Local Search & SEO
Emcee: Joe Youngblood
- Content & SEO in a Machine Learning World | Dave Davies
- Improving Local SEO Through Off-Site and Technical SEO | Jesse McDonald
- SEO Audits – Mobile Versus Desktop Audits | Bill Hartzer
Mobile & Web
Emcee: Dan Sturdivant
- How Blockchain Is Transforming Digital | Hugo D. Aviles
- Why and How to Optimize for Site Speed | John Peterson
- Navigating PPC in the New Frontier | David Szetela
The afternoon brought attendees another networking opportunity while they grabbed a quick snack before heading back to round out Day One with our final sessions of the day.
Local Search Day Expert Panel
Moderator: Bernadette Coleman
Cindi Aldrich | Kevin Clark | Chaz Edward
Closing Keynote
The Winning Secrets to Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age | Sinan Kanatsiz and Erik Leist
As the Local Search Day conference wound down, the evening was just getting started. The attendees were treated to a Vegas-style after-party sponsored by 1SEO Digital Agency that allowed everyone to let loose and have fun after a full day of learning. It was a great time to continue building newly formed relationships and make even more, as the party continued late into the evening until we all said goodnight to rest up for Day 2 of the conference.
JUNE 30 – Day Two – Social Media Day
We hit the ground running for our Social Media Day celebration with a morning filled with dynamic speakers and an expert panel of social media influencers.
- Morning Keynote Panel: Lissa Duty, Michelle Stinson Ross, Dave Davies, Mary Davies and Tony Cecala took to the stage to tackle how social and local work together.
- Buzz Builder: How to Explosively Grow a Personal Brand on LinkedIn | Goldie Chan
- Influencer Marketing Panel: Moderator: Cynthia Smoot
Elayna Fernandez | Leah Frazier | Nicki Patel
After lunch we were ready to head into an afternoon of Rocks Talks, more expert panelists and informative speakers.
- Rocks Talks: J. Schuh | Dennis Dayman | Tyler Sickmeyer
- How to Leverage Instagram Stories to Get Highly Engaged Followers | Tanya Smith
- Rocks Digital Marketing Q & A Panel: Moderator: Lissa Duty
Denise Casagrande | Robin Moss | Tony Wright
- Closing Keynote – Get Inspired to Create the Ultimate Version of You On- and Offline | John Marrone
By the end of the second day of amazing learning and fun, attendees were excited to put what they learned into practice in their own businesses. Of course we couldn’t talk about this conference without mentioning the amazing sponsors that made it possible.
- Advice Local
- Buzz Tools
- NosalCentral
- OffBeat Business Media
- ribit
- SMU Continuing & Professional Education
- 1SEO Digital Agency
- Big Design
- Biz Link Business Development, Speaking and Networking Association
- Dallas/Fort Worth WordPress Group
- Dallas Entrepreneurs
- Dallas-Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM)
- DFW Social Media Marketing
- ILiveInDallas.com
- Social Media Examiner
This conference may be over but the next one is on its way. To make sure you don’t miss out on another ROCKin’ good conference, mark your calendar and make plans now to join us!
