Rocks Digital’s 2021 Digital Marketing Conference Went Online This Year
As the world is still trying to get back to “normal” and businesses are trying to recover from the global pandemic, the Rocks Digital Marketing Conference organizers decided that an online conference was the way to go for 2021. This annual Social Media Day & Local Search Day celebration was held via Zoom, with 17 speakers presenting in a Rocks Talk style format.
At Rocks Digital, you can trust that our conference organizers are going to bring a new angle to the conference each year. They accomplished that yet again for 2021 in two ways. First, by waiving registration fees for attendees who donate to a non-profit and secondarily, by having all the sessions presented in a quick, Rocks Talk format (think TEDx).
The 2021 Registration Fees Were Waived in Lieu of a Charitable Donation
Last year was tough for businesses as well as charitable organizations. Non-profits across the country were tapped beyond their capacity in trying to help those that had lost their income during the pandemic.
Rocks Digital decided to give back, and waived the registration fees for all attendees who committed to making a donation to a non-profit of their choice within 7 days of registering. Our amazing attendees did not disappoint. In fact, over 130 different non-profits received donations! The list of non-profits the attendees chose was quite impressive. Many of them were on the list more than once. We removed the duplicates so it’s easier to share here with you.
Here are a few of the charities that made the list repeatedly:
- North Texas Food Bank
- Alzheimer’s Association
- St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
- SPCA
- Red Cross
- The Happy Hippie Foundation
Thank you to all the attendees and speakers for giving back in such a meaningful way.
The Conference Sessions Featured All Rocks Talks, All Day, Online
The Rocks Talks have been a conference favorite for years, but in a single day there’s usually only around 5 of these mixed amongst the longer presentations, breakouts and workshops. This year, every speaker presented a Rocks Talk.
As co-organizer, Lissa Duty said “the Rocks Talks are all meat, no fluff. Since each presentation is in a quick format, the speakers focus on the most important items, the low hanging fruit – and skip the fluff, which is great for everyone.”
This year’s digital marketing conference took place via Zoom. This allowed everyone to participate in the conference while still being able to manage their businesses as needed. As an added bonus, it allowed for some new faces to join the conference this year – those who in years past may simply have been unable to attend live.
Each speaker gave a 15-minute presentation with 3–5 action items that attendees could immediately put to use in their digital marketing strategies. Attendees were able to ask questions of each speaker, and the speakers were able to share links and other information throughout the day via the chat feature.
The Speakers ROCKED Digital
This year there were 17 rockin’ presentations, and the speakers packed an amazing amount of information into each one of them.
Check out the list of speakers and their topics below.
- Eric Shanfelt of Local Marketing Institute – Why and How to Claim Your Apple Map Listing
- Grant Simmons of Homes.com – Humantics. Writing Content That Doesn’t Suck.
- Patty Farmer of Patty Farmer International – Marketing Your Media in Minutes
- Chris Snellgrove of Reputation Sensei – Don’t Just Manage Your Reputation, Market It!
- Robin Moss of ribit – Living in a Mobile-First, Page Experience World
- Scott Simson of Video Marketing World – 5 Impactful Ways to Use Video That Will Make Your Parents Proud But Might Get You Banned in Small Countries
- Lissa Duty of Rocks Digital – Creating a Google My Business Listing That Rocks
- Bernadette Coleman of Advice Local – Yes, Voice Search Optimization Is a Thing
- Eddie Reeves of Vianovo – 3 LinkedIn Ninja Hacks That Will Set You Apart
- Marcela De Vivo of Gryffin – How to Optimize & Amplify Using SEO
- Bill Hartzer of Hartzer Consulting – Domain Names and Their Role in SEO
- Ali Mirza of ISocialYou – How to Put the Tik Into Your Tok to Get More Business
- Kristine Schachinger of Sites Without Walls – Core Web Vitals – Moving Forward and Surviving the Updates
- Kelsey Jones of Neil Patel Digital – On-Page SEO – What Your Content Writer Needs to Know
- Navah Hopkins of Justuno – Retain Retargeting and ROI in a First Party World
- John O’Grady of Rise Local – Why Localized Hosting Is the Best Option
- Sarah Ciociola of PCG Digital – How to Make Your Facebook Page a Microsite for Your Business
Co-organizer Bernadette Coleman said that she “loved how quickly the day went. The day went fast, which is a good thing when attending an all-day online conference. We all had the opportunity to learn something new every few minutes.”
Read the live blogs from the 2021 conference.
The attendees seemed to really enjoy the fast-paced online conference this year as well. Some of the feedback received is included below.
The Rocks Digital Marketing Conference was epic yesterday and Lissa Duty did an amazing job as usual of organizing it and is indeed the “ROCK” in #RocksDigital. All the speakers were on their “A” game, the attendees were engaged and asked great questions in the chat, and the content was top-notch. If you missed it, be sure to add it to your “must attend” list for next year. ~ Patty Farmer
Outstanding! You rocked it! ~ Kris O’Connor
Really nice job putting this together, Lissa. ~ Eric Shanfelt
What a great event today. Thank you Lissa and all the fantastic speakers who shared so many tips and resources to help us all navigate through the digital marketing space these days. I will look forward to future events and also meet new friends. ~ Jodie Wallace
What a wonderful day!! Cheers to you, Lissa! ~ Sarah Ciocola
Another great Rocks Digital Conference! Lissa Duty does an incredible job finding knowledgeable speakers and imparting pertinent information. Get 2022 on your calendar now! You won’t want to miss this. ~ Terri Zelasko
It was so much fun… thanks for making it happen. ~ Ali Mirza
Thank You, Rocks Digital 2021 Conference Sponsors
As always, our Social Media Day conference wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.
- Advice Local
- ribit
- BubbleLife
- ADP
- Reputation Sensei
- Scott Peek Photography
We would also like to thank the following organizations for promoting our conference to their members.
- Big Design Events
- Dallas-Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association
- DFW SEO Group
- DFW WordPress Group
- Speaker Co-op
- Podcast Dallas
- Association of Directory Publishers
Mark Your Calendars Now for the 2022 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference
This year’s conference has come to an end, which means it’s time to mark your calendar for next year. Our Social Media Day and Local Search Day celebration is always on June 30. Save the date on your calendar now and when we get closer, watch for registration information on our website. We hope to see you there in person! Yes, we’ll be celebrating our 10-year anniversary.
