Quick Update: Ann Handley is going to be at Mplanet along with Eric Kintz and here’s her related blog post.
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What is an Unconference?

An unconference is a conference where the content of the sessions is driven and created by the participants, generally day-by-day during the course of the event, rather than by a single organizer, or small group of organizers, in advance (Source: Wikipedia)

The American Marketing Association (AMA)’s Mplanet is being touted as a marketers unconference, where “attendees will be immersed in a podium-free environment, and they’ll participate in free-form talks, town hall forums, and talk shows…”. Sounds like an untraditional unconference!

The 4-day event features many corporate marketing stars such as Cammie Dunaway (Yahoo!), Chris Anderson (Wired), Anil Menon (IBM) to our very own Eric Kintz (HP).

As most of you know, I am a member of the American Marketing Association (blog) as well as a board member on the Silicon Valley Chapter. Last week, the PR agency running the show- Fleishman Hillard, contacted me asking if I’d be interested in blogging the event – live!:

After reviewing Marketing Nirvana, it is obviously one of the most well-written blog resources on the topics of marketing and communications. If you’re interested in covering the event, we’d like to offer you a complimentary press pass to Mplanet. We would be most honored if you would take part in the first Mplanet experience and blog about it on-site at the event.

For starters, it’s great news that they’ve started considering the marketing blogosphere akin to traditional press. I’m sure that the event will afford me an opportunity to interact with/interview many from the marketing world, that I’d love to share with the rest of the community. However, I’m not sure at this stage, if my work schedule will permit my travel. Do stay tuned for further developments…

Here are 5 reasons why I’d love to be there:

#5 – The Keynote:

Sam Palmisano — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, IBM

#4 – Social Media Discussions:

Succeeding in a New World of Media and The New Economy: Long Tail vs. 80/20

#3 – B2B Marketing Discussions:

How World-Class Organizations Innovate in B2B Markets and Driving B2B Marketing Success with Marketing ROI

#2 – A glimpse into the future?:

The Digital Age: Implications for Marketers in an Era of Consumer Control

#1: A chance to meet fellow marketing bloggers…

The only 2 bloggers who I know for sure are attending are Kim and Linda. Also, our very own Eric Kintz is going to be a key panelist at one of the B2B discussions.
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Summary:
It seems like this event has a great list of star marketers but there isn’t much blogosphere buzz (as of today). Also, the rare blog comment was a negative reaction to the event’s ad copy as well as some old-school PR coverage.

I’d love to know if anybody else from our marketing community is attending? What do you guys think?