We’re less than a month away from WOMMA’s Talkable Brands Conference (Nov. 18 – 20). Sign-ups have been strong. And for good reason — the agenda is strong.

There are over 40 sessions with 4 learning tracks and 4 keynotes addresses (.pdf agenda). For each of the breakout sessions, WOMMA is pairing up a Brand with an Agency. So you’ll be hearing both perspectives, the brand-side and the agency-side.

To help make sense out of the packed agenda, I’ll be sharing previews of sessions leading up to the conference on this blog.

The Conference kicks off with a keynote from Emanuel Rosen, an author and marketer who helped to spark interest in word of mouth marketing nearly ten years ago with the publication of THE ANATOMY OF BUZZ. Earlier this year Emanuel updated his influential book on WOM to include new learnings, new methods, and new case studies. His presentation will share the latest insight on all things WOM.

Of the 8 afternoon sessions on Wednesday, November 18, I’m looking forward to the following ones:

The Annual State of Word of Mouth Address
[Wed. | 2:00 - 2:45]
Dr. Walter Carl has been a fixture in past WOMMA Conferences. Of course he’ll share new information on measuring WOM, that’s what he’s known for. He’ll also give us marketers more ammunition to better sell-in our WOM programs up the corporate food chain.

Choosing the Right Agency for your Social Media Marketing Projects
[Wed. | 5:15 - 6:00]
David Witt (public relations manager, General Mills), Christine Morrison (social media manager, Intuit), and Steve Knox (ceo, Procter & Gamble Tremor) will advise brand marketers on what to look for in a social media agency partner. The beauty of this session is you’ll get both sides of the story (brand and agency) to help you better prepare your RFP and to whittle down the seemingly endless agency options. A must-attend session for brand marketers.

In Preview #2, I’ll begin highlighting sessions from Day 2 of WOMMA’s Talkable Brands Conference.