Speaking

Fifteen years of corporate speaking

Since 1995, I’ve been a regular invited speaker for corporate, government and trade association audiences on the subjects of Digital Marketing, Social Media, Marketing Innovation, and Cultural Trends and Drivers. I enjoy sharing emerging trends, market data, and my own experiences with audiences, and I tie these trends to actionable opportunities for marketers now.

I know the intense pressures and stunning demands placed on marketers

Over the course of my 19-year marketing background, I’ve solved branding, communication and engagement problems for a wide variety of clients and industries. Through digital marketing, direct, events, advertising, branding, PR, packaging design, email and now social marketing, I’ve gained a skill at finding integrated approaches under tight timeframes and budgets. Having been under the gun on the client side, I have tremendous respect for marketers struggling to make magic happen. Social marketing provides us with opportunities to bring that magic to our brand, our management team, and our stakeholders.

I was fortunate to have helped build some of the first interactive sales tools (Kraft Foods and RCA, 1994, P&G, 1995), intranets (Kraft Foods and RCA, 1996), immersive interactive environments (General Electric, 1996), artificially-intelligent websites (Kenwood USA, 1997), online loyalty programs (Kenwood, 1997), enterprise social networks (MCI, 1998), and ad servers (Mayo Clinic, 1998). I also convinced Ford dealers to embrace the Internet as a sales channel in 1999.

Because of this depth of experience, I bring an old-school perspective and results orientation to the conversation around social media marketing.

Your questions, answered

Through my employer, Tribal DDB, I offer highly topical custom speaking and training sessions for trade associations, management teams, employees, dealers/distributors and local business leaders, answering questions like:

• What exactly IS “social marketing?”
• How are digital technologies creating cultural trends that change purchasing behavior?
• How do I engage consumers and build trust in an era of time starvation?
• Which tools are available? Which ones are fads, which are meaningful?
• How can social strategies and tactics make a difference for business-to-business audiences?
• How do I deal with negative commentary online?
• How do I safely empower bloggers and brand advocates to speak positively about my offering?
• How do I create internal governance processes and staffing support for new social efforts?
• How do I generate content for social venues, and how do I get others to talk about it?
• What’s happening in my category/sector? What are my competitors doing in the social space, and how can I surpass them?
• What are the issues surrounding social media and HR (sourcing, vetting and job search)?

Speaking topics

• Trust Drives Transactions
• Talent is Social (HR and jobseeker editions)
• Crafting an Engagement Strategy
• Branding in the Era of the Empowered Consumer

Click here to see synopses and takeaways from each presentation, and to download example presentations.

Recent speaking engagements

I’ve been speaking on marketing, branding and digital topics since my first presentation to the Women in Communications conference in 1995. Click here for a list of 2009-2010 speaking engagements.

What to expect

An upbeat, humorous, well-researched and often provocative presentation that will challenge your attendees’ perceptions and get them talking. I will often write my presentations in 140-character pages that are simultaneously reposted on Twitter. I call these “presentweetions.”

Testimonials

“Eric Weaver is a profound thinker, astute strategist and an inspirational speaker, manager and practitioner in all things digital. He can do ‘what’s now’ while always pushing his clients and colleagues toward ‘what’s next,’ and his dedication to his work is admirable to say the least. There are a very few people in this industry with Eric’s abilities or passion.” - Gary Goldhammer, SVP, Edelman PR

“Eric is a branding and social media all-star. He was on a panel at my first Social Networking for Business Conference in May 2009 and I was so impressed that I engaged him to be the lone solo presenter at the recent Social Media 101 Conference held on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. He got very high reviews, was interviewed by local media and gave the audience extreme value during and after his presentation. Every time I speak with Eric I learn something new. I would fully recommend that anyone interested in having a very informative and engaging speaker talk to their group put Eric on top of their list.” - Joe Kennedy, Bellevue Business Journal and Eastside Entrepreneurs

“Eric Weaver has delivered several outstanding presentations to the members and constituents of Ad Club Seattle over the past few years. Each time, he has delivered an insightful, forward-thinking analysis of the current and future state of online social networks—with specific attention to the ways marketers and advertising professionals can and should be using new media. Based on our experiences with Eric, I strongly endorse him as a presenter and expert on the subject of digital media and social networking.” - George Riddell, President, Ad Club Seattle

“As president of the PSAMA, I meet a lot of people and there isn’t anyone who has a better handle on ‘what’s hot’ than Eric. I’ve heard him speak several times, including once for the PSAMA. He’s always a crowd pleaser and an innovative thought leader. Ad Club, the University of Washington—whatever the engagement is—I’ll rearrange my schedule to make sure I’m available to hear him present!” - Katherine Hall, past president, American Marketing Association, Puget Sound chapter

“I recently hired Eric to give a talk to our PRforPeople event that was held on July 1st in Seattle. No one can articulate the branding experience the way Eric can—he has the talent to connect with his audience and to totally transform their perspective. Eric is much more than a pioneer in social media—he is the quintessential social media ‘authority.’” - Patricia Vaccarino, Principal, Xanthus Communications

Audience Reactions

@simchabe: @weave is an amazing & entertaining presenter. <3′ing his overview of facebook

@chrisbrogan: So many funny lines in @weave‘s facebook preso.

@semmerson: Great pres by Eric Weaver at #imcmeet on Trust Driving Transactions; says trust has fallen off a cliff among consumers. Integrity=remedy.

@colleencar: @weave just gave an *awesome* preso on best practices on Facebook for business

@johnhcook: Funny talk on using social media to find jobs via Eric Weaver of Tribal DDB Canada.

@finchfrii: Social media mktg is no longer about spewing your msg, its abo being found and trusted. GREAT preso by @weave! #sm101

@AminPali: tonight’s event was the best to date at networkhub. loved the well prepared presentation. super relevant & informative

Let’s get started!

As the global recession impacts event and travel budgets, drawing and engaging jaded marketing audiences gets more difficult. Fortunately, a great deal of curiosity exists around social media, marketing innovation and the opportunity to extend one’s budget using earned media. Attendees will walk away from my presentations having learned something new, with concepts to think about and discuss and actionable implementation ideas, along with a desire to return to future events to hear more.

Contact me at +1 310 494 6492 to learn more or to discuss your particular event.