January 2017 Meeting - Blockchain for Technologists

Due to a scheduling conflict, please note the change in location for the meeting!

Abstract:

Marketing in a Blockchain World...Don't Get Caught Off-Guard

Imagine you are sitting around a table with 25 savvy marketers. It is the year 2007.

You say to them "hey, there's this new thing called Facebook. It seems like it could be a good way to connect with customers or partners."

Sadly, you are ridiculed for such a crazy suggestion.

Don't laugh. It actually happened.

We all say, "if I only knew then, what I know now." In this session, you will get an opportunity to avoid that feeling of regret in the future. We will conduct a “deep dive” into one of the biggest impending waves of technology-driven innovation: blockchains and decentralized systems.

When it is over, you will have the chance to position yourself for the future of marketing, help prepare you to evolve in your role and your thinking, and deliver even greater value to your organization.

As a marketer, you will eventually have to confront what happens when:

• Services like OneName become the repository for identity and customers can revoke or modify your access to their personal information at will.

• More people move their social media activity to Synereo or Steemit and you cannot target ads based on demographics.

• Customers use crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Dash, Zcash, or Monero to buy your products, so you have to reinvent how you analyze customer purchasing behavior?

·You Have To:

• Customers can independently verify your supply chain claims of authenticity, challenging your brand promise (as is beginning to happen in industries as diverse as food, wine, and marijuana)

• Prediction markets like Augur are used by your boss or your CFO to reduce your budget before you even launch.

• Peer-to-peer networks start to disrupt any business that is based on serving as a trusted intermediary (OpenBazaar, La’Zooz and others).

It’s not clear to anyone when this tidal wave of disruption will hit, but it’s pretty clear to most that it is going to arrive with significant impact.

This session will arm with you an understanding of the new paradigm and give you concrete suggestions for what you can do to ready your organization and yourself. And best of all, you won’t be ridiculed. You’ll be celebrated!

Bio:

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Jeremy Epstein, CEO of Never Stop Marketing, has 20 years of international marketing experience in helping to bring innovative technologies into the mainstream.

Most recently, Jeremy was VP, Marketing at Sprinklr which grew from a $20 million valuation and 30 people to $1.3 billion valuation and 900 people in 3 years.

Previous work experience includes Microsoft and consulting to start-ups, mid-market firms, and enterprises, including JNJ, Yes To Carrots, and two NY Times best-selling authors, Dan Pink and Gretchen Rubin.

Three years were spent living and working in Frankfurt, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

Jeremy is the author of numerous whitepapers and a book, appropriately titled, “It’s ALL on the Blog, DON’T Buy the Book,” and has presented to hundreds of audiences in 15 countries.

He has been the top-ranked speaker at multiple conferences including Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conferences and Microsoft CIO summit among others. He is currently working with some of the leading and most innovative companies in the blockchain/decentralization space including OB1 and OpenBazaar.

In December of 2016, he edited and published a collaborative eBook with 33 of the biggest influencers and thought-leaders called “Blockchains in the Mainstream: When Will Everyone Else Know?”.

Jeremy takes great joy in being an early adopter of new technologies, celebrating the victories (like buying Bitcoin at $80) and the defeats (too many to list) equally.Described by more than one client as a “shot of marketing espresso,” Jeremy discovered his calling for marketing while living in Tokyo in 1997 after reading Peppers and Rodgers "The 1:1 Future" and hasn't looked back since.

Jeremy was a History major at Johns Hopkins, a skill which he wholeheartedly believes prepared him for the marketing profession.