It was obvious that the highlight of day 3 was the Ball State University Panel led by Michelle Prieb, Project Manager, Research and Communications for Ball State University.  The panel showcased 5 local university students and their media consumption patterns.  It was fascinating to hear how they use media and what their web behavior was like.  As a result, the round tables were adapted to speak to these students more after the panel.    Janel Landis Laravie, Co-Founder of Booyah Search (BOOYAH!) led this round table and the conference attendees were able to ask the students …

Is email still important? Opening keynote speaker Eric Kirby, VP of Merckle, shared the results of their annual consumer study which found that while 58% of people think email is a great way for companies to stay in touch with customers, only 48% say email is "a vital part of life and I could not live without it." The first is trending steady over the past three years, the second is down from its peak of 52% in 2007. So email is less vital - less essential. We know that from the popularity of texting and social …

Merkle's Kirby says carpe diem. Opportunities abound. "For the first time in history, almost every company has the cost effective way to communicate with customers directly," he said. Email started the movement and maintains its advantages with "cost efficiencies” associated with it. But branch out into Facebook, Twitter, a YouTube channel, SMS opt-in programs, Kirby advised. "We need to be thinking about our business in ways to manage across these different connection points," he said. Companies can capitalize on the new options in differing ways. Kirby offered data from two clients that are compelling. …

The hotel here in Park City doesn't sell the New York Post. But Kirby has just posted a photo of Tiger Woods, bringing down the house. He said he had Woods in his slides before the golfer's Thanksgiving night issues. Woods was one of several celebs in different age groups â€" Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, etc. â€" Kirby used to illustrate how different demos use email and other communication platforms. Recent news coverage in the Post's gossip pages has shown that the 33-year-old Woods likes text messaging and even age-old voice mails. Unclear is how he uses …

Has email marketing's heyday passed? Not according to Eric Kirby, a top executive at CRM agency Merkle, as he starts his keynote. Email has firmly been in the workforce for the better part of a decade. And he said he’s never seen a year where a company pulls back on marketing spending, and decides to cut back on email campaigns. It’s “a workhorse.” Then he moves to how email will interact with social media, and shows a photo of Richard Dawson. "The Family Feud" is back somehow, though it's not exactly clear why Dawson is on the …

Razorfish’s David Baker is kicking off the Summit in his usual role as emcee. He mentions that email marketing is becoming so layered with the nexus of social media and CRM. This morning, the focus will be on consumers and how they’re interacting with their inboxes â€" their behaviors, attitudes, etc. Baker is also giving some details on where and when to snowboard. It's unclear whether that is piquing the most interest in the packed room.

Anticipation is building for this morning’s keynote, which promises to take on a stark question percolating in the industry: Is Email Marketing on a Respirator? Thanks to the Wall Street Journal for fueling the fire. Keynoter Eric Kirby’s bona fides are impeccable. A senior vice president at leading CRM shop Merkle, he previously led DoubleClick’s email solutions group and co-founded two email companies acquired by Return Path. On Oct. 12, email marketers may have spilled their coffee when browsing the Wall Street Journal and coming upon an article leading off with: “Email has had a good …

Search Insider Summit’s Day 2 Round Tables recap -   eCommerce Advertiser Round Table: Lance Loveday, CEO of Closed Loop Marketing led this roundtable and gathered the following key takeaways from the group:   ·         People were struck by Google's dominance globally - and the ascent of Europe and Asia over the U.S. in terms of search volume. The mainly US-centric attendees seemed a little stunned by this. The non-US attendees and those already running global sites just rolled their eyes. ·         We discussed Mike Moran's point about how to make a business case to the C-Suite. One idea presented …

Day 1 of the Search Insider Summit began with a number of sessions that offered great content that had the attendees really thinking about their search strategy.  Fortunately for everyone, we were all able to partake in round table discussions to recap the day and share our thoughts.  Here is a summary of the discussions: eCommerce Advertiser Round Table: Scott Brinker, President of ion interactive led this roundtable and gathered the following key takeaways from the group:   We had some great discussions around the e-commerce roundtable this morning. Way more ideas than room for them in the blog summary, I'm sure, so here is the handful that seems to …