News Detail

Bittner Hosts Upstate Advertising Conference

10/20/2011

On Tuesday, October 18, St. John Fisher College’s Ronald L. Bittner School of Business hosted the annual American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) Upstate Conference, attracting nearly 50 advertising and marketing professionals from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Binghamton. The conference theme was, “How Agencies Are Transforming the Future & Taking the Mystery out of Agency Transformation,” and featured internationally known advertising gurus, Tim Williams and Joe Grimaldi.

Williams is the founder of Ignition Consulting, a leading consultancy devoted to helping marketing communications firms create and capture more value. He is an author, consultant, and presenter, and has worked with marketing organizations throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.  A frequent contributor to leading business magazines, Williams has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, The Economist, The Guardian, Toronto Globe and Mail, Nikkei News (Tokyo), Bloomberg News, and others from Australia to India.  He is the author of two books, including “Take a Stand for Your Brand: Building a Great Agency Brand from the Inside Out,” ranked by Amazon as one of the top ten books on brand building on Amazon, and “Positioning for Professionals: How Professional Knowledge Firms Can Differentiate Their Way to Success.” Under his guidance as president of R&R agency in Las Vegas, the agency coined the term, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Tim Williams

Grimaldi leads Mullen Advertising in Boston, an agency that was recently recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Advertising & Marketing by Fast Company magazine. In addition, the agency was named to the prestigious Advertising Age Agency A-List and as the Agency of the Year for Media Planning & Buying by Mediapost’s Online Media, Marketing and Advertising Magazine this year. He is a passionate leader in the creative and innovation economy. In September, Grimaldi was named to The Power 50 – The Most Influential Businesspeople in Boston, just two years after relocating Mullen’s headquarters to the city.

Joe Grimaldi

The 4A’s is the national trade association of the advertising agency business and provides leadership, advocacy, and guidance to the industry. Its membership comprises all of the large, multinational agencies, and hundreds of small and mid-sized agencies across the country.