The AAM attendees are made up of accounting firms with and without a marketing director. All accounting marketing professionals who attend the 2010 AAM Summit are looking for education, best practices, trends and shared experiences they can take back to their firms to adapt and apply. When deciding what session to submit to AAM, take into consideration what level of marketer or partner would be most likely to benefit from the content in your session. We ask that, unless approached by AAM prior to the conference, that if you indicate an advanced session you make sure you are presenting an advance session in both content and live presentation. Levels are broken down into the following categories:

• Rookie – has limited knowledge of the accounting marketing profession.
• Intermediate – has a good grasp on the profession, but looking to take their firm and themselves to the next level.
• Partner/Business Development - a partner or business development professional in their firm coming to AAM who is seeking information targeted to connecting the bridge between marketing and making the sale.
• Executive - a seasoned professional with 10 years or more experience in accounting marketing who is recognized as a leader and change agent in their firm.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for presenters to accelerate accounting marketing to the next level. Each level is crucial when building a strong foundation.

The 2010 AAM Summit is looking to fulfill educational tracks to help attendees at all levels better select sessions that meet their specific needs. Breakout sessions will be grouped into the following four categories: Marketing Communications, Personal Growth, Firm Management, and Business Development. The following is a more detail description of each category and some suggested topics for each.

Marketing Communications

Marketing Communications help individuals market their firms and communicate their distinctive messages to their target audiences. Attendees will be looking for tools including marketing plans, proposals and news releases. They want to learn how to market a niche, develop brand awareness, develop and use collateral materials, and leverage the power of direct mail. They will be looking for the latest information on how technology enhances marketing communications efforts, strategies and tactics to help them further leverage their firm brands, and best practices in the areas of advertising and public relations. The more advanced attendees will be looking for insight and innovative ideas on branding and marketing communications to help strengthen their roles as leaders; better techniques to manage their firms’ communications process; how to attain the right marketing mix; how to build and maintain their firms’ reputation in the community; and how to increase the opportunities for attracting and retaining the highest quality clients.

Personal Growth

Developing individual strengths to help attendees grow personally and professionally is a critical foundation of a strong marketing presence. Within the personal growth category attendees want to improve their presentation skills, coaching, mentoring, relationship building, organization and time management. Attendees want to better assist their firms with growth and success, and improve interaction with partners, managers and coworkers. Veteran attendees will be looking to increase their credibility, build respect for the marketing initiatives, influence firm culture and achieve partner buy-in. They want to learn how they can continue to reinvent themselves, act as change agents for their firms and step out of the more traditional marketing role by learning how to coach partners, facilitate firm retreats, and influence the culture and personality of the firm.

Sales and Business Development

Building business and marketing go hand-in-hand making it important to introduce marketers to the world of sales and help to define the role of marketing in the business development process. Attendees will be looking to understanding the difference between marketing communications and sales, learning how marketing communications efforts assist with the sales process, developing processes for lead generation, highlighting the importance of cross selling, conducting effective market research, maintaining business development pipelines and lead tracking solutions, facilitating a sales meeting and emphasizing the importance of follow-up. Individuals with strong sales backgrounds are encouraged to share lessons learned from the trenches on proven negotiation techniques on closing the sale and increasing the close rate. Advanced attendees will want to learn how to enhance their ability to generate high quality leads, how to be more consistent at closing the sale and how to train partners and managers on being better business developers.

Firm Management

The firm management category will provide attendees with lessons in assisting partners in tackling high level, firm management issues such as: assuming key roles in recruiting and retention policies and initiatives; succession planning and exit strategies, including identifying merger candidates or conducting acquisition due diligence; long range organizational planning; strategy formulation and implementation; conducting a SWOT analysis; developing effective leaders, and improving team management skills. Attendees will want to hear from Managing Partners, Marketing Directors who are also Shareholders in their firms, Chief Marketing Officers, and key industry consultants who have helped Marketing Directors across the country raise their level of contribution within their firms.

Executive Leadership Skills

This year, an executive leadership track will be offered to seasoned professionals with 10 years or more experience in accounting marketing who are recognized as leaders and change agents in their firm. The track will encompass the categories above, however, target the experienced leaders. Please indicate in your submission if you wish for your proposal to be considered for the executive leadership track.

• The 2010 AAM Summit: Building Foundations for Firm Success dates are June 22 – 25, 2010 to be held in Washington, D.C.
• All submissions must be received by Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
• Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
• No materials will be returned once submitted to AAM.
• Each presenter may submit no more than three presentations for consideration.
• No more than two presenters may participate in any session.
• Please do not submit a proposal unless each presenter is available to appear on any day of the conference.
• A primary presenter, who will serve as the point of contact, must be identified for each submission that involves more than one person. The primary presenter is responsible for informing the co-presenter of the final acceptance or rejection of a presentation, audiovisual equipment requirements, and all other deadlines.
• The submission of a presentation does not guarantee participation in the program.
• AAM does not provide honoraria for conference presenters; however, a discounted registration fee will be offered to each speaker and co-speaker.
• Each speaker is eligible to be compensated up to $425, to offset coach airline ticket to travel to the conference. One night’s hotel accommodation will be reserved and paid for by AAM. Appropriate supporting documents will be required to collect the travel reimbursement. The $425 is only for airfare and ground transportation; any additional fees are the responsibility of the speaker(s).
• Speakers will be notified of acceptance by e-mail beginning mid-November 2009, with a detailed contract for your review.
• Everyone will be notified by the end of December 2009 whether his or her proposals have been accepted.

Submission Requirements