With a range of speakers on tap from youthful hipster Evan Solomon to grizzled humorist Dave Broadfoot, the 2000 edition of the Canadian Marketing Association’s national convention and trade show gets underway later this month in Toronto. Close to 1,600 marketing professionals and industry analysts are expected to converge on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the proceedings.

The central theme expected to emerge during the April 25-27 event is using technology to build customer relationships in an ever-changing marketing environment.

"There are several key issues facing our members, but that is going to be the big one," says CMA president and CEO John Gustavson. "The speakers and panels we have at the conference will be discussing tactical approaches in areas such as interactive marketing, branding, new technology, customer management, e-commerce and database management."

Helping marketers understand and work through these issues is a roster of keynote speakers that includes CBC Television host Solomon, who will speak on "Technology, Marketing and the Future", author and Yahoo! vice-president Seth Godin, who will bring to the podium his ideas on permission marketing, and AOL Canada CEO Stephen Bartkiw and Royal Bank vice-chairman James Rager.

Gustavson, who will offer a chairman’s welcome on Wednesday, April 26, says he will speak to three key issues: the economic impact of direct marketing, privacy legislation and the future of e-commerce.

"We’ll be releasing an economic study done by the Wharton Business School that will indicate the economic contribution of direct marketing in Canada," says Gustavson. "This is not just what or how much Canadians are buying, but the overall economic impact. It will give us some idea of what we contribute to the economy."

Privacy, he adds, "is the next thing that’s coming at us", as Bill C-6, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, goes into effect next Jan. 1. The legislation, literally more than a year in the making, was formally passed into law earlier this month, and governs how marketers obtain consumer consent before disclosing their personal information to third parties (see "Privacy law proclaimed – finally", page D2, for more information).

Also part of the event is the Strategy DirectResponse "Be on Top" cocktail reception, to be held in the Horizons Café on the CN Tower’s lookout level. It takes place April 26 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, contact Jennifer Lussier at (416) 408-2300, ext. 275 or e-mail jlussier@brunico.com.

The Garden promotes two creative directors

ACDs Lindsay Eady and Francheska Galloway-Davis have taken over responsibility for day-to-day creative leadership at The Garden after being promoted to creative director roles.

The pair will also help develop the agency’s creative talent, formalizing mentorship and leadership activities they have been doing since joining the agency four and three years ago, respectively. In addition to creating the agency’s internship program, the pair have worked on campaigns for Coinsquare, FitTrack and “The Coke Challenge” campaign for DanceSafe.

Eady and Galloway-Davis will continue to report to The Garden’s co-founder and chief creative officer Shane Ogilvie, who is stepping back from daily creative duties to a more high-level strategic role, allowing him to focus on client relationships and business growth.

Naked Creative Consultancy names new creative and strategy leadership

Toronto’s Naked Creative Consultancy has hired Yasmin Sahni as its new creative director. She is taking over creative leadership from David Kenyon, who has been in the role for 10 years and is moving into a new role as director of strategy, leading the discipline at the agency.

Sahni is coming off of three years as VP and ECD at GTB’s Toronto office, where she managed all the retail, social and service creative for Ford Canada. She previously managed both Vice Media and Vice’s in-house ad agency Virtue.

Peter Shier, president of Naked, says Sahni’s hiring adds to its creative bench and capabilities, as well as a track record of mentorship, a priority for the company. Meanwhile, Kenyon’s move to the strategy side, he says, makes sense because of his deep knowledge of its clients, which have included Ancestry and The Globe and Mail.

Digital Ethos opens a Toronto office

U.K. digital agency Digital Ethos is pursuing new growth opportunities in North America by opening a new office in Toronto.

Though it didn’t disclose them, the agency has begun serving a number of North American clients, and CEO/founder Luke Tobin says the “time was right to invest in a more formal and actual presence in the area.” whose services include design, SEO, pay-per-click, social media, influencer and PR,

This year, the agency’s growth has also allowed it to open an office in Hamburg, Germany, though it also has remote staff working in countries around the world.

Moray Hickes was the company’s first North American hire as VP of sales, tasked with business development in the region.