Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) is one that I will mention a lot in my future Culture Blog posts. They are the most active interactive marketing organization in the Minneapolis area, and hold monthly events that are open to the public (cheaper with a membership, but you can still go without one).
Next Wednesday, July 15 MIMA is holding an event called Localization & Internationalization. The digital world is 100% global, and this event will discuss how to ensure that your digital strategy takes that into account. The description from the website reads:
You don’t need to travel very far to experience the world. Just open your browser and take a look around. The internet is one giant melting pot and the leading content online today is published in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Japanese. Even more remarkable is the fact that there are more native Spanish speakers in the world than English.
As interactive marketers, what are you going to do about it? You may not speak Spanish but your users do. Reaching this audience requires so much more than hiring a translation firm. You need a comprehensive strategy that understands their unique cultural needs.
Our speaker this month deals with just that.
About the speaker
Joe Kutchera is the Director of Spanish-Language Markets at ContextWeb, a leading contextual advertising company and operator of the ADSDAQ Exchange. At ContextWeb, Joe is responsible for building sales in Spanish-speaking U.S. and Latin American markets and comes to ContextWeb with over eight years experience in the online advertising industry.
Prior to joining ContextWeb, Mr. Kutchera built a number of Time Warners interactive properties including Warner Bros. Online, This Old House Online, Fortune, CNN Money and Grupo Editorial Expansion in Mexico City (acquired by Time Warner in 2005), which includes: CNN Expansion, Chilango and Quien. Mr. Kutchera has a BA from Macalester College and an MBA from Fordham University in New York City.
In addition to writing for iMediaConnection, he has spoken in Mexico, Spain and the U.S. about online advertising trends in Latin America.
Twitter: @joekutchera
You can register for the event here.