2009 is all about People, Planet, Profit – 11th AMA Cause Conference

March 13, 2009 By BJ Cook,

On Wednesday I had the earliest start to my day yet this year. It was one of those days where you realize that "business attire" means pulling out the leather shoes, suit pants, button down and yes; the suit jacket. And like any event you volunteer at; you're running late and really have no idea what building you're supposed to be in. Luckily my intuition guided me to USD and in the right direction. The 11th Annual AMA Cause Conference was buzzing with NPO's (non-profit organizations), corporations, students, speakers, marketers and vendors. You could tell passionate people were there to talk and get things done. I was there to do what I could to ensure the day went smoothly. Since I only got to sit in on the first keynotes and the social media marketing session, I only was able to fire out some tweets around those. If you're interested in reading some of the little gold nuggest I captured from the inspirational speakers that were there, head over to this link where I used CAUSECON09 as my hashtag. If you don't get the chance to head over to my tweets, here are some that I think are worth sharing in this post. AMA Cause Conference Top 10 Tweets tagged with #CAUSECON09:

"Over 1/3 of respondents use internet to donate"
"The key to corporate giving growth in San Diego is in the small to medium businesses"
"Amidst a perfect storm. Not all will survive, but new ways to do things to be discovered - overall reset"
"Scott Silverman up... Holds up chapstick and says, We're gonna be kissing a lot of ass this year"
"80% of American workers don't believe that their company would fulfill CSR if it affected profitability"
"CSR really needs to be Corporate Social Opportunity"
"Business Education is flawed within the US - ebita, leverage assets, public relations"
"San Diego 2050 - population will double, dry season lasts til november, sea level rise 6-12 in, more congestion, degraded health"
"60% of Americans use social media"
"Good to think about for companies and NPOs considering social media is limiting the tools to have focus"

Lastly, Becky Carroll, @bcarroll7, did a fantastic job of leading the day and making sure everything ran like a well-oiled machine. I had a great time and would definitely volunteer again for next year. If you're considering cause marketing campaigns or ways to shift your business model to align with people, planet, profit ... this is the conference you should be at. If you didn't get to be there, here are all the conference presentations!