Speakers at the Sydney and Melbourne conference included Gruen Transfer regular Todd Sampson (Sydney), Boost juice founder Janine Allis and Y&R brands chief executive Russell Howarth (Melbourne).

Printing industry figures at the events included representatives from KW Doggett, Acorn Press, Offset Alpine and Whirlwind Print.

KW Doggett national sales and marketing manager Nathan Doggett said he used the conference to network and get some insight from the experts on hand.

“It was pretty interesting,” he said.

“I wanted to go along just to get some feedback and get some insight from the speakers in terms of sales and branding as we want to address where we were are heading in terms of our future marketing.”

One printer who went along told ProPrint that he had noticed a negative reaction from some audience members when PMP chief executive Richard Allely praised the value of print in his opening address.

But ad agency CEO Russell Howath tweeted: “Print still works, TV is still the most powerful and social media is pervasive. Great ideas however are the ‘X factor’.”

Allely said reactions to the event had been positive.

“The first ever Schmart Marketing Conference has been a great success, highlighting just how many marketers are looking to use social media more effectively and how they can combine this element into their overall marketing campaigns to bridge the gap between social and traditional media,” he said.

Pictured (l-r): conference speaker Jeffrey Hayzlett, Richard Allely, PMP executive general manager Graham Plant and new media author Amber MacArthur

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