I'm continuing my coverage of PMA's Annual Promotional Marketing Law Conference, one of the most highly anticipated events in the industry. Last week while in Chicago at the event I wrote this post about day one of the conference which was pretty jam-packed with information. Most notably was the presentation from Facebook's Corporate Counsel, Suzie White, in which reviewed with us Facebook's new policy for running promotions on their platform that I defined as "hot off the press" since it was just posted on their website the night before. Here they are: www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php.

So today I'm writing about day two of the conference which I also shared on the Lip-sticking Blog since it's my guest blogger day there. During the morning we were treated to a session that was titled "The Eyes Have It: A Regulatory Regatta". This panel included James Kohm, Director, Div. of Enforcement for the FTC. He was the first one that really addressed the issue of the recently updated disclosure guidelines which were just touched upon in prior sessions. Mr. Kohm started out saying "We have no intention of shutting down the blogosphere. The idea that we'll go after every little blogger is not the driving factor behind these new endorsement guidelines." Well that was very reassuring to hear.

James Kohm went on to say that what the FTC really was focused on was affiliate marketers. "Those affiliate marketers who make exaggerated claims just to drive web traffic and make money can't resolve themselves of responsibility." Can't agree with him more here!

This session was soon followed by lunch in which the keynote speaker was Charles Harwood, Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection for the FTC. Mr. Hardwood echoed James' comments by stating that the FTC's goal is NOT to shut down the Internet but instead apply the same principals that the guidelines have always had to today's new media.This update was the first time they revised the 40 year-old endorsement guidelines since 1980 so they needed to apply them to new media. Their objective now is to assist advertisers with integrating new media into their policies so the FTC decided to use blogs as examples. 

One area that Mr. Hardwood focused on was the "Results Not Typical" disclaimer that has been misused repeatability in advertising especially in the weight loss industry. The new guidelines don't disbar these disclaimers, but direct advertisers to look at the ad in whole and make sure the message is clear and also have substantiation for any claims that are made.

Mr. Harwood did admit that these guidelines are confusing. So I approached him after the presentation and introduced myself as a blogger who knows many other bloggers who are concerned that yes, these are very confusing. Not all bloggers and marketers will have the opportunity to hear directly from the top leaders of the FTC like I did, but instead have to make due themselves in understanding the 81 page document. He really didn't have an answer for this other to agree with me, but he did offer up his assistance in sitting on any conference panels coming up in which he can help communicate and clear up any misconceptions. I have his card, so let me know if you're interested in taking him up on his offer.

Now moving on, the PMA is planning their next event which will be the Digital Marketing Summit taking place in NYC on December 3. They've asked for my assistance in getting input from bloggers on how the new disclosure guidelines are affecting them or will be affecting them. They would like to share this info via a panel on the subject. I hope to be speaking on this panel that includes some top leaders in the industry such as Linda Goldstein from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and Randall Rothenberg, President of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. So I would love to hear from any of our blogger readers on this issue. Please feel free to contact me of leave a comment and I'll get in touch. I will definitely be reporting back on what we learn.

All 510 of us registered attendees of PMA's 2009 Promotion Marketing Law Conference experienced a very, very full day today at the Fairmont Hotel which is host to this year's event. This year's theme is "staying connected @ the speed of change" which is so appropriate being that some polices that we reviewed today were just announced yesterday and others are so new that they're not even officially in effect yet. Plus there's a number of other legal decisions still to be announced before the close of 2009.

The morning was kicked started by Linda Goldstein, Sweepstakes Diva herself, in which she reviewed many rules and regulations and made it fun and engaging with a theme she called the PMA Risk Assessor App. I could spend quite a bit of time reviewing what she said, but I just can't write that fast, so I'm going to wait till I get a copy of her presentation and review it at a later time.

Now since I just launched my first sweepstakes promotion on Facebook last week I felt that Suzie White, Corporate Counsel for Facebook, that presented to us after the lunch break had the most "hot off the press" news. She reviewed with us Facebook's new policy for running promotions on their platform which was just posted online yesterday here at www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php.

The question posed was..Do you need permission to run a sweepstakes and/or contest promotion on Facebook? If you are just publicizing a sweepstakes or contest promotion on Facebook that is administered elsewhere, such as a website, this is fine and you don't need their permission. However, if you want to run a promotion that is administered on the Facebook platform, then you need to abide by their guidelines. You need to obtain Facebook's prior written consent or you must have it administered on a Facebook platform app.

You cannot automatically enter someone in a sweepstakes because they became a fan on your Facebook page. You can however only allow fans of your page access to the promotions tab on our page that contains the 3rd party app which administers the promotion. By utilizing the Wildfire app for the RAMA & Friends Sweepstakes that I launched last week, I am in full compliance with these new guidelines and understand fully what they mean by the "promotions" tab. Take a look here.

With the phenomenal growth that Facebook has expereinced over the past year this is an area that appeared to be of huge interest to all. Susie also shared with us info regarding the use of Facebook logos and trademarks which we should be aware of. We can use their supplied logo for Facebook pages that says "FInd us on Facebook" that can be added to websites and blogs. These logos and guidelines can be found under the Advertising & Developer links and you can also email them with questions at permissions@facebook.com.

Also it was noted that brands should not use any content posted on their Facebook wall by fans for advertising and marketing purposes without the clear consent and permission of the person that posted it. Which is of course not always that easy to obtain. Brian Downing, Product Counsel from Google spoke about YouTube and shared with us that there is a direct message feature on YouTube that can be used to reach out to a user if there is an interest in using their video for advertising and marketing purposes. Something he said most people don't realize exists.

A brief overview was then given by Luis Rivers Marin from Puerto Rico's Department of Consumer Affairs to update us on their newly amended sweepstakes rules. He joked that his wife was upset when she couldn't enter a sweepstakes promotion a resort was holding because Puerto Rican citizens were not eligible to enter. So they have made the necessary changes to be in close compliance with U.S. states. Now we can feel comfortable adding the almost 4 million Puerto Rican residents to our U.S. national-based sweepstakes promotions. These amendments go into effect November 27, 2009. For more info you can visit www.daco.gobierno.pr.

We all had our heads spinning from the many guidelines and details associated with mobile marketing promotions. Some of the AMOE (alternate means of entry) guidelines just don't seem to make logical sense, particularly destination-based sweepstakes. An example given was texting for a chance to win at a sports stadium where the winner would be announced before the game is over. How do you offer an AMOE? Ballot boxes at the stadium where suggested, but how do you integrate written entries with SMS entries? Good luck!

A decision on the big class action law suits regarding premium text messaging should come by December 9th. Until this decision is finalized most counsel have  highly have discouraged any promotion from requiring an additional fee to enter via SMS. This has been pending for sometime, therefore we haven't seen many new SMS promotions that require the premium fees.

Now I am just a blogger and marketing consultant, who by the way is a guest the PMA invited to cover the conference. So I'm not offering any legal advice, but instead just giving you my interpretation of what was reviewed with us today. It's that whole disclosure issue which was touched upon today and hopefully will be discussed in more depth tomorrow when we hear from the FCC at the opening keynote session in the morning. So please stay tuned!

Well I arrived in Chicago earlier tonight and am currently writing this post from the Fairmont Hotel where I'll be attending PMA's Annual Marketing Law Conference for the next two days. I was lucky enough to arrive earlier than expected by flying stand-by on a USAir flight out of Charlotte to Chicago. I was in the very last aisle in the back of the plane, but made friends with the flight attendant who got me some free snacks from first class since I bought a beer. Can you believe they charge $7.00 for a Bud Lite? Anyhow, I wrote this post earlier today before I started my travels since today was my guest blogger day at the Lip-Sticking Blog. So here it is is.

The last couple of days I've spent in Myrtle Beach, SC visiting my parents who moved down here about three years ago from New York. My mom's been battling breast cancer which spread to her lungs, so it's been rough on her and my dad, especially the last couple of months. She seems to be improving from an infection she caught a month ago. That's the thing with cancer, it doesn't always kill you. But once you have it any little thing your body catches can.

Anyhow, I've been trying to talk them into hooking up the old computer that all us kids bought them years ago so that we can stay connected online. Last time they hooked it up they used the old telephone modem, so I explained to them how times have changed and they don't need to tie-up their phone line anymore.

We called the local Time Warner Cable company to try and get some prices and info for them and it was so confusing. After waiting on hold for a very long time we finally spoke to someone who gave us way too many options. Do you want the combination package with Internet and cable, or how about adding the phone to the package? For just Internet, what speed to you want? They offered us 5 different prices for different speeds. It shouldn't be so difficult!

I was also trying to explain to my mom what I do for a living now. She still doesn't quite understand since I don't go to an office and work for someone else. We had a discussion about social media, but she has a hard time grasping it. Hard to explain to someone who doesn't even use email I guess. She's listens to my sister and I talk about "I posted it on Facebook", so I showed her a few pages, but she really wasn't very interested.

So, I'm heading out soon and flying to Chicago from here to attend a two-day conference that starts tomorrow. It's PMA's annual Promotion Marketing Law Conference  which this year's theme is "Staying Connected @ The Speed of Change which is taking place at the Fairmont Hotel. The PMA, Association for Integrated Marketing has again invited me back as a guest blogger, or member of the press as it is also referred to. I thought I'd better disclose that right up front.

The timing could not be more perfect for this conference this year because of all the headlines the FTC has recently been making regarding the new impending social media endorsement guidelines which focus on bloggers. David Vladeck, the FTC Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, will be giving a keynote session which hopefully he'll help guide us through all these new regulations. Rosemary Harold, Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell will join Bob Corn-Revere, a former in house attorney for and expert on the FCC who will also address the audience.

Overall there will be 100 speakers and 40 plus main sessions that include professionals from major brands such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Facebook, Google, GE, General Mills, Hanes, McDonald's, Microsoft, P&G, Tommy Hilfiger, T-Mobile, VISA and more. I'm also looking forward to the invaluable networking opportunities and catching up with many people that I've know for years in this business and of course meeting some new ones.

So anyone that is planning on being there, please look me up. I'll be writing more about the conference on my blog, Donna's Promo Talk as well as updates on Twitter. So stay tuned, it should be very interesting.

It's been a busy week so far and it's already Wednesday, which means it was my day to guest blog day over at The Lip-sticking Blog. Yesterday I was busy preparing for the round table discussions that I had to lead at the ROC Linked LIve event which I wrote about in my last post here. Anyhow, here's today's Lip-sticking post:

Halloween is quickly approaching which happens to fall on a Saturday this year, so there definitely will be an increase in trick-or-treaters and in parties. So if you haven't gotten your costume, or your kid's costume yet, there's still time. According to shopping search engine, SortPrice.com, here are the most popular kid and adult costumes this year:

Most Popular 2009 Kids Halloween Costumes

• Transformers' Bumblebee
• Batman
• Buzz Lightyear
• Cinderella
• Harry Potter
• Hannah Montana
• Traditional Princess
• Bakugan
• Dora the Explorer
• Sponge Bob SquarePants

Most Popular 2009 Adult Halloween Costumes

• Vampire
• Sexy Nurse
• Michael Jackson
• Star Wars
• Sexy Santa

So with kids it's the movie and TV characters that dominate the top spots again as usual. For adults I guess there's not much of a surprise there either with sexy costumes being what most women seem to gravitate to. I thought maybe Sexy Santa was a costume for men to wear, but instead the link to photos of the costumes proved me wrong.

Anyhow, I'll probably take out my devil ears and put them back on as I answer the door for the trick-or-treaters. This will be the first year that we won't have either of our two daughters home for Halloween since they're both off at college, so it will be much quieter. We always seemed to be the house that they and they're friends in the neighborhood would end up hanging out, so I will miss it.

Hershey's has created a fun promotional micro-site just for Halloween this year at Hershey'sTrickorTreat.com. It's a great resource for moms (and dads) who are planning a party for their kids or just decorating the house. Hershey's has included many different craft and activity ideas, spooky recipes, costume and decorating tips, party planning guides and even resources for teachers for their classrooms.

Hershey's has also included a variety of pumpkin stencils to choose from which range from easy to difficult. My husband is the king carver and always tries to out do the rest of us every year. So check the site out. There are some fun downloads as well.

So I wish you all a Happy Halloween and hope you enjoy the night. I think we could all use a little fun diversion for at least a day.

Well here's a little background on ROC LinkedAlot -- This is a Rochester-based group of online networked professionals that started out online interacting in a LinkedIn™ Group on the social networking site with plans to meet offline at six events a year. As with most networking events people usually show up to meet new people and reconnect with people they already know. However this group utilizes the “pay-it-forward” method in which they invest time in sharing connections and making introductions online prior to each event. Then between events the group can stay connected online and continue discussions, share news and job openings.

Sir LinkedAlot, aka Greg Taylor, a networking and LinkedIn™ evangelist, is the founder and administer of the LinkedIn Group and also hosts the LinkedIn LIVE events. The group follows the Giver’s Gain belief that when business people help others first they usually gain the most out of the experience - through a reciprocal benefit. So in that spirit, each LinkedIn Live event will benefit a local charity or non-profit organization. The charity collects all the attendee fees and disburses the payments due, keeping the proceeds. Here's a video of Greg Taylor describing what the event is all about.

So this is a great way to utilize social media to both network and to give back a little to the community at the same time. If anyone is interested in attending the last I knew registration was still open, but may close prior to the event. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/43wf0p Cost is $20 and that goes right to Flower City Habitat via PayPal.

This same process of course can be used in other markets. If anyone would like more information please feel free to contact Greg or myself. We're hoping this turns out to be a huge success for all involved.

It's been a long day and I almost forgot to add my Lip-sticking blog post that I wrote earlier today here as well. It's not a post about any cutting-edge interactive promotion or example of a great social media use, but it's original and I have a personal interest in promoting unique "pink promotions. So here it is:

As the month of October is starting to wind down we've all probably seen our share of "Pink Promotions" with October being known as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Back towards the beginning of September I wrote this post about the cause in which I highlighted a great online promotion -- a t-shirt design contest developed by Hanes, the apparel sponsor of Passionately Pink for the Cure which benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

There are many brands that have become supporters in one way or another to help create awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research. However, there are also those that are capitalizing on the "Pink" in order to sell product and are contributing to the cause very minimally. So as consumers we always need to be aware of the differences. Yes, these are some of the issues we would rather see the FTC focusing on than us bloggers. But that's another topic!

Anyhow, I like to write about the positive marketing campaigns being done for this cause. Here's a local promotion running in Tempe, Arizona (where I lived for a year B.C. kids), which I just had to share. It doesn't use any new whiz-bang technology. It's just really innovative and funny.

Fulton Homes, a large residential home builder in Arizona, teamed up with local radio station, 98.7 The Peak, and the county Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, to raise funds for the cause. All month Peak listeners have been encouraged to purchase a pair of Sheriff Joe’s legendary pink boxers. The Peak has been promoting the promotion on their website as well as utilizing social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

From what we've been told Sheriff Joe is notorious for making inmates wear pink underwear as a method to control inventory. Ironically, these boxers have created quite a demand among the public so Fulton Homes got the idea to sell some with proceeds going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  

Sheriff Joe has made himself available for some public appearances where he has signed these limited edition pink boxers and has stated “I am proud to support this wonderful organization and encourage people to take action by buying a pair of pink boxers.”

 You can still purchase Sheriff Joe’s limited edition pink boxer shorts and contribute to the cause by going online here.

I mentioned in my last post on this topic that my mom is battling breast cancer, so this is a very personal cause to me and my family. I received quite a few comments from that post, so I realize many of us have personal stories to share. I'll be heading down south in a couple of weeks to visit my mom and dad. They've had a rough past month. So pray for all those living with cancer every day and try and support those brands that are true to the cause. Thank-you.

Yesterday, October 15, I attended the Women's TIES Retreat held at the Welch Allyn Lodge in Skaneateles Fall, NY. Women TIES stands for Together Inspiring Entrepreneurial Success and this was the organization’s first annual event themed Inspiring Success.

My good friend and social media partner, Yvonne DiVita, is a member of TIES and was a speaker at the event. She invited me as her guest, so we got up early and made the trip eastbound on the NYS Thruway and then headed south into the village of Skaneateles to arrive at an 8 a.m. registration and breakfast. Yvonne’s topic was Building a Social Media Marketing Strategy which she co-presented with Trisha Torrey, also a TIES member, who is based in Syracuse and writes a Patient Empowerment blog for About.com.

Since there were many women in the audience that have not had much exposure to social media yet Yvonne and Trisha covered the basics. Yvonne started out by saying that social media is “always about the PEOPLE, not the technology”, so not to get hung up by the tools. Social media is important today because it is the most effective form of word of mouth marketing which just happens to be online.

They went through a quick overview of the social media tools including the top social networks, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, as well as Twitter and YouTube. They spoke about how to effectively work these into an overall marketing strategy. As with any marketing plan you first need to set your goals. Do you want to increase your brand awareness, build relationships with existing customers, gain new customers, drive traffic to your website, and/or promote new products and services? All this can be done as well as gaining insights and feedback from customers and competitors.

Social media marketing is being promoted as one of the most cost effective tactics in a marketing plan. However, it does take time. The advice was given to the women there to perhaps start to shift some their time and budget from advertising, networking or cold calling to social media initiatives.

There were many questions at the end of the presentation and one woman actually shared a great success story with us. As the owner of a couple of Subway restaurants in the greater Syracuse area, she and her daughter started a Subway Facebook page which now has over 1.2 million fans! Can you believe that? The official Subway Facebook page has just over 300,000. So they are meeting soon with the national Subway marketing team to share with them how they accomplished this. I just became a fan myself and reviewed their page. I can see that they’ve been successful by clearly understanding their audience and posting fun, engaging content, and doing it often.

So remember, social media is all about the people. I met many great women at this event that I now hope to stay connected with through social media. Thanks Yvonne for inviting me and to all the women who worked hard to put on a wonderful, memorable event.

Today I wrote a post about another really great B2B user-generated content promotional marketing contest over at the Lip-sticking blog. Yvonne DiVita, the Lip-sticking blog founder and fearless leader, has written about eBay before on the blog, so their PR agency, Edelman Digital, sent Yvonne info on eBay's most recent promotional campaign. Since I'm the promotional blogger, Yvonne passed it on to me to write. Here's the post:

Here's a contest that eBay sponsored earlier this year that is another great example of an interactive promotional marketing campaign targeted to small businesses. The eBay Sellers Challenge was designed to spark the entrepreneurial spirit among eBay sellers. eBay registered members were invited to participate in the contest for a chance to win $25,000 to be used to help bring their business plans to life along with free marketing advice and support from the eBay.

The promotion began back on June 6 in which participants could submit a business plan that responds to the question: "If you had $25,000, how would you spend it to start your business on eBay, or grow it on eBay", along with a video explaining their business plan and passion for selling on eBay. eBay's panel of judges chose two finalists in each of four categories and posted them online for the eBay community to vote on which occurred during Phase 3 of the promotion, July 20th through August 6. 

eBay recently announced the winners in the four different categories who are:

US Veterans & Service Member: Thomas Costello is a member of the United States Marine Corps and sells computer equipment and parts on eBay. He plans to use his $25,000 award to open an eBay store and buy materials to provide better visuals for his products.

First-Time Seller: Tori Nichel is a women’s contemporary clothing designer in New York who is hoping to go global. She plans to open an eBay retail boutique with her $25,000 award.

Part-Time Seller: Ryan Pugh sells a variety of products she truly believes in and that she thinks help people “live clean,” such as nutrition supplements, healthy chocolates and resistance bands. With her $25,000, Ryan plans to further diversify and grow her company on eBay by adding new products.

Full-Time Seller: Janell Anderson-Ehrke runs a nonprofit organization called GROW Nebraska, which helps 300+ rural businesses reach customers through an eBay store. With her $25,000 award, she plans to provide better training and education for these businesses to help improve their presence on eBay.

You can still review their business plans and videos which are posted online on eBay as well as the four runners-up. Congratulations to all and good luck with marking your dreams come true. Please keep us updated on your progress.

The PMA's annual Promotion Marketing Law Conference is now almost three weeks away and is filling up fast! "Staying Connected @ The Speed of Change is taking place November 5-6 at the Fairmont Hotel back in Chicago again. I missed it last year, but that's not going to happen this year. The PMA, Association for Integrated Marketing has again invited me back as a guest blogger, or member of the press as it is also referred to. I thought I'd better disclose that right up front. I just made my hotel and plane reservations, so I'm Chicago bound.

The timing could not be more perfect for this conference this year because of all the headlines the FTC has recently been making regarding the new impending social media endorsement guidelines which focus on bloggers. This 81-page document is way to long and detailed for most of us to wade through, so to get a front row seat at the FTC keynote session and hear it from the horse's mouth so to speak will be priceless. David Vladeck, the FTC Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, will hopefully guide us through this. It was also just announced today that Rosemary Harold, Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell will join Bob Corn-Revere, a former in house attorney for and expert on the FCC who will also address the audience.

Overall there will be 100 speakers and 40 plus main sessions that include professionals from major brands such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Facebook, Google, GE, General Mills, Hanes, McDonald's, Microsoft, P&G, Tommy Hilfiger, T-Mobile, VISA and more. Plus of course one of the main reasons we attend these types of conferences in person...invaluable networking opportunities.

Ed Kabak, Chief legal Officer of the PMA says “All marketing and promotion lawyers should be sure to attend to find out how dramatic changes in the legal and business environment affecting our industry are likely to affect their business and clients.”

The PMA Law Conference traditionally draws over 500 marketing and law professionals. CLE credits are offered and a highly valuable conference binder of more than 800 pages is given to all the attendees as well as an updated Law and Forms Guide. You can view the full agenda here and there is still time to register online, although the discounted hotel rates are gone.

If you're going to be at the conference please look for me and say hello. This will be my first PMA law conference that I will be tweeting from. So follow me and look for the hashtag #PMALaw. You can also follow PMA on Twitter and also check out their Centers of Excellence blog.

Thanks again to the PMA for having me back as their guest.