Social Marketing Training Academy: The Social Marketing Training Academy, June 18-19, 2008, gives participants an overview of the social marketing approach and basic principles and practices associated with audience segmentation and formative research, strategy development, and program development. Case studies are used to illustrate how social marketing can be applied to the development of public health interventions. Participants are provided time to review a systematic logic model that they can then apply to program planning. The Social Marketing Training Academy does NOT change significantly from year-to-year, and therefore, the conference planners do not encourage repeat attendance. The Social Marketing Training Academy is also not recommended for participants who have mastered a basic understanding of social marketing principles and practice.

Main Conference: The Main Conference, June 20 & 21, 2008, offers a combination of plenary presentations by internationally recognized social marketing experts on topics of interest to learners at all levels. Concurrent sessions, both invited and selected from responses to the "Call For Abstracts," round out the agenda with specific examples of how social marketing has been applied in public health settings. These sessions are balanced between introductory and more advanced audiences. The specific topics and speakers are selected to elaborate on key elements of the social marketing approach and to illustrate how social marketing can be applied to a wide variety of public health topics. The Main Conference moves into a second day with additional plenary sessions, followed by in-depth training workshops at the introductory and intermediate levels.

Networking is a Key Goal: The conference is designed to offer numerous informal opportunities for networking with some of the country's best social marketers.

Conference Objectives:

At the end of the Overall Conference, participants will be able to:

• Critically comment on the current status of the application of social marketing
  practice nationally and internationally;
  
• Discuss three examples of advanced application of social marketing practice;
  
• Explain at least five programs in which social marketing was used as a tool for development and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of those particular applications;
  
• Apply the primary theoretical and applied principles of at least one training module;
  
• Suggest at least one new collaborative project or application; and
  
• List at least three new professional contacts that have the potential to collaborate on current or future projects, or to assist with problem-solving (this objective is attained primarily through the formal and informal networking designed into this program).