The inaugural OTA Sessions was held last March. Photo by TJ Nelson, from OTA Sessions Facebook page.
After a successful debut in 2010, the OTA Sessions conference will be back on the Silicon Prairie April 1st at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The OTA Sessions, which gets its name from the -OTA states (South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota) seeks to give a chance for Midwesterners to shatter the perception that creativity and thought leadership live solely on the east and west coasts. Last year’s event brought together 250 people from around the region as well as high profile speakers like Jonathan Harris, Spike Jones, and Tim Brunelle. The event also played host to a “Trust Summit” featuring notable authors Chris Brogan, Julien Smith, and Mitch Joel.
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OTA founder, Hugh Weber (left, photo from twitter.com/hughweber), wants to expand the brand of the OTA Sessions to more than just inspiration and a celebration of our regional heritage. Weber’s conference invite states: “From this point forward (OTA) will also be a call to action. Our creativity and originality of thought is critical to our success as a region, but without action and implementation it’s just idle chitchat. As a result, OTA will also come to stand for “originality + action.”
The 2011 lineup is looking promising already with the announcements of Ellen McGirt of Fast Company, John Winsor from Victors & Spoils, Sally Hogshead author of Fascinate, riCardo crespo at 20th Century Fox, and co-authors of Content Rules, CC Chapman and Ann Handley. Weber said there are a couple more names left to round out the OTA lineup.
Tickets are already on sale for the April event and can be purchased at guest.cvent.com. The day-long event is currently offering early-bird tickets for $175 and admission will go up after Monday, January 3rd. Check out the OTA Sessions website and find OTA on Facebook for more information. We’ll have updates on the latest speakers and event details as they are released.
