Speaking at Wharton

Hi everyone! Today I’m very excited to share a piece of news which just came into my inbox this week. Come November 11, 2011, I’ll be speaking at Wharton, for the Wharton Marketing Conference 2011!

What is the Wharton Marketing Conference? It’s an annual marketing conference organized by Wharton that showcases the latest trends in the field of marketing. It serves as an integral forum for the marketing community within and beyond Wharton, as well as an opportunity to build personal and professional networks.

Now in the eighth year running, the conference has been established as a highly esteemed event to be a part of, with delegates from top firms and agencies proactively pitching to speak there and a highly rigorous selection process in place for speakers and presenters. From what I understand, the speakers are top CEOs / Presidents / VPs / Directors in Fortune 100 companies, all extremely influential in their fields.

For me, it is an incredible, incredible honor to be invited to speak there. Wharton is the business school of University of Pennsylvania, which is one of the Ivy Leagues – a prestigious circle of the top universities in US including Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Brown and Yale. Ivy League has strong connotations of excellence, exclusivity, and even elitism. Mention Wharton/UPenn or any of the universities in the Ivy League to someone, and you’ll get a knowing nod of recognition, look of awe, along with an accompanied “wow” from those inside and outside of the circle.

Hence, to have been invited to speak by the committee is what I regard as an extremely high mark of affirmation for my work and what I’ve achieved with my blog/business to date. So, here’s a big shout out to the universe for sending this my way, and to all of you for your ongoing support. :D

I’ll be in a panel of 4 experts (the rest are corporates who manage the social media arms in their companies), speaking about social media and the implications of marketing to the end consumer today. Given my background in blog development and success in creating a top blog in the personal development niche, I look forward to contributing unique value at the event. There will be an estimated 250-300 attendees, comprising of Wharton MBA students, faculty members, alumni and leaders in the industry.

I’m not sure if there will be any recording during the conference – probably not. In any case, I’ll surely be sharing pictures and updates on the event after it’s over, so you guys get to see the ins and outs at the conference.

I first broke the news on my Facebook page 2 days ago, right after I got the invitation, and have since received a *huge* flood of congratulatory statements and well wishes from those of you on my page! Thank you so much for your kind words – I really appreciate it guys!! (If you’re not on my Facebook yet, connect with me by clicking “like” on the page!)

So what does it mean for you guys?? Since Wharton is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that means … *drumroll* I’ll be flying over to US in November!! :D Here’s a huge hello to all US and Philadephia readers!! :D This will be my first time in US, so I’m pretty excited!

That’s it for the announcement – I thought to share the happy news with all of you here. If you can’t already tell, I’m uber excited – I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great learning opportunity for myself. Here’s to pursuing our goals and dreams and reaching to greater heights in life!

Update Nov 2 ’11: The website for Wharton Marketing Conference 2011 is up! If you’d like to check out the panel I’d be speaking at, click “Panels”, then look for the panel “Social Media: Fad or the Future of Marketing?” — you’ll find my bio listed there. Look forward to meeting the people there! :D