Facebook Becomes Major Focus of Borrell's Local Online Advertising Conference

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - February 06, 2017) - Facebook's foray into the SMB marketplace has become a key focus of Borrell Associates' 2017 Local Advertising Conference, to be held March 6-7 in New York City.

Now in its 8^th year, Borrell's event is the industry's largest and most popular conference on local digital media. The two-day event typically attracts more than 400 media executives.

Recent additions to the #LOAC2017 slate of more than 60 speakers include Phillip Rather, who heads up local partnerships for Facebook. Rather will help kick off the first day by outlining Facebook's efforts to serve the marketing needs of local businesses and its plans to work with local ad agencies and media companies. Four afternoon sessions are dedicated exclusively to Facebook, featuring a half-dozen speakers from media companies and agencies that are driving significant revenue from Facebook marketing. The sessions are sponsored by Tiger Pistol, a Facebook marketing technology partner, and coordinated with the help of the Local Media Association

Keynote speakers include Greg Stuart, global CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association; Ryan O'Hara, CEO of Realtor.com; Craig Smith, president and COO of HomeAdvisor, and Chip Perry, CEO of TrueCar. The full speaker's list reads like a Who's Who in digital media, including:

Lauren Wiener, former IAB chair and president of buyer platforms at Tremor Video

Jared Rowe, CEO of YP

Ezra Kucharz, Special Advisor to CBS Corp.

Tom O'Brien, VP and CRO of the nation's largest TV group, Nexstar Broadcasting

Rob Weisbord, COO of Sinclair Digital Group

Robertson Barrett, president of Hearst Digital Media

Heather Monahan, CRO of Beasley Broadcasting

Chris Hendricks, Vice President of McClatchy Corp.

"Digital advertising continues to grow, but the local piece of it is growing faster than anything else," said company CEO Gordon Borrell. "We've tapped speakers who have the best perspective on how the marketplace is evolving -- and consequently have the best strategies to capitalize on it."

LOAC attracts more than 400 local media executives to the Grand Hyatt in New York each year. It's the largest gathering of local online media executives in North America. Past speakers have included Clay Christensen, Bob Garfield, Jeff Jarvis, Seth Godin and Jeff Hayzlett.

The conference will be held March 6-7 at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

For information on LOAC, to see the agenda, or to register, visit www.borrellassociates.com/loac2017.