The end of the year usually means a few things to us: the holidays; our annual predictions; and Leading in Local: Interactive Local Media, the industry’s flagship event.

This year’s event is especially hot — a 2 1/2 day extravaganza taking place Dec. 3-5 in San Francisco. More than 50 speakers have been recruited by the analyst team, and we’ve added some great extra-curricular activities, including a Tech Expo with top companies showing off their wares “Before The Bell” on Day 1; a Women’s Leading in Local networking event on day 2; and an International Roundtable.

Here’s our newest news: BIA/Kelsey Analyst Emeritus Matt Booth (currently CEO, Connectivity) is coming back to moderate one of two Executive Sessions with Google leaders. We’ll kick off with Managing Director of Global Channel Sales Todd Rowe, than go deep in conversations with Head of premier SMB partnerships Christine Merritt; Adwords Express Product Manager Francisco Uribe; Google My Business Senior Product Manager James Croom; and Global Business Leader for Google Shopping Max Frause.

We also have feature presentations set by YP CMO Allison Checchi; Deseret Digital Media CEO Clark Gilbert and President Chris Lee; Yodle CEO Court Cunningham; Pinterest Head of Partnerships Joel Meek; and Salesforce VP Randy Wootton.

We are also set with a great discussion between me and Business Book of the Year Winner Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. And then there are the feature presentations by First Data SVP Krish Mantripragada; InfoGroup CDO Matt Graves; and Go Daddy SVP Raj Mukherjee. And we’ve also got a great, seven company Superforum dedicated to local’s most important issue: “Make the Phone Ring.”

There’s so much more. Check out the Full agenda. Register here.

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As we gear up for our LEADING IN LOCAL: SMB Digital Marketing conference, there’s a lot to look forward to. Local Market Launch, a startup that helps companies manage the online presence of local stores, just announced a suite of channel partner solutions that the company claims will make it easier for partners to deliver business listings management services to their SMB clients. Local Market Launch is set to exhibit its full suite of business listings management solutions for SMB channel partners for the first time at our conference next week.

These enhancements are being released at a time where Local Market Launch has been gaining traction with the market — 1000 percent growth in the number of locations being managed. As a result, their staff has nearly doubled.

Bryan Coryat, founder and CEO of Local Market Launch, had this to say in their press release:

“We have always had a parallel focus on delivering a solution that helps SMBs get found everywhere their customers are searching, while also making it easy for our channel partners to manage their clients’ business listings across all relevant digital channels. The enhanced services we are rolling out address both of these goals. They also offer our channel partners the flexibility to creatively integrate these new solutions within their unique SMB platforms.”

In addition to Local Market Launch’s product exhibition, 50 plus industry leaders will grace the stage at LEADING IN LOCAL: SMB Digital Marketing Sept. 22-24 in New Orleans. We’re looking forward to a great show. Don’t miss out on all the excitement in local media.

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Tuesday at BIA/Kelsey’s Leading in Local Conference, HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan emphasized that the local marketing game has changed – dramatically, secularly. Traditional “push” marketing techniques (usually requiring large budgets) no longer resonate with many consumers. Rather, small/medium businesses must be nimble and creative, qualities at the foundation of the company’s inbound marketing approach.

“It’s much harder to turn money into interest today,” Halligan said. Rather, for SMBs that invest in creating their own content that fosters engagement (rather than “renting space” from someone else), the Internet “can pull it like wind pulling the sails of your business.”

This content that drives inbound marketing can take several forms: blogs, articles, e-books, webinars, menus and more. Fresh content drives inbound links, and “links give you leverage.” The net effect of committed content marketing is a “new moat” around a business to shield it from competitors that aren’t as engaged with their customers. The new winning formula for SMBs: “fat brains, skinny wallets.”

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Traditional media is in the throes of transformation, seeking to diversify beyond legacy models and serve customers with an array of new products and services. At BIA/Kelsey’s Leading in Local conference, Gannett Digital Marketing Services President and CEO Vikram Sharma reintroduced the monolith as something much more – a full-fledged “digital marketing services company” buttressed by a large field sales force through its media channels.

Sharma admitted that “it takes a lot to turn the aircraft carrier,” but Gannett is doing just that – aggressively – through a slew of technology/platform acquisitions (mobile loyalty app KeyRing; Facebook Ads platform BLiNQ Media) and the rollout of new content and commerce franchises.

In leading transformation, Sharma has learned lessons aplenty. Many of the biggest he shared during his keynote:

– “Give It To Me Local”: Consumers expect seamless shopping across all experiences. And they want personalization and targeting at the price and item level.

– “Give People What They Want”: Encourage opt-in rather than forcing opt-out to “uncover audiences more likely to perform”

– “Mobile Is The New Loyalty”: Thus the KeyRing buy, where retailer loyalty cards and their respective promotions can all be scanned into a single app.

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