It’s official, Traffic & Conversion Summit has been acquired by Clarion Events.
That’s right, T&C, the largest digital marketing event in North America, is officially under new ownership.
In late August 2018, DigitalMarketer finalized a purchase and partnership agreement with Clarion Events, a UK-based company that has been launching and growing exhibitions since 1947. Thanks to this business acquisition, we will finally have the resources and knowledge we need to not only uplevel the Traffic & Conversion Summit our attendees and sponsors already know and love, but also to expand the event both domestically and internationally.
Now, you may be wondering, “Is this a good thing?”
It’s a valid question. Acquisitions are sometimes good and sometimes very, very bad.
In this case, it’s a very good thing for DigitalMarketer, for Clarion, and—more importantly—for T&C and its community.
Long story short, we are ready to expand and grow to continue our mission of educating, training, and serving digital marketing professionals, founders, and digital agencies.
But since I know that change can sometimes be a little scary, I want to clarify exactly what WILL and what WILL NOT be changing.
Growing Traffic & Conversion Summit Beyond San Diego
We have wanted to expand T&C internationally for many, many years. But we didn’t have the resources and know-how to make it happen.
Now we do.
Launched in 2009, T&C has grown into a premier digital marketing event that I am very proud of. And the goal of this business acquisition is to make it the largest digital marketing event in the world.
And this expansion of T&C is happening quickly.
In addition to T&C taking place at the end of February 2019 in San Diego, California, T&C will move into New York City in September 2019, with plans to expand to Europe and Southeast Asia in 2020.
So that’s “the why” behind the deal. Now, let’s look at what’s changing, starting with…
What’s NOT Changing?
- DigitalMarketer is NOT under new ownership—Clarion is solely purchasing T&C, so the event will be spun out and become its own company
- No one from the DigitalMarketer team will be leaving to work for Clarion (so all the friendly, smiling faces you’re used to seeing will still be around)
- DigitalMarketer will remain the Presenting Sponsor of the event and will continue to drive the content programming and marketing for the event (in other words, the thing that put T&C on the map… ITS CONTENT… won’t be changing)
- Our Customer Care team will continue to support our attendees (although this will eventually transition to the Clarion team)
What WILL Change?
- Production values and venues will get an upgrade (we’re already planning a move to the San Diego convention center in 2020, which will give us some much-needed breathing room)
- Attendee size will increase as we expand the venue size, marketing budgets, and as T&C receives additional exposure via Clarion’s existing portfolio events (this means a bigger and an even MORE resourceful T&C community for attendees to learn from and network with)
- And the biggest change of all… T&C will be launching outside the US, with plans to expand to Europe and Southeast Asia in 2020
I know I already said that last one, but I’m really excited about it. 🙂
In short, even with this acquisition, very little will look or feel different for the T&C 2019 event, and the attendee/sponsor experience will only improve in future years.
Looking to the Future
What started as 189 people in a small room in Austin, Texas has grown into something bigger than I ever could have imagined.
I am confident that this new partnership with Clarion will only serve to further the ultimate vision for T&C, which is to become THE premier gathering for digital marketers in the world, and the changes we have in store are a giant leap toward DigitalMarketer achieving its mission of doubling the size of 10,000 businesses.
But as excited as I am about the future, I believe it’s also appropriate to look back and appreciate everything that brought us to this moment and that includes YOU!
The fact is, Traffic & Conversion Summit would not be where it is today without this amazing community.
So thank YOU for making this day possible. It’s truly a testament to the power of this community and the power of our mission.
I couldn’t be more excited about our future, and I’m thrilled to have you along for the ride. 🙂
