Call-to-action for marketers, sales representatives and other inbound geeks: I hope you had a good summer because we are moving indoors. Summer is the high season for music festivals and exotic holidays but the next couple of months are all about marketing events and conferences. We are glad to present you with compulsory marketing-related events for the final quarter of 2013. So pack your tablet and passport and book a plane ticket to the following destinations.

Festival of Marketing

The Festival of Marketing is a London-based three-day event where marketers, sales reps and social media geeks meet to re-engineer the current marketing landscape and project it into the future. What should you expect? In one keyword – everything. This marketing event will cover everything from marketing and sales alignment, customer experience, creative, data & analytics. For those of you in Europe, London is a couple of hours away.

Unlike the North American fellow marketers, you have no excuse for missing out on this major event! Here are some must-see sessions during the Festival of Marketing:

Bridging the Divide Between Sales and Marketing to Ensure Intelligent Lead Management and Conversion 

by Holly Donahue, Senior Marketing Manager at The Economist Intelligence Unit 

Sales and marketing alignment has been talked about all throughout 2013. Sales enablement, in particular, has been quite the trending topic for the B2B world. The modern day dynamics of businesses more than ever require proper alignment of these two departments. Holly Donahue, who oversees the lead generation marketing efforts for the Custom Research sales team, will be delivering an in-depth session about bridging the gap between sales and marketing for better lead management and conversions.

How Online and Digital Channels Work Together to Attract Customers, Drive Sales and Increase Conversion

by Mark Johnston, Head of Digital Marketing at Microsoft UK

Mark Johnston leads a team of digital marketers who aim at customer excellence and deliver valuable connected experience for their countless clientele. A must-see speaker for those of you interested in digital channels and how they can drive business.

What Role Should Technology Play in Sales and Marketing Alignment?

by Bob Apollo, founder and CEO of Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners

Here's one for the marketing automation evangelists – Bob Apollo's take on the role of technology in sales and marketing alignment. The founder and CEO of UK-based Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners has extensive experience of working with B2B clients and consults them on targeting their buyer personas, delivering relevant marketing messages at the right time and conducting the most suitable sales strategy and conversations to drive successful business.  

Eloqua Experience 2013

Eloqua Experience is without doubt one of the most innovative and well-known events for marketers today. Literally thousands of modern marketers get together every year to learn from each other, marketing industry leaders and experts in the field. The Eloqua Experience has its European and U.S. version – EE Europe was held in London this June while the North American version will take place in San Francisco between 23rd and 25th of October.

In case you are at the Bay Area, try and attend this year's Eloqua Experience – here is our list of must-attend sessions:

Engagement: Spin A Story That Stands Above The Noise

by Ardath Albee, CEO, Marketing Interactions, Inc.

Ardath Albee is a remarkable B2B Marketer and Content Strategist, an elite professional with in-depth understanding of content implementation and delivery. Regardless of what type of marketer you are, make sure to visit her session on content marketing and brand storytelling - you are in for one truly in-depth educational and informative experience.

Analytics: Don’t Just Score Leads – Predict Your Next Customer

by Brian Kardon, CMO, Lattice Engines, & Abner Germanow, Director of Worldwide Marketing, Juniper Networks

Here's a session that will most likely be dominated by marketing automation folks. Brian Kardon, a Revenue Marketing guru and former Eloqua CMO, will team up with Abner Germanow, a leading user of Eloqua user. This impressive duo will tell you a thing or two on how to use analytics to predict the next customer.

Targeting: The Power of a Data Washing Machine in Lead Creation

by Amandah Magnarelli, Director, Database Marketing, Forrester Research, Inc.

Forrester are another long-term Eloqua user so we assure you that their Director of Database Marketing will deliver an in-depth and informative session on data hygiene.  

SiriusDecisions Summit 2013

This year's SiriusDecisions Summit is primarily focused around aligning Sales, Marketing and Product. This is probably the trendiest topic of 2013 for businesses and their sales and marketing divisions. Buyers have altered the way they make buying decisions and search engines (Google in particular) have changed the way they rank information. So companies throughout the world have to adapt to these quick changes, as digital marketing moves more and more into the direction of inbound. This year's summit will take place on 5th and 6th of November in London, and here are the top three must-see presentations:

B2B Content: The Revolution Is Now

by Marisa Kopec

Search engine and content optimisation have really changed over the past 12 months. These radical changes require revolutionising marketing and sales. Marketers will walk away with a set of new skills required to support the new content marketing paradigm and sales representatives will get an insight into how content can be used for sales enablement. From a product management standpoint, the presentation will educate its attendees on how to content strategy and how architecture must adapt to inbound marketing requirements.

B2B Marketing and Selling: New Roles, New Responsibilities

by John Neeson

You can't adapt your marketing and sales strategies while still relying on old organisational structures. This session will explore the evolution of marketing and sales – understanding the dynamics behind the changes of these essential roles and why leaders should really pay attention and adapt.

Tomorrow’s Sales and Marketing Technology Ecosystem Today

by Jonathan Block

The middle men of marketing and sales always tend to advocate SaaS solutions. With increased investments in marketing automation solutions, there is also a rise in companies that take the automation part literally and ignore the development of strategies. This presentation will help both marketers and sales representatives understand the importance of technology-driven alignment.

If you are a passionate marketer, looking to exchange information, gain knowledge and interact with fellow marketers, consider visiting one of the above mentioned events. Stay tuned for Part II of 6 Marketing Events to Watch For in Upcoming Months.