San Diego American Marketing Association Announces Keynote Speaker for 18th Annual Cause Conference **Award-winning entrepreneur and author, Aaron Hurst, named event keynote; leader in purpose at work

San Diego, Calif. (March 1, 2016) – The San Diego Chapter of the American Marketing
Association (San Diego AMA) announces its keynote speaker for the 18th annual San Diego AMA Cause Conference – Aaron Hurst, a globally recognized entrepreneur and a leading expert in the fields of purpose at work and social innovation. The conference, to be held May 18-20, brings together both for profit and nonprofit professionals at the largest cause and social purpose marketing event on the West Coast.

This year’s conference focuses on “Accelerating the Purpose Revolution.” Hurst, an award-winning
entrepreneur and author, has become the foremost leader on employee engagement and retention. He argues that our new economic era is driven by connecting people to their purpose. It’s an economy where value lies in establishing purpose for employees and customers through serving needs greater than their own, enabling personal growth and building community.

Hurst has been an advisor and consultant to leading global brands like LinkedIn, Deloitte and Twitter. He speaks regularly at companies like Google, Microsoft, Citi and BMW, and at the campuses of leading business schools around the world. Hurst is the CEO of Imperative, a technology platform that enables people to discover, connect and act on what gives them purpose in their work.

Based on interviews with thousands of entrepreneurs, Hurst shows this new era is already fueling
demand for a whole host of products and services and transforming how millennials view their careers. A new breed of startups like Etsy, Tough Mudder, Kickstarter, and Airbnb are finding new ways to create value by connecting us with our local communities. At the same time, companies like Tesla and Whole Foods are making the march from just appealing to affluent buyers to becoming mainstream brands. Hurst calls these companies, along with the pioneering entrepreneurs who founded them, the Purpose Economy’s taste-makers.

Hurst is also the founder and an active advisor to the Taproot Foundation where he was the catalyst and lead architect of the $15 billion pro bono service market. He was the creative force behind the conception of the national A Billion + Change campaign. Previously, he worked in Silicon Valley developing the precursors to social media.

The 2016 San Diego AMA Cause Conference is comprised of TED-style talks, workshops, panel
discussions and “un-conference” sessions in four key tracks: Starter (new to cause and purpose-driven branding), Business, Nonprofit and Optimizer (for advanced cause and purpose-driven marketers).

The conference, taking place at the Crowne Plaza Mission Valley (2270 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108), will feature multiple speaker sessions and workshops, covering a range of topics from cause marketing to purpose-driven branding, social impact measurement, conscious capitalism, employee engagement, and nonprofit and for-profit collaborations.

The conference would not be possible without the help of the following companies: San Diego Gas & Electric, For Purpose Law Group, VIANOVA, Studio 2055, CBS Radio, San Diego Business Journal, Groovy Like a Movie, Mission Federal Credit Union, San Diego Grantmakers, Voice of San Diego and Triple Pundit.

For more information on the 2016 Cause Conference, visit sdama.org/cause. And follow #CauseSD on Twitter.
About the San Diego American Marketing Association

The San Diego chapter of the American Marketing Association is a professional organization that is committed to developing powerhouse marketers within the San Diego business community. The San Diego American Marketing Association is the premier professional development association for San Diego’s marketing community. For more information on the local chapter, please visit www.sdama.org.
Twitter: @SanDiegoAMA
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