Jan 15, 2013, 4:00pm

This year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) will bring together senior voices across the marketing and advertising ecosystem at the sixth annual IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, held at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, February 24 – 26, to tackle one of the industry’s most pressing questions, “Big Data and Big Ideas: Friends, Enemies, or Frenemies?”

The conference will explore the interplay between the science of big data and the art of big ideas, and delve into what is truly disrupting the advertising sector and creating new opportunities. Attendees will learn how content, data and creative are being blended to drive highly effective, real-time and hyper-local digital marketing.

“Creative has ‘ruled the roost’ for much of advertising’s existence, but as digital channels continue to emerge and flood us with valuable data and insights, big data and big ideas increasingly will need to work in concert,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “It is important for the IAB to take an active role in fostering new and innovative ways to align creative and data to drive business.”

Among the data luminaries joining the event is Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight.com and author of the bestselling “The Signal and The Noise: Why Most Predictions Fail — But Some Don’t,” who will open the event as a keynote presenter on Sunday, February 24. Silver’s innovative analyses of political polling have won him acclaim as the public face of statistical analysis and political forecasting. His presentation promises to take attendees on a journey to seek truth from data, sharing insights gathered from the world’s most successful investigative forecasters.

Powerhouse speakers from across the industry round out the roster:

• Mike Abbott, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AOL
• Cyrus Beagley, Senior Vice President and Group General Manager, Advertising Sales and Marketing, Time Inc.
• Tom Chavez, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Krux
• James Farley, Jr., Executive Vice President, Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Lincoln, Ford Motor Company
• Curt Hecht, Global Chief Revenue Officer, The Weather Company
• Scott Howe, President and Chief Executive Officer, Acxiom
• David Kenny, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Weather Company
• Meredith Kopit Levien, Group Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer, Forbes Media
• Peter Naylor, Executive Vice President, Ad Sales, NBC News Digital, and Chairman, IAB Board of Directors
• Jonah Peretti, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BuzzFeed
• Jim Speros, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Fidelity Investments
• Omar Tawakol, Chief Executive Officer, BlueKai
• Susan Wojcicki, Senior Vice President, Advertising, Google
• Michael Wolf, Founder and Managing Director, Activate

For the complete agenda for the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, “Big Data and Big Ideas: Friends, Enemies, or Frenemies?,” please visit www.iab.net/alm/agenda.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.