CHANTILLY, Va., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BIA/Kelsey today announced the speaker lineup for its upcoming LEADING IN LOCAL: The National Impact conference, which takes place March 18-20, in Boston. The program reflects rapid shifts in the local media and marketing arena, across mobile, social, search, promotions, coupons and deals, native ads and sales transformation.

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Headlining the event are Brian Halligan, CEO, HubSpot and Senior Lecturer, MIT; Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS Radio; Vikram Sharma, CEO, Gannett Digital Marketing Services; David Sharman, SVP and CSO, Dex One; and Cindy Stockwell, EVP and Chief Media Officer, Hill Holliday.

"Local media has become a key channel, not only for local small businesses, but for regional businesses, national franchises and national brands targeting locally," said Peter Krasilovsky, BIA/Kelsey vice president and conference co-chair. "This event provides a front row seat to the next wave of innovation playing out across the $134 billion local media ecosystem."

LEADING IN LOCAL program highlights include:

• Day 1: National marketers are targeting local consumers across core local channels. In a fast-paced SuperForum titled, "National Brands, Local Channels," BIA/Kelsey's industry analysts will weigh in on key opportunities in display, search, social, mobile, video, deals and loyalty, and discuss the sales force transformation required to leverage these opportunities.
• Day 2: A superstar session on new directions in local search will show how the world of search has evolved tremendously, integrating with every marketing channel available to local marketers. The day will conclude with a special session devoted to startups featuring a keynote by David S. Kidder, author of "The Startup Playbook," followed by the presentation of BIA/Kelsey's LOCAL Liftoff Awards to the top startups among LEADING IN LOCAL Future Stars.
• Day 3: Google's Kesh Patel will discuss the search giant's local online and mobile initiatives—homegrown and through partnerships. In addition, a panel of progressive traditional media leaders from The Boston Globe, Gatehouse Media Ventures, Hearst Newspapers and NPR Digital Services will discuss the lessons learned in leveraging their brands and infrastructure to continue leading in local.

About LEADING IN LOCAL: The National Impact
LEADING IN LOCAL attracts a global audience of executive-level decision makers from across the local media landscape, including companies engaged in local search, deals and group buying services, location-based services, local social media, traditional local media, classifieds and vertical media, advertising and marketing agencies, local digital media suppliers, local advertisers, national brands targeting locally and sector-focused investors and financial analysts.

Event sponsors include Acxiom, Avantar, eLocal Listing, First Data, Infogroup, Media Distribution Solutions, Neustar Localeze, ResponseTap, Telmetrics, Universal Business Listing, vSplash, Websplanet, Yext and YP. Association and media partners include the Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA), Topseos, and Visibility Magazine. For more information about LEADING IN LOCAL, including the complete agenda, list of speakers and companies attending, visit http://www.biakelsey.com/LeadingInLocalBoston.       

About BIA/Kelsey
BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting and valuation services, research, Continuous Advisory Services and conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media, mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers. BIA/Kelsey's annual conferences draw executives from across industries seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways to grow. Additional information is available at http://www.biakelsey.com, on the company's Local Media Watch blog, Twitter (http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/biakelsey).

SOURCE BIA/Kelsey