IAB Canada Launches NEW! MIXX Canada Conference Series, With Sponsors Helping To Create Organization's First-Ever Carbon Neutral Event

Toronto, ON. June 9, 2008 - IAB Canada has rebranded the popular Interactive To The Max conference event. The IAB's NEW! MIXX Canada Conference Series (www.mixxcanada.com), will launch with a Full-day Conference in September 2008, a Cross-Canada Roadshow in October 2008, and another Full-day Conference in March 2009. But by far, the biggest change in the Conference Series, is the commitment by the IAB and its MIXX Canada sponsors, to make the MIXX Canada events completely carbon neutral.

The term carbon neutral, means that the impact on the environment as a result of carbon emissions produced in association with travel to and from the conferences; electricity and water consumed during the days; as well as waste produced at the venues -- will be offset through processes designed to first reduce the carbon "footprint" associated with the events themselves; and secondly, by investing in sustainable resources that will offset the remaining environmental debt.

"This is a historic day for the Canadian Interactive marketing community," says Paula Gignac, President of IAB Canada, "Since 2004, there have been over 80 carbon neutral events in Canada; unfortunately, none of them seems to have originated from within the Interactive marketing or advertising sectors… Today, IAB Canada along with the sponsors of our new MIXX Canada Conference Series are stepping up to the plate, and vowing to finally make good on one of the so-called "promises" of the digital age, and harness this technology to deliver less waste and less impact on the environment."

While IAB Canada will take charge of educating and monitoring conference venues and vendors for compliance with the green theme, MIXX Canada sponsors will do their part as well. All have generously agreed not to distribute any paper brochures, sales materials or other promotional items at the events; opting instead, to promote their organization's capabilities in a number of purely digital ways: including highlighting their organization's Interactive advertising success stories (or editorial content, in the case of media sponsor Marketing Magazine), on the www.mixxcanada.com Website and on reusable USBs that will be handed out at the conferences.

"Every good marketer knows that keeping up with the consumer is paramount," says Adina Zaiontz, Trade Marketing Manager of Yahoo! Canada, "and it's clear that consumers are asking advertisers to be as "green" as possible. The Interactive marketing and advertising community is listening, and following where the consumer leads."

Vortex Mobile, the conference's mobile sponsor, has even volunteered the company's mobile ticketing solution for the full-day events -- allowing attendees to avoid paper tickets if desired, and have a personalized QR code delivered directly to their cell phone. To gain entry to the conferences, the QR codes will simply be scanned on site.

"Interactive advertising is all about new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things and new ways of making marketing more accountable," says Joe Strolz, Director of National Sales at Sympatico / MSN, "So, helping our own marketing community become a little more environmentally-accountable is really just a logical extension of those ideas. And I know I speak on behalf of all of the other MIXX Canada sponsors, when I say that both individually, and as a group, all of our companies are incredibly excited to be providing the leadership that's necessary to make this important initiative a success."

Sponsors leading the MIXX Canada carbon neutral initiative are:

Presenting Sponsors: AOL, Canoe.ca, CanWest Digital, globeandmail.com, Rogers Digital Media, Sympatico / MSN, The Weather Network and Yahoo! Canada;

Feature Sponsors: BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Inc., Casale Media, Expedia Inc. Media Solutions, and NHL.com Network;

Mobile Sponsor: Vortex Mobile;

Specialty Partner: ComScore Media Metrix; and,

Media Sponsor: Marketing Magazine

The estimated carbon emissions from IAB Canada's MIXX Canada Conference Series will be calculated by Tree Canada, who will offset the resultant carbon footprint by planting trees across Canada.

"We're proud to include IAB as part of a new wave of companies who care about their impact on our environment and the consequences that may have on future generations," said Michael Rosen, President of Tree Canada. "The trees planted to offset the MIXX Canada Conference Series will help make Canada a cleaner, greener and healthier place." MIXX Canada Conference Series Info (www.mixxcanada.com)

City	Date
Toronto: Full-day conference	Sept. 29, 2008
Montréal: Full-day conference	Oct. 6, 2008
Montréal Half-day Roadshow	Oct. 7, 2008
Halifax Half-day Roadshow	Oct. 8, 2008
Ottawa Half-day Roadshow	Oct.15, 2008
Calgary Half-day Roadshow	Oct. 16, 2008
Vancouver Half-day Roadshow	Oct. 17, 2008
Toronto Half-day Roadshow	Oct. 20, 2008
Toronto: Full-day conference	Mar. 5, 2009

***** For more information on IAB Canada's NEW! MIXX Canada Conference Series see www.mixxcanada.com Tree Canada is a charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments. A winner of the Canadian Environmental Award (2007), Tree Canada engages Canadian companies, government agencies and individuals to support the planting of trees, the greening of schoolyards, and other efforts to sensitize Canadians to the benefits of planting and maintaining trees. To date, more than 75 million trees have been planted, more than 450 schoolyards have been greened, and Tree Canada has organized 7 national urban forestry conferences. More information about Tree Canada is available at www.treecanada.ca.

For more information contact:
Paula Gignac
President, IAB Canada
iabcanada.com
416-598-3400 (ext. 26)

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (www.iabcanada.com), is the national voice and de facto thought leader of the Canadian Interactive marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing a membership composed of advertisers, agencies, publishers and Interactive service associates.

Newsletter Index »