Join Us for the 2020 ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference

The ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference has become one of our favorite annual events here at MAX, and even though things will look a little different this year, we are just as excited to attend both the conference in November and the ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards, which will be held in a separate mini-conference in December.

In preparation, we thought we’d take a look at what is going to be different this year and what will be the same.

What’s different?

• The big difference, of course, is that the Multicultural Conference will be virtual this year. In order to keep participants and attendees as safe as possible during the pandemic, ANA will stream all presentations, discussions, and panels online.

While we will miss the in-person socializing at the conference this year (especially our annual MAX sponsored happy hour!), we are excited to participate from the comfort of our homes and to sleep in our own beds at the end of the day!

• Another difference this year is that the conference and the awards ceremony will be split into two different events. The conference will be held November 17-18 and the awards will be a half-day event held on December 16. The conference will have a sneak peek of what to look forward to at the awards event!
• Something that is different for us this year is that we are sponsoring the Digital & Social Media category at the Multicultural Awards for our first time! Here at MAX, we understand that music is not solely an audio experience: music lives everywhere. It’s in our social feeds, on our laptops, in our apps--livestreaming directly from artists, shared with us by our friends, suggested to us by our streaming services, and boosted by brands through strategic partnerships.

We are excited to sponsor an award category this year that celebrates how digital and social media marketing can be culturally aware and reflective of our growing diversity.

What’s the same?

• Just like all of the previous 21 years, the ANA Multicultural conference will feature discussions, debates, and presentations from some of the top US companies, including Kellogg’s, Facebook, VISA and Procter & Gamble. The sessions that have been announced so far (which you can check out on the ANA conference page) look like great opportunities to learn and get inspired to create your own diversity and inclusion strategies.
• Remember that socializing that we were going to miss? Well, while it might not be in person this year, the ANA has partnered with Grip, a networking platform that will allow you to still make the personal and professional connections that you would at an in-person conference. If you’re attending the conference, and would like to schedule a virtual meet-up with us, shoot us an email and we’ll work on getting that set up.
• For MAX, this will be our fifth year attending the ANA Multicultural conference and our third year as sponsors. We are proud of our association with the conference and awards and even more proud to be founding members of ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM). We are excited to continue fostering our relationships with other members of AIMM and ANA Multicultural participants and we look forward to doing even more meaningful work to elevate multicultural marketing and amplify diverse voices.

The takeaway:

While a lot of things about the 22nd annual ANA Multicultural conference look different this year, the things that we truly love about this event remain unchanged. We look forward to robust discussions and myriad learning opportunities that will help us, and other participants, continue to make intentional choices to not only reach multicultural audiences, but to listen to diverse voices and implement what we learn.