Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, former lead guitarist of Steely Dan, will speak as part of a live series presented by Momentum Broadcasting in Visalia. Photo by flickr user Carl Lender

A South Valley radio company is delving into a different kind of live event with a speaker series geared toward the world of marketing.

Porterville-based KIOO 99.7 FM and Visalia’s MY 97.5 FM are hosting the first-ever Business Summer Speaker Series beginning June 9. 

Business leaders around the Central Valley can purchase tickets for the live event, hosted at the Momentum Broadcasting studios at 700 E. Mineral King Ave. in Visalia. Speaker topics include building brands, innovation and marketing strategies.

The series includes four speakers on four dates:

June 9 — Marketing and advertising blogger Bob Hoffman 

July 7 —  Branding and advertising consultant Jeff Schmidt

Aug. 11 — Steely Dan guitarist and defense consultant Jeff “Skunk” Baxter 

Sept. 15 —  Charitable giving and marketing panel presentation with MJ DePalma, director of inclusive marketing for Microsoft; Angela Northrup; market executive director of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in San Diego; and Renee Richardson, director of philanthropy for Metallica’s charitable foundation, All Within My Hands.

Bill Lynch, general manager of Momentum Broadcasting, said he wanted to host an event that was more “out of the box.” Typically events that KIOO hosts are music-focused. This partnership with 97.5 FM is sponsored by the Better Business Bureau and the Visalia, Tulare, Hanford and Porterville chambers of commerce.

The event is meant to equip business leaders with the latest advertising and marketing tools.

The series kicks off at 8 a.m. on June 9 and each session will be about an hour.

Hoffman is a highly-sought-after speaker about all things marketing and advertising. He also authors a blog, “Ad Contrarian,” which Business Insider named one of the most influential advertising and marketing blogs.

Hoffman’s longtime career in advertising has led him to write books, blogs and speak on advertising tactics. Since starting speaking engagements, he’s been to 24 countries.

Advertising technology and the structure of advertising has changed tremendously over the years, Hoffman said. 

“Online advertising is the No. 1 form of advertising that gets more of the advertising dollars than any other form. That used to be television and now online advertising has surpassed television in dollars spent,” Hoffman said.

His upcoming talk, “The Decade of Delusion,” is about the last decade in advertising and the expectations versus reality.

“I think a lot of advertisers have been surprised by how different advertising has turned out than what we expected 10 years ago,” Hoffman said.

He will discuss some of the problems the industry faces, including government regulation of collected data, ad fraud and consumer attitudes surrounding privacy and data tracking.

Advertising has contributed a great deal to the political division, he added. 

“Perhaps the biggest problem of all is the political problem and how social media and social media algorithms have driven a wedge into society between left and right in the American political body,” he said. 

To hear more from Hoffman and the other speakers, tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite.