Kate Trgovac - Social Media Maven and Interactive Marketing Consultant

Kate Trgovac - Contact Info

About Kate Trgovac (short version)

Kate Trgovac - www.mynameiskate.ca Social Media Maven. Virtual World Enthusiast. Laptop Bag Aficionado.

An Internet trailblazer from pre-Web days, Kate Trgovac started her digital marketing career when plain text email was the marketing tool of choice. After 18 years, she’s seen many digital marketing tactics come and go, but the principles remain the same – engage your community’s passion! What do they care about? (Hint – it’s not you!)

After spending time at several digital agencies, software shops and startups, Kate founded LintBucket Media -- a boutique marketing agency headquartered in Vancouver that focuses on social media, community building and co-creation between brands and their audiences. Over the years, Kate’s clients have included Nike, Molson, Nabisco, Procter and Gamble, Fido Mobile and Petro-Canada.

In addition to stirring up trouble (and winning awards) for amazing clients, Kate has been a part-time lecturer in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies and has served on the Advertiser’s Council of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. She is a leading authority on social media and is often quoted in mainstream media, including CBC, Inc Magazine, the National Post, the Montreal Gazette and Marketing Magazine.

Kate writes about the intersection of marketing and technology on her blog MyNameIsKate.ca. She also publishes OneDegree.ca, a popular online magazine that provides the inside scoop on Internet marketing and social media for Canadian marketers. Both MyNameIsKate.ca and OneDegree.ca are listed in Advertising Age’s Top 150 Marketing Blogs in the world and have been designated “Must Read” blogs by Marketing Magazine. MyNameIsKate.ca has recently been named a Top 10 Technology Blog in Canada by ITWorld Canada.

Aside from social media, Kate’s current passion is the burgeoning area of virtual worlds and how they impact not only marketing programs, but also the creation and fluidity of personal identity. You can find her avatar on Second Life and other virtual worlds usually under the name (and blog) Katicus Sparrow. And for something a little different, Kate also writes extensively about Funky, Chic and Cool Laptop bags and regularly advises bag designers on both function and fashion as well as how to market their creations.

More details about Kate can be found at http://www.KateTrgovac.com

About Kate Trgovac (extended dance mix)

Kate likes to think that she invented the Internet ... but knows that wouldn't be fair to Al Gore. Instead, she contents herself with her invention of "The Canadian", a surprisingly refreshing cocktail containing Wild Turkey, gingerale, cranberry juice and a dash of lime.

A trailblazer from pre-Web days on the Internet, Kate cut her online marketing teeth in 1988 using naught but mailing lists and FTP sites to promote Caper, her research firm, and its edutainment software titles. A move to Canada in 1990 landed Kate in a couple of technical positions where she learned enough about system administration, perl scripting and markup languages to know that she was destined for the softer side of technology. Working as technical support at the University of Waterloo, she learned the ins and outs of token-ring networking and Unix system administration. She also developed content-rich gopher and WAIS sites for the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, as well as for the UW Library. Kate acquired a copy of NCSA Mosaic two days following its release and has never looked back.

During these technical years, Kate contributed to some of the earliest publications about the Internet as a mainstream media channel. She has chapters in SAMS's WWW Unleashed (2nd edition) and Teach Yourself the Internet as well as a feature article in the premiere issue of NET Magazine. During this time, Kate also served as Director of Communications for Project Gutenberg, the oldest producer of free eBooks on the Internet. Kate moved to Toronto in 1996 and joined SoftQuad, one of the founding members of the W3C. At SoftQuad, she worked as an intranet consultant and contributor to the product design teams for HotMetal, HotMetal Intranet Publisher (HiP) and XMetal.

Kate answered the siren call of the interactive agency when she joined ICE Integrated Communications and Entertainment where she started one of the first Information Architecture practices in Canada in 1998. She rode a number of highs prior to the bubble bursting, including user experience consulting work for Procter & Gamble, La Senza, DBRS, FedEx, Nortel Networks, Celestica, the Royal Canadian Mint and Nabisco Canada, as well as serving as Director, Digital at ICE. After leaving ICE (and changing her name from Karin), Kate joined Infinet Communications as Managing Director, Creative where she served as interactive consultant for a number of clients including Organon Inc., Lawtons Drugs, and Microcell (Fido). Kate also managed the day to day operations of the creative department.

In 2004, Kate left the agency world for the client side and joined Petro-Canada as Senior Manager, Web Evolution. Her mission (aside from explaining her job title) was to ensure that Petro-Canada is taking advantage of existing and upcoming interactive channels to communicate with key audiences and engage customers in relevant and authentic conversations.

Driven by her passion for social media and brand democratization (as well as a secret desire to work on a Web 2.0 project), Kate left Petro to join Uniserve as Senior Product Manager, where she kicked off the product development of Kinzin - a site for families to gather and share their photos, events, stories and culture. With the launch of Kinzin in the late spring 2007, Kate continues to be involved in its community building and marketing activities.

Most recently (and to the surprise of no-one, except possibly herself), Kate founded ~~reinvent communications~~ LintBucket Media, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping brands reconnect with their audiences through marketing participation and co-creation. Headquartered in Vancouver, Kate and her team serve a variety of clients, from big brands to independent business owners, and work with them to create social media strategies that foster active participation and community-building.

Kate has been a part-time lecturer in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies as well as a facilitator of usability workshops for Toronto Interacts. She is the founding co-director of TUXS, the Toronto User Experience Summit. Kate has also served on the Advertiser's Council of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. Kate writes about emarketing, online branding, technology, user experience and other topics of note at her blog, mynameiskate.ca. She is the Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of One Degree, a gathering place for Canadian Online Marketers. Kate has also co-authored a play, The Meeting, that lampoons the interactive agency world; it was performed at Summerworks 2005 in Toronto.

Kate has a BA from Trinity University (San Antonio) in ritual theory and philosophy, two surprisingly helpful disciplines in the high-tech, high-touch world of interactive marketing. She lives in downtown Vancouver with her wife, Rosemary Rowe, a noted playwright and creator of the Creampuff Revolution.

Kate's Speaking Engagements

2008

Feb - Social Media Telesummit, Virtual Conference: Virtual World Participation
Mar - Bridging Media, Vancouver: Panel - The 101 Sessions: Broadcast and Social Media 101: A Snapshot of Both Worlds
May - CMA National Convention, Toronto: Marketing Lessons from Second Life's Fashion Designers
June - Mass to Grass WOM Conference, Toronto: Building Buzz for Good: Non-profits and WOM
Sept - Canadian Institute, Calgary: Master Class on Social Media
Oct - CMA's Digital Marketing Conference: Blogging Roundtable

2007

Feb - AIMS, Toronto: Lessons from Indigenous Second Life Marketers
Mar - Massive Technology Conference, Vancouver: Connecting with Your Customers - A Social Media Primer
May - Webcom, Montreal: Is Second Life ready for Prime Time?
May - MESH Conference: Building Community (Workshop) (PDF)
Oct - CMA's Digital Marketing Conference, Toronto: Blogging Roundtable
Nov - Toronto Geek Girls Dinner, Toronto: Intro to Virtual Worlds
Dec - Canadian Institute's Social Media Conference, Toronto: Social Media 101 (Workshop)

2006

June - CaseCamp, Toronto: Lessons Learned - Petro-Canada's 2006 Online Olympic Promotion
Sept - CaseCamp, Vancouver: YouTube Meets the Man - Petro-Canada’s First Steps in the Social Media Waters
Sept - SOHO, Vancouver: Using Social Media to Build Your Business
Oct - CMA's Digital Marketing Conference, Toronto: Blogging Roundtable
Dec - High Tech Communicators, Vancouver: Using Social Media to Strengthen Your Customer Communication Initiatives

Audience Response to Kate

Kate Trgovac did an exceptional job as leader of the pre-conference workshop at the Canadian Institute’s Social Media conference that was held in Toronto on December 4 - 5, 2007. Delegates who attended the workshop described Kate as “an extremely knowledgeable and dynamic speaker” and appreciated the “relevant and easy-to-understand content” that she presented. ~ Lina Badih

I had quite a few great moments of insight during the (Mesh 2007) conference, but one particular highlight was meeting Kate Trgovac from Vancouver and attending Kate’s workshop on building electronic communities. ~ Connie Crosby

You can read other recommendations on my LinkedIn Profile

Awards and Other Notables

Kate's blog, MyNameIsKate.ca, is regularly listed on AdAge Magazine's Power 150, has been designated a "Must Read Blog" by Marketing Magazine and, most recently, has been named a Top 10 Technology Blog in Canada by ITWorld Canada.

Kate has served several times as a judge for the Canadian New Media Awards as well as for Backbone Magazine's Pick 20 Awards.