BlackFin360 – Innovation To Reality
Tom Edwards is a professional futurist and keynote marketing technology speaker covering data, digital, artificial intelligence, marketing technology and emerging media trends
I am incredibly humbled to be recognized with the 2022 Marketing 2.0 – Outstanding Leadership Award. Whenever I receive recognition like this, I am very thankful for the support of my wife, family, and teammates!
I am thankful for the recognition and excited to close out 2022, and I look forward to 2023 and what’s possible!
A full list of industry awards and over 100+ recommendations are available here.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
I recently had the opportunity to share with the Drum my tips for how to write an award entry that would get my attention and my vote.
I am looking forward to the 2022 Drum Awards and congrats to all of the nominees and soon to be winners.
The Drum Awards for Digital Industries rewards the best work, companies and people behind the most effective digital campaigns around the world.
Follow Tom @BlackFin360 across all social channels.
I’m thrilled to be on this year’s The Drum Awards for the Digital Industries judging panel. These awards reward the best work, companies, and people behind the most effective digital campaigns around the world. You can see my fellow panelists and I as well as request an extension to enter the awards at https://bit.ly/3AhPQSu
Best of luck to all of the nominees!
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 across social channels
I recently had the honor of being recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Inspiring Tech Leaders to Watch for 2022. I am incredibly honored by this recognition.
Follow Tom @BlackFin360
I just wrapped my judging assignment for the 2022 Fierce Pharma Awards. I am always inspired to see all of the great submissions across the industry. My favorite types of entry are those that create unlikely partnerships that create new forms of creative expression or lean into key behaviors of audiences in a highly unique and differentiated way.
From high fashion to gaming collaborations to a clever 4D experience, the competition was stiff! Best of luck to all of the finalists! Awards will be announced during the 2022 Digital Pharma East Conference.
Follow Tom @BlackFin360
I am incredibly grateful to be recognized as the 2022 Dallas Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association as their Marketer of the Year. I am always grateful to my wife and family for their continual support as well as my network whose support is always appreciated.
Thanks to the DFWIMA Board, members, and everyone associated with the excellence in marketing awards program. Thanks again.
I am incredibly grateful to my teams, my peers, and my family for all of their support as the OnCon awards are purely peer driven. Having the respect of these individuals and seeing that manifest into a physical recognition is incredibly humbling. I am now a 2x Top 10 Marketing Award winner with OnCon.
2021
2021 is the first time I was awarded the Top 10 Marketer Award. This event was virtual vs. in-person. There were over 200 nominees for this award.
2020
2020 was the first time that the format for the awards shifted from categories to Top 100 and Top 50 Marketers. I was awarded as a Top 50 Marketer by OnCon.
2019
2019 was my first year participating with OnCon and what a first year it was! The competition was intense and I was awarded the Marketing Trailblazer award (9 nominees) and the Marketing Contributor award (3 nominees). My wife had an opportunity to join me which made it even bettter!
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 across social platforms.
It was an absolute pleasure to work with an incredible judging panel for the 2021 Drum Awards for Digital Industries. It was interesting to do this as a hybrid with some judges in person in the UK and the rest virtually but it worked seamlessly.
I had the privilege to judge the Best Digital Media Strategy, Best Website Design, Most Effective Use of AI/Machine Learning, Technical Innovation, and the Grand Prix award for best in show.
Best of luck to all of the nominees, and congratulations to the winners.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 across social platforms.
I just wrapped my judging assignment for the 2021 Fierce Pharma Awards. Best of luck to all of the finalists!
Follow Tom @BlackFin360 on YouTube, Linkedin, or Twitter
I am very grateful to be recognized as a Top 100 Marketing and Advertising Leader during the 2021 MARsum Marketing, Advertising & Retail Summit. When I receive recognition such as this I am very thankful for the support of my wife, family, teammates, and everyone in my network.
A full list of industry awards and over 100+ recommendations are available here.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 via Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, & Twitch.
I recently had the honor of being recognized as one of the 2021 50 most influential business leaders in tech. I am incredibly honored by this recognition.
I was incredibly humbled to be recognized as a 2021 OnCon Icon Top 10 Global Marketer award winner. I am truly appreciative of everyone who supported my nomination. There were 150 overall nominees and the support of my network really delivered this top 10 award and I am so grateful.
I am very grateful to have been a part of the 2021 OnCon Icon awards and would highly recommend nominating your peers for potential recognition in 2022. I am also very thankful for the support of my wife of 20+ years. I wouldn’t receive this type of recognition without her contributions and personal sacrifice. Thanks again to everyone and to Sean Tomarelli for putting on such a great and memorable show.
I recently had the opportunity to virtually meet with Bryon Morrison, the CEO, and Co-founder of Proxxy, to discuss the topic of “Are you driving the narrative about your online reputation?”.
Bryon moderates our discussion. We dive into the topics of personal branding, the story behind BlackFin360, tips for finding time to focus on content creation, the value of building an online reputation, the difference between personal reputation vs. business reputation, and recommendations for all executive levels in the following video.
I was incredibly humbled to be recognized as the 2020 Digital Marketing Professional of the Year during the recent CX Digital Summit. When I receive recognition such as this I am very thankful for the support of my wife, family, teammates, and everyone in my network.
Next up are the 2021 OnCon Icon Awards in January where a number of you voted and I am incredibly appreciative of your support. Beyond that I am also being recognized by MADCON in 2021 and hopeful we can get back to in-person events by mid-2021.
I am thankful for the recognition and excited to close out a chaotic 2020 and look forward to 2021 and what’s possible!
2020 Digital Marketing Professional of the Year (Global) – Recognized during the 2020 India CX Digital Summit as the Digital Marketing Professional of the Year.
A full list of industry awards and over 100+ recommendations are available here.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 via Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, & Twitch.
I was recently recognized by OnConferences as a 2020 Top 50 Global Marketer Award winner. It’s always a great honor to be recognized, especially when the award is determined 100% by your peers. This award originally had hundreds of nominees from across the globe.
In addition to picking up the award, I had the opportunity to also present a number of awards and had the opportunity to share a short story about success which I will post below.
The single most important driver of success in my career has been developing and maintaining a personal brand while in parallel delivering results for the brands I worked for.
I started writing point of view pieces about new and emerging technology, pop culture, gaming, and strategy back in 2007. Now 500+ posts later this helped to propel me as a paid speaker and opened up a number of new opportunities.
The content you create follows you from role to role, it serves as a demonstration for how you think to prospective clients and it also leads to awards. I was on this very stage last year picking up the OnCon Marketing Trailblazer and OnCon Marketing Contributor awards thanks in large part to contributions to the industry through writing.
I would highly recommend that those of you who mentor up and coming employees, that you empower them to develop a POV, allow them to flex their strategic and problem-solving skills and don’t be afraid to allow them to develop their personal brands.
This is how you can go from an employer to a true mentor. And it’s incredibly satisfying to see those that you invest in find their own success.
Last night my wife and I attended the 2019 Tech Titans Awards Gala. I was a finalist for the Technology Advocate award. This award recognizes a technology advocate/champion for their outstanding leadership in assisting, advancing or accelerating the performance of technology companies and/or the technology community.
It was a really fun night. The Tech Titans awards are like the Oscars for the Dallas technology community. After settling into a delicious dinner and some fun commentary from the Gala committee it was time for the awards presentations to start.
When my category was up for the next presentation the head of North American Customer Marketing & Communications for Nokia, Marianne Strobel did a great job setting up the category and announcing the winner…
After the initial shock of the win, it was time for photos, a great conversation with Marianne of Nokia about their 5G work and more innovations on the way, networking with sponsors and attendees and fun times with my wife Cherlyn from chomping M&M’s pre-event to celebrating post-event Texas-style with Whataburger.
Thank you to the Tech Titans organization, sponsors, judges, thank you to Marianne Strobel for the warm welcome from Nokia, the Dallas Business Journal for their coverage and support of the event and finally to the other deserving finalists.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 via YouTube, Instagram, Twitter
I was recently interviewed by the Dallas Business Journal for the upcoming 2019 Tech Titans awards show. I am a finalist in the technology advocate category and looking forward to the event! Here is a link to the full interview.
Here is a repost of the full article
Tom Edwards of BlackFin360 is a finalist in the Technology Advocate Award category for the 2019 Tech Titan Awards. Category winners will be announced at an awards event on Friday, Aug. 23. For more information about the awards event, click here.
As founder of BlackFin360, which covers marketing and emerging tech trends, Tom Edwards has been recognized as a marketing technology trailblazer as well as a leading futurist and speaker.
“I focus on helping organizations understand how consumer behavior is shaping emerging technology and vice versa as technology is culture and culture is technology,” Edwards said.
What started as a technology blog back in 2007 BlackFin360 now serves as a “a repository of emerging technology” thought leadership. As a keynote speaker and technology advocate, Edwards says he helps organizations understand the connection between consumer behavior and emerging technology — from the integration of artificial intelligence, spatial computing and the rise of multi-modal interfaces.
Edwards was also Chief Digital/Innovation Officer for Epsilon where he said he “became fully immersed in all facets of data, AI and technology integration.”
We asked Edwards additional questions about technology. The questions have been edited for length, grammar and clarity.
What is the biggest challenge facing your organization in 2019?
TOM – The biggest challenge is less about my organization and what I see across the Fortune 1000 organizations that I have the opportunity to speak to. There are three primary areas that I consistently see. They are: data puddles, ignoring AI, lack of innovation focus.
What is something people aren’t thinking about that will change technology in the next few years?
TOM – To me the biggest shift, especially for marketers is that we will be moving from consumer-centric marketing technology to system and algorithm-based solutions. We will see virtual assistants continue to move to the center of the operating system and we will see the rise of multi-modal computing at scale. This includes voice, vision and touch, where our environment adapts to us versus us adapting to it.
Can you recall the moment you decided what you wanted to do professionally?
TOM – My first memory is of the original Star Wars movie. All of my friends wanted to be Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. I liked those characters, but I was enamored with the droids R2-D2 and C3PO and how they and the rest of the sentient tech characters seemed to enable the main cast every step of the way. The technology seamlessly folded into their everyday journeys and that stuck with me all throughout childhood and into early adulthood. When the technology revolution hit with the rise of personal computers, mobile phones and software, I knew that is where I wanted to take my career.
Who is your technology hero?
TOM – My technology hero is Hal Brierley. Hal is the CEO of the Brierley Group. He has served as President and CEO of Epsilon, was the founder of e-Rewards, Inc, and the Executive Chairman of Brierley & Partners and he currently serves on the board of an AI start-up (Oculus360) that has been an outstanding strategic partner. I admire that work and career of Hal, his impact to Dallas via job creation and his approach to business is something to be admired.
What should we be teaching children about technology in school right now that we aren’t?
TOM – The future is going to be about augmented intelligence and preparing children, not just how to code, but also how to use various aspects of machine learning to solve problems. Instead of teaching simple math, it’s important to understand specific computing models and concepts for how systems learn. Now, these are reserved for Computer Science courses on the college level, but the sooner we can prepare children for the coming shift of intelligent systems the better.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 via YouTube, Twitter, Instagram
I was recently honored by Strathmore Worldwide as their 2019 Professional of the Year for both the Marketing and Emerging Technology. I am incredibly humbled and appreciative of the award.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360 via YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter
I am incredibly honored to be recognized as a 2019 Tech Titans Technology Advocacy Award nominee. Tech Titans is a great organization and I am very appreciative of the recognition for thought leadership & tech advocacy work.
Congratulations to the other three finalists and looking forward to the event.
Recently, I was awarded the 2019 OnCon Icon Marketing Trailblazer & Marketing Contributor awards. Post-event, I was interviewed by the OnCon team and we discussed a number of topics such as what it meant to win the awards, what put the nominations over the top and recommendations for 2020.
The full interview can be read via OnCon
Below is a repost of the interview questions.
What does it mean to you to be voted on as the winner by such an esteemed jury of your peers?
It was an honor just to be nominated. To know that such an esteemed jury of my peers gravitated towards me as a candidate is incredibly humbling. I have an immense amount of respect for the members of the jury and the other nominees across categories. I am grateful that the jury felt my contributions to the industry were worthy of recognition. Thanks again to the jury!
You had some very tough competition in each of the categories. How does it feel to be recognized over such an amazing group of your peers for the two wins?
With a field of 9 incredibly talented nominees, the trailblazer category was highly competitive! Each nominee represented great credentials and accomplishments and each individual brought a unique perspective and examples for how they are driving innovation and creativity. To hear my name called was surprising, exhilarating, and satisfying at the same time.
What do you feel put your nomination over the top?
I would assume that my passion for creating content and speaking regularly as a marketing technology futurist for the industry over the past 11 years at Blackfin360.com combined with a near obsession for the intersection of consumer behavior and emerging technology were factors in the marketing contributor award.
For marketing trailblazer, having a natural predisposition towards aligning trends, use cases and emerging technology into solutions that drive clients business were key contributors. From publishing yearly trends, covering key events, mapping trends for clients, developing products and solutions, speaking regularly at industry events and applying the latest technology in new and compelling ways was hopefully impactful for the jury.
Would you recommend your peers to apply for nomination, and why?
I would highly recommend that anyone in the marketing space recommend their peers for an OnCon Icon honor. Many awards today are tied to organizations and marketing campaigns. The OnCon Icon Awards provides the opportunity to recognize organizations and individuals for their contributions to the industry and have their peers recognize individual contributions in addition to company recognition. It’s a great mix and I was incredibly excited for both my organization and for the opportunity to pick up individual awards as well. Apply for, or be reminded to apply for the 2020 Awards here.
How would you describe the awards evening?
The event was held at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, Florida. The venue in and of itself was impressive and a great location for an awards event. From the pre-event mixer to the red carpet with my wife, the energy continued to build as we prepared to settle in for the awards presentations.
I was immediately impressed by the brands represented and how senior the individuals were. This added to the friendly competitive atmosphere as there was a mutual respect but also a strong desire to win.
When it came time for the awards the pace of the evening was well kept and when my name was called it was a quick jaunt to the stage with a live band playing intro music. Having an opportunity to thank my wife, the jury, the other nominees and my team made the win more meaningful. I appreciated the opportunity to thank those who have made such an impact on my career over the years and are incredibly supportive.
It’s been a few days since the event, any final thoughts?
I am very grateful to have been a part of the 2019
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
I was recently nominated for multiple awards by OnCon for their 2019 OnCon Icon awards. Marketing Trailblazer, Contributor, and Icon.
As the event unfolded last night I was incredibly grateful to have my wife Cherlyn by my side. As the awards were being announced I was honored to be included with the many other nominees who have made such impactful contributions.
At the end of the night, I was awarded 2 awards and couldn’t be happier or more thankful for my team who helped me achieve this recognition. I love sharing information about the intersection of emerging technology and consumer behavior. Seeing people use this information to grow their businesses is very fulfilling.
Marketing Trailblazer (9 nominees) exhibits innovation, pioneering, and successful creativity.
Marketing Contributor (3 nominees) value to the industry for sharing thought leadership.
Here is a post-ceremony interview with the OnCon team.
Thanks again to OnCon and of course my wife of almost 20 years, Cherlyn for all of the support.
Follow Tom @BlackFin360
Today Advertising Age announced their 2017 list of top 25 Marketing Technology Trailblazers and I am honored to be included.
Photo by Bradley Taylor, Caprock Studio
A big thank you to the Epsilon corporate communications team, DGC and Advertising Age judges. I am truly humbled by the inclusion with such a great list of industry innovators.
I am incredibly grateful to my data design strategy and innovation teams. From research, planning, data design, digital strategy, digital experience delivery, social and innovation a huge thank you for all that you do.
Finally, a very special thank you to my amazing wife Cherlyn for supporting all the crazy hours and travel for the past 17 years.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
I was recently notified that I am 1 of 3 finalists for iMedia’s Agency Marketer of the Year. I am truly blown away and humbled by the nomination.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360