As a long-time leader in the arena of digital media, The University of Toledo is bringing its expertise and the expertise of its partners together for the benefit of area business leaders, students and communications professionals.

UT is hosting its second annual uHeart Digital Media conference on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Friday, Oct. 10. The two-day event will be at the Radisson Hotel on UT’s Health Science Campus, located near Glendale Avenue.

uHeart Digital Media will feature emerging leaders, accomplished practitioners, innovators and experts in this critically important and quickly-growing field.

Attendees will learn how to leverage social media to build their digital brand; successfully develop and launch applications that will attract interest in a crowded marketplace; target niche markets to increase affinity and build communities around their brand and products; and embrace the “lighter side” of digital media to generate buzz and showcase their personal and professional assets.

Brian Kibby, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, will deliver the keynote address.

Other presenters include Lacie Sandstrom, account executive for Google; Ashley Mirakian, marketing director of the Toledo Symphony; Bill Rossiter, principal and CEO of Interrupt; and Larry Burns, UT’s vice president for external affairs.

Pitch & Pour, a “Shark Tank”-style event, will take place on Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Tom and Elizabeth Brady Innovation Center, located inside the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex on UT’s Main Campus. Pitch & Pour allows entrepreneurs five minutes to give their best elevator pitch to a panel of start-up experts. The competition begins at 5:30 p.m. and is sponsored by LaunchPad Incubation at The University of Toledo.

The conference wraps up on Friday, Oct. 10 with a panel discussion featuring professionals from the Detroit Lions, MotorCity Casino, Shazam and UT.

For more information and to register for uHeart Digital Media, visit uheartdigitalmedia.com.