Canadian online travel and tourism conference, Online Revealed Canada, announced the keynote speaker for the 2008 event will be Kyle MacDonald, sharing his inspiring social media experiment that started with one red paper clip, and resulted in a house. MacDonald has garnered international fame for the online experiment that took him through a series of 14 trades occurring over the course of only one year. The much anticipated internet marketing conference brings together Canadian tourism professionals and online marketing best practices taking place this May 12-14, 2008 in Calgary, Alberta.

“MacDonald’s story highlights the kind of buzz that is possible when taking an innovative approach to online marketing and new mediums such as social media,” said Patricia Brusha, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Online Revealed Canada. “It reflects how powerful new media and the Internet has become.”

MacDonald’s online trading phenomenon was inspired by “Bigger and Better,” a game he played as a child. He posted a red paperclip on the website “Craig’s List” and waited for offers. One year later, after 14 trades involving a fish pen, a keg of beer, a cube van, a recording contract, a snow globe, MacDonald made his final trade for a house. Along the way, he traded a KISS snow globe for a speaking part in a Corbin Bernsen film.  Then, the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan offered up a house in exchange for the movie role.  MacDonald and his paperclip caught worldwide attention from the likes of ABC, 20/20 and Hollywood.

The agenda for Online Revealed Canada has been announced and includes over 25 speakers, workshop leaders, and Canadian travel professionals. With speakers from Yahoo! Canada, The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), Travelocity, Marriott Canada, Travelzoo and many more, this innovative search marketing event will cover a variety of topics including, search engine optimization, paid search marketing, social media marketing, website analytics, new media technology and other trends in marketing tourism online.

Special Early Bird registration rates are only available through March 14, 2008, and space for this year’s Online Revealed Canada is limited due to a city-wide event in Calgary.

TravelDailyNews International is the Media Partner of the event.