You have probably heard the term crowdsourcing, but maybe you’re still not sure of what it is or who is using it. At this year’s PSAMA MarketMix, we got a tour of the crowdsourcing landscape from Mike Reeder, VP of Account Planning & Strategy at Possible, Seattle, and Jennifer Chiu, the author of Roll with Jen, voted 2011 Best Food Blog of Western Washington by Evening Magazine.

If you’re not familiar with crowdsourcing, think of it as a way to invite customers to participate in your company, whether it be providing feedback, ideas, or straight-up cash funding.

Now you’d probably think crowdsourcing is a great resource for individuals or small companies looking for funding or just a little extra support. But big and small companies alike are using crowdsourcing. Companies as traditional as an electrical supply company in Ohio and as innovative as the X Prize Foundation, for example, have used crowdsourcing to fuel product development.

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How do you position customer reference programs with key reference targets? This question was posed to a panel of reference professionals from organizations including Intel, Citrix, Oracle, and Responsys at the recent Summit on Customer Engagement in Redwood City, California.

Their answer was simple. You don’t pose them as “programs” or something they have to “join.” When the panelists asked if anyone in the audience was still doing this, 99% of the audience did not raise their hands. However, in several sessions I attended over two days, it was evident that many reference professionals in fact were still inviting customers to join their customer reference programs.

If you’re unfamiliar with customer reference programs, they work to cultivate customers who are excited to promote your business through engagement in content and activities that support sales and marketing initiatives. This year’s summit focused on “Customer References and the New Marketing.” Sessions and discussions explored new trends in marketing and the ever-important role of reference programs.

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Every year, Projectline sends a notable contingent of marketers to the Puget Sound American Marketing Association’s annual conference. And every year, we come back loaded with ideas and enthusiasm, as this post from last year’s event attests.

This year is no exception—if you’re going to MarketMix 2013, keep an eye out for these and other Projectliners. Here’s what we’re looking forward to this year:

Molly Dee Anderson, Senior Writer: As I worked on Big Data week for Microsoft, I’m eager to hear what the marketing world is saying about big data. I’m interested in the meta-issues related to harnessing big data—and the meta-results that can be realized.

Heather Belliveau, Senior Manager: I hope to hear about the new trends toward modern storytelling as part of our content strategy.

Lisa Sullivan, Marketing Manager: This will be my fifth consecutive year attending MarketMix and I always leave feeling so inspired to bring what I have learned back to my work as a consultant and project manager. My passion lies in advertising and creative so I plan to attend some breakout sessions on related topics and take some key learnings back to Projectline’s creative team.

Sandra Sullivan, Marketing Consultant: I am most looking forward to the keynotes—it can often be the most catalyzing to hear what thought leaders in the marketing industry have to say and it often inspires “ahead of the curve” thinking (at least for the next week). I’m especially anxious to hear Ekaterina Walter’s keynote. It’s not about convincing people that social is a relevant tool anymore; it’s about how to keep agile and be sure you are applying [the right kind of] strategy to your social media tactics.

Are you planning to go to MarketMix 2013? If so, what do you hope to bring back?