As the editors at “All About Experience” ramp up for Eloqua’s highly anticipated user conference in November, we wanted a chance to get a sneak peek of what’s in store for this year’s conference, which grows larger every year. And who better to offer a preview of this year’s conference than Eloqua CEO, Joe Payne?

Each year, Eloqua Experience gets larger with more speakers, sessions, content and attendees. What’s new that Eloqua has planned for the North American conference in Orlando in November?

The most obvious “new thing” is the change of location. We had to move the conference to Orlando because we basically outgrew San Francisco. Only a couple of hotels could accommodate our size (and we would be too small for Moscone) and those hotels were booked a year in advance. We have already booked San Francisco for 2013, but this year, modern marketers will simply have to fly to Orlando to enjoy the Eloqua Experience. I’m hoping that plenty of our customers and friends will be thrilled to soak in the sun of Orlando in November.

And yes, we are getting bigger and better every year. For instance, we’ll have two guest keynotes this year instead of one. Jeffrey Hayzlett, former Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Eastman Kodak, will talk about how to drive change within your organization, and Charlene Li, of Altimeter Group, will help us take stock of where the market currently is and plot where it’s heading.

We have also listened to customer feedback and added 20 new education sessions, many of which dive deeper into the product than ever before. We’re also adding a Camp Eloqua, which is designed for those in the early stages of the Eloqua journey. We’ll host an executive session with the Corporate Executive Board so those at the C-level will be able to hear about the trends that are shaping modern marketing. In other words, the days will be jam packed no matter your title or experience.

Oh, and we’re throwing the Markies after-party at the Hard Rock Live, so you can plan on the best celebration yet.

What should an attendee expect to come away with after attending Eloqua Experience?  Best practices and approaches? Better understanding of the platform’s technical functionality? New industry contacts?

All of the above. We’re covering all the modern marketing bases. The new “Push It” track we’re adding will give advanced clients a chance to swim in the deep end of the pool, while Camp Eloqua will focus on the basics. Plus, we’ll discuss the most important topics hitting marketers today: content, privacy regulations, customer service, impressing the CFO—the list goes on and on.

What excites me most is how many of these talks will be led by customers. Brands like McAfee, NetApp and LinkedIn will all share their own experiences. It goes beyond networking, because you’ll not only have a chance to shake hands and swap stories with some of most respected marketers in the world, but also hear practical knowledge you can put in practice when you get back to the office.

Your keynote address is Wednesday morning, November 7.  Can you preview any themes or messages from your presentation?

I don’t want to give too much away, but expect to hear about what drives modern marketing success. My focus—the whole company’s focus—is always on making our customers successful. And success today requires a growing set of skills, particularly layering social intelligence across sales and marketing.

For the past couple of years everyone has been talking about social, but largely from an outreach perspective. We’re exploring how to turn the social media attributes we use to communicate externally into internal tools, collaborating in real-time so marketing touches every aspect of the organization. I suspect that will come up in my talk.

And, of course, I will try to make it fun!  I hope to see you and all your readers in Orlando.