And if you’ve already bagged a ticket, make sure to have a look through the agenda and book your seat at the talks you wish to attend. The only way to guarantee entry to the sessions is to book in advance, so don’t delay!

If all this wasn’t exciting enough, I’ve been through the agenda to pick out 10 of the most interesting and noteworthy recent additions to the schedule. These aren’t necessarily the biggest brands, but they all have fascinating stories to tell.

Steve Bartlett, CEO of Social Chain (Oct 4th, 10.15am on the Social Media Stage)

Steve Bartlett is well known in the agency world after achieving astonishing success in a short space of time.

In just four years Social Chain has won numerous industry awards and now employs more than 100 people across five locations, working with brands including Apple, Coca-Cola and Warner. And yet Steve is still only 25-years-old.

This is a must-see talk on influencers and social media marketing.

Tom Hares, Co-founder of Buzzbike (Oct 4th, 12.20pm on the Brand & Creative Stage)

You can get pretty much anything via a subscription service these days, so it takes something special to get people to take notice.

Buzzbike is a subscription service for bikes (duh) costing £30 per month. As well as your own single-speed Cooper bike, the package includes a lock, lights, servicing and insurance. Plus there’s an app which tracks your bike and gives you details of all your activity.

Buzzbike also partners with advertisers to create branded bikes, which the riders then get at a discount or even for free. It launched at the Design Museum last year with some rather fabulous designs that can be viewed in this here article.

Hares, who previously worked for Apple, will be speaking about how the combination of gamification, data and design creates a compelling value exchange between brands and riders.

Ashley Friedlein, founder of Econsultancy (Oct 4th, 2.45pm on the Digital Transformation Stage)

Okay, so I’m showing favouritism here, but marketing purists will want to see Ashley reveal Econsultancy’s new Modern Marketing Model live on stage.

The model, also known as ‘M3’, sets out a new form of marketing that fuses digital and classic marketing under a single, unified, framework. It informs marketing’s remit, required competencies and organisational design.

M3 defines marketing in the digital age, so don’t miss the world premiere.

Breathing Space with The Pool (Oct 4th, 2.45pm on the Realising Your Potential Stage)

If you can’t get into Ashley’s talk, then Lauren Laverne is a decent backup option.

This is Lauren’s second appearance at the Festival in her capacity as co-founder of The Pool, a digital publisher catering to busy women. She will chair a panel of female journalists and entrepreneurs to find out the tips and tricks they use to make life a little bit easier.

Duncan Gough, Tech Lead at the V&A Museum (Oct 5th, 11.30am on the AI Stage)

My colleague Ben Davis recently interviewed Duncan about bots and the Internet of Things, among other topics.

He’s a fascinating chap and his talk should be enlightening.

Neuroscience at the National Trust (Oct 5th, 12.20pm on the Insight Stage)

I plugged this talk in a previous article, but I’m going to do it again in this post as we’re all big fans of the National Trust at Econsultancy.

At #FOM17 the Trust’s director of insight and supporter data, Christina Finlay, will tell us how the organisation uses neuroscience to inform its marketing strategies and deepen emotional engagement. She will also discuss which neuroscience tools can be used to enhance traditional research techniques.

Sounds fascinating, book it into your diary now.

Matt Dawson, Rugby World Cup winner (Oct 4th, 1.55pm in the Sodexo Jam)

Alongside the main Festival agenda there will be a number of Jams taking place down in the Festival Village. You can see the full list here.

These interactive breakout sessions will offer a closer look at marketing trends and case studies.

Sports fans will be thrilled to know that rugby legend Matt Dawson will lead one of the Jams, speaking about how the techniques that won England the World Cup can be applied to self-development in other areas of life.

Worth it purely for the selfie opportunities.

The future of AI (Oct 4th, 4pm on the AI Stage)

The AI stage at FoM will mainly focus on how marketers can utilise exciting new tech to become more efficient and effective. However, there’s also room for discussion on the broader implications of AI, and this session is the perfect forum for such a debate.

IBM’s Jeremy Waite will chair a panel looking at the future of AI and what it means for mankind. His panellists include the CEO of the Big Innovation Centre, the founder of Found in Music, plus a VP from BAE Systems Applied Intelligence.

The latter company is involved in the security and defence industry, so expect lots of questions from the audience about when Skynet will become a reality.

The Festival of Marketing takes place in London’s Tobacco Dock on October 4/5. Don’t miss out!