With the annual Promax/BDA conference set to start tomorrow, the marketing and promotions organization’s executives are reporting that registrations are tracking ahead of the 2007 summit, which featured Bill Clinton as keynote speaker.

“I’ve been known to be a victim of hyperbole, but our conference is going to be not only bigger and more exciting than what we’ve seen in the past, but the numbers we are seeing in registration are insane,” said Jonathan Block-Verk, president of Promax/BDA. “[Even] given the recession and economic climate right now that has affected the attendance of other conferences, we are showing stronger numbers than last year.”

The first-year president of the nonprofit agency pointed to the large number of panels being presented at the gathering as a key factor in the boost.

“When I came on here, we were in good shape, as it was in a position to start building, and we are accomplishing that quickly and responsibly through innovation and thought leadership,” he said.

“When we first started putting the conference together, we were determined to find new and innovative ways to approach the concept of the conference,” he continued. “We determined that as thought leaders in this space, we would be able to tap into the best, most knowledgeable people, not only from entertainment but from other innovative marketing companies across the spectrum.”

The 2007 attendance numbers beat even the most optimistic prognostications, with the number of people attending the show breaking the 3,500 mark, a modern high. Early projections had suggested closer to 3,000 attendees.

This year’s conference will take place through Friday at the Hilton New York.

Among the highlights on deck are a keynote from producer Seth MacFarlane; the presentation to WWE’s Vince McMahon of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award; a digital television transition symposium for marketers; and a network television CMO summit featuring the marketing chiefs of the top six networks.

Also, the Rev. Jesse Jackson will discuss the elections, race, gender, leadership and news and futurist Nicholas Negroponte will keynote on the impact of digitalization.

“We have more panels this year than last, which makes it so the only problem people will have will be to figure out which sessions they can attend,” Mr. Block-Verk said.

“We may not have Bill Clinton this year, but what we do have is real takeaway information that will be immediately applicable to the marketplace,” he added.