Stacey Eddington in This Month’s “Marketing News”

Pull out the latest issue of “Marketing News” dated March 30, 2010 and you’ll find AMA Houston Board Member Stacey Eddington of Transwestern right on page four.

Thanks Stacey for sharing your perspective on marketing budgets with all of us.

Board Leadership / by Robin Tooms

Congratulations to Tara Johnson, Brandy Beverly, Rajul Khemsara and Shanthi Subramanian

There’s lots going on with AMA Houston, and our volunteers are no exception. This past week at the March luncheon, we announced the following volunteer honors:

• Board Members of the Month (we have THREE this month!):
• Brandy Beverly, Director Marketing Communications at Baylor College of Medicine and Rajul Khemsara, Senior Customer Research Analyst CHRISTUS Health: As Co-Chairs for the Healthcare Marketing SIG they have expertly managed several well-attended events. They exemplify what is great about our SIG programming: informative events that dive into relevant issues around marketing interests.
• Tara Johnson, Marketing Communications Coordinator at Mustang Engineering: Tara recently joined the board as Event Marketing Director (a demanding role!) and has been doing more than just getting our emails out in a timely manner, she’s looking for ways to help us promote events better as well.
• Volunteer of the Month: Shanthi Subramanian, Marketing Programs Manager at Gimmal Group, Inc. has been a real asset in keeping our website up to date. She expertly keeps our events and other news updated with the immediacy that our audiences expect.

Thanks to all of our volunteers for their help!

Board Leadership, Volunteers / by Robin Tooms

Congratulations to Becca Castillo, MaryJane Mudd and Allyson Bandy

This week at the February luncheon, we announced the following honors for our wonderful volunteers

• Board Members of the Month:
  Becca Castillo, VISION Production Group: As the VP of SIGs, Becca’s is keeping our event calendar going and is always on top of the SIGs – she’s even recruited quite a few new chairs for the upcoming board year
  MaryJane Mudd, Full Tilt Communications: As President-Elect, MaryJane has also been working hard to shape our new board for the new year. She’s also a big part of the positive attitude you see on all of the AMA Houston volunteer faces.
• Volunteer of the Month: Allyson Bandy, Halliburton, for being the real hands-on talent “behind the scenes” on all of our AMA Houston monthly press releases. It’s because of Allyson that this important piece of communications stays on schedule too.

Thanks to all of our volunteers for their help!

Board Leadership, Volunteers / by Robin Tooms

If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Showing Up At 7. In The Morning.

The early birds get the worms. The early risers find the extra time they’re looking for every day. The raw recruits get kicked out of bed by the drill sergeant before the crack of dawn.

We all noted that “crack of dawn” thing immediately when we showed up for the AMAHouston SIG boot camp yesterday. Good news for us, though: We got croissants and fresh fruit instead of worms. This get-together is your AMA chapter at work, a room full of volunteers teaching and learning how to make the Houston Special Interest Groups – the SIGs – better, smarter, more valuable to our members.

This isn’t a recap. My first “official” post to the AMAHouston blog is more about attitude and amplitude. I’m glad for the chance to make just four points.

Volunteerism is not dead. It’s not even sleeping.  The 30+ people at Frank and Jo-Anne White’s photography studio early Friday AM are our colleagues, our co-workers, our fellow marketing and advertising professionals. Every one’s a chapter member. Every one’s a volunteer. So it’s really all of us (or a lot of us) that make the chapter go and grow. There’s even a certain amount of cheerleading built in.

Chapter programming is strategic but simple.  The chapter’s monthly luncheons focus on broad-ranging speakers and subjects. It’s in the SIGs where the specific how-we-did-its get passed along to other professionals. SIG committees aim to deliver two out of three objectives every time there’s a special-interest seminar – hot topic, hot speaker, hot company. The more meaning there is in the presentations, the more value AMAHouston gives (and gets).

There is no “i” in “Team.” Alright, that’s awful (and trite) but it’s super Bowl weekend, c’mon. Even though every SIG committee has co-chairs, they don’t get everything done by themselves and they aren’t supposed to. We have to pitch in. In other words, even though they have the fancy club title and the key to the executive punchbowl, they need help from…the rest of us on their committees. You know, the other volunteers. “We” is the people who make the SIGs pay off. (Hmmm. There’s no “I” in that word, either.) 

With 900+ members, “we” don’t have to do it all by ourselves, either. Right – you may hear from us when a SIG event needs attendance, or someone to help lay out the bagels and juice or even set up chairs. Remember, we’re the colleagues and the co-workers and the friends and it’s not a bad thing to ask for a hand. Also, help someone join us.  AMAHouston was over 1,000 members a few months ago but you know what happened. (Think market crash, etc., absolutely not in any way connected with the Toyota recalls.) So the more the merrier.

MaryJane Mudd, President-Elect of AMAHouston, never actually referred to the early morning hour at all. She reinforced the fact that our SIG programs are what make our chapter unique among all the other AMA groups nationwide.  MaryJane also posted more pictures – and larger – on Facebook and even added amusing captions. Like she doesn’t have enough to do already.

I can also reveal that there appears to be no snooze button on any of these board members. So even starting at 7AM, we had fun.  BTW, I’m Richard Laurence Baron, an AMAHouston volunteer and principal of Signalwrite Marketing.

PS: Brenda Bramhill was merely visiting the teapot you see her holding. It was still at the White Photography studio when I left. RLB.

Board Leadership, Volunteers / by Richard Laurence Baron

AMA Board Members get together to share ideas and more…

Take a look at your current issue of Marketing News (dated January 20, 2010) – a few of our AMA Houston Board Members are shown on the back page. This was taken at last year’s AMA Leadership Summit – an annual event where AMA leaders from all over the U.S. get together to share ideas that we can take back to our respective chapters.

Show in the photo are:

• Becky Eckerman, AMA Houston Director, Programming
• Christopher Levy, AMA Houston Co-Chair Energy Marketing SIG
• Christine Chamberlain, AMA St. Louis VP Marketing
• Robin Tooms, AMA Houston VP Communications

We’re smiling because despite there being actual work involved at the Summit, there’s lots of fun too.

And as further proof that your AMA Houston Board Members are hard at work, here we are again a couple of weeks ago at the AMA Regional Retreat hosted by the San Antonio chapter.

About 50 Board Members from the Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Kansas City Chapters convened for great discussions on how we can continue to build a better AMA member experience.

I can honesty say that all of the “behind the scenes” sharing with other AMA chapters helps me tremendously and makes being a Board Member really enjoyable. Not only do I get a lot of ideas that help me for my specific Board role, I also meet a lot of great marketers in other cities this way (and they’ve all been very nice).

Board Leadership / by Robin Tooms

Whew… we made it… but have we learned anything?

I am so glad 2009 is over. As I talk with fellow marketers in the Houston community (and beyond), they are too. We may not be completely out of the woods yet, but if we are actively working still, or even actively working to find a new job, hopefully we’ve all learned some things in the process.

As president of the American Marketing Association Houston chapter, I have seen both those who are job searching and those struggling to market on a shoestring budget transition in their professional development needs. As a result, our programs transitioned, too. Here are highlights of what we learned last year, and a sneak peak at what is to come.

Tips for Job Search Success

As Raegan Hill, lead recruiter at Brookwoods Group, told a member-only audience at a recent event, effective job searching requires putting together a personal marketing plan, as follows.

1. Conduct market research and a personal job inventory. You have the opportunity to target the types of companies you really want to work for. First, determine what qualities you want in a job. Do you want to be a big fish in a little pond, or do you prefer a larger company? Is geography/commute time important? Then, list companies, or company types, that are on your short list. Are you targeting specific industries? Public? Private?
2. Create a means for tracking your progress. A spreadsheet works well, where you can track all job leads and their status. Trust me, when you spend five hours a night on the computer, you will not remember all of your applications and online networking activities unless you write them down.
3. Set up job search tools. LinkedIn is a great source for finding contacts and job postings. Also use www.indeed.com, which has a job aggregator tool that will search the Internet for new job postings based on your specified criteria and email them to you.
4. Network. It’s a proven fact that most people get jobs because of who they know. If you spend every day behind your computer applying to jobs online, frustration will quickly set in. For any job you DO apply for, use every resource possible to get a foot in the door – your online and offline contacts, cold calling the company, attending events where company employees may be, and anything else you can come up with to stand out from the crowd. But spend most of your time networking – in person, not online – by meeting with contacts, attending events where decision makers are present, or creating a “personal advisory board” of people who can provide advice and contacts to help you in your search
5. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Tracking your progress with a spreadsheet helps tremendously. But don’t give up with one phone call or email. Be assertive, positive, and offer something of value in exchange. Your perseverance will pay off.

Tips for Marketing Success

For marketers these days, it’s survival of the fittest. But there are two types of survivors. Those who survive by cutting every cost possible, and those who prove that marketing provides indispensible value and impact on the bottom line, particularly in a down market. In other words, if you’re surviving by cutting costs, then you’re not proving your value.

So how, do you ask, is that done? It’s not an easy or simple task. Vikas Mittal, a marketing professor at the Rice Jones School of Business, gave an incredible executive presentation to our CMO forum and will present to a larger audience at the January AMA luncheon. He says marketers have to get back to marketing – in other words, impacting customer preferences and decisions and not just taking orders for brochures and rewriting web content. They also have to understand and implement marketing research in the programs, to understand customer behavior and how to impact it. And then they have to be able to quantify things, in a language the CFO and CEO can relate to. This topic continues at the AMA Energy SIG in February.

Developing your personal brand for career success

And, whether job searching or trying to grow in your career, it’s all about your personal brand. It’s what distinguishes you from other people both professionally and personally. It is your unique value articulated in a compelling, genuine, consistent and visible way. Held in the minds of others, your personal brand is the single most powerful tool in attaining career success. You must distinguish yourself from others; use your appearance, body language, conversation, and attitude to create an exemplary first impression; and build business etiquette skills that leave a positive lasting impression. Finally, communicate your personal brand through the strategic use of social media such as personal websites, online profiles and social networks. One great event you can attend to learn how to do this is the AMA Young Professionals SIG event – more information is available at www.regonline.com/brandYOU.

On behalf of the entire AMA Houston board, I wish all of you success in this New Year. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event or welcoming you as a member.

Maggie Seeliger
President
AMA Houston Chapter
www.amahouston.org

Board Leadership / by Robin Tooms

Congratulations to Michelle LeBlanc and Betty Wong

Last week at the November luncheon, we announced the following honors for October:

• Board Member of the Month: Michelle LeBlanc, STANandLOU Marketing//Advertising
  Michelle does the work of a least two people on the AMA Houston Board. In fact, she is currently the sole chair for our Interactive Marketing SIG. Michelle would welcome help – if you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity, you’d be working alongside an extremely capable and helpful Board Member.
• Volunteer of the Month: Betty Wong, Betty Wong Creative
  Betty is always there to help “behind the curtains” for AMA Houston. She’s been key to the success of the Interactive Marketing SIG and Member’s Only events we held this past month.

Thanks so much to our volunteers for their help!

Board Leadership / by Robin Tooms

Reflecting upon AMA Houston’s “Chapter of the Year” Award

At the October AMA Luncheon, attendees joined together to toast (with champagne of course) Houston as the official “Chapter of the Year” for the American Marketing Association.

This is a good time to celebrate and reflect upon this award. So what does this mean for you?

From Sherri Scott, immediate past president for AMA Houston:

It is my privilege to tell you that for the 4^th time in the last 6 years AMA Houston has been named THE national chapter of the year!

Each year, the 75 AMA chapters are given the opportunity to submit a Chapter Excellence Award entry. This initiative, which is sponsored by the international headquarters of AMA and is organized by professional chapters council, allows past presidents from highly successful AMA chapters to review the entries. And for the second year in a row, AMA Houston was chosen as the best overall chapter with the best overall scores in the areas of Leadership, Membership and Programming.

So what does this mean to you—our members, our sponsors and our community? Winning this highly prestigious award means that the board of directors and volunteers are working diligently to give you the most return on your AMA investment. We are committed to providing the best professional development and networking opportunities for you.

See a little more from the speech. We also want to hear from you! We can only keep up this success if we are meeting your needs, so please email us your thoughts, or use the comments area below.

Board Leadership / by Robin Tooms

Congratulations to Tutti Macon, Robin Tooms and Judi Swartz

Today at the September luncheon, we announced the following honors:

• Board Members of the Month:

Robin Tooms, Savage: Robin is the VP of Communications for AMA, and oversees all of the event marketing and other communications members see on a regular basis. In August, she was also part of the Chapter Excellence committee and contributed to a successful win for our Chapter Entry this year.

Tutti Macon, Event-Tastic!: You may have noticed Tutti skillfully working the registration and sign-in area for each and every AMA luncheon. As our Administrator, she works miracles (really!) to keep things running smoothly for everyone who attends our luncheons.

• Volunteer of the Month: Judi Swartz, BusinessWire
  Judi has been tremendously supportive of AMA on several fronts, and is always there to help with a referral, any committee needs or special requests. She was particularly helpful with several last minute requests last month.
  

Thanks to all of our volunteers for their help!

Board Leadership, Membership / by Robin Tooms

Congratulations to Becca Castillo, Bill Krull, Ellen Feely and Jen Pearsall

Today at the August luncheon, we announced the following honors for July and August:

• Board Member of the Month: Becca Castillo, VT2 Studios
  As the new VP of SIGs, Becca’s done an amazing job pulling together budgets, marketing plans and events for the SIGs. She’s juggled a lot so far and has gotten us off to a great start.
• Volunteers of the Month: (we have several!)
  Bill Krull, Houston Wellness Association, for helping with the tough challenge of getting sponsorships.
  Ellen Feely, The Clifford Group, who was tremendous help on the Crystal Award committee this year.
  Jen Pearsall, Jen fabulously coordinates our AMA Houston LinkedIn group and Twitter account, and has been posting valuable information about job and events and articles of interest for our members.

Thanks to all of our volunteers for their help!

Board Leadership, Membership / by Robin Tooms